The troubling answer: not really.

        In his new book, Robert W. Thurston, a history professor at Miami University in Oxford, tells about a binge of violence that occurred for centuries — witch hunts.

        They started in Ireland in 1324 and ended with the last legal execution of a “witch” in Switzerland in 1782.

        “In England and Massachusetts (in 1692), witches were hanged,” he said. “On the continent of Europe, they were burned. They weren't always burned to death. Sometimes they were strangled and their bodies burned.”

        Dr. Thurston covers this dark period in Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose: The Rise and Fall of the Witch Hunts in Europe and North America.

        It puts into perspective the pursuit of violence in the name of religion.

        Dr. Thurston said witch hunts weren't a direct assault on women by men. The hunts were more of a reaction to fear.

        He estimates that 60,000 to 100,000 women (and men) were killed for being witches, although some believe there were millions of victims.

        He covers witch hunts, trials, assorted torturings and deaths, and places them in context with the Bible and fairy tales.

        He also discusses the fate of Jews and other “marginalized people” living in Europe. “The "we' and "they' mentality appears in the earliest written records of civilization,” he said.

        DELHI TOWNSHIP — An exhibit called “Delhi Historical Society: 25 Years of Community Service” will continue through Dec. 1 at the Farmhouse Museum, 468 Anderson Ferry Road.

        The exhibit is open Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.

        Member Peg Schmidt has designed a panel exhibit that traces significant events of the society's history since its founding in 1976.

        The society collects materials to document the history of the community. Objects include doll hats commissioned from a Fourth Street millinery, a 48-star U.S. flag, World War I military equipment and 19th century schoolbooks published by Cincinnati's American Book Co.

        HAMILTON — The Mini Maestro Club will perform at 2 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Fairfield Lane Library, 1485 Corydale Drive, with Cincinnati composer, author and storyteller Rick Sowash.

        The club introduces music to kids in preschool to grade 5. This program is “Halloween Harmonies: It All Began with Scary Sound Effects.”

        Information: 894-6557, Ext. 103.

        Randy McNutt's column appears on Saturday. Contact him at The Enquirer, 7700 Service Center Drive, West Chester, OH 45069. Telephone: 755-4158. Fax: 755-4150. E-mail: RMcnutt@enquirer.com.

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