Mark Rouleau (17 Oct
2011)
"Child
Sacrifice"
Read this story, see Ray Comfort's movie
180 degrees and then answer the questions at the end.
11 October 2011 Last updated at 17:03 ET
Where child sacrifice is a business
By Chris Rogers BBC News, Kampala
A BBC undercover reporter is told: "We can bury the child alive
on your construction site"
The villages and farming communities that surround Uganda's
capital, Kampala, are gripped by fear.
Schoolchildren are closely watched by teachers and parents as
they make their way home from school. In playgrounds and on the
roadside are posters warning of the danger of abduction by witch
doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice.
The ritual, which some believe brings wealth and good health,
was almost unheard of in the country until about three years
ago, but it has re-emerged, seemingly alongside a boom in the
country's economy.
The mutilated bodies of children have been discovered at
roadsides, the victims of an apparently growing belief in the
power of human sacrifice.
'Sacrifice business'
Many believe that members of the country's new elite are paying
witch doctors vast sums of money for the sacrifices in a bid to
increase their wealth.
At the Kyampisi Childcare Ministries church, Pastor Peter
Sewakiryanga is teaching local children a song called Heal Our
Land, End Child Sacrifice.
To hear dozens of young voices singing such shocking words
epitomises how ritual murder has become part of everyday life
here.
"Child sacrifice has risen because people have become lovers of
money. They want to get richer," the pastor says.
"They have a belief that when you sacrifice a child you get
wealth, and there are people who are willing to buy these
children for a price. So they have become a commodity of
exchange, child sacrifice has become a commercial business."
The pastor and his parishioners are lobbying the government to
regulate witch doctors and improve police resources to
investigate these crimes.
According to official police figures, there was one case of
child sacrifice in 2006; in 2008 the police say they
investigated 25 alleged ritual murders, and in 2009, another 29.
The Anti-Human Sacrifice Police Task Force, launched in response
to the growing numbers, says the ritual murder rate has slowed,
citing a figure of 38 cases since 2006.
Pastor Sewakiryanga disputes the police numbers, and says there
are more victims from his parish than official statistics for
the entire country.
The work of the police task force has been strongly criticised
by the UK-based charity, Jubilee Campaign.
It says in a report that the true number of cases is in the
hundreds, and claims more than 900 cases have yet to be
investigated by the police because of corruption and a lack of
resources.
'Quiet money'
Tepenensi led me to a field near her home where she found the
body of her six-year-old grandson Stephen, dumped in the reeds.
She trembled as she pointed out the spot where she found his
decapitated body; he had been missing for 24 hours.
Clutching the only photo she has of her grandson, Tepenensi
sobbed as she explained that although the local witch doctor had
admitted to sacrificing Stephen, the police were reluctant to
pursue the case.
"They offered me money to keep quiet," she says. "I refused the
offer."
No-one from the Ugandan government agreed to do an interview.
The police deny inaction and corruption.
The head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice Police Task Force,
Commissioner Bignoa Moses, says the police are doing all they
can to tackle the problem.
"Sometimes, they accuse us of these things because we make no
arrests, but we are limited. If we get information that someone
is involved in criminal activities like human sacrifice, we
shall go and investigate, and if it can be proven we will take
him to court, but sometimes the cases are not proven."
Boy castrated
At Kampala main hospital, consultant neurosurgeon Michael
Muhumuza shows me the X-rays of the horrific injuries suffered
by nine-year-old Allan.
They reveal missing bone from his skull and damage to a part of
his brain after a machete sliced through Allan's head and neck
in an attempt to behead him; he was castrated by the witch
doctor. It was a month before Allan woke from a coma after being
dumped near his village home.
Allan was able to identify his attackers, including a man called
Awali. But the police say Allan's eyewitness account is
unreliable.
Local people told us that Awali continues to be involved with
child sacrifice.
For our own inquiries, we posed as local businessmen and asked
around for a witch doctor that could bring prosperity to our
local construction company. We were soon introduced to Awali. He
led us into a courtyard behind his home, and as if to welcome us
he and his helpers wrestled a goat to the ground and slit its
throat.
"This animal has been sacrificed to bring luck to us all," Awali
explained. He then demanded a fee of $390 (£250) for the
ritual and asked us to return in a few days.
At our next meeting, Awali invited us into his shrine, which is
traditionally built from mud bricks with a straw roof. Inside,
the floor is littered with herbs, face masks, rattles and a
machete.
The witch doctor explained that this meeting was to discuss the
most powerful spell - the sacrifice of a child.
"There are two ways of doing this," he said. "We can bury the
child alive on your construction site, or we cut them in
different places and put their blood in a bottle of spiritual
medicine."
Awali grabbed his throat. "If it's a male, the whole head is cut
off and his genitals. We will dig a hole at your construction
site, and also bury the feet and the hands and put them all
together in the hole."
Awali boasted he had sacrificed children many times before and
knew what he was doing. After this meeting, we withdrew from the
negotiations.
We handed our notes to the police. Awali is still a free man.
'No voice'
Allan's father, Semwanga, has sold his home to pay for Allan's
medical treatment, and moved to the slums near the capital.
Sitting on the steps of their makeshift house, built from
corrugated sheets of metal, I showed the footage of our meeting
with the witch doctor to Allan on my laptop. He pointed to the
screen and shouted "Awali!" confirming he is the man who
attacked him.
Pastor Sewakiryanga says without the full force of the law,
there is little that can be done to protect Uganda's children
from the belief in the power of human sacrifice.
"The children do not have voices, their voices have been
silenced by the law and the police not acting, and the people
who read the newspapers do nothing, so we have to make a stand
and do whatever it takes to stamp out this evil, we can only
pray that the government will listen."
Now for Ray Comforts Movie
http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/ray-comforts-180-full-movie-released-on-youtube/
How is what we are doing and allowing to be done in America
different?