Saving Africa's Witch Children

I wanted to share this link to a remarkable documentary I watched recently: Saving Africa's Witch Children.

This moving film chronicles the lives of children in Nigeria who have been designated as "witches", becoming scapegoats for a variety of misfortunes that befall their families and villages. At best, the children--betrayed by local religious leaders--are cast out at ages as young as 2, 3, 4 or 5 to fend for themselves. Worse, many are crippled or maimed in attempts to kill them or exorcise the demons by drowning, beating, lighting them on fire, burying them alive or other horrific acts. The saddest part is that some of the afflictions tormenting the villages and families are untimely deaths, health issues, and loss of crops which may,in fact, be attributable to toxicity/oil spill waste from decades of drilling in the region.

Case in point: Pentecostal preacher Helen Ukpabio who calls herself Christendom’s first “lady apostle,”draws thousands to her revival meetings in Nigeria. In her book "Unveiling the Mysteries of Witchraft (see link to the NY Times article below) she confidently writes that “if a child under the age of 2 screams in the night, cries and is always feverish with deteriorating health, he or she is a servant of Satan.”

In the documentary, one charity, Stepping Stones Nigeria headed by a young Englishman Gary Foxxworth who went to do fieldwork and ended up staying to try and help, attempts to reunite the children with their families with varying degrees of success. It's a disturbing and thought-provoking film. You can watch it in its entirely online. I would love to hear your comments if you do--it has affected me deeply.

Here is a link to an article in the NYTimes from May 2010 on Pentecostal preacher who has had a hand in pointing the finger: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/us/22beliefs.html

Here is an 8 minute excerpt of the video--all I could find online, though it may be available on demand on HBO. (Pleae let us know if you find the whole thing somewhere): http://youtu.be/d82BKZhPPVE

Thanks for weighing in on this, Ed. The scapegoat archetype shows up clearly in many historical events--obvious examples including the Inquisition and witchhunts which took place in many cultures. I am struck how it is usually linked to politics--and ultimately to power.

Even in contemporary U.S. society its clear how quickly that scapegoat archetype arises, particularly when things don't go smoothly. I'm still thinking about how quick many of us are--myself included--to point the finger and judge those who commit crimes in our society. And while individuals like Jarod Loughner (who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords), Unabomber Ted Kaczynski (now under preliminary investigation in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings), and Bernie Madoff with his incredible financial scheming ARE all criminals, it is critical to keep in mind that we are all living in and contributing to a system--a society--that engenders and spawns these kinds of behaviors. The scapegoat archetype is a very slippery and tricky one--deeply steeped in shadow....

Replies

Bonnie Bright May 21, 2011 at 12:28pm

Thanks for weighing in on this, Ed. The scapegoat archetype shows up clearly in many historical events--obvious examples including the Inquisition and witchhunts which took place in many cultures. I am struck how it is usually linked to politics--and ultimately to power.

Even in contemporary U.S. society its clear how quickly that scapegoat archetype arises, particularly when things don't go smoothly. I'm still thinking about how quick many of us are--myself included--to point the finger and judge those who commit crimes in our society. And while individuals like Jarod Loughner (who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords), Unabomber Ted Kaczynski (now under preliminary investigation in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings), and Bernie Madoff with his incredible financial scheming ARE all criminals, it is critical to keep in mind that we are all living in and contributing to a system--a society--that engenders and spawns these kinds of behaviors. The scapegoat archetype is a very slippery and tricky one--deeply steeped in shadow....
Ed Koffenberger May 20, 2011 at 8:49am

The connected videos in Youtube demonstrate that any fear-based understanding of religion can turn deadly to those who have the scapegoat archetype projected upon them.

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