Witchcraft belief and practice is an African attempt to square the reality of human suffering with the belief in God (theodicy). To the African, God is good and he cannot wish evil or any pain to befall any of his children. Africans generally believe that God is a loving Father who is always blessing his…

Nollywood, the Nigerian version of Hollywood of the US and the Bollywood of India, is the largest  movie industry in Africa. In 2009 Nollywood produced 872 films while the United States Hollywood produced 485 major films. Though they are usually cheap and of poor quality, these movie videos are one of the most powerful promoters…

In my last post, “Identities of Accused Witches,” I listed the most common identities of those who are said to be witches. The question for this post is, “how do we know and identify a witch?” Basically, the question is that of epistemology and it is an important one in dealing with the whole question of…

From time immemorial, those that have been accused of causing suffering and pain through witchcraft have included: Widows, Parents of deceased, elderly people, children, women, and prosperous people. I’d like to briefly reflect on each group before providing some summary considerations. Widows In much of Africa, among the individuals most commonly accused of witchcraft are…

Suffering in all forms is pervasive and present in all humans regardless of age, race, religion, status, or sex. It is almost as if human beings are born to suffer.  From the beginning of the first humans, suffering has been part of human existence. It is natural for human beings to seek the cause(s) of…