Comments on: Cambridge churchmen in fear of King of All Witches

By: Fatpie42

Fatpie42 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:15:58 +0000

It’s my understanding the most Catholics no longer do exorcisms on people, but rather do them on places which are believed to be haunted. Also, Catholics are strongly oppoosed to people acting as mediums. I would be very upset (and I hope others here agree) if I heard about any group exorcising a person or claiming to act as a conduit for the dead. Both can be extremely manipulative and the first can be positively dangerous.

While I am strongly opposed to anti-pagan bigotry, that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily wrong of Father David Paul to criticise the practices being promoted.

By: Greg. Tingey

Greg. Tingey — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:53:55 +0000

“I can tell you that there’s only one religion that tries to convert and prey on students, and it isn’t witchcraft.”

Islam?
Ask Clare College for their crawling take on this ……

By: Ken Clark

Ken Clark — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:24:03 +0000

“It will be a shockingly bad thing for Cambridge. Whilst it is obviously a load of nonsense it will appeal to people who are in distress or are vulnerable. It really is manipulation of people’s fears and a complete fraud. People who go to these things often end up with mental problems.”

Kettle calling the pot black if ever there was an instance!

By: Tim jackson

Tim jackson — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:52:35 +0000

Father David Paul of St Laurence’s Roman Catholic Church is sceptical of the claims, but still worried:

It will be a shockingly bad thing for Cambridge. Whilst it is obviously a load of nonsense it will appeal to people who are in distress or are vulnerable. It really is manipulation of people’s fears and a complete fraud. People who go to these things often end up with mental problems.

As noted above, Priest, know thyself…

By: Angela_K

Angela_K — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:37:01 +0000

Another Pot-Kettle-Black from the church!

There is a museum of witchcraft and the occult in Boscastle, Cornwall, an amusing and interesting visit it makes. There is a disturbing display of letters from fundie xtains, you wouldn’t believe the hate and threats in those letters. There have been many attempts by the god squad to shut this museum down.

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:54:31 +0000

If there’s “an epidemic of anti-faiths” to complement the plethora of competing faiths that we already have, would they all disappear in one big bang, so to speak? And we now know why so many old women were accused of witchcraft in the past. They couldn’t afford to keep their cottages heated in the winter, with the result that any prattling prelate who entered, noting “the intense and extreme cold in the rooms”, would have immediately jumped to the conclusion that dark forces were at work! These people are truly beyond parody!!

By: j.r.

j.r. — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:36:54 +0000

Isn’t anyone else bothered about the fact that these “witches” are all dudes? I mean what happened to the traditional hirsute lady in a pointy hat? It’s political correctness gone mad.

By: Stonyground

Stonyground — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:56:07 +0000

As always, the Catholic guy shows an unbelievable lack of self awareness. The quotation from him could be applied word for word to the Catholic Church. Why do the religious imagine that their particular brand of groundless idiotic superstition is any different from witchcraft?

By: Matt Walton

Matt Walton — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:24:54 +0000

I was a witch in Cambridge for a while, and I suspect the community still there will be reacting to this news with a great deal of concern. I’ve never met any witches who acknowledge any of the self-styled claimants to the non-existant throne of the witches, and the kind of magic that this guy says he practises is the kind that most witches wouldn’t go anywhere near. The aim of most modern witchcraft-based faiths is positive change, not curses.

It’s actually very irritating. Okay so I’m not really a witch anymore, but I still feel connected to the community in a limited sense, and someone like this coming along is almost a personal insult. He’s claiming lordship over me, and behaving irresponsibly into the bargain.

Perhaps it’s a good thing magic isn’t real, because if it was there’d be a serious fight going on in Cambridge soon.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:39:55 +0000

And there’s more! http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=454587

“Fr Dick Healey has branded the occultist “twisted” and plans to report him to the police for practising witchcraft in a church.”

…

“Police said a potential crime under the Public Order Act could have been committed if anyone was in the church at the time of the ritual and was alarmed or distressed by it.”

Oh I see. Well in that case, I’m alarmed and distressed by Christian rituals…