15AR20-08

Apologia Report 20:8 (1,237)

February 25, 2015

Subject: Clarifying "witchcraft" in the southern hemisphere

In this issue:

ATHEISM - leading anti-supernaturalist organizations merge

ISLAM - Pakistan, religious schools and "the long-standing issue of soaring religious intolerance"

POLYTHEISM - an argument for religious pluralism and a postmodern response to "a society dominated by monotheism"

WITCHCRAFT - asking missiologists and missions studies to "catch up with ... acute, long-neglected spiritual and pastoral issues" in the developing world

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ATHEISM

The mailing wrapper for the March/April 2015 issue of Skeptical Inquirer announces that "The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) Inc., publisher of Skeptical Inquirer magazine, has merged with the Center for Inquiry Inc. and with the Council for Secular Humanism Inc., publisher of Free Inquiry magazine." However, CSI has yet to mention the change on its website.

While the Center for Inquiry has more details on its website <www.goo.gl/rzlbjq>, we have not been able to learn if the aforementioned magazines will merge or be subject to any other changes as a result of their parent organizations' merger.

The announcement ends with these words: "Skeptical Inquirer is now published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry."

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ISLAM

"Pakistan struggles with how to regulate religious schools" by Naveed Ahmad -- noting the murder of 134 children in a Peshawar school in late 2014 by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP, a group distinct from the Afghan Taliban), Ahmad reports that the terrorists "are assumed to be graduates of some of the country's many madaris (plural of madrassa in Arabic) who wanted revenge for the Pakistani army's ongoing military operations in Waziristan. The Peshawar school served the children of army officers. ...

"After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, religious seminaries proliferated in Pakistan with the aim of preparing foot soldiers, or mujahideen, to fight the communists. With assistance from the United States, the growth of these religious schools went unchecked as Pakistanis and youth from other Muslim countries enrolled alongside the Afghans.

"But there was no governmental oversight on the seminaries' curricula and funding sources, and in 1996, prime minister Benazir Bhutto discontinued a requirement that new schools register with the state. The decision led to the mushrooming of unregistered seminaries with a narrow Islamist bent.

"Pakistani law defines religious seminaries as institutions providing boarding and lodging. ...

"Each year, some 200,000 youth graduate from more than 26,000 religious schools, according to the ministry of religious affairs." Arif Rafiq, an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute <mei.edu> in Washington, D.C., who studies sectarian violence in Pakistan has found that "not all seminaries produce terrorists. And, indeed, many seminaries have opted to provide science, math, computer, and English-language lessons alongside religious instruction. ...

"While the public mood in Pakistan is ripe for introspection and course correction at the state level, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has yet to address the long-standing issue of soaring religious intolerance." Christian Century, Jan 21 '15, p16. <www.goo.gl/WCfMo5> Note: In March of 2014, Aljazeera reported that the nation's "first 'National Internal Security Policy'…plans to bring all 22,000 of the country's seminaries under its control within a year." See <www.goo.gl/ljgFrp>

For a recent description of the schools' role in radicalizing Pakistani youth, see "Behind the Walls of Pakistan's Most Religious Madrassas" by Kira Brekke in Huffington Post, Jan 30 '15 <www.goo.gl/4hYezT>

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POLYTHEISM

A Million and One Gods: The Persistence of Polytheism, by Page duBois [1] -- Jeffrey R. Asher, Georgetown College, writes: "Although Western culture is extremely prejudiced against the worship of many gods, duBois (classics and comparative literature, Univ. of California, San Diego) argues that polytheism is actually normative and historically the most common way to relate to the divine. Polytheism remains a strong force throughout the modern world, even in the West. As evidence, duBois notes that the label of and prejudice against polytheism are the product of Western Christian intellectualism (chapter 1). These negative connotations are not evidenced in the religious environment of the Greco-Roman world (chapter 2), and monotheism itself possesses elements of divine pluralism (chapter 3). In chapter 4, the author shows that, historically, polytheism was associated with democracy and resistance to oppression whereas monotheism served monarchy. She concludes that people live in a pluralistic world, as evidenced by the wide variety of religious traditions encountered in her native California. Perhaps the purpose of the work is to argue that room should be made in a society dominated by monotheism for this diversity and worship of many gods. This volume is an argument for and celebration of religious pluralism and a postmodern response to classical Western religious traditions." Choice, Jan '15, n.p.

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WITCHCRAFT

We have noted a large (and growing) disparity in how the word "witchcraft" is defined that seems to be determined by the hemisphere in which the activity takes place. The January 2015 issue of International Bulletin of Missionary Research has "Witchcraft and Mission Studies" as its theme. Senior Editor J. Nelson Jennings introduces this issue by explaining that "challenges presented by witchcraft and witch accusations have long been urgent concerns of countless Christian communities worldwide. Even so, the reality of witchcraft has escaped the notice of most missiologists and mission studies." Jennings adds that "witchcraft-related activities - including violent witch hunts directed toward women and children - stubbornly plague Christian communities all around the world. Missiologists must catch up with these acute, long-neglected spiritual and pastoral issues. ...

"The articles about witchcraft in this IBMR issue, which consider biblical, theological, anthropological, sociological, historical, and pastoral aspects of the subject, beckon us to accept the challenge and stride ahead." Articles focus on areas such as northern Peru, Papua New Guinea, and West Africa. The cover page includes the illustration of a 1692 witchcraft trial which took place Salem, Massachusetts. The irrational, superstitious fear which the illustration depicts may remind readers of the crazed witch hunts going on in the southern hemisphere today. However, what one sees in Africa (and elsewhere) is typically a form of mob violence without the niceties that normally characterize a "trial."

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - A Million and One Gods: The Persistence of Polytheism, by Page duBois (Harvard Univ Prs, 2014, hardcover, 208 pages) <www.goo.gl/SvjZbK>

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