Central Africa

Showing Contempt for Moral Relativism

In the comments, SarahAB links to details of a consultation in 2005 by the then LibDem-run Islington council. A Congolese family whose young son was under council-run care had requested that he be sent home for an exorcism to remove kindoki/spirits.

My initial reaction was one of relief, that they had sought to keep this above board and not do so unobserved. My next reaction was one of dismay that the council chose to entertain this request, and dispatched an investigator to Central Africa .

The investigator, Richard Hoskins was not a callow do-gooder but a noted academic expert on African animist religions, and quickly became alarmed by what he witnessed. The request was refused.

Since 2005, Hoskins has become more vocal in his opposition to official accommodation offered towards such attitudes – doubtless in part because of what he witnessed – and I wrote about him here.