OPINION: SRSU Witchcraft Course, Con

By Dawson Beard, Skyline Desk Chief

ALPINE - This semester, Rosemary Briseño is teaching a course titled Witches and Witchcraft in American Literature, joining other major universities who have implemented similar courses. 

The secular side of me sees this as a harmless practice of learning about a lesser-known facet of human history. The religious side of me, however, sees this course as further evidence of the world’s comfort with ungodly and evil subject matter and figures. As a man of faith, I can’t help but listen more to the latter side, as the Bible is very clear on such matters. 

Deuteronomy 18:11-12 says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” 

Leviticus 20:6 says, “I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.” 

I could go on and on, as the holy text is incredibly thorough on such matters. 

I understand that Briseño’s course is not teaching students how to perform witchcraft, but simply teaching the history of it through multiple lenses. I am not trying to feed into the hysteria of people who do not possess the curiosity to look deeper into the goals of the course but would rather take to social media and complain about things they know little about.  

However, what I AM saying is that this course could easily glorify figures of witchcraft in American literature, and students can look at these people as idols and inspiration for their own practices of witchcraft. These are not individuals institutions of higher education should be putting on a pedestal; these are not people whose practices should be taught to impressionable young women as “symbols of resistance, empowerment, and spirituality” as stated in the course’s syllabus.  

I would hope the few students taking this course have enough sense to stray away from such temptations, but in a world that is increasingly separated from a higher power, increasingly familiar with works of evil and increasingly vulnerable to secular influence, this course could do more harm than expected. For the students’ sake, I genuinely hope I’m wrong.