Ethics

Palin and Witchcraft

By Ed Brayton

Alan Borass, an anthropology professor from Kenai Peninsula College, has an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News about Palin and the language of witchcraft used by those in her church, especially Kenyan Pastor Thomas Muthee. He notes that such language has serious meaning in Muthee's homeland:

In pre-colonial central Africa witches were a metaphor of instability, so to be accused of witchcraft meant the individual was somehow threatening to the social order. African witchcraft took on a similar meaning after missionaries arrived. In rural areas today social progressives are sometimes labeled witches and their accusers are often fundamentalists who hold to traditional tribal practices and reject progressive gender roles and acceptance of modernity. Witchcraft is taken quite seriously; in May of this year 11 people were burned as witches in rural Kenya. One of those killed was a teacher who represented the influence of modernity to villages.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on October 28, 2008 (boomark / email).