Posted on 09/22/2024 4:51:03 AM PDT by Phoenix8
Perhaps the most notorious case of mass hysteria in colonial America, the Salem witch trials saw around 200 people accused of witchcraft, with 19 found guilty and executed. Another man was crushed to death for refusing to plead, while five others died in jail.
The incident began in February 1692 when a group of young girls claimed to have been possessed by the devil and accused other women of being witches. Hysteria spread through colonial Massachusetts and a special court was convened to hear trials of those accused.
By September public opinion turned against the trials and they eventually closed early in 1693. The cases became notorious and were interpreted by later generations as a warning sign against the dangers of religious fanaticism, isolation and lapses in due process. In 1711 the convictions of twenty-two people were reversed by the courts and their families were given monetary compensation.
(Excerpt) Read more at onthisday.com ...
It occurs to me there are parallels to today. We can’t imagine how people could be so stupid as to believe in witch craft. Yet today we see children being castrated (chemically and some say surgically) and grown men with 5 o’clock shadows in dresses selling beer on TV, mass marches to support terrorists, mass riots to support slain criminals.
In both eras of US history we also see elite Ivy League colleges deeply involved with these hysterical movements. At least 4 Harvard graduates being actors in the Salem Witchcraft trails (Magistrates etc). Apparently highly intelligent people are just if not more susceptible to group think than regulars.
I have to agree with every word of your personal comments, for I was about to make similar remarks.
Today’s mass hysteria also includes the fear Trump will take away our democracy. A belief that is so twisted in its concept only the dumbest of the stupid could possibly believe it. This bunch is willing to let our country be taken over by millions upon millions of illegals so they can vote for someone that will take away our culture and lead us into a totalitarian state.
Those Witch Trials of yesteryear have nothing on us.
“We can’t imagine how people could be so stupid as to believe in witch craft.”
_______________
MAGIC & THE SUPERNATURAL
Witches & Witchcraft
Throughout much of Jewish history, witchcraft has been viewed as a vice that virtually every woman will indulge in.
BY RABBI GEOFFREY DENNIS
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/witches-witchcraft/
Spiritual Warfare: The Occult Has Demonic Influence
Author: Most Rev. Montrose
Bishop Donald W. Montrose
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/spiritual-warfare-the-occult-has-demonic-influence-3803
Modern witchcraft: Empowerment, feminism, and rituals
By Kennedy Ryan
October 26, 2023
https://www.brandeis.edu/stories/2023/october/witchcraft.html
Would you say it’s mass hysteria to say Harris would take away our right to vote?
Don’t forget the one against Trump in NYC.
I agree with the comments of both of you and, as mentioned, there are parallels to today.
I see the root cause of this and some of the problems of today as stemming from governments pretending things to be true that are not true in order to justify doing what they want to do. Here are 5 examples including the witchcraft.
1) Pretending that witches are real was used to justify the “trials” and executions referred to in this article. (But even Mrs. Bill Clinton can’t turn you into a frog.)
2) Pretending that black people are not fully human was used to justify slavery in America.
3) Pretending that Jewish people are not fully human was used to justify the holocaust by the Nazis. (Seeing all the pro-terror support today helps me understand that the Nazis had a lot of support from otherwise normal Germans.)
4) Pretending that preborn people are not fully human is being used to justify abortion, even up to birth in some places.
5) Pretending that homosexuality is normal is causing all sorts of problems including males competing against females in athlete competitions as well as the mentioned genital mutilations that have become popular to support among the left.
How did a thread on the Salem witch trials transform into your “pretendings.”
They were not pretending they believed in witches, they actually believed in witches. Witch-scares were common in Europe for hundreds of years, which was the source for what happened in Salem.
I thought the comments were relevant.
The same sort of mass hysteria drives both, whether they are based (however loosely) on fact or not.
I played John Proctor in our high school drama production of this one!
In those days witches were considered REAL and spectral evidence allowed in courts.
Women who were accused and plead “guilty” were fined and given jail time. Those who plead “Not Guilty” were found guilty in a court of law and hanged.
Them man who refused a plea and was crushed under rocks saved his farm and family from having all their goods confiscated by the local sheriff who had confiscated the goods of those who mad pleas.
This madness came to an end when those in another town ignored the girls when they went into their “act”.
There are today many who still believe in witchcraft. Just go to your local book store and see what is on the shelves in the “Occult, New Age and Self Improvement” sections.
There were no witches in Salem, Mass. in 1692. But today, Salem would be a happy hunting ground for witch hunters. When I visited there several years ago, I was told that it has the highest population of self-proclaimed witches of any US city.
I also read that as the frenzy continued one girl was brought before a judge and accused of flying. The judge said he looked at all the laws and can’t fine any law against flying. This was part of the beginning of the end of the trials.
But presumably most Freepers are Christians of some type. So we already believe in God, and that presumably also means believing in angels, including fallen angels and demons under Satan.
So why is everyone so sure there was no demonic witchcraft going on in Salem in 1692?
Spot on. I’d also add that I see a clear parallel between the witches hysteria and Covid. Look how quickly neighbor turned against neighbor, family member against family member. Not only was their hysteria, but those most afraid (and hysterical) also tried to take the moral high ground. It was about saving lives, they said. Wear the mask, stand six feet apart, take the shot; it was all because they knew best.
I’ve lived my life never making big decisions during an emotional moment and it’s served me well.
“There were no witches in Salem, Mass. in 1692.”
I once read a book by a well-known occultist and she said there were in fact witches in Salem, Mass, in 1692, but they were too smart to get caught at it.
The Bible condemns witchcraft, and I suppose it would not condemn what doesn’t exist.
Rigged elections are infringing on the voting process and thus our democratic way of electing public officials. This is going on now.
There is a possibility electing Harris could evolve into a totalitarian regime. Such regimes determine who gets to run for office as well as rigged elections. Right now the democrats are doing their very best to eliminate Trump from running. So in essence they are trying that now.
The answer to your question is yes, another democrat be it Harris or another could cause our democracy to fully crash.
With it goes the Constitutional Republic.
In both eras of US history...
The Salem Witch Trials did not occur in the US.
They took place in Massachusetts, in 1692, a British Crown Colony.
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