The more actively religious they are, regardless of which religion they practice. This means all. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and more. The Christian who sits in a church involved in group prayer...witchcraft. The Catholic with their Rosary beads or taking communion...witchcraft. It is not specifically connected with "devil worship", but how one worships, or that one worships at all. In fact, most religions that openly acknowledge use of witchcraft don't even have a concept of evil or the "devil", so it certainly has no connection.
That's
one definition- that exonerates witchcraft, so it may look too convenient, and suspicious. It's also novel, bearing no relation to 4000 years of common understanding that is certainly not as accommodating of witchcraft as that. It may be of that sort of frivolous nonsense that the internet, available to the lowest literate intelligences and moralities, has produced. It may otoh be entirely
correct and above board. But nobody should naively assume that, until it has passed a lot of checks.
What does the Bible, used to define many concepts, used by Shakespeare, who, as we have seen, associated witchcraft with evil powers, say on this subject? What does the Bible, used to define many concepts by many other authors, used by responsible people- politicians, judiciaries, medical experts, with whole populations who elect and are influenced by these influential people- say about witchcraft? Is it not reasonable to examine the majority definition of one's own surviving civilisation? Can any view that totally ignores the overwhelming majority definition of one's own civilisation
really be worth reading?
The Bible says that a witch is a necromancer, one who consults departed spirits, or who practises sorcery. It does not specify a female in this activity, and a man who consults departed spirits is equally under consideration. And the testament of the Bible is that, where explicit commitment to the commands of the deity is made, sorcery is out of the question. The obvious conclusion is that those who find divine commands too difficult will prefer the teachings of demons. It may be that sorcery is connected to demon possession. It may even be that demons teach that Christianity, that is famously opposed to witchcraft, is itself a form of witchcraft. That teaching would, if believed, effectively neutralise opposition to demon influence- somewhat obviously, one might add. So one must not only be wary, one must be seen to be wary.
In those circumstances, the Bible says, where explicit commitment to the commands of the deity has been made, sorcery is punishable.
'Let no-one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practises divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.' Dt 18:10-12 NIV
Of course, some have taken that precept out of context, and punished witches and sorcerers without any explicit commitment, without any authority but their own. That in no way invalidates the biblical view, and the consequent view that the occult as a whole- witchcraft, sorcery, ouija boards, etc.- is dangerous to mental health, jeopardising the stability of society, and is eventually sociopathic.