The interpretation of violent worldviews

In December 1998 the New York Times reported that a Vodou priest in New Jersey was indicted on charges of conspiring to kill a woman at a religious ceremony. While the incident itself still remains controversial – if the woman was burned by the priest or set herself ablaze by bumping into a candle – the case attracted considerable attention. Even today Vodou still conjures up images of human sacrifice and cannibalism. It was easy to make people believe in an attempted murder, even when the police failed to find any motive (New York Times, 12 December 1998, p. B1). The woman was indeed injured during the ceremony, but this does not provide sufficient grounds simplistically to reduce the religious system of Vodou to one aspect, viz. violence

Criminology · Epistemology · Linguistics · African cultural and philosophical studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Philosophy · Psychology