I think that there is something in most human nature that loves a superstition....;-) And while we, as Americans, can look at these practices and some may feel uncomfortable with this level of "superstition", the fact that anyone would actually be intimidated by it and feel that it needs countering via additional supernatural means (defensive prayer) just goes to show that folks of this ilk are not so far away from the same superstitious inclination.
It's empowering to think that we can effect changes in a person's life, either for good or for ill, by hurling curses or blessings, and there are many anecdotes that seem to point to the fact that those things are not altogether ineffective--the power of the human mind is one vast, unexamined facility that we all possess. And I suppose that it would be just as easy for someone standing outside of us, and observing our everyday behavior, to make a rather dramatic story about some of our personal "superstitious" behaviors, were they not familiar with the foundations and reasons for their existence. And when I say "superstitious", I mean crazy things like stopping for a red light on a deserted street at two in the morning--pretty nutty stuff, considered logically, but something ingrained enough in us by the circumstances of our daily life that we do it unthinkingly.
I am not specifically familiar with Kenya, but my grandfather spent most of his life in Angola, and I have been to South Africa, and so I know that there are certain customs and beliefs in those countries that would seem odd to an American, but that are completely mundane to them. I can see where someone who was of an American mindset--especially one that was easily intimidated by cultural strangenesses or fundamental xenophobia--could craft a story of the kind displayed here, and credit this kind of behavior with some demonic origin when it is nothing more than human behavior.
This whole campaign, I think, has been all about superstition, and preying upon the superstitions of so-called "real Americans". It's discouraging to see the Republican party and the Christian right pulling out the sangoma's beads and rattles, invoking the magic words--"Muslim", "Un-American", "Socialist", "Communist" and, perhaps most unfortunate of all, "Black".
It seems that Americans have their own set of superstitions.
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I think that there is something in most human nature that loves a superstition....;-) And while we, as Americans, can look at these practices and some may feel uncomfortable with this level of "superstition", the fact that anyone would actually be intimidated by it and feel that it needs countering via additional supernatural means (defensive prayer) just goes to show that folks of this ilk are not so far away from the same superstitious inclination.
It's empowering to think that we can effect changes in a person's life, either for good or for ill, by hurling curses or blessings, and there are many anecdotes that seem to point to the fact that those things are not altogether ineffective--the power of the human mind is one vast, unexamined facility that we all possess. And I suppose that it would be just as easy for someone standing outside of us, and observing our everyday behavior, to make a rather dramatic story about some of our personal "superstitious" behaviors, were they not familiar with the foundations and reasons for their existence. And when I say "superstitious", I mean crazy things like stopping for a red light on a deserted street at two in the morning--pretty nutty stuff, considered logically, but something ingrained enough in us by the circumstances of our daily life that we do it unthinkingly.
I am not specifically familiar with Kenya, but my grandfather spent most of his life in Angola, and I have been to South Africa, and so I know that there are certain customs and beliefs in those countries that would seem odd to an American, but that are completely mundane to them. I can see where someone who was of an American mindset--especially one that was easily intimidated by cultural strangenesses or fundamental xenophobia--could craft a story of the kind displayed here, and credit this kind of behavior with some demonic origin when it is nothing more than human behavior.
This whole campaign, I think, has been all about superstition, and preying upon the superstitions of so-called "real Americans". It's discouraging to see the Republican party and the Christian right pulling out the sangoma's beads and rattles, invoking the magic words--"Muslim", "Un-American", "Socialist", "Communist" and, perhaps most unfortunate of all, "Black".
It seems that Americans have their own set of superstitions.