Fear and Understanding

Witches and magic in general have adapted a more cute and laid back feel as opposed to early days. Things that could not be easily explained through religion or local ideology were categorized as unnatural and generally evil. This is illustrated in the clash between science and religion. As science fails to address certain areas of the world we live in, religion steps in to fill in the blanks with its own ideas. On the whole, difficult questions involving religious and scientific viewpoints have a hard time existing together (evolution vs. creationism) and thus both sides have a certain degree of monstrousness in the eyes of the other. I digress with this comparison to open up the notion that science has become increasingly rooted in our culture and leads to a changing depiction of that which we fear and understand.

Faith is (generally, I understand there are exceptions) placed in modern medicine to heal those we love rather than relying fully on a deity. This quick example illustrates one part of a more general shift from a religious view of the world to a more scientific one. In the scientific world, abnormalities (witches, magic, werewolf’s) do not cause fear, but rather, establishes a safe level of entertainment for those willing to seek it. When the fear of an object is removed, its appearance changes and thus witches are changed from once scary and evil creatures to beings that can be beautiful, fantastic, and entertaining (thinking of Harry Potter). This all boils down to the fear of the unknown. That which you do not understand seems so much more intimidating than that which you are familiar with.  We are entertained by extraordinary acts that we understand; we fear those that we do not and as science removes the unknowns, we fear more rationally.

This brings to mind an episode of Firefly (a space themed show based in the future) where River (an extraordinary girl who may or may not be able to kill people with her brain) is captured with her brother by a group of, for lack of a better term, hillbillies. River and her brother get along just fine at first, and are even beginning to see some silver linings emerge from their untimely kidnapping. This all changes when River reads the mind of a young child. Panic ensues and she is promptly declared a witch that must be burned to death. The perception of this group of individuals is stimulated not by facts and logic but rather by religious (somewhat political) teachings and this, over the course of a few minutes, transforms an otherwise friendly girl to one condemned to death for being congress with the devil.

If you haven’t already, you should watch Firefly.