Good Example Of Paper Literature Review

Salem Witch Trials: A Legal Review

Introduction
The paranormal beliefs remained prevalent since the prehistoric times, and they have been used to succumb people to slavery because those who were perceived to have such supernatural powers became the center of political strength in the society. People who were weak in political and financial terms responded to the promises of those saints and halfhearted workers for the humanity. The pledges remained unmet and unfulfilled in most of the cases, and therefore, some of the unsatisfied customers took the matter to the court. The court wanted and demanded proof in order to implicate the accused. However, the evidentiary materials presented did not have any legal stature, but it did have supernatural one that could not be processed by the judge as admissible.
Q.1
The political regime of 1860s was ran and managed by those who did not share the supernatural beliefs with those who were allegedly believed to be involved in witchcraft. With the passage of time, the leaders of Massachusetts developed secular viewpoint towards religion and religious practices. The Protestant Church of England was forbidden to participate in the political processes of the locality (Godbeer, 116), and therefore, the rulers developed and conceptualized a plot to eliminate theological school of thought once and for all from the society because the leaders disagreed with the philosophy of Christianity at large (Russell, 386). The religious leaders were promoting social equality and charity in the world that was plunged into communal disorders and cruelty by those who were supposed to take care of the ill and weak. However, it was not the case, and the government was more than committed in order to prolong the governmental stay. The court under the influence of the governors had to execute the accused during the witch trials. There was no hard evidence present that could have implicated the suspects, but all of them had close ties with religious society, and therefore, they were viewed as enemies of the state. The death sentences issued against them were politically charged rather than having legal basis. In simple words, the court treated claims of people as evidence that cannot be taken and treated as an acceptable practice in the eyes of modern law (Gable, Handler and Lawson, 792). The court ruled on the basis of confession that was extracted out of the suspects through application of torture and painful debriefing. However, the court used Biblical approach to handle the case, and as the book says, those involved in witchcraft should be condemned to death, but no one was interested in finding out any scientific evidence before issuing such harsh sentences. One can hardly identify the proceedings of witch trials as legal because the whole array of cases was based on presumptions, and assumptions, and word of mouth was considered as evidence during the trails that was a crime in itself.
Q.2
Master Corey was suspected to have some part in the supernatural crimes, and he did not appear in front of the court because he was not moved to participate in the judiciary process. He could not invade his fate because he was stoned to death without a trail. His life partner did not share his deliquesce towards the court, and therefore, she presented herself in front of the court only in order to find herself dating with a rope that caused her demise in hall full of people who cherished her death. The accused were unable to prove their innocence in the court of law because they did not have any method to do so at their disposal. The matters dealt with during the trails did not have scientific nature, but they did have a metaphysical stand (Mackinnon, 96) that the court could not comprehend.
The followers of those magicians must have been put to death along with their leaders as well because supernaturalism exists as a result of those who are having the willingness to believe in such outdated concepts. According to scientific research on the topic of paranormality, one cannot see magic in empirical terms, but he or she can view it as a psychological and mental disorder. The belief in paranormal qualifies as a defining attribute of a mental condition commonly referred as schizophrenia (Barreto and Ellemers, 892). The people who have a significant degree of susceptibility towards external influences of the society blame others for their miserable existences, and therefore, so-called saints and philosophers entrap them. However, the only solution of the abovementioned disorder lies within the strength of education and enlightenment. The only witches present in the world thrive in the minds of those who believe in them, but there were none present in Salem.

Conclusion

The developed nations amongst those Britain is considered as well have overcome the belief of paranormal and supernatural by providing the education about empirical thinking to the masses. Nowadays, the metaphysical researchers are working to prove the existence of supernatural forces via employing scientific means (Keating, 253). However, they are less than successful in this regard, and therefore, the witchcraft transferred from developed nations to uneducated worlds South Asia where shadows of ignorance are still long and dark. The sub-concept of theology that promotes divinity exists and prevails because people psychologically believe in such useless reminiscent of the past.

Works Cited

Barreto, Manuela and Naomi Ellemers. "You Can’t Always Do What You Want: Social Identity and Self-Presentational Determinants of the Choice to Work for a Low-Status Group." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26, 8 (2000): 891-906. Online.
Gable, Eric, Richard Handler and Anna Lawson. "on the uses of relativism: fact, conjecture, and black and white histories at Colonial Williamsburg." American Ethnologist 19,4 (1992): 791–805. Online.
Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. Online.
Keating, Michael. "Global best practices, national innovation systems, and tertiary education: a critique of the World Bank's Accelerating Catch–up." International Journal of Public Policy 8,4 (2012): 251-265. Online.
Mackinnon, Barbara. Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. New York: Wadsworth Publishing, 2007. Online.
Russell, Jeffery B. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1984. Online.