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"It is an outrage what they are allowing to take place in the name of Christianity," said Gary Foxcroft, head of nonprofit Stepping Stones Nigeria.
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Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

None of these Pastors were doing the deeds in the name of anything other than Christianity.. indeed, as I quoted above

Sub-Saharan Africa

In many societies of Sub-Saharan Africa, the fear of witches drives periodic witch-hunts during which specialist witch-finders identify suspects, with death by mob often the result.[27] Countries particularly affected by this phenomenon include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Kenya, the Gambia and Zambia.

Witch-hunts against children were reported by the BBC in 1999 in the Congo[28] and in Tanzania, where the government responded to attacks on women accused of being witches for having red eyes.[29] A lawsuit was launched in 2001 in Ghana, where witch-hunts are also common, by a woman accused of being a witch.[29] Witch-hunts in Africa are often led by relatives seeking the property of the accused victim.

Audrey I. Richards, in the journal Africa, relates in 1935 an instance when a new wave of witchfinders, the Bamucapi, appeared in the villages of the Bemba people of Zambia.[30] They dressed in European clothing, and would summon the headman to prepare a ritual meal for the village. When the villagers arrived they would view them all in a mirror, and claimed they could identify witches with this method. These witches would then have to "yield up his horns"; i.e. give over the horn containers for curses and evil potions to the witch-finders. The bamucapi then made all drink a potion called kucapa which would cause a witch to die and swell up if he ever tried such things again. The villagers related that the witch-finders were always right because the witches they found were always the people whom the village had feared all along. The bamucapi utilised a mixture of Christian and native religious traditions to account for their powers and said that God (not specifying which God) helped them to prepare their medicine. In addition, all witches who did not attend the meal to be identified would be called to account later on by their master, who had risen from the dead, and who would force the witches by means of drums to go to the graveyard, where they would die. Richards noted that the bamucapi created the sense of danger in the villages by rounding up all the horns in the village, whether they were used for anti-witchcraft charms, potions, snuff or were indeed receptacles of black magic.

The Bemba people believed misfortunes such as wartings hauntings and famines to be just actions sanctioned by the High-God Lesa. The only agency which caused unjust harm was a witch, who had enormous powers and was hard to detect. After white rule of Africa beliefs in sorcery and witchcraft grew, possibly because of the social strain caused by new ideas, customs and laws, and also because the courts no longer allowed witches to be tried.[citation needed]

Amongst the Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, the witch smellers were responsible for detecting witches. In parts of Southern Africa several hundred people have been killed in witch hunts since 1990.[31]

Several African states,[32] including Cameroon[33] have reestablished witchcraft-accusations in courts after their independence.

It was reported on 21 May 2008 that in Kenya a mob had burnt to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft.[34]

In March 2009 Amnesty International reported that up to 1,000 people in the Gambia had been abducted by government-sponsored "witch doctors" on charges of witchcraft, and taken to detention centers where they were forced to drink poisonous concoctions.[35] On May 21, 2009, The New York Times reported that the alleged witch-hunting campaign had been sparked by the Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh.[36]

In Sierra Leone, the witch-hunt is an occasion for a sermon by the kɛmamɔi (native Mende witch-finder) on social ethics : "Witchcraft ... takes hold in people’s lives when people are less than fully open-hearted. All wickedness is ultimately because people hate each other or are jealous or suspicious or afraid. These emotions and motivations cause people to act antisocially".[37] The response by the populace to the kɛmamɔi is that "they valued his work and would learn the lessons he came to teach them, about social responsibility and cooperation."[38]

event horizon wrote:

You didn't answer my simple question though - do you consider the LRA as Christian terrorists? (I said I do not, so they are clearly converts).

Yes, they seem to be Christian terrorists. Which means they are the born again types and not actual converts.

So, the Pastors using the Bible to justify killing child witches has caused the usual torrent reaction and denial.

just that they are using the Bible to justify their practices and doing it in the name of Christianity.

But that's hardly relevant to the Christian churches using the Bible to condemn Child witches - is it?

But, that said - what do US christians say should be done to Witches according to the Bible?

What specifically are the African churches doing wrongly (according to the Bible) when it comes to exorcisims etc described in the article?

but you insisted they were Christian Terrorists

What do US christians say should be done to Witches according to the Bible? What specifically are the African churches doing wrongly (according to the Bible) when it comes to exorcisims etc described in the article?

you seem to be trying to hard to avoid answering the question about what the Bible does actually state about Witches, what to do with them etc.

but what US Christians say the Bible teaches about witches.

You seem to be saying that the African Christian pastors aren't interpreting the Bible correctly

so I'm intrigued, which of their practices is not according to Biblical teachings?

Only someone really twisted or with an ulterior motive will take the actions of a few and generalise to the whole religion.

event horizon wrote:Then again, for people who eat albinos for their magical powers, I'm a bit surprised that we can really blame outsiders for what's happening.

It is utmost common sense that a redneck with a shotgun is going to do more damage than a redneck with a kitchen knife or baseball bat.

Banning minarets is a pretty silly idea - hence the redneck allusions (they also believe in silly - though not sophisticated enough to be 'quaint') ideas.

Also, judging by the numbers of prisoners in Holland, it is a pretty good bet that rednecks and other non-Muslims in prison in eh's home state form a greater proportion of their respective populations than of Moroccans in Dutch prisons (the one's that haven't been closed due to a shortage of offenders, that is). But I now know better than to ask eh to look up stats!

You were asked to produced the equivalent figures from your redneck neighbours. I see that you are trying to wriggle your way out of some work. Sigh.

Does your passport say 'redneck loon' on it?

Doh ! Ol red neck pastor didn't think of that ! After he realises that lets see if he can get a burning at the stake party going on.

You do realise that this is one of the most racist generalizations we've seen here. You seem to only hate Africans slightly less than you hate Muslims.

So, there is no apology for smearing Africans as superstitious cannibals - just a 'what aboutery' quote.

Still, eh, it is blatantly clear that horrible things are done in the name of Christianity and it does reinforce the point that outliers in any faith can interpret and practice the faith in extreme ways. You keep targeting Islam when there are so many outrageous things happening in the name of faith all over the world.

event horizon wrote:Then again, for people who eat albinos for their magical powers, I'm a bit surprised that we can really blame outsiders for what's happening.

It is utmost common sense that a redneck with a shotgun is going to do more damage than a redneck with a kitchen knife or baseball bat.

Banning minarets is a pretty silly idea - hence the redneck allusions (they also believe in silly - though not sophisticated enough to be 'quaint') ideas.

Also, judging by the numbers of prisoners in Holland, it is a pretty good bet that rednecks and other non-Muslims in prison in eh's home state form a greater proportion of their respective populations than of Moroccans in Dutch prisons (the one's that haven't been closed due to a shortage of offenders, that is). But I now know better than to ask eh to look up stats!

You were asked to produced the equivalent figures from your redneck neighbours. I see that you are trying to wriggle your way out of some work. Sigh.

Does your passport say 'redneck loon' on it?