AlLib - The US, and, indeed, most of North America, is much more culturally homogenous than other parts of the world. We're a people with cultural roots that only go back a few hundred years. In places like Africa, India and southeast Asia, with thousands of years of traditions, one can cross cultural boundaries by going from one province (or even village) to another, and cities such as Kinshasa are not immune. Belief in evil sorcery are strong in many places in Africam but the local flavors are all different. Even in Europe, which is much more our cultural godparnet, regional differences are much more prounounced than they are here. In Germany, for instance, regional dialects can be so...

AlLib - The US, and, indeed, most of North America, is much more culturally homogenous than other parts of the world. We're a people with cultural roots that only go back a few hundred years. In places like Africa, India and southeast Asia, with thousands of years of traditions, one can cross cultural boundaries by going from one province (or even village) to another, and cities such as Kinshasa are not immune. Belief in evil sorcery are strong in many places in Africam but the local flavors are all different. Even in Europe, which is much more our cultural godparnet, regional differences are much more prounounced than they are here. In Germany, for instance, regional dialects can be so varied that a foreign traveler who knows schoolbook-standard German can barely understand the local speech.

After all, in the 21st century, there are people in the US who believe that the world is 6000 years old, that the speed of light is slowing down, that dinosaurs once coexisted with humans and that George W. Bush is the greatest living American. There are those who believe that a guy in a dress can turn a mutated matzo and some muscatel into meat and blood.

To get back to the original point, think about all the urban legends at snopes.com. Lacking a national heritage of superstition, Americans have created their own - not to mention all the anxieties American men have about their own crotch rockets (viagra, enzyte, et. al.). The Kinshasan virility nightmare is a penis-snatching sorcerer; in the US it's Lorena Bobbitt.

I also can't help but think about what the "victims" had to say when it came time to drop their pants and prove the theft - a real Monty Pythn moment.