A New Era
7 hours ago
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Pose!
The case of a Toronto woman accused of fraud has shed light on a section of the Canadian criminal code that carries a hint of the Dark Ages: posing as a witch.
Vishwantee Persaud allegedly defrauded a Toronto lawyer of tens of thousands of dollars by telling him she was the embodiment of the spirit of his deceased sister, come back to help him in business. Ms. Persaud now faces charges under a rarely used section of the criminal code for pretending to practise witchcraft.
"She said she came from a long line of witches and could do tarot-card readings," says Detective Constable Corey Jones, who investigated the case.
So if she's were actually an hereditary witch and could actually read Tarot, that would be alright?
Really, laws like this just need to go. People who actually defraud others can be prosecuted under plenty of modern laws. But making it illegal to "pose as a witch," while it's apparently fine to "pose as a xian faith-healer," is discrimination.
More here.
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"...a section of the Canadian criminal code that carries a hint of the Dark Ages: posing as a witch."
No, actually, the hint of the dark ages comes in punishing someone for being a witch, not in 'posing' as a witch.
Don't know why that's irking me so. But yeah, what you said: there are already laws against fraud, so why is obvious discrimination like this still on the books? Okay, I know, there are lots of archaic crap-laws that have never been removed (I'm not too far near Boston, and hoo-boy, talk about wacky old laws!), but how can a prosecutor use them nowadays with a straight face?
I don't understand, either, how someone can 'say' they do Tarot readings. Pretty much, if you're playing with them you're doing a reading. I suppose if she'd never even seen a set?
And what's the definition of a 'long line of witches?' I consider being descended from a mother and grandmother and great grandmother, &c. as about the same thing, you know? So many bone-headed assumptions in this article.
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