This link has been bookmarked by 9 people . It was first bookmarked on 21 Apr 2009, by Clay Burell.
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24 Feb 12
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Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities
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22 Sep 11
Whitney MastSource: The Observer: Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt - World News. Tracy McVeigh. Saturday 8 December 2007 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/09/tracymcveigh.theobserver)
Summary: Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies are being branded as evil, and are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities. Many times the parents have no choice but to give their child up to the pastors, because they do not have enough money to pay for the child's "deliverance". If the family cannot pay the preacher, the child is brutally beaten and often killed. "In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush."
Reflections: The stories of the children in this article broke my heart. There are so many personal stories, each of them about an innocent child who did nothing to deserve what happened to them. These are normal kids, trying to just be kids! The idea that this comes out of people claiming to be Christians angers me. Actually, it makes me furious. There is no reason or justification for hurting small children, let alone trying to do it in the name of Christ. In my mind, there are few other crimes worse than brutally murdering an innocent child.
Questions:
Is anyone trying to stop this?
Why have I never heard about this issue before?
What could Christians in the United States do to help?-
Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities
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And it is being done in the name of Christianity.
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Almost everyone goes to church here.
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Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' - exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anything from divorce, disease, accidents or job losses.
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But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
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She says she still doesn't feel safe.
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He asks every adult he sees if they will take him home to his parents: 'It's not them, it's the prophetess, I am scared of her.'
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He estimates around 5,000 children have been abandoned in this area since 1998
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'The more children the pastor declares witches, the more famous he gets and the more money he can make,' he says. 'The parents are asked for so much money that they will pay in instalments or perhaps sell their property. This is not what churches should be doing.'
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It is hard to find people to speak out against the brutality.
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'Nowadays when a child becomes stubborn, then everyone calls them witches. But it is usually from the age of 10 down, I have never seen anyone try to throw a macho adult into the street. This child becomes a nuisance, so they give a dog a bad name and they can hang it.
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26 May 09
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21 Apr 09
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