XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.books.cs-lewis   
   From: hayesstw@telkomsa.net   
      
   On Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:13:51 -0400, Steve Morrison  wrote:   
      
   >Third, I question the idea that the Renaissance/Reformation decision   
   >to believe in witchcraft was morally neutral in the first place! Most   
   >historians consider the witch mania to have been a classic instance   
   >of scapegoating, a type of mass panic taking place in a time of   
   >stress. I don't seriously believe that the false belief came first   
   >and the action of witch-hunting followed from it; rather, the belief   
   >was adopted to justify the impulse to go after someone, to have a   
   >focus for hatred that lacked a proper object.   
      
   But is this what actually happened?   
      
   Did people actually make a conscious decision to accept a belief?   
      
   And how did this hatred arise? Or was it always there, and just lacked a   
   proper object before?   
      
      
   --   
   Steve Hayes   
   Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/litmain.htm   
        http://www.goodreads.com/hayesstw   
        http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)