Religions > Atheism > Curse of the Bureaucrats Voodoo dolls are all the rage in China容specially now that the government has banned them
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
26 May 2006 08:58:01 AM |
| Object: |
Curse of the Bureaucrats Voodoo dolls are all the rage in China容specially now that the government has banned them |
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12958900/site/newsweek/?GT1=8199
Curse of the Bureaucrats
Voodoo dolls are all the rage in China容specially now that the
government has banned them.
By Quindlen Krovatin
Special to Newsweek
Updated: 6:45 p.m. ET May 24, 2006
May 24, 2006 - Not content with jailing subversive reporters and
restricting access to prodemocracy Web sites, the Chinese government has
turned its attentions to a new destabilizing influence: voodoo dolls.
Central government authorities are so bothered by the political
implications of the dolls that they banned them entirely from Beijing's
retail stores in April.
The dolls have become increasingly popular among the Middle Kingdom's
misanthropes and trend-conscious teens. Customers purchase a doll (pin
included), attach a piece of paper bearing the name of their enemy to
the doll and then stab away. Voodoo Dolls Online offers a wide range of
dolls in assorted colors. "Do you want to make your enemy feel as if
someone is always stalking him behind his back?" reads the caption next
to a doll clad in black. " 'The Magic Shadow Killer' will thoroughly
destroy his spirit." Another popular item is the "Little Angel," which
purportedly brings good luck and helps its owner find true love.
Authorities at Beijing's Industrial and Commercial Management Department
claim the dolls encourage superstition and "promote feudalism and feudal
beliefs." When officials first cracked down on the import of dolls from
Thailand two months ago, Chinese entrepreneurs filled the growing demand
by making the toys themselves, wrapping colorful yarn around wire
skeletons and adorning each with a crude felt heart. The toys were a
marvel of marketing: told that one doll could not be used to harm
multiple enemies, the youths who bought them kept coming back for new
ones as their hit lists grew in length. Moreover, some stores offered
protective dolls that could ward off attacks from other would-be witch
doctors.
But now even these homegrown innovators are under attack. In April,
after receiving complaints from concerned parents, the Beijing
Industrial and Commercial Management Department confiscated all dolls
still on sale in the city and issued strict warnings to toy vendors. "We
have been told we will be fined and even imprisoned if we continue to
sell voodoo dolls," says Huang Xiaoli, a saleswoman in a toy store in
the Xidan Mingzhu Market. "The police are serious," she adds. "This is
not like pirated DVDs, where the authorities say 'Do not sell these,'
and then look the other way while people sell them. Policemen have
visited me twice since the ban took effect in April. They really believe
voodoo dolls can hurt children." Five separate toy merchants from
various parts of Beijing confirmed the ban. A Ministry of Commerce
official would not elaborate on its policy toward the dolls預 common
practice when authorities are asked about politically sensitive
decisions傭ut by way of explanation he directed a reporter to a law
prohibiting the sale of items that foster what the government sees as
feudal thought.
Voodoo dolls can still be purchased in cities outside of Beijing, such
as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, where central-government policy can be slower
to take hold, but already citizens across the country are calling for
the Communist Party to enforce a nationwide ban. The Guangdong
Provincial Communist Youth League Committee issued a public statement on
May 4, the anniversary of China's liberation from imperial rule, calling
for a boycott of voodoo dolls and labeling those who buy them "a
disgrace to socialism for believing in feudal superstitions."
However, as is the case with all outlawed vices, the sale of voodoo
dolls continues to flourish on the Internet. Web sites hawking the dolls
have proliferated, customers can bid on dolls on auction Web sites such
as eBay and China's Alibaba, and the phenomenon continues unabated in
Korea and Japan, where their sale has never been restricted. Some
critics feel that the government, by expending so much energy on the
dolls, is only lending credence to the traditional Chinese belief in the
power of curses and black magic. "Until a month ago, I was selling 10,
maybe 11 voodoo dolls a day," says Chen, the owner of a toy store in
southwestern Beijing who declined to give his full name when speaking
ill of the government for fear of reprisal. "I think most of the kids
bought them because they were popular, not because they wanted to hurt
each other. The government looks foolish when it acts scared of some
silly toys. These things only have power if you believe in them."
Since the initial crackdown, there have been no voodoo-doll-related
arrests, although vendors who continue to sell the dolls run the risk of
incurring a hefty fine per voodoo doll in their possession. Whether a
nationwide ban will be instituted remains to be seen. Regardless, the
Chinese government is once more confronting the problems that arise when
a market economy and socialist ideology collide.
ｩ 2006 Newsweek
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Curse of the Bureaucrats Voodoo dolls are all the rage in China容specially now that the government has banned them |
26 May 2006 01:39:00 PM |
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In article <182e721ihv72bctla5t3sg1faqvrda050p@4ax.com>,
stoney <stoney@the.net> wrote:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12958900/site/newsweek/?GT1=8199
Curse of the Bureaucrats
Voodoo dolls are all the rage in China容specially now that the
government has banned them.
By Quindlen Krovatin
Special to Newsweek
Updated: 6:45 p.m. ET May 24, 2006
May 24, 2006 - Not content with jailing subversive reporters and
restricting access to prodemocracy Web sites, the Chinese government has
turned its attentions to a new destabilizing influence: voodoo dolls.
Central government authorities are so bothered by the political
implications of the dolls that they banned them entirely from Beijing's
retail stores in April.
Superstition can be funny some times. Now what did I do with that Dubya
doll?
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
Contact - Throw a .net over the .com
.
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