Witchcraft

I like to pretend that I live in a twentieth century modern sort of world, like in the scifi movies I saw as a kid. We have robots vacuuming the floor and all the knowledge of human history at our fingertips, but every now and then something happens that forces us to say "What the fuck?". I had a what the fuck moment today when I read this article about a woman on trial for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia. That's right, witchcraft. She was imprisoned in 2005 by the religious police. She was beaten and forced to sign a confession she could not read with a thumbprint because she could not write, because a man accused her of making him .... impotent. 

Being a Massachusetts native, I am particularly sensitive to the subject of capitol punishment for witchcraft. We had an incident back in 1692 that we have never been able to live down. Regrettably, Salem has become a theme park dedicated to witchcraft, choosing to emphasize the supernatural angle instead of the gross perversion of justice/wrongful capitol punishment aspect of the event. I guess tourists are more interested in spooky witches than frightened illiterate farmers killing their neighbors for no reason.

From now on, whenever I hear anything about Saudi Arabia I am going to think about it as being very much like Massachusetts in 1692. There is something very unsettling about someone being PUT TO DEATH because a man can't get an erection. To be clear - this went to COURT, in front of a JUDGE, and they made this decision.