While we’re sensitive to the fact that millions of people trust folk cures more than modern remedies, stories like this one make us question whether shamanism deserves to survive in the post-antibiotics age: A couple in Samoa ,who perform traditional healing, have been found guilty of causing actual bodily harm, but had charges of manslaughter [...]
Entries Tagged as 'witchcraft'
First, Do No Harm
April 28th, 2010 · No Comments
Tags:medicine·pseudoscience·public health·Samoa·South Africa·witchcraft
Spellbound
April 26th, 2010 · 3 Comments
True, some small measure of sanity may soon prevail in Saudi Arabia, where a Lebanese man convicted of witchcraft seems increasingly likely to escape execution. But the anti-sorcery sentiment remains strong in the Persian Gulf, where Bahrain looks set to join the House of Saud in outlawing the dark arts. Could this be a sign [...]
The Gulag-Free Archipelago
December 1st, 2009 · 4 Comments
Upon being presented with the map above, the first question that pops to most minds is, “Why is the incarceration rate in the United States so absurdly high?” But given our proclivity for the esoteric, we now find ourselves wondering, “Why is the incarceration rate in Indonesia so darn low?” There is certainly no single, [...]
Tags:crime·Indonesia·law·prisons·witchcraft
