Churches involved in torture, murder of thousands of African children denounced as witches EKET, Nigeria (AP) — The nine-year-old boy lay on a bloodstained hospital sheet crawling with ants, staring blindly at the wall. His family pastor had accused him of being a witch, and his father then tried to force acid down his throat as an exorcism. It spilled as he struggled, burning away his face and eyes. The emaciated boy barely had strength left to whisper the name of the church that had denounced him — Mount Zion Lighthouse. A month later, he died. Nwanaokwo Edet was one of an increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of "witch children" reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files. Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." "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. For their part, the families are often extremely poor, and sometimes even relieved to have one less mouth to feed. Poverty, conflict and poor education lay the foundation for accusations, which are then triggered by the death of a relative, the loss of a job or the denunciation of a pastor on the make, said Martin Dawes, a spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund. "When communities come under pressure, they look for scapegoats," he said. "It plays into traditional beliefs that someone is responsible for a negative change ... and children are defenseless." Full Story
yeah i heard about this years ago, these people call themselves Christians, murder a bunch of people and the media then presents it as something Christians did. anyway, your actions will show who you are
agreed .. i have seem so much bloodshed from christianity to muslim .. religion supposedly to provide moral balance and promote peace .. not hate and killing .. just plain WRONG.
^a decent book/play to read, I danced for the Devil~I wrote in his book~.. the movie hmmm witches witchcraft f those shit
no education doesn't necessarily mean anything...look at the people using religion as an excuse for terrorism..the holy books of each religion state how suicide is one of the worst sins you can commit since life is supposed to be a gift..there's no virgins or any reward it's just people twisting religion for the purpose of support and power...in a society with better education/economy, it could just mean that people can cover it up better. power and money make the world go round and religion has lots of both. just look at the pope, he lives like a king with more security than the president.
Whats the difference between a Christian and someone who calls themself a Christian? I have no doubt that these people sincerely believe they are doing the work of God as interpreted through the Christian religious ethos. You say their actions will show what they really are... but if you went back a few hundred years, Christians were burning random people as witches left and right, and in those days it was a-ok. The bible hasn't changed to my knowledge... unless God came down at some point and rewrote the text in the last hundred years or so and I missed the news. The only thing that is different from a Christian today and a Christian 800 years ago is that now we look at murder due to Religious belief to be misguided... People love smiting one another in the name of God... Catholicism and Christianity have moved on a little, but just look at the more radical sects of Islam. Everyone they murder can be justified in the name of their Jihad and the name of God. Religious people say the world is a better place because of Religion. By fearing God you can become a better person, but in my mind, God is just a crutch. You don't need God to be ethical and moral, you need a good upbringing with solid home values. You don't need parents who say, 'Do this or you'll go to hell', you need parents who say, 'do this and you'll become a better person. People will respect you and treat you better and look up to you.'. Right and wrong aren't dictated, they are feelings.
The same as the difference between a real Ferrari and a mr2 with a kit and fake badge on it and evidently such people have been around since the beginning as you noted :mad: buy hey, there is nothing new under the sun. Im sure you can figure what thats saying -smart you would be forgiven for thinking that verse would stop people from doing such things but most professing Christians dont read the bible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :tear::tear::tear::tear::tear:
