Quote from: Rev.Cambeul.PM on Fri 30 Jul 2010
Britain's Witch Children
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-67/episode-1 (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-67/episode-1)
Dispatches goes undercover in some African churches in the UK, where evangelical pastors perpetuate a strong belief in witchcraft. They preach that some people are possessed by evil spirits, and that these spirits bring bad luck into the lives of others.
The only way to rid the possessed from the witchcraft spell and lift their curse is to 'deliver' them: a kind of exorcism that can be very traumatic. Some pastors charge significant sums of money to perform these deliverances.
Often it is children who are denounced as witches by these pastors, and this labelling can lead to the physical and emotional abuse of those children at the hands of their families. In extreme cases it has led to the deaths of some children.
In parts of Africa, branding a child a witch is now outlawed, but in Britain this practise is perfectly legal, despite the fact it can have horrific consequences.
Dispatches reveals just what goes on behind closed doors in these African churches, exposing the pastors who exploit the religious beliefs of the most vulnerable.
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2013/08/16/323926_ntnews.html (http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2013/08/16/323926_ntnews.html)
A 300-YEAR-OLD law that criminalises witchcraft, tarot card reading and sorcery is still technically operating in the Northern Territory - but not for long.Attorney-General John Elferink said he "laughed out loud" when he stumbled across the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which punishes people with up to one year in prison.
If convicted, prisoners can then expect to be hauled out every three months and taken to the town market place to be publicly humiliated in the pillory - a wooden block with holes to trap the offender's head and hands.
Mr Elferink said the Witchcraft Act was one of many outdated laws the Government planned to repeal.
"It falls outside the gamut of modern sentencing," he said. "It's just a quirk that it is still operational law."
Mr Elferink said the Witchcraft Act predated European settlement in Australia but was passed on along with many ancient British laws. It has already been repealed in England and many other jurisdictions.
"It appears that this one has slipped through the cracks (in the Territory)," he said.
Mr Elferink said the Act had initially been set up to protect consumers and had replaced the 1563 version that allowed for witches to be burnt at the stake.
But he "did not anticipate" any prosecutions in the future. Repealing the law would give Darwin's spiritual community some peace of mind.
"I believe we have very fine and law-abiding tarot readers who would be fairly horrified to find out they've committed an offence that would see them pilloried on market day," he said.
Mr Elferink said it was uncommon to find such an outdated law still in operation.