Anthropology Witchcraft, Writing Assignment Homework Help

Why do you think a belief in witchcraft is so common cross-culturally?  The term "witch hunt" has been used in modern U.S. society such as during the communist scare following World War II.  How is this similar to and different from the use of the term witch as discussed in this week's module and in Chapter 10? 

The term in the module : Not only is the belief that there are witches a pretty universal belief, witches share incredibly similar features cross-culturally.  These include:

They are utterly bad, irredeemably evil; their powers cannot be used for good.

They have the ability to fly, or at least travel rapidly

They gather in groups to do evil.

They often have an animal familiar.

They do whatever that cultures defines as the worst possible behavior (e.g., cannibalism, infanticide).

Can you think of any more recent examples of U.S. "witch hunts"?

( The answer does not have to be super long as long it is answering the questions it is fine)