Hong Kong Liberal Religious Forum

Saving Africa's Witch Children (Channel 4)
www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/ ... episode-1/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7pvQJD9cpQ

In some of the poorest parts of Nigeria, where evangelical religious fervour is combined with a belief in sorcery and black magic, many thousands of children are being blamed for catastrophes, death and famine: and branded witches. Denounced as Satan made flesh by powerful pastors and prophetesses, these children are abandoned, tortured, starved and murdered: all in the name of Jesus Christ.

This Dispatches special follows the work of one Englishman, Gary Foxcroft, who has devoted his life to helping these desperate and vulnerable children. Gary's charity, Stepping Stones Nigeria, raises funds to help Sam Itauma who, five years ago, rescued four children accused of witchcraft. He now struggles to care for over 150 in a makeshift shelter and school called CRARN (Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network).

Stepping Stones Nigeria www.steppingstonesnigeria.org
CRARN www.crarn.org


Related: Nigeria: Humanist attacked by members of Helen Ukpabio's Liberty Gospel Church
http://ssshk.freeforums.org/internation ... 4.html#929



Alex's comment:

Unbelievably horrible! Some Christians in Nigeria believed that certain children are demon-possessed witches, and tried to cast out demons to the point of murdering those children! Faith kills. For Christians all over the world, this could stimulate deep reflections about the nature (and danger) of their own religious faith.

You might wonder how that bizzare thing in Nigeria can be related to the faith of Christians in the rest of the world. They are. At the heart of Christianity is a set of supernatural doctrines. A personal God created and is looking after this world. God hears and answers prayers. Bible is the Word of God. Jesus is God. Virgin birth. Resurrection. Second coming. Eternal life. Spiritual warfare between God and Satan. Satan can possess a human. This list is not exhaustive.

If Christians believed these, it follows that a child can be possessed by Satan (demon). If a child is believed to be possessed, why not cast out the demon from the child? If the exorcism failed, why not "deliver" the poor child to eternity? The line of thought is logical. More importantly, the concepts of "spiritual warfare" and demon possession are alive in Western Christians, most notably among charismatics and evangelicals. And Christian exorcism is still being practiced in the West, only not to the degree of murder.

Christianity, following Judaism, has been praising the faith of Abraham in intending to (though being stopped at the last moment) sacrifice his own son when God asked. By praising Abraham, Christianity indirectly endorses human sacrifice. Abraham might have nothing to do with the situation in Nigeria, but seeing human life as less worthy than faith in God is the same. Religious faiths, including Christianity, can be dangerous. The only safeguard is to put universal human rights standard above all religious faiths and all religious authorities, including the Holy Bible.

The Bible says that Satan is real, demon possession is real. The Bible and the Church praise Abraham's attempted child sacrifice. If you believe a child to be possessed, will you "deliver" the child by killing him/her? Why and why not? If you believe that God demands you to sacrifice your own son, will you obey God out of faith? Why and why not? Is faith a virtue or a vice? Should a believer trust and obey religious authorities? Or a believer should be skeptical of and be critical of religious authorities (Bible, Church, Pope, ministers, the Nigerian children-killing Christian leaders, etc)? These are important questions for all Christians to ask themselves.