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Witch Hunts: From Salem to Guantanamo Bay
Witch hunts are the products of intense fear and paranoia and the results are often terrible. The accused in three famous witchcraft cases - in Bamberg and Wurzburg, Germany, in Loudun, France, and in Salem, Massachusetts - were assumed to be guilty without proof. Secret accusations were accepted, evidence was falsified, and extreme pressures, including torture, were used. Arguing that fear was, and still is, a prerequisite to any witch hunt, Robert Rapley shows that the current hunt for terrorists mirrors the witch crazes of the past. Rapley analyses witch hunts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and finds many of the same elements repeated in more recent miscarriages of justice - from the Dreyfus case for treason in late nineteenth-century France, to the persecution of the Scottsboro Boys in Alabama for the gang rape of two white girls in the 1930s, to the Guildford and Maguire terrorist prosecutions in Britain in the 1970s. All three cases took place during times of extreme fear and paranoia and in all cases the accused were innocent.Today, argues Rapley, the "witch" lives on in the "terrorist." He cites as evidence Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, the first prisons created for "witches" since Salem. In Witch Hunts he makes a compelling case that, in the wake of 9/11, witch hunts threaten today's America.
326 pages, Hardcover
First published February 9, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 13, 2009
This book attempts to link two very dark and scary things, one from the past and one from the present: witches and terrorists. I never would have connected the two myself, but the author makes a wonderful and very understandable argument. Witches--real or imaginary--were scary because they were part of the unknown. In the past, the seventeenth century or thereabouts, a great deal was unknown, so a great deal was attributed to sorcerers, those who would use the devil to their own ends, or those who were used by the devil.
These days, we know quite a bit more: first of all, that plagues are caused by infectious and contagious disease, and famines are caused by a number of factors like climate change. But there are other things that still remain mysterious, like cultural and religious differences around the globe, many of which spawn terrorism and terrorists. Just like you couldn't spot a "witch" just by looking at her, you can't spot a "terrorist" just by looking at him.
What I liked most about this book is that while you certainly know how the author feels about the issue, he presents the information in a way that you can certainly draw your own conclusions. I'd like to this I'm not quite so negative about humanity as Mr. Rapley, but I think this book does bring about a set of problems that need to be addressed in the open. I especially like that he draws the present to the past because I think people do not realize how intricately it is all connected. Truly, one can learn from the past. I believe a well-read history scholar would make a better president any day than a Harvard Law grad. Trust me, anyone can make laws, and anyone can read them. But NOT just anyone can understand the past, and what it COULD mean for the future. This author does, brilliantly, and though the book is dense, it is worth a good read.
I think what is important to remember, though, is that witches weren't real. Never, ever. But terrorists are. I think the link between the two is that four or five centuries ago, people believed that witches were real in a very tangible way, but that just doesn't make it so. Terrorism and terrorists DO exist in our society, and I think especially for Americans this is a very scary thing. They might not be able to cause damage on the scale that the USSR or Nazi Germany could have, but if it's your family, your life, does it really matter how it's destroyed?
These days, we know quite a bit more: first of all, that plagues are caused by infectious and contagious disease, and famines are caused by a number of factors like climate change. But there are other things that still remain mysterious, like cultural and religious differences around the globe, many of which spawn terrorism and terrorists. Just like you couldn't spot a "witch" just by looking at her, you can't spot a "terrorist" just by looking at him.
What I liked most about this book is that while you certainly know how the author feels about the issue, he presents the information in a way that you can certainly draw your own conclusions. I'd like to this I'm not quite so negative about humanity as Mr. Rapley, but I think this book does bring about a set of problems that need to be addressed in the open. I especially like that he draws the present to the past because I think people do not realize how intricately it is all connected. Truly, one can learn from the past. I believe a well-read history scholar would make a better president any day than a Harvard Law grad. Trust me, anyone can make laws, and anyone can read them. But NOT just anyone can understand the past, and what it COULD mean for the future. This author does, brilliantly, and though the book is dense, it is worth a good read.
I think what is important to remember, though, is that witches weren't real. Never, ever. But terrorists are. I think the link between the two is that four or five centuries ago, people believed that witches were real in a very tangible way, but that just doesn't make it so. Terrorism and terrorists DO exist in our society, and I think especially for Americans this is a very scary thing. They might not be able to cause damage on the scale that the USSR or Nazi Germany could have, but if it's your family, your life, does it really matter how it's destroyed?
March 7, 2011
The book was fascinating. A great compilation of information and biographical stories. I really enjoyed reading this. However...the author's entire premise fails. While I understand, especially after finishing the work, how there may be superficial commonalities between historical witch hunts and modern day mistreatment/mishandling by the United States war on terror and their witch hunts for terrorists.
There is one humongous difference though. There ARE terrorists. Terrorists pose significant threat to life and community. There were never witches that posed threat to life and community. Even using the author's biased portrayal of the facts, the witch hunt the U.S. has initiated has admittedly netted the capture of actual terrorists. In saying that, I make no position, pro or con, on the methodologies the U.S. has employed to achieve their goals.
That being said, the historical witch hunts, specifically the Salem trials, had no final results in which threats to life and community were captured. Even if "real" witches were captured and punished, they posed no threat.
There is one humongous difference though. There ARE terrorists. Terrorists pose significant threat to life and community. There were never witches that posed threat to life and community. Even using the author's biased portrayal of the facts, the witch hunt the U.S. has initiated has admittedly netted the capture of actual terrorists. In saying that, I make no position, pro or con, on the methodologies the U.S. has employed to achieve their goals.
That being said, the historical witch hunts, specifically the Salem trials, had no final results in which threats to life and community were captured. Even if "real" witches were captured and punished, they posed no threat.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews