Is 'witchcraft' a suitable syllabus topic for Massey University?

Updated: 2:22PM Thursday September 4, 2008

novalis (Christchurch CBD)
Thursday August 28, 2008 Quite right "Kiwi".! The concept of "Witchcraft" is actually really relevant for psychohistorical reasons; and also relevant in the context of general theology. Anything that people got burnt to death over and has gazillions of years of history behind it surely is worth a gander.

Lady Barbie Girl (Epsom)
Thursday August 28, 2008 It's ok "TomG (Canada)" - just keep throwing them mighty big rocks from the Canadian Rockies. A bit of noise on the line is sometimes good to give people a wake-up call. We just can't have people falling asleep while reading Your Views, can we! Last time I was at Sunday School was when I was about six years old (a million years ago, or so), but only because there were free ice cream. However, my brothers got kicked out as they were too unruly and disturbed the gods, me thinks, and I followed them, of course, notwithstanding no more free ice creams. And I've never felt the urge to ever return again. Because, ice cream you can always or done. Maybe the poor vicar needed one of you big rocks from the Canadian Rockies to wake up to reality, eh.

Marty from chc (Auckland)
Wednesday August 27, 2008 Here we go into that PC world again.
No I do not believe it is a subject that belongs in our education system. What contribution does this make to society - absolutely nothing.

elsie (Rolleston)
Wednesday August 27, 2008 quite frankly i think if 'witchcraft' is going to become a subject at massey lets do a doctrate in how to make photo frame decorated with little coloured noodles as well. in my opinion this is quite pathetic . and if you do believe in this stuff why in the world would you teach it as a subject . has nobody watched harry potter . do we not see what a bad witch can do? hey yeah woop woop lets encourage a whole bunch of lord voldermorts to go running around the country yeah?. i think not.

Lady Barbie Girl (Epsom)
Wednesday August 27, 2008 I can somehow understand that the uneducated masses in the Middle Ages and Antiquity believed in gods, angels, devils or whatever and that even a simple comet was then a bad omen from the gods. Most were uneducated in those days thus the people knew no better. But in our day and age where education is open to all in the Western world and now also to many in the third world I find it incomprehensible that anyone still believe in religious mumbo jumbo, when we also have the Internet. But people sure still do believe in most anything. It further amazes me that people in the 21st century still believe in gods no one in their right frame of mind has ever seen or spoken to, let alone phoned. In Asia e.g. many governments still don't make decisions before they have spoken to their private astrologer. And as far as I'm concerned astrologers are just a bunch of airy fairy, hokus pokus entertainers, who even worship constellations in the skies whose stars don't even belong together and only "exist" when seen from planet Earth. Maybe people just want to believe and don't care much if it's true or not, even when taken to the cleaners by cynical, greedy religious Talebans.

Kiwi (United Kingdom)
Wednesday August 27, 2008 If you can study theology at uni you should be able to study paganism too. They're both valid religions.

TomG (Canada)
Tuesday August 26, 2008 Lady Barbie - I was actually agreeing with you that religion (in general) really looks down on women - sorry - I must have misread your response when I made that comment - I thought you were saying that women were treated well by religion.
Anyway - my apologies if appropriate and I hope we're back on the same page now.

Lady Barbie Girl (Epsom)
Tuesday August 26, 2008 First, I must apologize for comparing trolls, pixies, fairies etc to religions because I have one heck of a lot of respect for trolls. Then there was someone questioning my claims of women being treated as 2nd or 3rd class citizens by most religions. In Judeaism women are not allowed to sit with the men, as is also strictly forbidden in islam. In Thai Buddhism women are not allowed to speak directly to the monks or touch them and monks are not allowed to marry or have girlfriends. And in Thai Lanna Buddhism (Nth Thailand) women even fare worse.

In most Christian religions women are frowned upon to be priests, especially by the right-wing fanatics. Amongst Catholics women cannot be priests at all and are considered dirty when pregnant. What's more sick is that evenwhen a woman/girl has been raped she's not allowed to have an abortion. Now that's sick if anything is sick. The fanatics amongst Christians and Catholics are nothing but Christian Talebans.

Bourbonjon (Howick)
Monday August 25, 2008 I say. Burn them! I mean. any subject is suitable for higher study. That's what universities are for. I'm thinking I should have learned to be a witch rather than on media degrees. What a waste of time. and 'dosh'.

TomG (Canada)
Monday August 25, 2008 Steve H you're a hoot but you talk good sense.

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