An Analogy of Witch Hunts Then and Now - Assignment Example

Sylvia Samaniego Garcia Academia-Research.com May 9, 2006 Servants of Satan: The Age of the Witch Hunts An Analogy of Witch Hunts Then and Now People in positions of authority have been notorious throughout history for abusing their positions for personal gain, power and control. They have proven successful at achieving this by disguising their efforts and passing them off as measures of safety that will benefit the public. This work will bring to light several examples of this abuse and will offer correlations to the opinions offered by Joseph Klaits in his book Servants of Satan: The Age of Witch Hunts. In 1486 two Dominican monks, Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer penned their famous work the Malleus Malificarum. It was written to address the growing concern of church members, and members of the intellectual elite, over the increasing threat that the Devil was endangering Christian society. The medieval church had lost the optimism it had enjoyed in its early existence before the calamities that hit Europe over the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries such as plague and war. Church leaders of the time were struggling with dualism (the ongoing struggle between Good and Evil, personified in God and the Devil) and were becoming fearful that the Devil might be winning. (du Barry). And according to the scholar, Max Dashu, the medieval concept of the witch had already begun to develop in pre-Christian times and its elements could be found in the Roman cult of Bacchanalias. Over the centuries, extensive efforts have been made to root out the supposed influence of Satan by various measures aimed at people who have been accused of serving him. In early, modern Europe people who were suspected of being possessed by Satan were put on trial. These trials were biased against the witch and most often ended in her execution. The most common types of execution were by burning, hanging or drowning. ("Witch Hunt"). Even animals were targeted. According to this source, the pursuit originated among the common people in Switzerland and in Croatia who then pressured the civil courts to support their cause. Most of the suspects were women who lived in the local towns, villages or rural areas and who practiced herbalism, natural healing or midwifery. Often, however, they were simply poor, uneducated women who did not have influential friends. The early modern Christian authorities in Europe responded to them with intense paranoia and hatred. An account of this behavior can even be found in the Old Testament, which contains fierce attacks against the polytheism (or belief in multiple Gods) of non-Hebrew peoples. “If our ancestors had thought in the same mode as do today’s masters, they would never have put an end to the witch trials.” Rene Girard1 In her article, Chapter 7: The Devils are Come Down Upon Us: Myth, History and the Witch as Scapegoat, Martha J. Reineke asks why the witch hunters, in utilizing their new legal system, find their victims almost exclusively among women. One explanation offered is that women were believed to be prone to the devil’s seduction. They were viewed as being both more lustful and weaker than men. In addition, an excess of women of marriageable age, plus a high number of spinsters and widows, increased women’s vulnerability in a society overcome with social agitation. For Carol Karlsen, historian of the witch hunts in New England, the fact that the women who were most being accused of witchcraft were the ones who threatened the economic order was of critical significance. Daughters of families without sons, mothers of only female children, and women with no children were predominantly among the women who were charged with witchcraft. Women in these categories “were aberrations in an inheritance system designed to keep property in the hands of men.” In New England alone, women without male heirs comprised sixty-four percent of the females prosecuted for witchcraft, seventy-six percent of those found guilty, and eighty-nine percent of those executed. According to Klaits, the decisive factor in the witch craze, from the side of the educated and politically powerful, was an atmosphere of spiritual reform. As religious evangelism became increasingly preoccupied with issues of sexuality, the witch appeared as the figure of deviant sexuality on which evangelistic fervor focused. (Reineke). Klaits wrote that “witch craze’s slaughter of women was the result of the spread of woman-hatred in the spiritually reformed elites and its application in the reformers’ campaigns against folk religion”. A more recent example of a witch hunt of sorts might be found in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56) that was passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The main feature of this act is that it dramatically increased the authority of U.S. law enforcement for the stated purpose of fighting terrorist acts in the United States and abroad. It is also used to detect and prosecute other alleged potential crimes such as providing false information on terrorism. It was renewed on March 2, 2006. The renewal was signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 9, 2006. The main laws that were amended by this act were immigration, banking and money laundering laws. It also amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The Act mostly incorporates the provisions of the earlier anti-terrorism USA Act (H.R. 2975 and S. 1510). The primary differences between the USA Act and the USA PATRIOT Act are: The inclusion of the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act (H.R. 3004), which expands money laundering abatement to international terrorism. Immunity against prosecution for the providers of wiretaps in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Request for a report on integrating automated fingerprint identification for ports of entry into the United States. Start of a foreign student monitoring program. Request for machine readable passports. Prevention of consulate shopping. Expansion of the Biological Weapons Statute. Clearer definition of “Electronic Surveillance” Miscellaneous benefits for victims of the September 11 attack and extra penalties for those who illegally file for such benefits. ("USA PATRIOT Act"). The problem with this act is that many people feel that it might be abused by the FBI and others in authority. An example was given by Mary Lieberman, director of a church-based group in Knoxville that helps Iraqi refugees. She was approached by an FBI agent who asked her to let him look at all the files of her Iraqi-born clients. The files were personal and medical records of refugees who were legally in America, and some because they had fought Saddam Hussein. Lieberman says she felt a chill for Americans. When asked what she would say to those people who would expect no less of the FBI, Lieberman answered, “I would say that first it will be the Iraqis and then it will be Mr. John Q. Public. Next it could be you.” (The Issues: Patriot Act ) Most of those in opposition do not feel that there has been widespread abuse of civil liberties so far, but they do see that the potential exists. The general consensus is that this act is an insult to Americans and that it will corrode democratic law and principles. Finally, most people feel that this law is simply dangerous. And they are apparently correct in this assumption. Over a six-month period (January – June 2003) The Justice Department’s inspector general found 34 complaints of rights violations that appeared credible. The complaints were mainly concerned with the way the Justice Department has enforced this law. The inspector general found significant problems with the actions of the Bush administration towards 762 foreigners who were held on immigration violations after September 11th. In his report he stated that the FBI took too long to determine whether the immigrants were involved with terrorism. Dozens of them endured “lock down” conditions 23 hours each day and slept under bright lights throughout the duration of the investigation. (Patriot Act Abuses Seen) The 34 credible cases were only a small percentage of the 1,073 total complaints lodged, ranging in seriousness from alleged beatings of immigration detainees to the alleged verbal abuse of these detainees by B.O.P. correctional officers. And of the 34 cases, two were referred to the FBI. One complaint claimed an agent “displayed aggressive, hostile and demeaning behavior while administering a pre-employment polygraph examination”. This one was found to be unsubstantiated. The other claimed an agent made false charges. This one is still being investigated. What this boils down to is Congress made it legal to search your prescriptions, e-mails, bank and library records even if you yourself are not a suspicious person, but because someone who sent you an e-mail may be deemed a suspicious person. Joseph Klaits wrote that the decisive factor in the witch craze was spiritual reform. What, then, is the point of the USA PATRIOT Act? Are we to believe that by granting more power to federal law enforcement officers to conduct surveillance and detain immigrants that we are creating a safer environment for Americans? Or is it more likely that we are becoming the fictitious totalitarian kingdom that George Orwell created in his book, 1984? The most common misconceptions are that this law only applies to foreign nationals and that it only deals with terrorism. The truth is, however, that many provisions of this law apply to and will affect Americans. What’s more, it is crafted to take the power out of the hands of the courts and ensures absolute lack of oversight of law enforcement and intelligence gathering. Finally, it is clear from prior legislative and case history that law enforcement and intelligence have been trying for many years to obtain these powers. Most disturbing of all is that these powers actually do little to increase the ability of law enforcement or intelligence to bring terrorists to justice. What it does instead is undermine the Constitution and violate the rights of both immigrants and American citizens alike. Klaits believed that Diabolism was used by the devil and his legions in the battle for souls and bodies of an entire people. Where the sorcery called for reparations, diabolism summoned forth all the powers of the state to do battle with evil. At stake was not the harmony of a single community or clan, but the survival of human society itself. Could it be that in this day and age the American people are facing this same battle? And, if so, who are the antagonists? Works Cited "Witch Hunt." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 09 May 2006 . du Barry, Stephanie. "The Malleus Malificarum - A Commentary." www.users.bigpond.net.au. 1994. 09 May 2006 . Reineke, Martha J.. "Chapter 7: The Devils are Come Down Upon Us: Myth, History and the Witch as Scapegoat." The Pleasures of Her Text 1990 20. 08 May 2006 . "USA Patriot Act." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 09 May 2006 . "The Issues: Patriot Act." CBS Broadcasting Inc. 04 Oct 2004 3. 09 May 2006 . "War of Terror: Patriot Act Abuses Seen." CBS News Inc.. 21 July 2003. 11 May 2006 . Read More