Exorcism mania breeds child abuse

[emad]

June 05, 2005

Sunday Times
The child ‘witch’ case is part of a frightening new cultism among African immigrants, writes Richard Hoskins, an expert witness



MR AGBO, a community warden, spotted her; a young girl shivering on the steps outside a dreary apartment block in Hackney, east London. She was barefoot, scantily clad and painfully thin. There were bruises and a large swelling on her forehead. Her eyes were inflamed, red and weeping.

What emerged over the next weeks as the police gently interviewed her was a shocking tale of abuse and torture by her “mother” and two other adults. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been systematically beaten and cut with a knife.

Chilli peppers had been rubbed in her eyes. She had been tied up in a sack for days. They had threatened to throw her off the third-floor balcony or drown her in a nearby canal. Finally they had booted her out.

In their minds there was good reason for behaving in this way: the child was a witch. The torture was intended to exorcise the evil from her. Failing that, she and the evil spirit she harboured would be killed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1641295,00.html

[Syncronaut Seven]

1. Happens here

Just without the ritual.

[NMMNG]

2. Happens here *with* the ritual

One of the mentally ill adults I work with grew up with parents who are part of a "charismatic" religion. They believe there is a "spirit" for everything bad or sinful--ie, a "spirit" of smoking, a "spirit" of drinking, a "spirit" of mental illness, etc.

Therefore, when their son began showing signs of mental illness around 9 years old they had their pastor perform an exorcism on him! He is so traumatized to this day that he obsesses on God hating him, wanting him to go to hell, etc.

This crap is child abuse, plain and simple.

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. I stand corrected

I am utterly shocked by the level of child abuse that occurs in this"civilized" nation of ours.

The desperation of poverty and alcohol abuse are also big factors here in the good old USA. Strangely these factors seem to intertwine tightly with the Fundy existence.

No real point in my reply, just a profound sense of sadness and disgust.

[PA Democrat]

4. Autistic boy suffocated during exorcism

How sick is this story?

Medical examiner: Autistic boy suffocated during exorcism

By Lisa Sweetingham
Court TV
MILWAUKEE — The forensic pathologist who autopsied an 8-year-old autistic child hours after he was killed during an exorcism told jurors Wednesday the boy died from asphyxiation due to intense pressure on his chest — not from medication he was taking.

Minister Ray Hemphill, 47, who prayed and sang over Terrance Cottrell's chest as parishioners held him down Aug. 22, 2003, stands trial for felony physical child abuse. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.


http://www.courttv.com/trials/exorcist/070704_ctv.html

[bobthedrummer]

5. It happens here. To the point of death even as a recent case in Milwaukee

proved. Fundamentalist Christian and Pagans working together:wtf:
We've gone from John Ashcroft to Alberto Gonzalez, The Witchfinder to The Inquisitor.:scared:
These people believe that God put George W. Bush in the White House, plus they've been penetrated by a foreign intelligence service.
:nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke:

[FreedomAngel82]

6. This is disgusting

:mad: That poor child.