The_Banker
Registered User
- Messages
- 342
We live in a crazy world
- Thread starter The_Banker
- Start date
What would you expect from a country that bans red roses 
How am I gonna fill up my petrol tank if them Arabs don't sell me some of that oil they got so my petrodollars can be used to spread their ultra-conservative Wahhabism from Saudi Arabia into other Muslim countries which helped brainwash 15 of their kamikaze kin into flying planes into buildings and then we could blame and invade their neighbours in Iraq and get our hands on some more of their oil.
And only 64 years behind the UK (although "only" 9 months in the clink rather than a death sentence in that case).
They probably thought the same about us in Mesopotamia when it was the cradle of civilisation.
Z
z104
Guest
Somebody needs to open a mcdonalds there soon.
They're already there, Starbucks and Burger King too
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:McDonaldsWorldLocations.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NewStarbucks.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Burger_king_world_locations.PNG
At a different level we can think of witch-hunts as the human tendency to blame problems on some identifiable group.
In fact "witch-hunt" word usage doesn't necessarily refer to gender or witchcraft at all anymore.
We in the "western" world have had plenty of witchhunts and attempts at witchhunts since the Salem days. Think of Hitler and the Jews or more recently Christopher Hitchen's drunken attempts to get one going, e.g. in the subtitle of his book:
"How Religion Poisons Everything"
Witches in the past were often accused of being knowledgeable in the art of poisons and of poisoning the water supply.
In fact "witch-hunt" word usage doesn't necessarily refer to gender or witchcraft at all anymore.
We in the "western" world have had plenty of witchhunts and attempts at witchhunts since the Salem days. Think of Hitler and the Jews or more recently Christopher Hitchen's drunken attempts to get one going, e.g. in the subtitle of his book:
"How Religion Poisons Everything"
Witches in the past were often accused of being knowledgeable in the art of poisons and of poisoning the water supply.
Sylvester3
Registered User
- Messages
- 300
That was an interesting article Clubman, but did you read it? The act she was actually sentenced under was to do with fraudulent activity - to stop people from falsely claiming to be able to be able to "procure spirits". This reminds me of the thread on fortune telling, actually....
Yes - but she was charged under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 which is why I thought that it was pertinent. I don't see any parallels with the other thread myself.
Sylvester3
Registered User
- Messages
- 300
There was a discussion in the thread on fortune telling about whether laws should be created/used to prevent gullible people/fools/morons etc from being taken in by fraudsters that use 'unexplained phenomena' (i.e. astrology,palmistry,crystal balls). I would class being a medium and raising the dead to foretell the future/part the veil etc as pretty much falling under the same category. You must remember it - in that thread you fell into the "No" camp, saying that grown adults should be free to be taken for a ride if they want to believe in such nonsense. (I'm being pretty fast and loose with my quotes here, but I'm sure that was the gist of it)
Yes - so what?
Sylvester3
Registered User
- Messages
- 300
So what? Do I really have to spell it out? So the article about the law against Witchcraft, which was really about banning fraudulant activities based on a belief in the supernatural, reminded me about the thread on fortune telling where some posters thought that a law banning such fraudulant activities would be a good thing to protect gullible people. The parallel is pretty clear in my mind, and is interesting to discuss. However, I was just saying is all, guvnor.
Markjbloggs
Registered User
- Messages
- 384
We've had a more relevant "case" in recent times in Ireland i.e. Bridgid Cleary in Tipperary in 1894 (?? late 1800's anyway)
I'm with you on this - I also think the parallel is clear (well, I knew what you were referring to and would agree that it was interesting)
It seems to me that that English case was similar in spirit to the "tax evasion charge for Al Capone" case - a creative use of existing legislation - and as Sylvester3 pointed out it was for impersonating a witch.
If you are unable to differentiate between that and the Saudi case (or rather line of cases - since there are others: the previous example was November 2nd 2007 where an Egyptian pharmacist, Mustapha Ibrahim, was beheaded for using "sorcery" to separate a man from his wife) perhaps you should read some additional facts on the Saudi case here:
Pay particular attention to the contrasting use of evidence to prove the English case and the Saudi case.