■ The sociology of religion journal Social Compass devotes its current issue (69:4) to the subject of exorcism in different world religions and cultures, noting that the practice is actually becoming more prominent in many faiths (with the first “exorcism center” in Asia being recently founded in the Philippines). In a lengthy and informative overview, Serena Bindi and Verónica Giménez Béliveau write that the increase of exorcism within various religions parallels the scholarly interest in the practice. The term “exorcism” has no equivalences in other religions besides Christianity; in Hinduism such a practice is known as “caretaking.” In a similar way, possession in a Christian sense is different from “trances,” where possession is a desired emotional state, or from its occurrence among the members of a village or a family rather than within the body of an individual. The editors and the other contributors also seek to explain why exorcism and its equivalent practices persist in modernity, citing such classic factors as cultural strains and dislocations. For instance, with the extension of the age of marriage in India, this ritual is practiced more often than before on unmarried adolescent girls whose behavior is seen as beyond the control of the group. Other recent research argues that the growing number of specialists in religions (such as priest-exorcists in Catholicism) and exorcism’s prevalence in popular media entertainment actually multiplies the demand for and incidences of the ritual. Other articles in this issue look at how women actually find greater social roles through exorcism and how exorcism is part of the healing rituals in Burmese Buddhism. For more information on this issue, visit: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/scp
■ The religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Central Asia has become a focus of research as the region has come under the influence of Russia’s increasingly restrictive regime against minority religions. The January/February issue of the Journal of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) is devoted to the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ legal dilemmas, which have served as a test case of religious freedom the world over. In the introduction to the issue, sociologist Eileen Barker notes that court cases against the Jehovah’s Witnesses (for “brainwashing” and “psychological harm”) in such Central Asian countries as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan bear the clear imprint of “anti-cult” legal activism based in Russia. The legal jurisdictions the Witnesses have faced can be complex; they may be discriminated against at the local and regional levels but not necessarily sanctioned at the state level.
In one article, sociologist and legal scholar James Richardson looks at how the Witnesses have had considerable success in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and even the UN Human Rights Committee in cases taken against the Russian Federation, even though the countries of Central Asia have no recourse to the ECHR, from which Russia has removed itself. Other articles include one based on a new survey of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kazakhstan, finding that only a minority identify as Kazakhs, with three-quarters saying they speak only Russian in their homes; and a study of how “expert witnesses” used in trials of the Witnesses and other religious minorities in Kyrgyzstan come from the region’s predominant faiths and judge them by that standard. This issue can be downloaded from: https://cesnur.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/tjoc_7_1_full_issue.pdf?
■ Narratives about Satanism, which became popular in the Christian context of Zambia from the 1990s onwards, make cultural sense because of their links to traditional African notions as well as contemporary Christian theologies, writes anthropologist of religion Johanneke Kroesbergen-Kamps (University of Amsterdam) in her book Speaking of Satan in Zambia: Making Cultural and Personal Sense of Narratives about Satanism (AOSIS Books), which is based on her doctoral research. Zambia is a country that is more than 97 percent Christian, 77 percent of them Protestants and 22 percent Roman Catholics. Satanism in Zambia is a relatively new, mostly urban phenomenon, present in all ethnic groups, in a context of the rapid growth of independent neo-Pentecostal churches. Rumors about Satanism abound, along with cases of moral panic. Satanism is understood as an organization dedicated to bringing evil and harm, especially to Christians, and the testimonies—after deliverance—of ex-Satanists have an important place in Zambian churches, with pastors often being sponsors or “even ghostwriters” of such testimonies. Kroesbergen-Kamps collected almost 50 testimonies from ex-Satanists. It seems that international ministries, including African ones (e.g., from Nigeria), played an initial role in bringing the topic of Satanism to Zambia in the 1980s; it then became more public during the 1990s and widespread in the 2000s.
While some churches have been eager to invite ex-Satanists as speakers, others have been much more hesitant. Roman Catholic groups, such as a youth group called the Fingers of Thomas, have been investigating cases of Satanism in order to assess their degree of truth. They promote a pastoral approach, especially in answering the fears of families for their children. On the other hand, the spread of stories by anti-Satanists has led some young people to find it attractive and to attempt to embrace it, for instance through online Satanist websites abroad. While recent cases of ritual murders in Zambia are not likely to have been committed by Satanists, Kroesbergen-Kamps analyzes how specifically African imaginaries make Satanism a plausible plot in the country, considering the significance of beliefs about the spirit world and witchcraft. “In the testimonies themselves, Satanism is seen as distinct but closely related to witchcraft.” She concludes that speaking of Satan “also expresses the confusions and anxieties of life in contemporary Zambia, sometimes appeasing them and at other times aggravating them.” The book is currently open access and can be downloaded as a PDF from: https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/373
