In 1490, two German monks put together a tract, Malleus Maleficarum, in which they made a connection between European folk beliefs and a plot to overthrow the Roman Catholic Church. This little book’s conspiracy theory led to the torture and execution of thousands of women who were accused of witchcraft. In Scotland, for example, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 were tortured and executed as witches.
The Scottish Presbyterians adopted the witchcraft conspiracy idea as the reason for the torture and execution of women. According to a display in the National Museum of Scotland:
“They believed that the Presbyterian Church had a pact with God, and that witches had entered a pact with the Devil. They saw the so-called witches as the enemies of the church, state, and people of Scotland.”
The objects and images below, on display at the National Museum of Scotland, illustrate how the Scots put Biblical concept into action.
All of this sounds and looks like ancient history in a far away place. It is a history that some American Christians deny ever took place, they feel it was simply a myth intended to discredit Christianity. On the other hand, there are some Christian theocrats who applaud American torture efforts and who want to have God’s law—that is, their interpretation of God’s law—to reign supreme in the United States. They feel that the United States must have judges who make rulings based on Biblical law. Recently, Theodore Shoebat stated:
"We need judges who would uphold the death penalty for those, not just murderers, obviously murderers deserve death, I think most people would agree with that. But you also have other people who deserve the death penalty, not necessarily murderers; people who are involved in witchcraft, who promote witchcraft. Witchcraft is very, very dangerous, very demonic and look how much destruction it has caused in the United States. Look at Hillary Clinton. That's a witch that needs to be arrested and put to death. Most definitely. As the scriptures says, I believe in Leviticus, 'Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.'"
Welcome to Street Prophets Saturday, an open thread at the intersection of Religion and Politics.