Helen Duncan - should she be pardoned?

[golden_rivet]

Family of the last woman to be imprisoned for witchcraft are campaigning for her to be pardoned.

Helen Duncan

 

[stirling2]

Interesting item rivet......especialy the naval link, I would say she deserves the pardon.

 

[Stripey_G]

Of course she deserves to be pardoned..typical dark age types that were frightened with something they didn't understand.She had one hell of a gift!

 

[Backpacker1uk]

Same as the Pendle Witches from Pendle near Burnley.

Accused by a couple of kids dragged of to Lancaster and questioned for questioned please read torture. Of course they confessed and that was that.

And to think even now in Mexico and parts of Africa the uneducated actually believe that the old lady living on her own is a witch etc and they get burned at the stake or thrown on the bonfire.

 

[Jimmy_Green]

Same as the Pendle Witches from Pendle near Burnley.

Accused by a couple of kids dragged of to Lancaster and questioned for questioned please read torture. Of course they confessed and that was that.

And to think even now in Mexico and parts of Africa the uneducated actually believe that the old lady living on her own is a witch etc and they get burned at the stake or thrown on the bonfire.

Much the same happened here in Britain with many people persecuted by the church. (Thanks you Christian bastards, Britain was never a Christian country so fcuk off back to the Middle East where you came from :twisted: ). One only has to look at the exploits of Mathew Hopkins in the 17th century; and it appears he made a fair bit of money by accusing old ladies of being in league with the devil. Officially, witches weren't burned at the stake in England, they were hung, whereas the Scots did give them a good toasting.

 

[dondon]

Give her the pardon , 8)

 

[Passed-over_Loggie]

If she's from Burnley, she must burn in the fires of hell!

 

[dunkers]

They should bring back the crime of witchcraft and charge terrorism suspects with it.

Food for thought :?

 

[onions]

Absolutely. The whole incident was a farce. What reassons did the Admiralty give for delaying the news of the Barhams loss? Probably along the lines that it wouldn't have done moral any good! Bullshitting then and still doing it now.

 

[buster]

of course she should be pardoned. the authorities should have got her working for us during ww2.

 

[Lamri]

Erm, you can't judge past policy or policies by today's standards.
If we did that, we would be apologising for all sorts, including the slave trade.
Oh, hang on a minute.....

 

[FlagWagger]

Erm, you can't judge past policy or policies by today's standards.
If we did that, we would be apologising for all sorts, including the slave trade.
Oh, hang on a minute.....

But as a politician, apologising for the perceived wrong-doings of the past give you a positive image in the eyes of the press since it immediately obvious that you've have a deep seated conviction in righting wrongs and as such, you're must be a saint. Furthermore, there's no need to ever consider changing your actions / beliefs in the face of clear evidence that they are failing, or indeed to even apologise for your mistakes - no, that'll be the job of a future generation of political leeches.

 

[Lamri]

Erm, you can't judge past policy or policies by today's standards.
If we did that, we would be apologising for all sorts, including the slave trade.
Oh, hang on a minute.....

But as a politician, apologising for the perceived wrong-doings of the past give you a positive image in the eyes of the press since it immediately obvious that you've have a deep seated conviction in righting wrongs and as such, you're must be a saint. Furthermore, there's no need to ever consider changing your actions / beliefs in the face of clear evidence that they are failing, or indeed to even apologise for your mistakes - no, that'll be the job of a future generation of political leeches.

PMSL!
Couldn't agree more!

 

[Always_a_Civvy]

They should bring back the crime of witchcraft and charge terrorism suspects with it.

Food for thought :?

It was still on the Statute book in England and Wales until Blair abolished it along with a whole raft of other obsolete legislation in 1997. Alledgedly an MP during Thatcher's Premiership jokingly suggested denouncing her as a witch so she'd be bound and thrown in the Thames. Has she floated she'd have been burned. I think the tale's apocryphal myself. Who would suggest such a thing!

Duncan should of course be cleared - as should all the other victims of religious zealotry - slavery was after all justified in Parliament for decades by clergymen MPs by citing Scripture. When the old Hansards have been archived and are available you'll be able to read these debates without having to visit a National Library. It makes chilling reading.

 

[golden_rivet]

of course she should be pardoned. the authorities should have got her working for us during ww2.

well we don't know that she wasn't working for us - also were national security deemed to be an issue I'm sure the authorities of the time would find an excuse to lock someone up - ring any bells?