Comments

  1. kraut says

    The first lesson my Dad taught me: never to hit a woman. That was in the 50’s, when such practices were still common.

    But then – my Dad was never really a religious person. As a POW at 18 I guess teaches you to look at the world a bit differently.

    Vileness like that can only come from religions for whom women are less than third class citizens.
    The Xtian and the Muslim religions are right in the forefront.

    This arseholes deserves one thing only: Cut his balls off, so he is unable to breed such evil any further. I volunteer, having experience of castrating pigs. Same difference.

  2. Tim Harris says

    To which church does the man belong? If he is an Anglican, then I wonder if Craven Williams might say something, and do something such as deprive this man of his position.

  3. grumpyoldfart says

    Maybes it’s just a well rehearsed piece of religious theatre. Watch the guy in the blue suit at the top right of the picture. At the the 23.25 second mark he hears the key words, knows the slap is coming, realises he can’t see properly, and turns around to watch the action on the big screen TV.

    At the 23.35 second mark the preacher starts the slapping movement, but at the 23:39 second mark he tucks his elbow into his waist (pulling the punch so to speak).

    Once the woman has received the (probably slight) blow, the preacher exaggerates the follow-through to make it look like the slap was much more severe than it was.

    That’s why none of the goons on stage reacted in any way at all – not even a slight flinch of surprise – they weren’t surprised because they had either been told it was going to happen, or they seen it happen during rehearsals.

    At the 48 second mark another girl moves in and kneels beside the girl who had just been hit. This newcomer may have just been late hitting her spot, or she may have decided to get in close to the action in the hope of getting her fifteen seconds in the spotlight. The point is, she didn’t run away, she came forward!

    So what do we make of the audience who cheered the exhibition? You’d think at least some of them would have booed the preacher, and maybe a couple of young guys would have approached the stage and tried to rescue the girl. But no, they stayed back and enjoyed the spectacle.

  4. Brian M says

    Sick sick sick.

    I honestly think this may be one of the vilest legacies of colonialism…although it appears that some African churches are putting their “special” imprint on the religion.

    On the other hand, there is always Bishop Tutu.

  5. kraut says

    “Maybes it’s just a well rehearsed piece of religious theatre. Watch the guy in the blue suit at the top right of the picture”

    In a country racked with internal violence, to portray violence against women as acceptable (listen to the cheers) it does not matter if that violence is theatrical or not. It still gives the message that violence is ok and condoned by whatever god you pray to.

  6. EvN says

    @ Grumpyoldfart

    “That’s why none of the goons on stage reacted in any way at all – not even a slight flinch of surprise – they weren’t surprised because they had either been told it was going to happen, or they seen it happen during rehearsals.”

    … or they are so used to men slapping women that they do not react to it.

    “This newcomer may have just been late hitting her spot, or she may have decided to get in close to the action in the hope of getting her fifteen seconds in the spotlight. The point is, she didn’t run away, she came forward!”

    Possibly because she was ordered to do so?

    You cannot know how harmful the mix of paternalistic animism and Christianity is in Africa. Both have misogyny at heart and approve this type of behaviour. Men are superior (traditional) and preachermen (Christianity) even more so.

    This particular clip may possibly be staged, but the same behaviour would not lift an eyebrow on the streets.

  7. MizzMazz says

    Gah, no Witch would kneel before any man or god/ess. I think it is religious theatre, and my years being a Pagan Witch taught me first and foremost not to kneel or abase myself before any authority. Clergy sucks, Authoritarianism sucks, and any kind of abeyance to another human being sucks. This shit in Africa sucks double.

    Mazz

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