{"title":"糟糕的宗教和糟糕的生意:加拿大巫术规定的历史","authors":"Riley Klassen-Molyneaux","doi":"10.1017/cls.2024.8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Witchcraft is a fascinating subject on which many volumes continue to be published. But not in Canada. This article stands in contrast to earlier Canadian pieces on witchcraft whose primary goals were to prove that the witchcraft provision marginalized women and to encourage legislators to repeal it. Parliament finally repealed the Canadian witchcraft prohibition in 2018. The moment is thus ripe to ask how—and why—this legislative oddity migrated from England into Canada. The first section of the paper considers the religious origins of the witchcraft prohibition in England and how it made its way into the Canadian <jats:italic>Criminal Code</jats:italic>. The second section explores how the prohibition evolved from one against unwanted spiritual practices to one against unwanted economic practices. The last section of the paper considers how witchcraft morphed into a viable <jats:italic>Charter</jats:italic> defence based on freedom of religion and why the prohibition against it was eventually repealed. In conclusion, the article reflects on the peculiar trajectory of witchcraft in Canada and what it might suggest not only about Canadian criminal law, but also about broader Canadian society.","PeriodicalId":45293,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Law and Society","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Bad Religion and Bad Business: The History of the Canadian Witchcraft Provision\",\"authors\":\"Riley Klassen-Molyneaux\",\"doi\":\"10.1017/cls.2024.8\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Witchcraft is a fascinating subject on which many volumes continue to be published. But not in Canada. This article stands in contrast to earlier Canadian pieces on witchcraft whose primary goals were to prove that the witchcraft provision marginalized women and to encourage legislators to repeal it. Parliament finally repealed the Canadian witchcraft prohibition in 2018. The moment is thus ripe to ask how—and why—this legislative oddity migrated from England into Canada. The first section of the paper considers the religious origins of the witchcraft prohibition in England and how it made its way into the Canadian <jats:italic>Criminal Code</jats:italic>. The second section explores how the prohibition evolved from one against unwanted spiritual practices to one against unwanted economic practices. The last section of the paper considers how witchcraft morphed into a viable <jats:italic>Charter</jats:italic> defence based on freedom of religion and why the prohibition against it was eventually repealed. In conclusion, the article reflects on the peculiar trajectory of witchcraft in Canada and what it might suggest not only about Canadian criminal law, but also about broader Canadian society.\",\"PeriodicalId\":45293,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Canadian Journal of Law and Society\",\"volume\":\"1 1\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.5000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-05-02\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Canadian Journal of Law and Society\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1017/cls.2024.8\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"LAW\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canadian Journal of Law and Society","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/cls.2024.8","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
Bad Religion and Bad Business: The History of the Canadian Witchcraft Provision
Witchcraft is a fascinating subject on which many volumes continue to be published. But not in Canada. This article stands in contrast to earlier Canadian pieces on witchcraft whose primary goals were to prove that the witchcraft provision marginalized women and to encourage legislators to repeal it. Parliament finally repealed the Canadian witchcraft prohibition in 2018. The moment is thus ripe to ask how—and why—this legislative oddity migrated from England into Canada. The first section of the paper considers the religious origins of the witchcraft prohibition in England and how it made its way into the Canadian Criminal Code. The second section explores how the prohibition evolved from one against unwanted spiritual practices to one against unwanted economic practices. The last section of the paper considers how witchcraft morphed into a viable Charter defence based on freedom of religion and why the prohibition against it was eventually repealed. In conclusion, the article reflects on the peculiar trajectory of witchcraft in Canada and what it might suggest not only about Canadian criminal law, but also about broader Canadian society.
期刊介绍:
The Canadian Journal of Law and Society is pleased to announce that it has a new home and editorial board. As of January 2008, the Journal is housed in the Law Department at Carleton University. Michel Coutu and Mariana Valverde are the Journal’s new co-editors (in French and English respectively) and Dawn Moore is now serving as the Journal’s Managing Editor. As always, the journal is committed to publishing high caliber, original academic work in the field of law and society scholarship. CJLS/RCDS has wide circulation and an international reputation for showcasing quality scholarship that speaks to both theoretical and empirical issues in sociolegal studies.