13^th November 2007

Janet Moses passed away on the twelfth of October at about 8 a.m.   She was twenty-two years old.  Janet was described by friends and family as a quiet person who was good at sports, especially softball.  She played for both the Wainuiomata and Hutt Valley teams.  She was an at-home Mum and is survived by her two daughters: Keita and Gwendoline.

Janet drowned to death in a plastic container filled with water brought in especially for the occasion.  She was held down in the containers by several people.  About forty people witnessed the event.

Police arrived on the scene about nine hours after Janet died.  They found grazes to her upper arms, forearms and torso.

Janet's fourteen year old niece almost died at the same event.  She was admitted to hospital before being placed in protective care.

Janet had been accused of stealing a statue of a lion from the Greytown Hotel.

Dr. Hone Kaa understood the need to restrain Janet, but questioned the amount of water used.  He also understands the difficulty of such a process and is wary of getting involved in them, although he admits to attending about two a year

Pita Sharples - co-leader of New Zealand's Maori Party - said he had been involved in a similar ceremony involving a child.

Hold up a minute...

You're not supposed to step on the toes of indigenous and religious folk.  But here I go...  *crunch crunch crunch*

Seriously, what the hell is going on here?  A woman drowned to death - as part of some bizarre exorcism ceremony - in the presence of forty people to remove a curse that was laid on her for stealing a statue of a lion.  Her fourteen year-old niece was lucky to survive.

The New Zealand media - in their infinite wisdom - thought it wise to interview two idiots who they thought might offer expert opinions.  The first - Dr. Hone Kaa, Archdeacon of the Anglican Church and liberal Christian - thought it wise to question the amount of water involved.  What?!  You're suggesting somehow that they "did it wrong"?

The second idiot in this farce is Pita Sharples.  He too questioned the methods: "With the right karakia (prayer), the right chanting . . . (the curse) can be lifted by their own family."

A lady is dead here and all the "experts" can offer is the questioning of the methods.

Janet's alleged crime was the stealing of lion statue sacred (whatever that means...) to the Maori people.  Come on.  How could a statue of a lion be sacred?  Last time I checked, the Maori migrated from Eastern Polynesia - no lions there - to New Zealand: an island nation bereft of mammals.

Janet was supposedly cursed by someone for the theft and an evil spirit entered her body and caused her to fall ill.  Hence the exorcism. 

Pointing Fingers
Who shall we point the finger at?

Perhaps the forty people who watched Janet drown are to blame?  The need to tried for accessory to a crime, but they are not to blame.

Perhaps the people who held Janet down are to blame?  They need to be tried for manslaughter (but not murder since there was no intent to kill her), but they were not to blame.

The finger should be pointed squarely in the face of the parasitic virus that is Religion.  Those people who performed this horrible deed would not have done so if their minds weren't infected by religion.

I suspect they thought they were doing a good deed by Janet.  As Steven Weinburg said:

Religion itself is to blame here.  The sooner we stop pussy-footing around and condemn it for the parasitic virus it is, the better. 

Links

Exorcism death shocks archdeacon

Family watches fatal exorcism

Family suspected in exorcism death

14-year-old nearly died in exorcism

You might also want to check out this story at my good mate Raymund's site.  Another tragic death but for somewhat different reasons

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