Witch Hunts and Oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maybe I\u2019m just now paying attention or maybe the real witch hunts are getting worse, but I\u2019m seeing more and more stories about them.Via The Wild Hunt,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Witch Hunts and Oil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maybe I\u2019m just now paying attention or maybe the real witch hunts are getting worse, but I\u2019m seeing more and more stories about them.Via The Wild Hunt,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-11-27T11:06:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html\",\"name\":\"Witch Hunts and Oil\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-27T11:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-11-27T11:06:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Maybe I\u2019m just now paying attention or maybe the real witch hunts are getting worse, but I\u2019m seeing more and more stories about them.Via The Wild Hunt,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Witch Hunts and Oil\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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{"id":470,"date":"2009-11-27T11:06:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-27T11:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil\/"},"modified":"2009-11-27T11:06:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-27T11:06:00","slug":"witch-hunts-and-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/11\/witch-hunts-and-oil.html","title":{"rendered":"Witch Hunts and Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Maybe I\u2019m just now paying attention or maybe the real witch hunts are getting worse, but I\u2019m seeing more and more stories about them.<\/p>\n

Via The Wild Hunt<\/a>, here\u2019s a story on witch hunting in Nepal<\/a>. And here\u2019s another one from Nigeria<\/a>. The circumstances should be familiar to those of us who\u2019ve studied the European witch hunts: difficult times, a search for someone to blame, beating and killing outsiders and the weakest in the community, and zealots looking to make a name for themselves as \u201cwitch finders.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just ignorant and malicious individuals who are doing this \u2013 governments are involved as well. In Saudi Arabia, the suspicion of witchcraft can bring an official death sentence. Here\u2019s an article from the LA Times<\/a>, one from Human Rights Watch<\/a>, and a third from a Saudi news source<\/a> which explains the official position. It quotes Sheikh Adel Faqih, a director on The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, who said \u201cWe are in an Islamic country which is governed by Islamic law which prohibits polytheism. Sorcery and magic are considered polytheism in Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two things strike me when reading these articles. The first is that while the United States and its government frustrate me for its refusal to live up to its ideals, this is still a very good, very safe place to live; and the best place for religious non-conformists and the followers of non-traditional religions such as ourselves. Be thankful you live here and not there \u2013 it could have been otherwise.<\/p>\n

The second is that while we cannot drag Saudi Arabia and its cohorts into the 21st century, we don\u2019t have to support them! They are what they are, but they have influence because they have money, and they have money because we\u2019re addicted to the oil they have. Support conservation and alternative energy, and especially more fuel-efficient vehicles. You\u2019ll save money in the long run and you\u2019ll send less to people who are killing sorcerers, magicians and polytheists \u2013 and a lot of other folks as well.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"