“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”

Saudi Arabia has a TV psychic on death row.

I’m sure that Sarah Palin will be glad to know that there are still some countries in the world not dominated by secularist political correctness, where Biblical values can be put into practice without any interference by the ACLU or liberal, activist judges.

Saudi Arabia, for example. now has at least two people , including a TV psychic, on death row for witchcraft.

Jeff Weintraub seems to disapprove.  But fortunetelling is consumer fraud, so the sentence on the TV psychic is a measure of consumer protection.  If the principle were extended to other forms of fraudulent fortunetelling, including stock-market punditry, the result would be both efficient and just.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

5 thoughts on ““Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live””

  1. But Ex 22:17 does not exactly say "Kill witches." Lots of expressions for that. It says not to preserve them or raise them up (the same word can mean to cause grain to grow, for example). And in the Septuagint, the word for "witch" happens to be "pharmakous," with a verb that means "to make to remain over and above."

    So clearly, the Biblical passage means, "You shall not cause drug companies to make excessive profits." The Bible is mandating radical health care reform.

    The Senate had better drop it in gear before the Lord smites them.

  2. Unfortunately Mark is so universally hostile to free speech that I can't tell whether he is joking or not.

  3. Joking? Joking?

    You'll discover whether or not I was joking, Thomas, when the Liberal Thought Police arrive to drag you off to Gitmo, where you will be tortured by having post-modern lit-crit essays read to you 24 hours a day.

  4. Anything to get away from the dreary midwestern winter. I hear Gitmo is much more comfortable now that the Democrats are in charge. Lucky for me that I enjoy post-modern lit-crit essays (though I do hate being read to).

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