Could something like the witch trials happen again?
Offline A lot of people would say no way. Wrong. Not only could it, but it has. Look back at the day care center child molestation cases in the 1980s. Despite overwhelming evidence it didn't happen, people are still in jail for it. The "evidence" used ranges from fully discredited (accounts from toddlers after long interrogations - where it has been proven they'll make something up if asked enough) to the ridiculous - stories about robots, demonic clowns, dwarves, etc. And what about anyone accused of terrorism today? Isn't being locked up without access to the courts or a lawyer much like that - plus the fact they are tried by (less fair) military courts rather than civilian.It seems to me any sort of highly emotional issue can lead to that sort of thing.
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One word... 'Gitmo'
LC >;-}>
Christianity: A disgusting middle eastern blood cult, based in human sacrifice, with sacraments of cannibalism and vampirism, whose highest icon is of a near naked man hanging in torment from a device of torture.
anyone that is different people like to call and say they look threating so yea
General
'witch trials' have never stopped. they're now mostly known as 'moral panics' ranging from the examples you mentioned above to the HIV panic of the 1980s, the ecstasy scare of the 1990s (Britain) the 'satanism' scare (US, Netherlands). 'Witch trials' are everywhere, fuelled by sensasionalism and the wide distribution of gross misinformation. I touched briefly on this subject whilst writing my dissertation, mainly regarding the panic surrounding ecstasy in th UK, and found it quite scary how misconstrued facts and out-and-out lies very quickly became accepted as truth.
Arthur Miller's The Crucible was written in the 1950s. Its theme - the Salem witch trials - was intended to highlight what was then happening in Washington (McCarthy) and portray it just for what it was.
It succeeded in so far as every thinking person could readily see the parallel and draw the correct conclusion about McCarthy. It failed becuase then, as now, thinking people are in an extreme minority.
I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
Arthur Miller's The Crucible was written in the 1950s. Its theme - the Salem witch trials - was intended to highlight what was then happening in Washington (McCarthy) and portray it just for what it was.
It succeeded in so far as every thinking person could readily see the parallel and draw the correct conclusion about McCarthy. It failed because then, as now, thinking people are in an extreme minority.
I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
The day-care center case you reference was the MacMartin day care center in Los Angeles. It was a family run buisness A mother two adult age children and a son in law. The trials spread out over something like six years. There was no convictions, the mother and daughter spent nearly two years in custody before charges were dropped, The son was behind bars for something like 5 years, all pre-trial. At his two trials he was aquited. the DA Ira Reiner and two of his prosicuters were disaplined by the state Attorny General.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
There was one in Massacusettes where a guy is still in jail. And how could I forget McCarthyism!
What about these:
Nigeria: Mysterious loss of a Penis
Deadly hunt for 'witches'...
One of my favorite "witch hunts" in recent time: Drew Peterson
Slowly building a blog at ~
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Yeah, I'm waiting for this little town to bite that hook. I'm almost certain there are other Atheist people here, but we are all in the perverbial closet still.