VIDEO: Palin linked political success to prayer of Kenyan witch hunter

This campaign season has no shortage of the weird. Here are some excerpts from perhaps the strangest story yet told. http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/09/palin-linked-el.html

At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Mrs Palin described how Thomas Muthee had laid his hands on her when he visited the church as a guest preacher in late 2005, prior to her successful gubernatorial bid.

"And I'm thinking, this guy's really bold, he doesn't even know what I'm going to do, he doesn't know what my plans are. And he's praying not "oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor," no, he just prayed for it. He said "Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that's exactly what happened."

She then adds: "So, again, very very powerful, coming from this church," before the presiding pastor comments on the "prophetic power" of the event.

Here is Pastor Muthee's story:

The full Transformations video featuring Pastor Muthee's story has recently been removed from YouTube but the rest of the story is detailed in a 1999 article in the Christian Science Monitor, as well as on numerous evangelical websites.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, six months of fervent prayer and research identified the source of the witchcraft as a local woman called Mama Jane, who ran a "divination" centre called the Emmanuel Clinic.

Her alleged involvement in fortune-telling and the fact that she lived near the site of a number of fatal car accidents led Pastor Muthee to publicly declare her a witch responsible for the town's ills, and order her to offer her up her soul for salvation or leave Kiambu.

Says the Monitor, "Muthee held a crusade that "brought about 200 people to Christ"." They set up round-the-clock prayer intercession in the basement of a grocery store and eventually, says the pastor "the demonic influence – the �principality' over Kiambu -was broken", and Mama Jane fled the town.

Muthee took "spiritual warfare" to new heights in a way that would not seem to recognize the need to tolerate religions different than his own.

According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries, after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.

After Mama Jane was questioned by police – and released – she decided it was time to leave town, the account says.

Pastor Muthee has frequently referred to this witchhunt in his sermons as an example of the power of "spiritual warfare". In October 2005, he delivered ten sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God, the audio of which was available on the church's website until it was removed around the time Mrs Palin's candidacy was announced. The blog Irregular Times has listings and screen grabs of the sermons. 

Witch hunts are still happening in some parts of the world with drastic results.  Here are a couple of recent stories:

STUDENTS FROM the University of Limpopo, South Africa, staying at cottage of Mankweng unit 1, has claimed that around 03:30am on Sunday morning, a gogo (great-grandmother) victimised them by sneaking inside their rooms. The gogo, who said that she is from Thema family and married to Selepe family, jumped the fence of the cottage where students reside. It is amazing how the gogo managed to reach the place where students reside. This 65-70 years old gogo said that she is from Mongwaneng at Mentz and she travelled from there to Mankweng after Zion Christian Church (ZCC) young men chased her.

Gwangwa Annatacia, a student who is doing a final year degree in education said that their gates were locked, and they do not know how she could have managed to get in. "We believe that she was flying because we did not find her footprints," Annatacia said. The gogo sneaked inside the student's room who were fast asleep. A student who believes he is a victim did not want to comment, but he was very stressed.

Abram Matsena from Bearco armed security said that they believe the old gogo is a witch. "I received a call early in the morning and I ran to this place. I arrived before the Mankweng police arrived and I tried to help the students remove the gogo from their room, but she refused. She said that the room belongs to one of her daughters named Ngwanatheko.   http://world.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=139634

What is even more frightening than the story are some of the comments from readers: