What happens when supernatural beliefs become a hazard to the safety and health of a society?
All over the globe, cases are popping up which demonstrate that supernatural beliefs can be devastating for those that believe in them as well as for others.
In recent news, a very questionable event took place In Egypt. An 18 year old girl named Dawa’a claimed that the tears of blood she cried were a sign of jinn, the spirits or ghosts of Egyptian folklore.
The issue here is that crying tears of blood should cause concern for the health of this teen. Ignoring the condition due to beliefs that the cause was supernatural could be considered a form of neglect.
The teenager became unconscious as the Muslim scholar Amr Al-Laithi recited verses from the Qu’ran over her body. Upon waking, Dawa’a said she could not remember anything except having an extremely painful head-ache. However, when speaking of her experience, the teen claimed that she was touched by a “tribe of about one thousand jinn,”.
Crying tears of blood, also called haemolacria, can be a symptom of serious medical conditions, such as a tumor or an internal injury. The girl received no medical attention to ensure her health or safety.
Near London, England, Kristy Bamu was tortured and killed under the accusation of practicing witchcraft. His sister, Magalie Bamu and her partner Eric Bikubi, claimed that he was practicing spells on a young child.
Magalie Bamu and Eric Bikubi, the murderers of Kristy Bamu.
Both Magalie Bamu and Eric Bikubi were jailed for life. Under no circumstances should a belief in witchcraft be a justification for the murder and sadistic torture of anyone. What is most distressing about the death of Kristy Bamu is that he was killed by his family, by people who he trusted and loved, all due to ignorant beliefs.
Various other children in Britain have been abused and/or killed under similar accusations that the children were practicing witchcraft.
Another terrible example took place in Magnolia, Texas. A mother named Daphne Spurlock stomped on her 5 year old’s chest and slit his throat with a kitchen knife because she heard voices that told her to rid her son of a demonic possession.
A photo of Michael Spurlock, who remains in critical condition after the incident.
Daphne Spurlock was heavily involved in her church, Magnolia Apostolic Tabernacle, and was an extremely religious individual. Take a look at her Facebook profile, where she regularly posts about her religious beliefs.
In each of these cases, the supernatural beliefs of a society caused people to harm (either intentionally or unintentionally) others.
I think that this is an atrocious problem in our world today. We need to step back from our belief in the supernatural and see it for what it really is; potentially dangerous. Reason and skepticism are necessary in our world to have safe and just societies, where it will not be tolerated for people to harm others simply based on their supernatural beliefs.
FreeSAY: Freethinkers, Skeptics and Atheists at York 