Warning: This subject might be too graphic and, frankly, depressing for some. It involves severe child abuse and murder.

Making limited headlines lately, and for the last few years, has been the modern witch hunt going on in several countries in Africa.

This is when someone claiming to be a religious authority pronounces that a child is a witch and must be driven out of his or her home. Often, this authority will charge the family several months' pay to perform an exorcism in an effort to save the child. This effort often turns out to be for naught, and the child is sent out to the streets.



Sometimes, they are killed. You know, to be safe. Can't have witches ruling the streets. These murders are not gentle or quick. Often, the child is murdered after extensive torture.



Sometimes, it's the parents who decide the child is a witch.



There are only two possible scenarios here:
1) The children really are witches.
2) The children are not witches.

If the second scenario is true, then we have two other scenarios to consider:
1) The religious authorities proclaiming the children's guilt are dangerously, harmfully delusional.
2) The religious authorities proclaiming the children's guilt are some of the most evil people the world has ever seen.

Given the Western world's brush with witchcraft and the persecution thereof, I think it's safe to say that the children are probably not witches. If they are, they are probably harmless. Our own witches didn't end up doing much harm after we stopped burning them. Life expectancy and quality actually went up. A lot. That probably has less to do with the freedom of witches to practice their magic, more to do with the rise of rational thought and reduction of superstition.

Like our very own Abigail Williams, this story also has its stars. One of those stars is a remarkably evil or deluded woman named Helen Ukpabio. Helen is an evangelist and creator of B-rated horror movies.



She makes these movies to warn people about the dangers of child witches and witchcraft. She is probably responsible for more abandoned, murdered or abused children than anyone else here discussed.

Apparently, you can email her at helenukpai@yahoo.com. I sort of doubt that it's that simple, but hey, it worked with Sarah Palin.

Surely, such a person would be reviled universally. Speaking out against her would draw only support, much like discussing the evils of Fred Phelps and his family. Well, you'd think. Sadly, superstition reigns supreme. These people honestly believe there is a threat and that Helen is doing a service in combating it.

Unfortunately, we cannot disprove witchcraft. We cannot prove that no such thing exists, since you can't prove a negative. There is nothing to present, no proof to be had. We can only show that there's no reason to think that witchcraft is real, and try to demonstrate that its existence isn't (and probably won't ever be) proven. That doesn't even work in the most educated civilizations of the world. People tend largely to ignore the processes of logic, critical thought and the scientific method. Try too hard to present the evidence and they will ignore your arguments in favor of declaring you closed-minded.

After all - these children could be witches.

This is an extreme example of what a lack of understanding can do. Something like this will probably never happen on a large scale in America (you know, again). We like to limit ourselves to just a few.

What can you do about it? You can give money to people trying to help.

What else?

Well, chances are, this sounded intolerable to you the second you heard what's happening. Your immediate reaction was probably something like, "I have to stop this." Or, better, "We have to stop this." Most people will react that way once they hear about it. So tell them. The best way to help is to get more people who will help.

What about stopping it when it happens here? Well, that's a bit tougher. You have to learn how to think and then spread that knowledge. Know your fallacies so that you're not taken in by shabby arguments or claims. Learn the actual history of the world so you can be prepared when faced with ignorance. Follow the news so that you can prevent the fires before they start or put them out before they spread.

But mostly, you need to know what makes superstition and ignorance dangerous. You need to know why it's not always a matter of letting people believe what makes them happy -– too often, it's life or death. And too often, those hurt most are those who don't yet have the tools to distinguish reality from fantasy, or the means to defend themselves from the delusions of others –– children. You need to have the guts to tell people that sometimes they're just wrong and it's not a matter of opinion, but do it such in a way that they'll still listen.

If we can raise awareness here, we can raise it there. If efforts to increase knowledge and logic become mainstream, they will actually gain enough power to have an effect. It's not about being smarter than everyone else. It's about saving lives. And anyone can do it.

The fact is, the people killing the so-called child witches probably believe they are doing the right thing. Humans as a whole are not predisposed to such evil. Every instinct we have demands that we preserve and propagate our genes, which means raising and protecting our children. To murder one's own legacy, or to assent to that murder? That requires powerful, unwavering, legendary faith.