Atheist Ugandan works his magic on British humanists

James 'Fat Boy' Onen has been speaking in the UK of his fight against superstition and religion in Uganda

Matthew Cresswell guardian.co.uk, Friday 14 October 2011 11.00 EDT

An atheist talkshow host and 12 "like-minded people" are attempting to tackle superstition, mysticism and witchcraft in Uganda. James "Fat Boy" Onen is an on-air presenter for Sanyu FM and a co-founder of Freethought Kampala. Through Facebook campaigns, newspaper articles and regular monthly meetings, Onen believes Freethought Kampala is providing the only rational platform for tackling superstition in Uganda.

This month, Onen has been speaking at events around the UK after being invited by the British Humanist Association (BHA). Addressing small gatherings, he said everyday Ugandans were over-reliant on a "mixed bag" of belief in black magic and Pentecostal Christianity.

"On my talkshow, I offer two million Ugandan shillings to anyone that would prove to me that witchcraft works," he told an audience at the Camden Head pub in London this week. "After three months, one person came forward and took me to a witch doctor, of course he could not do anything." He continued: "But that was not sufficient to change people's minds because they are of the view that evil spirits exist. This is because their pastors are telling them every day that Uganda is cursed and that Uganda suffers from a 'generational curse'."

He told a story of how a Ugandan primary school was shut down because "demons had possessed the children and the management couldn't keep the children under control". Pastors were called but to no avail, explained Onen, who says the children demonstrated symptoms of mass hysteria. This story was not a one-off and was all too common, he said. Meanwhile, Aids victims die because their spiritual leaders advise them not to take antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), he claimed. On top of this, Uganda lives under the shadow of the proposed anti-gay bill, which suggests the death penalty in some cases.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/oct/14/atheist-ugandan-british-humanists-james-onen?newsfeed=true

K&R

It's awful to hear the things happening in Africa because old superstitutions have never been driven out by modern education. But when the alternative is Pentecostalists there is clearly a vaccuum to be filled.