Friday, June 21, 2013

Witchcraft as a repugnant transaction in Indonesia?

Al Jazeera reports on efforts to ban witchcraft in Indonesia: Indonesia considers ban on witchcraft

"People accused of practising black magic in Indonesia could be jailed for five years if a revised criminal code is accepted by parliament.

"However, there is a lot of resistance to the proposed new law, as witchcraft is big business in the country."
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In the United States and elsewhere, there are all sorts of laws and regulations about who may (and who may not) practice medicine, and I expected the story to be about efforts to ban witchdoctors on the grounds of practicing medicine without a license.  But the story suggests that at least some of the motivation for the ban comes from a feeling that witchcraft is effective...

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