Friday, June 13, 2008
Kenya in the headlines.. Kenya's witch hunt
I hate it when we make CNN's headlines because most of the time its not good news. So guess how i felt waking up to headlines like 'deadly hunt for 'witches' haunts Kenya'.or 'mob b burns to death 11 witches wizards'Now i know we strongly believe in witchcraft and all but can you imagine how dumb we look in the worlds eyes when we say things like "These people identified who is to be killed by accusing their victims of bewitching their sons and daughters." or "It is very painful when somebody kills another person in the name of witchcraft," he says. "Why couldn't they come to me so that I can perform my herbal potion to identify the real witch so that I can go ahead now to trap him and then we can see what to do?" seriously? Maybe its just me but i want us to be in the headlines because we found an alternative to Oil... i want us to be in there for a good reason not because of witchcraft!!
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Note to people in Kenya: Witches are not real. This is a known fact to the rest of the world. There may be those who call themselves witches to extort or fool people into giving them money or attention, but trust me and 3/4 of the rest of the world. THey are powerless useless idiots that have no real method to cursing or blessing others. WHat a load of crap. Go to that library of yours and check out a book about it, or search Google and do some learning at the library. If they do not have computers, I am sure there are books to read.
I am not saying this as an empty provocative statement: I think the approach taken to analyzing this article is a flawed one, allow me to explain.I actually discussed this on Mashada a while back but the thread is too long, so I'll give the answer I gave on Mashada.
There are two parts in the post:
1) You don't like the way we are portrayed in the media TO OTHERS.
2)You DON'T LIKE THE WAY WE ARE PORTRAYED IN THE MEDIA.
I will answer both parts:
1)I really don't care what other people think about Kenya and/or Africa. It only bothers me when someone is ignorant and makes major decisions that affect Kenya and Africa from a place of ignorance. Before I landed in Oz, I knew nothing about it except Nieghbours and Kangaroos. I didn't know that Greeks and Maltans were two seperate people once upon a time. I didn't know the difference between a Chinese face and a Vietnamese one i.e. its not like I am the Einstein of geopolitics and global design and so I cut folks slack for knowing what they know based not only on the resources around them, but also the culture AND most of all, ever having a need to learn this stuff.
2) I think rather than focusing on the way we are portrayed on CNN and Al Jazeera we should instead focus on the two areas where we can have the greatest effect and power:
a) The way we condition each other and what we put before each other's eyes in the media.
b) Changing the substance behind the image i.e. educating people rather than talking about how they are portrayed as ignorant.
Finally, I know a lot of folks who come here have read Psyche and know of the Placebo effect and Stigmata. No doubt there are still many things that cannot and have not been explained by empirical science yet. To condemn people as silly for believing in the supernatural when even Westerners believe in something outside of the natural just doesn't seem fair and right.
I wrote a post similar to what I just wrote a while back:
http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/185/wetserners-ignorance-about-africa/
Sorry to mini post, hope its useful to someone.
Mwangi : No you're right, my argument is really with how the media portrays us to the rest of the world.This is not the only article in which they have quoted stuff that just makes us look bad and although I would rather not comment on witchcraft i don't think its right for them to publish an article like this about us. As for witchcraft, i think that part of the 'unknown' and thats a realm best left alone. I get very angry however, when they make us seem like Neanderthals. I did not mean to belittle this. Cognitive dissonance in play yet again.
From the article: "It may be difficult for modern-day Western cultures to fathom, but in Western Kenya, beliefs in ghosts and witches are very real. And sometimes they have deadly consequences."
Ha ha, modern-day? A place where 80% or so believe that our planet is 10,000 years or less old? Plllease...
Like i was really pissed during the skirmishes when i watched CNN and Aljazeera. Its like Kenya was a no go zone.
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