American connections to African witchhunts
Diane Vera printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Tue Sep 21, 2010 at 10:34:55 PM EST
Throughout Africa -- mainly in Christian countries -- vast numbers of children have been abandoned by their parents, or worse, often maimed or tortured, on suspicion of being "witches."

The witch hunts aren't just a resurgence of indigenous beliefs.  They are part of a new and rapidly growing worldwide religious movement within the Pentecostal/charismatic branch of Christianity.

Aggressive crusades against alleged malevolent "witches" are encouraged by the "spiritual warfare" doctrines of some major leaders of one of the world's fastest-growing international religious movements, the "apostolic and prophetic" wing of Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity.




One well-known adherent of this movement is Sarah Palin, about whom see Sarah Palin's 'Witchcraft Problem' Is Bigger Than Christine O'Donnell's 'Witchcraft Problem' by Bruce Wilson, September 21, 2010, on Talk To Action -- the blog which first broke the story of how, when Sarah Palin first went into politics, she was "anointed" by Thomas Muthee, an internationally recognized (within at least one sector of the Pentecostal/charismatic world) "apostle" who gave her a blessing to protect her against "witches."  Other, even more explosive aspects of this story have not yet reached the mass media, though they are well-documented here on Talk To Action.  Among other things, Thomas Muthee has acted as a witch hunter in Africa.

Traditionally, to most Christians, the term "spiritual warfare" has usually referred to an internal moral struggle.  However, to growing numbers of "apostolic and prophetic" leaders such as C. Peter Wagner and Ed Silvoso, "spiritual warfare" means things like exorcism, witch hunts (a.k.a. "spiritual mapping"), burning non-Christian religious artifacts, and "discipling" whole nations -- including their governments, not just individual citizens.

A leading network within this movement, the New Apostolic Reformation, has an explicitly theocratic goal, the "seven mountains mandate":  they explicitly desire to take over seven spheres of power in society including government.  And they aim to eradicate what they see as demonic influences, including gays and all non-Christian religions.  Their successes in some countries, such as Uganda, have had dire consequences such as Uganda's kill-the-gays bill.

Adherents of the "New Apostolic Reformation" include major American politicians such as Sarah Palin (via witch hunter Mary Glazier's prayer network).  Its "convening apostle" is C. Peter Wagner, whose various organizations are headquartered in Colorado Springs, here in the U.S.A.

Besides Sarah Palin's prayer mentor Mary Glazier, another American avowed witch hunter was the notorious former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard.  (According to Soldiers of Christ: Insider America's Most Powerful Megachurch by Jeff Sharlet, Harper's Magazine, November 2, 2006:  "He sent teams to pray in front of the homes of supposed witches -- in one month, ten out of fifteen of his targets put their houses on the market. His congregation 'prayer-walked' nearly every street of the city.")  Before he was caught with a male prostitute a few years ago, Ted Haggard worked closely with C. Peter Wagner.

The currently most notorious African witchhunter, Helen Ukpapio, was consecrated as an "apostle" by Nnadi E. Moses, whose American connections have been documented by Richard Bartholomew, in a blog post about Support for Helen Ukpabio against "Anti-Child Witchcraft" Campaign, February 13, 2010.  It is not yet clear to me whether Helen Ukpabio and Nnadi E. Moses are involved in the "New Apostolic Reformation" in particular, but Ukpabio's title of "apostle" suggests that she is at least an adherent of the "apostolic and prophetic" movement.

Here in New York City, on Thursday, September 30, New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry (NYARBB) will hold a  meeting on the topic of "American Connections to African Witchhunts."  If you are interested in attending, please see details and RSVP here.

We ask mainstream Christians -- and non-theocratic evangelicals, Pentecostals, and charismatics -- to speak out against the witch hunts.  We ask non-Christians to become aware of what is going on and to encourage Christians to speak out.

Given the current hullabaloo over Christine O'Donnell's alleged dabbling "into witchcraft," we may now have a better-than-usual opportunity to attract the mass media's attention to this issue.  For the sake of both Africa's children and the separation of church and state here in the U.S.A., please do whatever you can to help expose the American connections to African witchhunts.

For more information, see:









For more about the "New Apostolic Reformation" (NAR), see:












Display:
Diane, I posted a related article titled "Ask Christine O'Donnell the Right Questions - Not if She is a Witch."  

Basically I'm arguing that the issue here is Christine O'Donnell's apparent belief in the mythology that there are Satan worshippers who are sacrificing people in the woods all around us.  I point out the background of these dangerous myths as well as the current obsession with demons.

by Rachel Tabachnick on Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 01:17:23 PM EST


Here's an updated link to a copy of "Soldiers of Christ: Insider America's Most Powerful Megachurch" by Jeff Sharlet, Harper's Magazine November 2, 2006, about Ted Haggard.


by Diane Vera on Thu Dec 25, 2014 at 01:09:21 PM EST
Soldiers of Christ: Insider America's Most Powerful Megachurch -- link to a complete copy, whereas the previous updated link is to an incomplete copy that ends in the middle of a sentence.


by Diane Vera on Thu Dec 25, 2014 at 03:31:49 PM EST
Parent
What I read I really liked it. Thank you for your
192.168.l.l


by Kamilla on Fri Jan 08, 2016 at 06:57:46 PM EST
Parent



I hope there are more articles and more information, very good information to share with me scribble io

by annashetty on Wed Jun 10, 2020 at 04:55:43 AM EST

This is magnificent for Christian conferences.  photo retouching services  We can find lots of articles here like storytelling by famous clergymen. Every conference is of good spirit. I love it very much. I'm looking forward to more. Thanks a lot.

by annajohnsn on Tue Jan 19, 2021 at 08:44:03 AM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (375 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (203 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (111 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (251 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (65 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (177 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (109 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (164 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (180 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (331 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (149 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.