=======================================================================
<p>
L O W L A N D S - L * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
<p>
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands.list@gmail.com
<p>
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/rules.php
<p>
Posting: lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org - lowlands.list@gmail.com
<p>
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv@listserv.net
<p>
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
<p>
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
<p>
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
<p>
Administration: lowlands.list@gmail.com or sassisch@yahoo.com
<p>
<p>
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
<p>
<p>
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
<p>
=======================================================================
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 26 April 2007 - Volume 04</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Subject: History</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Gabriele, you wrote under "History":</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">> Most of us still find the witchhunts kind of amusing? I should hope not! </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I am not only talking about people having been falsely accused of being witches, but I am also talking about those that were persecuted
</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">because</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> they were witches (using tis as a catch-all label for Wicca and other religions). This part is still fair game when it comes to entertainment and ridicule.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"Ding-dong, the witch is dead!"</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">We are talking about adherents of pre-Christian "pagan" religions the Church was bent on getting rid of by all means, just as it wanted to get rid of Judaism and Islam as well as of the Indic religion of the Roma ("Gypsies"). Not being Christian was a crime that not only deserved death but also the utmost degree of torture, such as being burnt alive (symbolized by Gretel shoving the wicked witch into the oven), and the most efficient way was mass burning (usually of people locked into a building). Since not being Christian was a crime, non-Christians pretended to be Christians and practised their true religions in secret, which was dangerous business. This continued until our time. I remember from my childhood whispered-word-of-mouth referral to certain neighbors that practised clearly Wicca-derived healing arts or divining.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Witch figures are still used in entertainment, especially in children's entertainment, because children like to be scared, and witches rank among the top scary figures. In most cases, games end with witches and wizards being destroyed. I see all of this as an extension or survival of the denigration of non-Christian European religions and a relic of the culture of justifying their destruction. This tends to be presented in an amusing way.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
•
<p>
==============================END===================================
<p>
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org.
<p>
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
<p>
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
<p>
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l")
<p>
are to be sent to listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org or at
<p>
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
<p>
*********************************************************************