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Mynym over at Beyond Good and Evil has a nice post about some Indian villagers who killed a local barber because they thought he was practicing black magic (no telling if their religion made them do it). He goes on to discuss witch hunts and Christianity, quoting from 6 Modern Myths About Christianity and Western Civilization (now on my Amazon wishlist).
There is a modern myth that witch hunts presumed to take place in the Dark Ages represent why Christianity is wrong, superstitious or part of the Dark Ages. It is a myth because historical facts demonstrate that witch hunts decreased under the influence of Christianity, even under the deformed Christianity of the Inquisition. So as the Inquisition took control, the amount of witch hunting decreased. The modern mind has been so shaped by propaganda with respect to the Dark Ages and then the great Enlightenment that simple historical facts go against its grain.
