This is topic Witchcraft Legally Recognized in Zimbabwe in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
 
Don't anger any Zimbabwean cattle herders...

Only just read about this, so i don't really have an opinion, except my initial reaction was: "Huh. cool!"

[ July 04, 2006, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Leonide ]
 
Posted by cheiros do ender (Member # 8849) on :
 
Oh good, that'll fix their economy.
 
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
 
I initiall read this title as Warcraft Legalized in Zimbabwe.
 
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
 
I'm confused. How could the old laws ban something, but make it illegal to accuse anyone of it?
quote:
In 1899, colonial settlers made it a crime to accuse someone of being a witch or wizard - wary of the witch hunts in Europe a few centuries earlier which saw many people burned at the stake after such accusations.

 
Posted by Gwen (Member # 9551) on :
 
Witchcraft itself isn't legalized, it's just legally recognized. It's no longer illegal to accuse someone of witchcraft.
From what I can tell from the article, witchcraft hasn't been illegal; now harming someone with it will be illegal. Much as, for instance, vehicular homicide is a special class of homicide.
I guess as long as they don't accept spectral evidence like Salem did, they probably won't have much trouble with witch-hunting.
I imagine harm-by-witchcraft would be an extremely difficult charge to prove. I mean, person A dislikes person B, someone sees person A attempting a spell, something bad happens to person B; unless you made the intent to cause harm the crime, only the fraction of cases in which what person A said would happen actually happened to person B, tried by a judge who believed in witchcraft, would be cleared.
*Valiantly tries to keep an open mind on this, with a disbelief in witchcraft.*
This would be a rather interesting Nation-States issue, wouldn't it?
 
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
 
Hmmm, you seem to be rather well-versed in this, Gwen. . .

SHE'S A WITCH! WITCH!

(here ends the first obligatory Python reference.)
 
Posted by Gwen (Member # 9551) on :
 
I'm not a witch! I'm not a witch! They dressed me up like this. And this isn't my nose. It's a false one.
 
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
 
She turned me into a newt!

...

...

...I got better.
 
Posted by dab (Member # 7847) on :
 
JESUS was a WITCH!
 


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