My friend told me that witchcraft is still technically listed as a crime in some States?

Question

Is this true? I thought that this sounded crazy! I mean how on earth could you charge/prosecute them. Thanks for responding.

Answer 1

probably, but you have to know that there's a lot of laws that are no longer followed & are just plain silly sometimes. such as:

It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.
A person may not cross state lines with a duck atop his head.
A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket.
Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 P.
One may not bathe without wearing "suitable clothing,"

etc

Answer 2

I'm Canadian, so I don't know much about the laws stateside, but I suppose it's possible that there are still anti-witchcraft laws on the books somewhere down south.

Keep in mind, though, that most such laws are/were actually anti-fortune telling laws, not laws against the practice of witchcraft per se. Witchcraft is a technique of sympathetic magic which, like prayer, is practiced in a wide variety of religions.

Wicca, one of the religions in which witchcraft is practiced, is legally recognized as a religion in the US and is protected under the mantle of freedom of religion.

Here is an article on the legal status of Neo-Paganism in Canada:

http://www.wcc.on.ca/legal.html

And here are some links if you want more information on Wicca itself.

A relatively objective (non-Wiccan) set of articles on what Wiccans do and believe (including some points about legal issues and Wicca):

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

Another useful article:

http://www.religionfacts.com/neopaganism/paths/wicca.htm

A good site by Wiccans:

http://wicca.timerift.net

And the US Army Chaplains Handbook excerpt on Wicca:

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

Answer 3

Wicca is a religion just like any other religion. The practice of Witchcraft is protected under the constitution as is any other religious practice. There may be laws in some areas on the books but cannot be enforced.

Answer 4

There are many strange laws still on the books, in Atlanta you still can't tie a girafe to a street light pole.

So could it be, yes but just like many old laws no longer infoced or even laws found unconstitutional but not taken off the books yet.

Answer 5

I would think that witchcraft is illegal only when it involves sacrifices of some kind. Animal cruelty is a major problem with people who practice witchcraft. This is the only problem I see though. I don't know much about witchcraft, but I'm sure there are things you could try without killing anything.

Answer 6

Go on line and look up outdated laws. Some states still have a lot of outdated laws. Such as cheating on your spouse, having sex in a position other than missionary. In some states it is still against the law to have sex with the same sex. This is just a silly example but so very true.

Answer 7

There are a lot of antiquated laws still on the books in a lot of places.

Here's a link to a few odd ones.
http://www.legalzoom.com/articles/article_content/article13758.html

Found a NY Times article about a teacher suing the school district for being accused of being a witch after teaching it to students.
http://religion.netscape.com/story/2007/03/12/ex-teacher-suing-li-school-district-says-she-was-accused-of-witchcraft/

Answer 8

It might be some old debunked law...there are a lot of laws like that. But if you are into witchcraft Wicca, or any Pegan religion I'd check and make sure it's not outlawed.

Answer 9

there are a lot of old rules still on the books - such as sodomy - homosexuality -

in general they are there because no one has taken the time to remove them - or challange them

Answer 10

This might be true, however, it would be unconstitutional... because we have total freedom of religion here.