a modern day witch hunt here in America

[Brad Henderson]

once again, some people prove they are incapable of distinguishing between the world's of fantasy and reality.

I participated in a face book thread involving members of that community. They seriously believe that the magic tricks that were performed were the work of voodoo and the devil. They are taking their children to urgent care to make sure they are ok. They reject any information to dispel their need to be persecuted by demonic forces. They are literally engaged in the same processes that lead to the English and Salem witch trials.

and we used to think this nonsense was only an issue in fundamentalist Middle Eastern countries or third world tribal societies. Nope, it's 'murca

http://www.foxcarolina.com/clip/1286035 ... te-parents

[observer]

Fox News, eh? ...

[Brad Henderson]

this is a local affiliate and not the same as the Fox News network.

[jason156]

Not all that surprising, those bible-belt bozos think Harry Potter is demonic.

[erdnasephile]

I watched the HTML 5 news presentation here: http://www.live5news.com/clip/12860352/ ... te-parents (other link didn't work for me with Firefox).

I just feel kind of "Meh" about the whole thing. While I have no doubt Brad interacted with some true crazies, the one mother interviewed on camera didn't seem like a lunatic to me. Also, the principal was pretty chill about the whole thing, and they mentioned they plan to have the magician back for future talks. There were no threats to burn people at the stake (at least on this video).

Also, it's hard to judge the appropriateness of the performance for myself since the news report gave so few details regarding it.

Personally, I think presenters need to be very thoughtful about what they say to children--they are all at different stages of cognitive development at that age. Some are indeed quite literal and can easily misinterpret what is being presented. In addition, kids' recall of events during the retelling to their parents sometimes has little relationship with reality.

[Caveat: I am basing my opinion only on this one video--didn't have time to research other newspaper or video reports.]

(PS: I am one of those Bible-belt "bozos", who is not only a Harry Potter fan (at least until all of the recent JK Rowling retconning), but believes in science and loves magic. Not all of us are nuts.)

(PPS: Completely off topic: if you liked Harry Potter, I highly recommend the "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series by Michael Scott)

[Ted M]

The news story's tone was indeed moderate, not alarmist. But Brad mentioned a facebook thread where things are apparently a bit more panic-stricken...

I participated in a face book thread involving members of that community. They seriously believe that the magic tricks that were performed were the work of voodoo and the devil. They are taking their children to urgent care to make sure they are ok. They reject any information to dispel their need to be persecuted by demonic forces. They are literally engaged in the same processes that lead to the English and Salem witch trials.

How do they test for demonic possession at urgent care?

What is the medical billing code for that?

[erdnasephile]

The news story's tone was indeed moderate, not alarmist. But Brad mentioned a facebook thread where things are apparently a bit more panic-stricken...

How do they test for demonic possession at urgent care?

What is the medical billing code for that?

In the spirit of Halloween: You would check a hemogoblin level. (Boo! )

Believe it or not, if someone came in with this, you could probably bill: Z71.81 "Spiritual or Religious counseling"

Either that or Z71.1 "Person with feared health complaint in whom no diagnosis is made".

[Ted M]

Ha!

Love the depth and breadth of knowledge here.

[Richard Hatch]

Tim Sonefelt, the magician involved, is a very talented magician with vast experience as a family entertainer. Anyone who took the trouble to check out his website would know that he is not fostering false beliefs (or even true beliefs!) in demonic forces: http://www.timsonefelt.com/

[erdnasephile]

Tim Sonefelt, the magician involved, is a very talented magician with vast experience as a family entertainer. Anyone who took the trouble to check out his website would know that he is not fostering false beliefs (or even true beliefs!) in demonic forces: http://www.timsonefelt.com/

That's good to know. It really sounds like another example of social media fueled outrage.

I would like to say that my comment with regards to being careful what one says to kid audiences was not directed at Mr. Sonefelt. When I wrote that, I was actually thinking of a magician I saw a number of years ago who decided to do the lit cigarette vanish in a handkerchief for a group of elementary school kids. He actually started taking drags off the cigarette prior to dumping the lit cig into the handkerchief--just before saying: "Don't smoke kids, it's bad for you". I'm pretty sure that's not the message the kids came away with.