Churches Propel Child Witch Hunts in Africa

The Los Angeles Times reports that rogue churches and pastors may be involved in fully half of cases against "witch children" in Africa. "It is an outrage what they are allowing to take place in the name of Christianity," said Gary Foxcroft, head of nonprofit Stepping StonesNigeria. Poverty and lack of education make families susceptible to accusations, and willing to follow pastors who proclaim the Biblical injunction of "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The fast spread of evangelical Christianity, paired with traditional beliefs, has contributed to the roughly 15,000 alleged cases of "child witchcraft" in Nigeria. About 1,000 of those children were killed. "When communities come under pressure, they look for scapegoats," Martin Dawes, a spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund. "It plays into traditional beliefs that someone is responsible for a negative change ... and children are defenseless."