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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
 Posted - 05/13/2004 : 12:38:15
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Is it illegal to hire a voodoo practitioner to put a curse on someone?
What if I'm a little superstitious and Dave W. very openly hires a voodoo practitioner - or whatever - to put a curse on me? And while there's no evidence at all that such a thing could ever possibly be real, I'm still shaken up by it. Has Dave broken a law? Harrassment, maybe? Intimidation? What if he did it secretly? Is that illegal?
What if he very specifically asks the voodoo practitioner to afflict me with cancer. Then a few months later, during a routine exam, I am diagnosed with prostate cancer. (Of course it would only be a profound coincidence) Does that make a difference in all this? If it was common knowledge that Dave bought the curse, would I have any standing in court to sue him?
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-Chaloobi
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2004 : 13:35:18 [Permalink]
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No, of course not! Voo doo is just another weird myth.
Absolutly! You can't go around seriously scaring people in such a way.
Sadly, it would all depend upon how the lawyers spun the episode, although I'm not sure that you could make a criminal matter out of it unless fear of Dave W (a reprehensible charecter to start with, so you might actually have a case  ) made you do something to harm yourself.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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tw101356
Skeptic Friend
USA
333 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2004 : 18:18:21 [Permalink]
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Psychosomatic voodoo effects (if there are such) rely on the victim being made aware of the curse. Probably enough of a threat there to be grounds for a temporary restraining order if not a permanent one.
Of course you'd have to watch out for Dave using his telekinetic powers to release the parking brake when you're standing downhill from a car. 
- TW |
- TW
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Woody D
Skeptic Friend
Thailand
285 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2004 : 23:25:43 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by chaloobi
Is it illegal to hire a voodoo practitioner to put a curse on someone?
Funny you should ask! Although voodoo wasn't specificly asked about, I did just talk to a lawyer about something similar. There's this 'person' I really, really hate and have thought of threatening the witch. I wanted to know about the so called 'hate crime' law because I know I'd be the #1 suspect should the bitch get murdered, I wanted to know about my 1st amendment rights, etc. if I should call this worm any ethnic names.
Anyhow, the long and the short of it is, the lawyer told me, just don't (do it).
There, that solves that problem. |
www.Carabao.net
As long as there's, you know, sex and drugs, I can do without the rock and roll.
Mick Shrimpton
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2004 : 05:43:30 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by tw101356
<snip>
Of course you'd have to watch out for Dave using his telekinetic powers to release the parking brake when you're standing downhill from a car.
- TW
This is the second reason why I would never live in San Francisco. |
-Chaloobi
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| Edited by - chaloobi on 05/14/2004 05:45:18 |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2004 : 05:44:43 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Woody D
quote:
Originally posted by chaloobi
Is it illegal to hire a voodoo practitioner to put a curse on someone?
Funny you should ask! Although voodoo wasn't specificly asked about, I did just talk to a lawyer about something similar. There's this 'person' I really, really hate and have thought of threatening the witch. I wanted to know about the so called 'hate crime' law because I know I'd be the #1 suspect should the bitch get murdered, I wanted to know about my 1st amendment rights, etc. if I should call this worm any ethnic names.
Anyhow, the long and the short of it is, the lawyer told me, just don't (do it).
There, that solves that problem.
Ugly breakup? |
-Chaloobi
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2004 : 06:00:47 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by chaloobi
Is it illegal to hire a voodoo practitioner to put a curse on someone?
What if I'm a little superstitious and Dave W. very openly hires a voodoo practitioner - or whatever - to put a curse on me? And while there's no evidence at all that such a thing could ever possibly be real, I'm still shaken up by it. Has Dave broken a law? Harrassment, maybe? Intimidation? What if he did it secretly? Is that illegal?
What if he very specifically asks the voodoo practitioner to afflict me with cancer. Then a few months later, during a routine exam, I am diagnosed with prostate cancer. (Of course it would only be a profound coincidence) Does that make a difference in all this? If it was common knowledge that Dave bought the curse, would I have any standing in court to sue him?
Long and short of it. Harrassment is in the eye of the beholder. If you feel harrassed and can prove that
1) Dave (or whomever) actively informs you of such a curse and you feel threatened by it multiple times.
2) You can prove that he contracted for such a service. (oddly, it doesn't cover situations where practioners actually pray for the harming of someone through their religion.
Voodoo is a little unique because, like Santeria, curses require bloodletting of some sort. (Animal sacrifice, etc)
While it is not illegal to hire someone to put a curse on someone else, it is illegal to harrass that person by telling them you did such a thing.
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2004 : 11:55:57 [Permalink]
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| Oh, that was a JOKE? Hell, I thought you were serious. I went and got scheduled for a cancer screening. (Just in case.) |
-Chaloobi
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2004 : 08:29:00 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
Well, it was supposed to be an obvious joke. Was it too subtle?
Dave, I suspect subtlety is something you're rarely, if ever, accused of. |
-Chaloobi
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2004 : 08:30:04 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by chaloobi
quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
Well, it was supposed to be an obvious joke. Was it too subtle?
Dave, I suspect subtlety is something you're rarely, if ever, accused of.
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-Chaloobi
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2004 : 12:28:40 [Permalink]
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Chaloobi wrote:quote:
Dave, I suspect subtlety is something you're rarely, if ever, accused of.
Well, nobody said anything about it, and it was in effect for a week. I figured someone would mention it with at least a giggle. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Woody D
Skeptic Friend
Thailand
285 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 08:06:47 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by chaloobi
quote:
Originally posted by Woody D
quote:
Originally posted by chaloobi
Is it illegal to hire a voodoo practitioner to put a curse on someone?
Funny you should ask! Although voodoo wasn't specificly asked about, I did just talk to a lawyer about something similar. There's this 'person' I really, really hate and have thought of threatening the witch. I wanted to know about the so called 'hate crime' law because I know I'd be the #1 suspect should the bitch get murdered, I wanted to know about my 1st amendment rights, etc. if I should call this worm any ethnic names.
Anyhow, the long and the short of it is, the lawyer told me, just don't (do it).
There, that solves that problem.
Ugly breakup?
Usually it's the woman who, complains about her partner and is so demanding and tries to bleed a man dry. Don't you just hate that? I hate women partly because of that.
No, in my case it's a family member who stole money and was just an all around bitch. Well, she a women, I should have expected that. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 08:51:50 [Permalink]
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quote:
Snake:
Usually it's the woman who, complains about her partner and is so demanding and tries to bleed a man dry. Don't you just hate that? I hate women partly because of that.
No, in my case it's a family member who stole money and was just an all around bitch. Well, she a women, I should have expected that.
On the other hand, it was a man who took you to the cleaners in a business deal that I know about. Perhaps you could say that that man was acting like a woman since woman (the ones you don't personally know anyway) are all bad. It never seems to occur to you that there are a few bad apples from both genders. And lots of really good apples too, again, from both genders. Bigotry is such an ugly thing. It serves only to perpetuate baseless hatred and never ever allows for productive conflict resolution.
Your continuing misogyny is unfortunate. I would like to see you back up this statement. "Usually it's the woman who, complains about her partner and is so demanding and tries to bleed a man dry." While you can tell me that you are initialed to your opinion, and that may be true, that will never demonstrate that the above quote has any merit. Back it up (you can't) or all we have is you happily showing us that you are a bigot, unwilling to self subject yourself to a bit of critical thinking... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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