Witch-doctors reveal extent of child sacrifice in Uganda

[Karmadillo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm

A BBC investigation into human sacrifice in Uganda has heard first-hand accounts which suggest ritual killings of children may be more common than authorities have acknowledged.

One witch-doctor led us to his secret shrine and said he had clients who regularly captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits.

Meanwhile, a former witch-doctor who now campaigns to end child sacrifice confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son.

The Ugandan government told us that human sacrifice is on the increase, and according to the head of the country's Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly.

In the course of our investigation we witnessed the ritual torching of the shrine of a particularly active witch-doctor in northern Uganda by anti-sacrifice campaigners.

The witch-doctor allowed ceremonial items including conch shells and animal skins to be burned in his sacred grove after agreeing to give up sacrifice.

He told us that clients had come to him in search of wealth.

"They capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood directly here to take to the spirits… They bring them in small tins and they place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming," he said.

more...

[Tunkamerica]

1. is this really so bad?

:sarcasm:

[MindPilot]

2. I find it absolutely astonishing that in the 21st century there exists

an "Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce". And horrifying that one needs to.

[proteus_lives]

6. Times change.

People don't.

[niceypoo]

15. Tribalism meets iPod

I work with a Kenyan. She tells me some really weird stories about growing up there. She says that in Nairobi where she lived people would go to cemeteries and dig up and remove bodies for use in rituals. She was once engaged to a man from a different tribe and was to go live with him in his village. Her grandmother warned her not to marry him because if the villages crops failed, she would be blamed and burned alive. She has a lot of stories like that.

[Marcus1]

20. An ill facilitated task force????

Hellos, I am living an working in Uganda but the anti- human sacrifice task force is faced with alot of challenges; namely poor facilitation. How do u expect the police to undertake investigations of such a secretively done practice on empty stomachs, without any vehicle and where do people think they get the skills to investigate this particular behaviour when they were given a holistic training? Someone must help.

[MindPilot]

24. Welcome to DU, but I gotta say "huh?"

I'm not criticizing the task force or the people in it, I'm just amazed that there is a need for its existence.

[dkf]

3. Looks like the glbt situation isn't the worst of it.

[MindPilot]

4. I wonder if the Family secretly approves of this.

They are all about the wealth.

[Maru Kitteh]

14. I think it's very self-centric for you to make that jump.

As though they and all the world are experienced through your eyes and feelings and your concerns.

ETA: Show some class and realize this issue is far and above your petty post.

[MindPilot]

19. I'm sorry but I dont understand what you are scolding me for.

The Family members engineered the death penalty for gays legislation in Uganda, and only backed away from it when it became public.

The Family's theology is focused on wealth creation; anything goes if god has chosen you to be rich.

It's not much of a leap to think they might at the very least be supportive with their silence.

[eShirl]

26. Even if you disagree, I fail to see how that post is "self-centric?"

:shrug:

[winyanstaz]

5. As I have stated before...those that are called witch doctors today are NOT witches...

A true "witch" lives by the rule. ..HARM NONE...
and this includes the self.

Those that practice the dark arts are Satanists, Warlocks, evil doers and black magic practitioners..and are NOT a true witch at all.
They may call themselves by the name of Witch..but they are NOT.
The original witches were Healers, Midwives, Prophets, Herbalists and Psychics.
It pisses me off that the ancient name of witch has been so maligned through the ages by the ignorant and the lying propaganda of the Christians. In ignorance it is used to slander and malign by the uninformed.
Then when people have had enough of the evil doers..the good witch is often thrown in with the black magic practitioners and are killed etc.
No wonder the good witch must hide or change the name they are known by.
It is a great loss to the world..much more than many will ever realize.

[starroute]

9. Witch doctors aren't supposed to do this stuff either

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft

In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic. The thakathi is usually improperly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others. The sangoma is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also practices some degree of medicine. The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of malicious magic). The inyanga's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use.


http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_afri.htm

In that part of Africa south of the Sahara desert, and in parts of Asia, the terms Witch and Witchcraft have multiple, conflicting, and largely unrelated meanings:

* Early Christian missionaries in Africa used these terms to refer to individuals who are believed to intentionally use "incantations, ritual, and various substances" to mount psychic attacks against other people. The latter were believed to direct destructive black magic in the direction of their victims. These individuals are called umthakathi among the Zulu and moloi among the Sotho. "Evil sorcerer" or "evil sorceress" would be a preferred term to use. Unfortunately, they are often referred to simply as "Witches."

* Followers of many African Aboriginal religions use the terms witch and witchcraft to refer to individuals who are believed to have the potential to harm others through psychic means. They are believed to be unaware of their evil powers. Witchcraft is not something that they learn; they are perceived as having been born with magical abilities to harm others. Witch Doctors are spiritual specialists who attempt to counteract the powers of the witches.

[winyanstaz]

12. thank you for that clarification.

:)
I agree with that.

[Tunkamerica]

10. Um, no one is confusing the two. Both have very distinct

stereotypes that have nothing to do with each other.

That's like saying people are confusing heads with headhunters.

[winyanstaz]

11. I said that because they are killing "witches" there ...

Yes they are distinct from each other..thank you for knowing that.
I wrote the post for those that dont know the difference.

[MilesColtrane]

7. ..."captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits. "

Sounds like Cheney's been seeing the world since his retirement.

[xchrom]

8. Kidnapping or capturing an

Unsuspecting child -- what do you have to do
to collect the blood? -- string them up.

Horrifying.

[Zhade]

13. This is how religion -- and the belief in unsupported magical thinking -- KILLS.

NT!

[Maru Kitteh]

16. no. this is how humans kill. The "enlightened" atheists of history have their own

millions of quarts of blood on their hands.

It is human nature.

[sudopod]

17. But no one ever started a war FOR atheism.

Atheism has been a part of some nasty memeplexes, but it's a side dish, not the main course. No one ever yelled "For DARWIN!!!" and speared some poor son-of-a-bitch.

[Maru Kitteh]

18. try again.

All wars are about power and commerce.

The very first great civilization of man was founded by war and brutality and accomplished it's means by usurping the faith of the peoples and replacing it with an atheistic system that revered discipline and wisdom.

Belief in Gods, and the interruption of those beliefs, is for kingdoms like a shovel or a dollar or an ox.

[sudopod]

32. What?

Is there a date and location attached to this epic event?

[Odin2005]

23. That's a lie. Nobody killed anyone in the name of Atheism.

[eShirl]

27. No, it's how humans misguided by magical thinking into killing, kill.

[MindPilot]

21. +10000

Sometimes I can't help but think we non-believers are just a little higher in the evolutionary tree. The only other explanation is that this not really our home planet.

[Odin2005]

22. Uganda is in first place in Africa's descent into the Dark Ages.

Killing gay people, sacrificing kids...

[AngryAmish]

31. Unfortunately, it is not

Equitorial Guinea, now that is a real shithole. The current and previous rulers are/were cannibals.

Uganda never left the Dark Ages.

[LeftishBrit]

25. Horrifying

[lonestarnot]

28. Fucking A.

[dugaresa]

29. the practices described in the article are horrifying

[Bluenorthwest]

30. And yet another story of glorious Uganda

Superstition ain't the way..........

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. OMG!

[brendan120678]

34. I know that this is a serious story, but...

whenever I read the word "witch-doctor," one phrase pops into my head over and over...
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"Ooh-ee-ooh-ah-ah, ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang!"

[MindPilot]

35. I know it's against the DU rules...

But I'm coming after you and I'm bringing that damn earworm with me. :spank:

[brendan120678]

36. Hah...sorry about that!! (nt)