Why does it seem like the western culture does not have a problem with witchcraft beliefs?

Question

In Africa, to us, whichcraft or even suggesting to be a wiccan can get you in trouble...I am surprised at people on Y!Answers who freely ask of the wiccans websites and stuff...

In some African villages, witches have been stoned and even burned...though Christians were NOT involved in this.

To us Africans, whichcraft is not some nice religion...it is a serious murderous life where we know they steal children and cut their genitals alive to make what is called "muti"....and these witches can actually do miracles...this is no joke.

I have noticed in some western culture, being a wiccan is NOT really serious witchcraft.... but to Africans witches scream in our churches being burned by the Holy Spirit and demons speaking through them!

...In Africa, the debate is no longer

"Is there God or not?" because even non-Christians know that witchcraft could not be there if there was no spiritual world...therefore the existence of God is a not a question anymore.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT SOME PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK I AM TALKING ABOUT SOME ANCIENT STUFF...I'M TALKING RECENT STUFF!

You people who once involved yourselves in some kind of witchcraft , you think nothing happened to you because you made it well without any harm....but that is not how evil spirits work, they can enter you and use you without you knowing...You need to go for deliverance in any born-again Christian church that works with deliverance from curses!

Believe you me Satan is hidding behind those innocent looking cults in America...

Some of the demons we cast out are demons from countries like America...they confessed!

Children of God, please don't take occult religions for granted...PRAY AGAINST THEM!

TO BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS:

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH...
WE MUST BRING BACK SACRIFICE TO CHRISTIANITY...

THE WORK OF A CHILD OF GOD DOES NOT END IN JUST LOVING PEOPLE AND ARGUING ABOUT BIBLE SCRIPTURES, IT IS A SPIRITUAL ONE.

I KNOW THERE ARE REAL CHRISTIANS OUT THERE, BUT THEY NEED TO HELP FROM OTHER CHRISTIANS...WE NEED TO GO BACK TO EVERYDAY 12AM PRAYER OF WARFARE AGAINST WITCHCRAFT IN USA BEFORE IT GET WORSE LIKE IN AFRICA!

Answer 1

Well, in the West, we do not have witchcraft that really hurts other people like you described.

But, the US as a whole is not very accepting of it. It's not mainstream, so many people think it's creepy or somewhat evil. Some people are Christian, and they believe witchcraft is influenced by Satan, so they don't approve of it at all.

Answer 2

It's part of a communication problem. The term "Witch" can mean "An evil person who eats children and casts diabolic spells that cause harm to the village" or it can mean "someone who is a follower of Wicca, a generally harmless religion relating to the mother goddess"

Making the assumption that the latter is the former is just flat out a mistake, and I think that's what a lot of this problem is. People don't want to have to NOT make the assumption, because it's part of their world view.

Also: ever notice how the vast majority of responses to questions are just blatently offensive? I try and take all questions (stupid or otherwise) seriously, and answer with well thought out, logical answers. I don't just agree with people automatically though either... it's a shame the state of Yahoo answers. SHAME ON YOU ALL! But that's a totally unrelated topic...

Answer 3

First off, guys within the west can not marry multiple lady. Men in Islamic countries can. So you're mistaken there. And sure, the Islamic tradition entering the western tradition IS a significant deal since they're in opposition to close to the whole thing the west stands for. Islamic international locations deal with their ladies as moment magnificence residents (possibly scale down) and so they drive their faith on all people and maintain the commonplace public undder-knowledgeable. Also, they are going to actually KILL for his or her god. Remember approximately a yr or 2 in the past while that newspaper in Europe released a caricature drawing of the prophet Mohammed and the Muslims threw riots, burned structures, and killed nuns simply since of a drawing. They positioned their faith forward of fundamental human rights. This perverse ideoligy has no position in western tradition. Now i do know no longer all muslims are like this. Many are simply natural persons. But the others with their ruthless tradition must no longer be tolerated.

Answer 4

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. Wicca and witch are not the same word. Wicca is a religion, and though its believers do practive magic, they try not to hurt anyone. That can't be said of the witches you're talking about. I'll bet that in the places you're talking about, there are witches who do evil things, but there are also people who do good miracles who are called something else, right? well, in many Western countries, the person doing good magic will be called a witch, also.

Claiming to be a witch, even a good witch, in western society can still get you in trouble if you say it to the wrong people. We have complete freedom of religion in America, though, so all they can do is yell at you, or break the law and commit a hate crime against you, in which case, I wouldn't want to be them.

Answer 5

What a unique question!
Because here, most witches would NOT create muti from the severed testicles of a seven year old boy. We live by a creed that says that we shall do NO magick that will harm ANYONE (including ourselves), and that every thing we do comes back to us three fold. If we do an act of kindness, like give a homeless man a dollar, we will eventually get three dollars back, like a coupon for free ice cream. If we kill someone, we will die three times more horribly or suffer terrible deaths for the next three lives.
And we have the rule of law, so that we do not need to do such things to get justice in the world. For example, instead of cursing a woman's unborn child because it was fathered by your own husband, you divorce the man, and he pays you alimony and child support to his legitimate AND illegitimate offspring. In most tribal cultures, this is not the case. We also tend to give a lot more credit to coincidence than some African cultures.
Hope this makes sense to you, and may the Gods protect you from all evil!

Answer 6

The existence of god may not be a question to you, but it should be. It is possible to prove that the existence of God cannot either be proven or disproven.

As for witchcraft, things have changed greatly in the West since the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century. Now, witchcraft is recognized as an amusing but harmless indulgence, not to be taken seriously. It is in fact impossible to cast spells or do any of the other things that witches have historically been accused of doing, and this is understood throughout western society.

Answer 7

So that's why Blue Oyster Cult never booked a gig in Africa......

Seriously though, society in early America had HUGE and deadly problem with witchcraft and/or occultists: both of whom often found their painful end by public lynching or toasting alive by burning while tied to the log-stake. So those believers and praticitioniers of witchcraft kept such on the "down-low", discreetly.

But as American society evolved out of Puritan religious ignorance, so did the lethal punishments of those accused of Wiccan paganism, witchcraft or other occult practices.

Hope exists African society will also rise above such stubborn-headed fears of such and evolve to simply ignore people who pratice such things.

Answer 8

Well, I can only speak for myself...we (as Christians) are to have nothing to do with witchcraft. Black magic, voodoo, "white" witches, doesn't matter, witchcraft is witchcraft and no good can come of it.

Leviticus 19:26 "Never eat meat that has not been drained of its blood." Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft.

Deuteronomy 18:10 For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. [ Or never make your son or daughter pass through the fire.] And do not let your people practice fortune-telling or sorcery, or allow them to interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft

1 Samuel 15:23 Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft...

2 Chronicles 33:6 Manasseh even sacrificed his own sons in the fire [ Or even made his sons pass through the fire.] in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the LORD's sight, arousing his anger.

Revelation 21:8 But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars--their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."

Grace to you and God Bless!

Answer 9

I think you have a valid point there. Part of it is down to culture people on here don't know fear and play with things they don't truly understand. It is a distinct lack of knowledge and in some people's case a lack of respect. Having said that life is more brutal for alot of Africans so I would guess their fears and beliefs are much more about the here and now. What they've seen heard and felt in their immediate environment. Too many questions can lead to bad things, therefore belief in god is important as it gives hope in situations where it would seem hope had up and left.

Answer 10

Wicca is quite different from what is practised in Africa. There is no baby mutilation for example.

Even in Africa, mainstream practitioners of Yoruba and Vodun and related practices do so in a healthy way that doesn't affect outsiders. What you are doing is cursing entire religious practices (with deep historical roots) for the actions of a few cruel people. If Christians somewhere decide to kill a bunch of people in the name of Jesus, would that discredit Christianity? Would that justify the mass stoning and burning of all other Christians? Of course not.