Action Alert: Witch Hunter Helen Ukpabio Coming to America

It’s been a long time since I’ve written to you guys with an update on something concerning our community because I’ve been on sabbatical for a while. But today I need to ask each of you to please participate in stopping a woman accused of crimes against humanity targeting children, from entering our country.

I’ve written in the past about the witchcraft persecutions going on in Africa. As it was in Europe during the Burning Times, today’s witch hunts largely target elderly women and children. In Africa, self-appointed “religious leaders” who deem themselves the ability “to discern a witch” enter a village, pick out a child to accuse, who then gets handed over by their family for fear of the entire family being run out or killed, and charges a fee to “exorcise” the child. These are exceptionally poor people who don’t really have money to begin with. The superstition and fear there is so great that the entire family is at risk of being mobbed or killed by their village if they do not comply. They are forced into a position of having to hand their children over.

While she is not the only one, Helen Ukpabio is a prominent female pastor who is especially public about leading these witch-hunts. She has produced propaganda videos and books for distribution which promote her fear-mongering that witch children are everywhere. She has published diagnostic tools to determine whether a child is a witch or not. These include waking at night, having a fever, falling ill, crying, and wanting privacy, among other, completely normal childhood behaviors. Based on this criteria, clearly ALL children would be thus accused. The International Humanist and Ethical Union claims that Ukpabio “uses her sermons, teachings and prophetic declarations to incite hatred, intolerance and persecution of alleged witches and wizards.” She is accused of crimes against humanity on the same level as the Nazi leaders.

Once accused, the children are poisoned (usually fatally), bathed in acid, chained in churches for severe beatings, or set on fire. Those who survive are then dumped on the streets to remain abandoned by their families and homeless. A large number are killed during their “exorcism”.

The problem is extremely severe. There are now concentration camps for the elderly women who are accused witches (those who survived the torture), and most of the children survivors remain homeless. Some of this influence has spread to the UK, where child protective services are now dealing with the this religiously-inspired child abuse for the first time in their history. Workers and journalists in the UK have had their lives endangered when investigating this issue. Ms. Ukpabio began traveling to the US last year to raise support and form alliances with the NAR/Third Wave fundie-whack jobs–including Sarah Palin. They have been joining forces, and I wrote about that last year.

Ms. Ukpabio was featured in a documentary titled “Saving Africa’s Witch Children”, which has done much to expose her and others like her, and raise global awareness of what’s happening in Africa. In response to this awareness, there is a non-profit organization called “Stepping Stones” that is helping to rescue the children who have been abandoned to provide medical treatment, food, housing and schooling to these children. The country of Nigeria has passed a law against accusing a child of witchcraft, and a judicial commission has been formed and Ms. Ukpabio is being called to appear in front of it. They are on the verge of issuing a warrant for her arrest to force her appearance on this matter. Many human rights groups have been taking action on this issue. Ms. Ukpabio has attempted to sue her local government, police, and these rescue organizations, claiming exemption from the law because under a religious organization. When that failed, she and her followers began making threats and using the press to attack the rescue workers.

She is on her way to America to raise more money for her cause, and to train our crazy fundies in her brand of witch-hunting. The event is called “Marathon Deliverence”, and is scheduled March 14th-25th in Houston, TX.

Clearly, this is an issue everyone in our community must help put a stop to. We do not want this violent fanatacism spreading to the US, nor do we want this happening ANYWHERE in the world. We already have the volitile fundamentalist group NAR/Third Wave that the Arab nations refer to as “The US’s Taliban.” We do not need them being pumped up and trained in the torturing and murder of the people they are already targeting pagans, Catholics, and Native peoples. We are here now at the dawn of a second Burning Time and we all need to step in and help stop it.

Protests in Houston are being organized. A Facebook page has been created to help raise awareness and opposition, and a petition has been started stating the “US Department of State needs to be urged to do the right thing and deny Helen Ukpabio’s entry into the United States on grounds of her human rights violations.”

The people in the UK never thought this would happen there, and now it is. There are attempts right now to bring it here to the US, and there is a group primed and ready to receive it. This is our chance to do something about it here and in Africa. Please join me in signing this petition.

I know this is scary, but we can do something about it. Please share this article with everyone you know who also finds this matter urgent and alarming, and encourage them to take action in any way they can. They can pass around this article, sign the petition, share the Facebook page, and encourage friends in Houston to help with the protest.

This is a time to take a stand and help save the lives of innocent people who are accused witches from being tortured and murdered—maybe even our own lives or the lives of people we know and love. We cannot allow this to spread. If the US has a voice banning this woman from our country due to human rights violations, that will help send a powerful message globally that the world will not stand for or tolerate witch-hunting. Now is our chance to help make a difference.

The following is a sample of one of the many films Helen creates as a brainwashing tool:

The Conspiracy Index

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Action Alert: Witch Hunter Helen Ukpabio Coming to America

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