Still Running Off at the Keyboard

Two Church leaders have cited occultism as a major factor behind the incidence of abduction, rape and ghastly murder sweeping sections of Jamaica.

Bishop Joseph Ade-Gold and Pastor Oswell Robert Raymond told The Gleaner that many sex crimes were linked to occultism.

Both clerics claim that the practices of cultic worshippers have motivated some Jamaicans to conduct morally reprehensible acts. They also said that the Church should partner with the police in spearheading a united front to offer clear guidance, particularly to impressionable youths.

"The types of crime we are seeing, with the mutilation of bodies, are signs of the cults. We know that this is a country that practises a lot of obeah, and because of that, there is no doubt, in my mind, that this is what causes this kind of behaviour."

Raymond also said cultism was shredding the moral fabric of Jamaican society.

"It is anti-Christianity....

Ade-Gold, who was born in Nigeria, provided specific details to suggest that Satanic cult beliefs validated the raping and killing of young women and children.

"The kinds of killings that we're having now, especially with these missing children, have connections with cults. They (members of Satanic cults) drink blood and are interested in virgins."

Commenting on whether he had encountered cultism here, Ade-Gold said he had been visited by many people who had been part of a Satanic school supposedly situated in St Ann.