Perhaps Tipsters are unaware of the problem of witches in some parts of the world, for example, certain parts of India. Now, the concept of witches requires certain metaphysical assumptions, such as the existence of supernatural or religious forces that transcend the normal operation of physical reality. After all, in areas where education levels are low (or education levels are high but old cultural and religious beliefs are strongly maintained) and doctors and veterinarians are few or non-existence, how else can one explain unexpected illnesses among people and/or animals/livestock? Jealous neighbors and women who use their magical powers is the most "reasonable" answer. And as we all know, you do not "suffer a witch".
But what if those metaphysical assumptions are wrong, that the sudden illnesses and deaths of family members and livestock are not due to supernatural causes but to poor nutrition, bad public hygiene, and related problems of poverty.How does one get that point across? Well, through education but there is a more pressing problem: witch hunts, that is, when groups of people get together to find, catch, and dispatch the witch and her colleagues. What to do about that? Well, the good news is there are things that can be done and the sisters are doing it for themselves. Women in certain areas of India have been organizing into "anti-witch hunts" which confront the groups that are out to stop witches and end their suffering of them. But don't take my word for it, there's published research on this very point. One popular media source on this is provide by the Science Daily website; see: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120904111846.htm Quoting from the article: |Witch hunts, she explained, are fueled by the tribal workers' |belief in the existence of witches and the desperate need of |this poor, illiterate population to make sense of rampant |diseases in villages with no doctors or medical facilities. |There are some 84 million tribal people in India, representing |about 8 percent of the country's population. | |In 2003, at a tea plantation in Jalpaiguri, five women were |tied up, tortured and killed after being falsely accused of |witchcraft in the death of a male villager who had suffered |from a stomach illness. | |Chaudhuri interviewed the villagers at length and found that |such attacks are often impulsive and that the "witch" is often |killed immediately. Widespread alcoholism is also a factor, |she found. See the article for how this is being dealt with. The original research report can be accessed here: http://mobilization.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,4,6;journal,1,50;linkingpublicationresults,1:119834,1 NOTE: The key point is that the anti-witch hunt program are part of a microloan program which helped to organize women into anti-witch hunt groups that confront the witch hunters. The above might be relevant when you cover spirituality, black magic, and exorcism in your courses. 1/2 ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=20218 or send a blank email to leave-20218-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
