Bad Thinking

From Bad Astronomy:

HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - An elderly husband and wife were burnt to death in Andhra Pradesh after villagers accused them of practising black magic, tied them together on a pyre and set them on fire, police said on Thursday.

“The aged couple died screaming for help,” said police superintendent P.V. Sunil Kumar

...

Belief in black magic is common in some parts of rural India, despite the country’s robust economic growth and cutting-edge high-technology industries.

Plait:

Why is that ironic? Because I know a lot of Americans will read that and think, "stupid bumpkins" or some such derogatory term, and they forget that just a few nights ago, three out of ten people on stage vying to become President of these United States raised their hands to affirm that they, too, have no qualms dumping centuries of scientific reasoning to embrace fantasy. And the consequences are just as grave.

We are all savage animals, and thinking clearly is hard, very hard. But not thinking clearly comes with a very dear price. Let’s hope soon that everyone gets tired of paying it.

It is sad. We look at this and shake our heads. Yet people are burning copies of Harry Potter for it evil powers. How is that less ignorant? Many America has a large population that believes in demons possessing people, people with magic healing powers, and 13 is a magic and evil number.

How much better are we?