In the film ‘Superstition Kills’, which premiered at the World Conference on Untouchability at London in June 2009, there were gory scenes of blood-spattered walls when a woman was hacked to death for being deemed a witch. None of her neighbours intervened while the horrible act was being carried out, and the killers still roam the village, free and unchecked. This might be an extreme example of the lengths to which human beings are prepared to go in seeking explanations in the supernatural, but superstition is as much about the cynical exploitation of human weakness for profit as it is about blind belief. It is the outward expression of a human being’s need to cede control of her life to someone or something else.

Who is superstitious? The poor? The illiterate? Villagers? Actually, people from every level of society, rich and poor, from every part of the world seem willing to surrender belief in their own autonomy in favour of belief in some non-existent power. Rocket scientists choose an ‘auspicious’ time to launch rockets; doctors say a prayer before starting a complicated procedure on a patient; marriages, deaths and births are attended by a number of irrational rituals that are only there to turn a simple fact of biology into an elaborate process of belief in the eternal; heads of state derive their power not from some material authority but from a ‘higher’ being, and attribute a change in their fortunes to factors beyond their understanding.

Superstition is the answer human beings devise for difficult questions. The answers may be wrong, in fact, they almost always are, but there are no marks for this test so it’s all right. There is nobody to challenge the wisdom behind wearing a charm around one’s neck or believing a woman to be a witch. And the clinching argument for irrationality is that there’s no proof that it doesn’t work. It doesn’t seem to matter to believers that there’s no proof that it does, that there is no merit whatsoever in wearing a charm, or getting up from the left side of the bed, or hanging the sign of the evil eye outside your front door. As long as there is enough reinforcement in society that some ‘cosmic force’ is controlling one’s life, the foundation of superstition will continue to remain strong. And there are reinforcements aplenty.

Virtually every newspaper feels obliged to carry a daily horoscope. Every social networking and leisure website has an astrology link. Every popular magazine and newspaper contains advertisements for astrologers, soothsayers and the like. One of the most popular pieces of fiction internationally is a book called Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs - masquerading as a work of non-fiction.

All superstition is dangerous. It might be argued that there isn’t any real danger in hanging the sign of the evil eye outside one’s front door. No, there’s certainly nothing life-threatening about that. The danger lies in the willingness to countenance the irrational in our daily life. Not many of us would indulge in wanton murder to ward off an evil influence. But if a cat is deemed to be inauspicious, what are the chances that we would be perfectly happy to have the neighbourhood stray killed? How many men believe in the perfectly ghastly precept that having sex with a virgin enhances virility? The flesh trade is replete with minors who are brought into its fold precisely to satisfy that need. The Catholic Church frowned upon masturbation and linked it to mental illness, leading to untold misery amongst believers. The violence wrought by Islamists seduced by Quranic myths about the appropriate punishment for non-believers and rewards for true believers now threatens almost the entire world.

The Western world has to some extent been able to counter superstitious beliefs. One of the key factors in this progress was education. Schools have, by and large, taught secular values to children. Through systematic education in rational thinking, religious instruction has been forced to take a back seat. But this good is now being undermined by rabid propaganda by the Christian Church and Islamic clerics, both insisting on bringing their religions back centre-stage in education. And governments seem to be naively falling into the trap of encouraging religion in the name of promoting multiculturalism.

However, it is the Third World which needs almost a surgical intervention to combat superstition. Superstitious beliefs and practices are rampant in this part of the globe. In fact, Western evangelists and faith healers find far easier pickings in the developing world than in their own countries, where the general public has consistently moved away from mumbo-jumbo. In both Asia and Africa, lack of development and universal education have led to a situation where even the law-enforcement machinery tends to look the other way if a crime is committed in the name of superstition. In India, superstars and politicians shamelessly frequent temples where animist rituals like sacrifices are practised, when they should be in the forefront of the movement to ban these places. The governance machinery of an entire state has been roped in to propagate the benefits of cow urine, an essential ingredient of most Indian (ayurveda) medicine.

In Africa, the terrible crime of infanticide is committed to ward off evil spirits. Potions and medicines containing human and animal body parts are available in plenty, and the fear of provoking evil spirits prevents peace-loving people from protest against these practices.

The battle to fight superstition is an arduous and, at times, losing one. One would think that with increasing wealth and education, superstitious beliefs would be on the wane. One would be wrong. As incomes are increasing, people have access to larger funds to propitiate gods and spirits. The proliferation of private channels on television has given rise to an irresponsible media code where everything is up for grabs. Gods and godmen, and regressive practices are glorified in the name of entertainment. In the name of rescuing culture from the clutches of the West, home-grown practices of all hues are revered.

What is the way forward in such a situation? Firstly, access to education is the biggest weapon for countering superstition. Rational thought can be inculcated only when children are taught critical thinking and learn to connect cause and effect - in science classes and by explaining the many observations and experiments that scientists have conducted over the years to enable us to understand the physical world. Secondly, secular and Humanist organisations must engage actively with the state and establishment machinery to outlaw overtly superstitious practices such as animal and human sacrifices, and treat the latter on par with any other kind of murder. These two steps are by no means enough to inculcate the spirit of enquiry in human beings, but they can at least be a start to true enlightenment.

Sangeeta Mall is Editor, IHN.