Suing those who protest against barbarism towards children in Africa

There are few people on this planet who are as completely and unrepentantly disgusting and, to use the keyword at hand, evil, as those who would gladly impart extreme pain, torture and suffering unto an innocent child, often leading to the child’s death, out of pure superstitious bullshit. I’ve written on the subject of the atrocities of beliefs in witchcraft in Africa before; the subject still leaves me faintly sick. But what truly elevates my feelings of horror into pure black hatred and fury, is that – of fucking course – this is all condoned and sponsored by religion; specifically, Christianity.

Christian love, yes?

Anyway. The Center for Inquiry has long been trying to campaign against the inhumanity of witch-hunting in Africa, particularly in hellholes such as Nigeria, only to be met with staunch resistance and violence. Naturally, seeing as their practices of barbarism are backed by religion, they are therefore “righteous” and must stand up against dissent and anyone telling them how monstrous what they’re doing is. The CfI’s representative in Nigeria is Leo Igwe, who’s already been met with much violence in the past. And now, to top it all off, he’s being sued – by a witch hunter, Helen Ukpabio, the pastor of the horribly ironically named Liberty Gospel Church in Nigeria. See just how fucking insane this stuff is; details below.

The complaint filed by Ukpabio essentially alleges religious discrimination on the part of Igwe, who has been a tireless, vocal critic of Ukpabio’s claim that many of Nigeria's children and women are witches. “Ukpabio has repeatedly targeted and persecuted the most vulnerable members of society. She is the one who should face justice and answer for her crimes,” said Igwe. “She should be ready to pay damages to the thousands of children who have been tortured, traumatized, abused and abandoned as a result of her misguided ministry.” Igwe said that many homes and households across Nigeria have been damaged by Ukpabio’s witchcraft schemes and other questionable activities.

The suit, scheduled for a hearing on Dec.17, is seeking an injunction preventing Igwe and other humanist groups from holding seminars or workshops aimed at raising consciousness about the dangers associated with the religious belief in witchcraft. The suit aims to erect a legal barrier against rationalist or humanist groups who might criticize, denounce or otherwise interfere with their practice of Christianity and their “deliverance” of people supposedly suffering from possession of an “evil or witchcraft spirit.” The suit also seeks to prevent law enforcement from arresting or detaining any member of the Liberty Gospel Church for performing or engaging in what they say are constitutionally protected religious activities. These activities include the burning of three children, ages 3 through 6, with fire and hot water, as reported by James Ibor of the Basic Rights Counsel in Nigeria on August 24, 2009. The parents believed their children were witches.

Ukpabio is seeking damages of 200 billion Nigerian Naira, more than $1.3 billion, for supposedly unlawful and unconstitutional infringement on her rights to belief in “God, Satan, witchcraft, Heaven and Hell fire” and for the alleged unlawful and unconstitutional detention of two members of her church.

You’ve read that right – Nigeria’s constitution actually protects religious activities such as burning children for being mistaken as witches.

I wonder how they’re able to detect witchcraft in 3-to-6-year-olds. Maybe by listening to difference in their voices as they scream in pain and for help that will most likely never come … Or, by discovering telltale marks that appear on their bodies, disregarding the fact that said marks coincidentally appear right where they were burned and tortured.

As you can expect, Ukpabio’s claim is a dumb one. No-one is infringing on her rights to believe in any of the horrendous, seriously fucked-up moneymaking bullshit she subscribes to. She can believe in whatever she wants. But the line is drawn at using her beliefs to A) create incredible suffering upon innocent people, B) end the lives of innocent people, and most of all, C) make money off the backs of credulous innocent people she tortures and kills.

As Ed Brayton notes, we should be glad that our own fundamentalists are only about half as insane as these witch-hunting fuckers in Africa. Unfortunately, I see little to rejoice about. They’re still insane, and I believe it’s a safe bet that only the current societal tides of anti-barbarism prevent them from engaging in such inhumane practices as witch-hunters in Africa.

Let’s hope it keeps that way.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)
Technorati tags: Center for Inquiry · Africa · witchcraft · witch hunters · religion · Christianity · children · Nigeria