Cherished beliefs

There is a belief in Africa (possibly in other parts of the world too) that children can cause harm to their parents and neighbors using supernatural powers.  People who suspect a child of causing harm with supernatural powers punish the child.  Machetes sometimes feature.  So does acid, drowning, beatings, starvation and burnings.

Some people offer exorcism services to drive the evil spirits out of the children.  Which, it turns out, in addition to being very expensive, also feature machetes, acid, beatings and starvation.

The Independent has an article.
So does the New York Times.
So does CNN
And MSNBC

Of course, suggesting that the supernatural doesn't exist, or that the idea that anyone, much less a child, could cause harm by supernatural means is bollocks, would be mockery.  And some believers resent that rudeness and attack skeptics physically.

Part of the problem here is that well-respected individuals often share these evidence-free beliefs.  Even senior police officers may genuinely believe in witchcraft, leaving the children, and the skeptics who would like to protect them, with nowhere to turn.

So when you're mad at skeptics, because the evidence for a cherished belief some people hold isn't strong enough to convince them yet, remember that a little skepticism can prevent a lot of harm, and that having someone say something that makes you think they think you are dumb when you're not is pretty small potatoes in the larger scheme of things.

I owe an apology

to Smallship1.

I overreacted to something that wasn't even what he said.  I would not ordinarily be pleased about that, but something else concerns me more.

That is that, in the process, I gave the impression that I thought he was someone very different from himself.

I didn't bring up the persecution of child-witches in Africa because I thought he would approve of it.  I thought--think--that he hates it as much as anyone and would do everything in his power to rescue those children if he were able.  I did not intend to compare him to the persecutors, though I can see how I gave that impression.  I am heartily sorry, and would like to set the record straight.  He drives me frigging crazy sometimes, but he is not the slightest bit like that.