Don't Let Grandma Retire To Kenya

  The BBC is reporting that a mob in western Kenya has burned to death 11 elderly people. The eight women and three men, all of whom were over 80, were on a list of people who supposedly attended a "witches meeting," which produced a list of people who were scheduled for future bewitchment. The victims were dragged from their homes one by one and set on fire in the street. The mob then burned down their houses.

  The best (most appalling) part of the article concerns the response of the people who weren't burned to death:

Residents have been ambivalent about condemning the attacks because belief in witchcraft is widespread in the area.

  Yes, let's not get up on our soapbox about burning old people to death, because a lot of people think that witchcraft is real. Hopefully, it won't be MY grandmother that's tortured and murdered next time.

But local official Mwangi Ngunyi spoke out against the murders. "People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspect someone," he told AFP news agency.

  OH CRAP YES, Mr. Nugunyi. It's not so important that your neighbors are vicious predators, murdering elderly people. It's not the fact that their ridiculous superstitions are inciting them to this kind of appalling violence. No, the real problem here is vigilantism. We can solve the whole problem with a small shift in behavior. Next time your suspect that your elderly neighbor is casting spells on you, don't burn her to death. CALL THE POLICE ON HER!

  This is why superstition and belief in (or fear of) the supernatural are not harmless fun. Blind belief, ignorance and fear are volatile and dangerous. Today, we can add 11 more names to the list of innocent victims of these awful human failings.