1.5
Evidence and Witch-hunts
The whole process of witch-hunts hinges around how is dealt with facts and
evidence derived from them.
- 1. Somebody behaves in an unpleasant or cultural unacceptable but otherwise
harmless way.
- 2. People irritated or distressed by this and feeling powerless to change
it, tend to select especially those negative cues that can be lumped together
in a negative way. Contradicting positive interpretations are filtered out.
Believes played a crucial role in this often arbitrarily linking of 'facts'.
- We saw already the belief that 'Words could kill'. People would make
claims that the person cursed them and then something bad happened - that
was just accepted as proof of witchcraft.
- There were also invisible 'facts' only to be believed, like the devil.
- When people kept floating in water, this was the proof of the 'fact'
that they had a pact with the devil. The same when they had insensitive
spots in their skin or organs.
- Essential is the arbitrariness of selecting and linking 'facts', on
the condition that enough people would believe it. Arbitrary facts of
bad breath or squinting could than be the proof of a person's pact with
the devil. Still there are lots of people who believe that white people
are superior and that Jews are even more intelligent because of their
race. In the self-confession the arbitrariness of linking facts shines
even stronger: however impossible the scenarios confessed, the fact of
confession was enough proof…
- The "You are with us, or else…" dimension.
In order to maintain the moral hegemony, there is the clear-cut simple world
of each other excluding parts. God and the Devil, good and evil, "We
the righteous people" and "them the evil, damned people". If
you don't agree with their values, their beliefs, their perceptions, you are
out. Challenging them on any of these has the same dire "Who is not with
us, is against us." consequences. Defending a suspect has become dangerous.
In modern times the least what can be expected is exclusion of the circle
of witch hunters.
- Once a person was suspected of being a witch, the witch-hunters focus was
on getting her sentenced. Everything a suspect expressed became automatically
proof of their guilt. A mentioning de-charging fact was seen as attempts to
mislead the courts, and was again a proof. When other people supported her
in their protests, they were at risk to be seen as betrayers of the Truth.
