A little political weekend weirdness for you to gnaw on...Pastor Thomas Muthee, who Sarah Palin credited with "awesome prayers" that helped her become the Alaska Governor, once led a witch hunt in Kenya. Figuratively, you may be wondering. Nope. Unfortunately not. In 2005 Muthee led an actual, old school, Salem-style witch hunt.
Details of the story are still being pieced together, but it appears the tale goes something like this: Muthee wanted to establish a church in the town of Kiambu, just outside of Nairobi. Wanting to make an impression right away, Muthee targeted a local fortune teller named Mama Jane. It appears Mama Jane had never caused any trouble, but Muthee had "proof" of witchcraft. That proof? Three car accidents that had occurred in Mama's neighborhood. She must have caused them. With black magic spells. That's ironclad.
It gets worse from here.
Pastor Muthee led three police officers to Mama Jane's home, burst in and arrested the "witch." During the raid, someone shot Mama's pet snake, a large python. Why? That snake was "a demon." Of course it was. Mama was confronted by Muthee who allegedly yelled "Mama Jane either gets saved and serves the Lord or she leaves town!" It appears the witch did not comply and she was chucked into the hoosegow. After finally being released, Mama Jane feared for her life and got the hell out of Dodge.
Palin's church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, has praised Muthee because "He has established and pastors hundreds of churches in Kenya." According to reports "When Palin was beginning her campaign for Governor of Alaska, she had Muthee pray over her, asking God to make her Governor. On her June 8, 2008 speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, Palin suggested that she believes that Muthee's prayer is responsible for getting her into the Governor's seat."
Yikes.
Strangely Kenya does have a problem with witches. Maybe too many magic mirrors and enchanted broomsticks lying around.
Here's a report from earlier this year:
Make of this what you will. But in 2005, more than 300 years after witches were burned and drowned in Massachusetts, the Vice Presidential nominee is closely tied to a preacher that not only believes in witchcraft, but actively "battled" it. They believe in witches. Folks, you can mix all the eye of newt, snake blood, bat wing and wolfsbaine you want into a pewter cauldron, it ain't gonna do anything. The ridiculous hysteria that leads people to boycott Harry Potter and burn books on courthouse steps still goes on. "You must ban Harry Potter! It's teaching kids to become witches!" Do you ban C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien too, sir? No? Oh, right, they're professed Christians. Magic is okay then. (For the record, Lewis was an adamant atheist for many years.) Wizards and conjurers are acceptable under those conditions. The Force in Star Wars? How about a boycott there? Nah, that would just be silly.
Do your own research on this. Google "Thomas Muthee witch hunt" and see what comes up.
Here is Olbermann's take on this nonsense.
Have a good weekend.
JW
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Oh, this is going to be good.
I wonder what the reverend Wright will have to say about this?
Some scary shit....especially since witches are known for their sarcasm...luckily I already threw myself into the Pit the other day...
Whew...
This is even more interesting since it seems two of Palin's kids were named after TV witches... "Willow" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and "Piper" from Charmed.
Now that is a sharp observation Brother Bill. Impressive.
Hmmm.....
The media will have a field day with this one.
Let's check the current 'Controversial Preacher Affiliation' scores:
Candidate Category Quantity Total Affiliations
----------------------------------- ----------- ---------------------------------
Inspirational Black Americans 1 1 confirmed acquaintance
Hot Soccer Mom Mayors 1 1 confirmed acquaintance
Old, White Dudes 2 0 confirmed acquaintances
Damn, no HTML. Oh well, you get the idea.
Isn't this a little presumptuous? I imagine what criticizing a black whatever-preacher in Kenya would be like were he "just to appear" with Obama. I don't have to imagine, actually- a less extreme version of this scenario exists in his Illinois preacher. We're all supposed to be good little boys and girls and forgive.
Also, what is her connection to him? She said the two words "awesome prayers"? Uhhh, don't get me wrong, but so the eff what?
Ooooga Boooga!
When asked for a comment Ms. Palin responded
"Ooh ee Ooh Ah Ah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang..."
seriously though, is it bad when a Friggin PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Jumps the shark?
Pablo from way downtown! Bang!
We just need to get either McCain or Obama on water skis.
Hey, where's Chuck Cunningham?
The fallacy here is follows the fallacy with Obama's pastor. Just because your pastor says it, doesn't mean you really truly believe it.
But in this case, I think Palin is crazy enough to believe it. Her backwards christian fundamentalism scares the crap out of me.
The worst part, I think this will HELP HER with those damn evangelicals. Those people scare the shit out of me, what with their ability to disbelieve reality. They probably are sitting around hooting about this.
50 bonus points if anyone can find Palin mentioned over here:
http://www.dynionmwyn.net/STATE-DM/alaska/alaska.html
It just gets better and better - these people better watch out:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alaskawitches/
Sadly, I think kbk is right and the religious right is cheering this shit on.
Now i want to see Bill Maher's take on this.
Palin was in fact once turned into a newt by a witch.
Rumor has it, she got better.
Everyone's freaking out about this for no reason. There are very simple ways to tell if she's a witch ...
all we need is a large scale and a duck.
Thanks, now i absolutely MUST watch the holy grail again...
The more that is revealed about Palin and her personal life the more ridiculous and backwoods it appears.
Next someone will reveal hidden video of "the real" Wasilla Assembly of God church service:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07cmMhQxjfg&feature=related
Has everyone gone coo coo??!!
Funny how the nation is in chaos and we have crap like this on the news. "Next on the 5 O'clock news, does Obama actually eat his oreos after taking the frosting off, we will have a look at this late breaking story after the break..."
Amen. Palin's Christian fundamentalism is scary. And frankly, the idea of her as our Commander in Chief is a more realistic thing to fear than witches. Palin as President could do a lot more damage than some spells and potions.
What a quaint little post. Lets all be scared of silly Negroes and their silly superstitions. Oh snap, that would be racist. OK then lets pretend to be outraged at some white woman Republican massa in charge of those quaint Negroes instead. Yep that's the ticket!
Fvck this RACIST site and all of the racist assh*les who thing this sh*t is funny.
You all are doing the same things conservatives do when they try to paint Obama as a Muslim. This whole Palin thing is just as retarded. Why cant you all stay above the fray and usher in a new kind of politics. Its all about hope and change right. Or could it be that Obama and his supporters do not practice what they preach.
If Palin's Christian fundamentalism is "scary," then how do you feel about Obama's long-time relationship with the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago? If you want to speak of "witch hunts" (at least figuratively), then I'd suggest you look no further than Obama's former minister, Reverend Wright and some of his more powerful statements like, "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." Sure, Obama left the church... AFTER clips of Wright's sermons began appearing all over the internet. What is scary to me is how Wright's "profoundly distorted view of this country," didn't keep Obama from attending Trinity for 20 years.
To be honest, I think that any strong religious beliefs, fundamental or otherwise, are incompatible with political leadership. Give me a practical atheist who doesn't feel beholden to superstitious dogma any time.
I'd agree with you on that Scaramouch. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to leave us many options in the upcoming election.
Amen Scara,
And Meri, Rev. Wright isn't a witch hunter, he's a "Kill-Whitey" style bigot is all.
Pretty funny when you consider that Obama is the whitest black guy i've seen since Carlton on the Fresh Prince...
Rex - Please educate us. Why is this website racist? and why is someone racist if they think this article is funny?
Seriously, I want to know.
If this pastor had been white and conducted a witch hunt in Ohio, it would be just as funny. It would be racist to look at this nutty situation and say "oh, better not make fun, that would be racist." Rex, at some point, you have to ignore the color of people's skin.
Peace be unto you.
Scaramouch, I wholeheartedly agree. It's a shame that more people don't think like that, because I'm sure there are some atheists that would make fantastic presidents, but they would never, ever, ever get elected!
Meri, Scara, Amen. Religion and politics should not mix. The fact that they do in this country despite the constitution's plan otherwise scares me more than any other part of politics. We'll elect a Black, a Mexican, a woman, a female black, female Mexican, and Arnold Schwarzenegger elected, all before we see an atheist president.
Also.., Obama did publicly denounce Rev. Wright. I don't see Palin doing the same for her Rev, but I'd feel better if she did. We can go into a lot of discussion about Wright being a frequent guest reverend, or being taken out of context. Hell, we can probably have the same discussion for Palin preacher (he was also only a guest preacher). Witch hunting is after all a real deal in Africa.
This site is about as non-racist as it gets. We treat everyone, regarless of race creed or color, with equal sarcasm and scorn.
Get a clue and a sense of humor rex
Maybe schwartzenegger would make a good president? Hell Reagan wasn't half bad, and he starred in a movie with a chimp. Schwartzenegger was in a movie with Jim Belushi. Hmmmmm.....
Fuck Reagan, he's in the top 5 of my list of worst presidents ever. His elimination of usury laws put us where we are now. We don't need another pretend politician/actor from California.
My list looks something like this, maybe?
1) Bush Jr.
2) Buchanan
3) Carter
4) Reagan
5) Nixon
But that trained chimp, that sounds like a good candidate. We should write him in.
Tim, it looks like you're our write-in candidate (sorry Dave--but Tim is an actual chimp/monkey)...
I'm not quite sure how we're racist....if anything, I can only be accused of hating my own race based on my comments over the last week or so...
I wrote that this was scary shit...because Palin has very extreme views--that she is entitled to have as an American, but that don't make her suitable for the Presidency (IMHO) because she does not represent the general public. She is willing to go to war with Russia, for God's sake (that was an unintentional pun but unfortunately is probably close to the truth).
40+ years of Cold War and we avoided that...and now it's a possibility?
Yes, she is a VP candidate...but since her running mate is highly unlikely to live through a 4 year term, we have to be realistic. He's not young and he's had many health issues...therefore she could inherit the Oval Office.
[and don't get me started on McCain's pill stealing/popping wife...]
Thanks S.O. I knew my lack of grooming would payoff well someday.
The ghost of the racism is everywhere around here last days, huh, folks?
What's up with these people? Can't they read AND understand what is being told on the post, or they are assuming such things just because in the other post there was a Negro NBA player, and now is a Negro preacher?
What the fuck? They see a black guy, read our sarcasm and go calling us racists? God Damn...
Rex, I believe you should learn to read first. Not just get to know the letters and what word they form when they are together. Read is a lot more than this, you analphabetic.
And, yes, mixing up "politricks" with religion is not a good thing. I'd like to see a full congress of atheists. Not that I am an atheist, I'm not, but in this case we would not have laws based on religion.
Oh, you can't approve homo-marriage because the Bible this and that. You can't approve legalized abortions (what would prevent thousands of teenagers from infections or even death) because God this and that.
Not mentioning the pursuing of minor religions that are different from what the elected demigods believe.
You can't tell 'thanks to his prayers I was elected governor'... unless that his prayers are in fact a very strong juju that he did with that witch mama in the middle of the jungle...
The reall question is where is Mama Jane, and how is she doing these days? Poor lady. I just want to make her a nice warm cup of tea and let her relax for a while.
All of this won't matter anyway when Dave starts stabbing folks, and that great big meteor hits us.
Despite the dismissiveness, witchecraft is a legitimate social problem in Africa, from multiple directions. There is a great deal of witchcraft-related crime, including arson, drug trade, assault and murder that is linked to a belief in magic. There is also great (and often founded) local fear of witches who are tied to (or are themselves) ganglords or criminal networks. There is also a lot of unfounded hysteria, too, where totally innocent people are accused of being witches and are subjected to mob rule.
Witchcraft in Africa is not harmless and is a lot more complex than we give it credit for (but then again, so were the troubles in Salem - we put too much credit in the popularized stereotype of those trials and less time in the books that actually illuminate what happened).
More importantly, I'm pretty sure Dave stabbed the meteor.
Did you see this? Is it sara?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj-on3kfWuE&feature=related
That's her. Being protected from witchcraft.
That was painful.
Hey guys...as a Christian here I just want to clarify that REAL Christians absolutely in no way would condone what happened in Salem. It's obvious to recognize that this was a violent and horrendous thing. BUT...Christians absolutely do believe in spiritual warfare...we believe in a supernatural world and we believe that there is EVIL that exists on this planet. You can't see people like Hitler or Jeffery Dahmer and not recoginize that evil exists. As Christians, we are taught to combat evil...not violently, but with truth and love. Christians get this mixed up sometimes and yes, they might go too far by worrying about Harry Potter books...but to be leery of evil is not ignorant...it is very very wise. We just have to be sure we're approaching it the right way.
I think that is the point Nicole. Busting in on a fortune teller, shooting her snake and proclaiming her a witch is not what most religious people consider sound or reasonable.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
JW