Hait's religious leader

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puryear270

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Frank R. already posted the CNN article in the Haiti Update thread.

But there were two paragraphs that caught my attention:

Religious leaders, meanwhile, have been calling for calm ahead of the vote.

"We are praying for peace on election day," said Max Beauvoir, Haiti's "Supreme Servitor," or highest ranking voodoo priest, in an interview with CNN on Friday.


I'm sure we all are aware that Voodoo has incredible influence in Haiti. The old saying was that Haiti was 80% Catholic and 110% Voodoo (or something to that effect).

But I have never before seen it reported in this manner, where the Voodoo leadership is being quoted by an international news organization. And until now, I've never even heard of Voodoo considered an organized religion.

I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of those who are more knowledgeable about life in Haiti.
 

getthesenets

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The way the article is written is a bit odd.

Says religious leaders(plural) are calling for calm, and then only quotes ONE leader.

Almost as if it's implying that HIS followers are the ones expected to cause problems.
 
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Ayiti's history effectively starts with the coming to Sant Domingue of Bookman from Jamaica. He was a priest of Shango in the classical West African tradition (still practised under this name in Jamaica)..

He was the leader of the ceremony in the night of the Bois du Caiman (in which the veves of Ogou and Elegga are also depicted).. Under his initial instigation and with his spiritual leadership the slave revolt was effectively started.

So it is the religion of the founder of the nation of Ayiti, it is an unerasable part of the Ayitian spirit.

Of course the tradition has suffered and has been perverted mainly under the Duvalier family which used it for its own purposes and deviated from the accepted paths.

The original religion was mainly practiced in Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and Benin under various guises. The original Yoruba religion IFA is part of the UN world heritage and currently represented by Wande Abimbola as World wide spokesperson

Wande Abimbola - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

RonS

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Excellent post MD! It explains for me, in very concise language, the reason that Voodoo is really in the marrow of Haitian bones.
 

Chip

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Unfortunately we've all become too pc anymore to see the problems with a religion started for the purpose of indiscriminately massacring people innocent and non alike. Here is an excerpt from a historical account:

A man named Boukman, another houngan, organized on August 14, 1791, a meeting with the slaves in the mountains of the North. This meeting took the form of a Voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caiman in the northern mountains of the island. It was raining and the sky was raging with clouds; the slaves then started confessing their resentment of their condition. A woman started dancing languorously in the crowd, taken by the spirits of the loas. With a knife in her hand, she cut the throat of a pig and distributed the blood to all the participants of the meeting who swore to kill all the whites on the island. On August 22, 1791, the blacks of the North entered into a rebellion, killing all the whites they met and setting the plantations of the colony on fire.

Bois Ca?man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

AlterEgo

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Unfortunately we've all become too pc anymore to see the problems with a religion started for the purpose of indiscriminately massacring people innocent and non alike.

Chip, Voodoo wasn't started in Haiti, or for that purpose. If you read that excerpt, they used a voodoo meeting as a cover for the massacre plan - they didn't create it for the plan. According to many, voodoo has been around since the beginning of civilization:
Origins of Voodoo

AE
 

AlterEgo

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Frank R. already posted the CNN article in the Haiti Update thread.

But there were two paragraphs that caught my attention:

Religious leaders, meanwhile, have been calling for calm ahead of the vote.

"We are praying for peace on election day," said Max Beauvoir, Haiti's "Supreme Servitor," or highest ranking voodoo priest, in an interview with CNN on Friday.


I'm sure we all are aware that Voodoo has incredible influence in Haiti. The old saying was that Haiti was 80% Catholic and 110% Voodoo (or something to that effect).

But I have never before seen it reported in this manner, where the Voodoo leadership is being quoted by an international news organization. And until now, I've never even heard of Voodoo considered an organized religion.

I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of those who are more knowledgeable about life in Haiti.

Voodoo as a religion in Haiti:

Haiti's government officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion

Thursday April 10, 2003.

Haiti's government has officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion, allowing practitioners to begin performing ceremonies from baptisms to marriages with legal authority. Many who practice voodoo praised the move, but said much remains to be done to make up for centuries of ridicule and persecution in the Caribbean country and abroad. Voodoo priest Philippe Castera said he hopes the government's decree is more than an effort to win popularity amid economic and political troubles. "In spite of our contribution to Haitian culture, we are still misunderstood and despised," said Castera, 48. In an executive decree issued last week, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide invited voodoo adherents and organizations to register with the Ministry of Religious Affairs. After swearing an oath before a civil judge, practitioners will be able to legally conduct ceremonies such as marriages and baptisms, the decree said. Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, has said he recognizes voodoo as a religion like any other, and a voodoo priestess bestowed a presidential sash on him at his first inauguration in 1991. "An ancestral religion, voodoo is an essential part of national identity," and its institutions "represent a considerable portion" of Haiti's 8.3 million people, Aristide said in the decree. Voodoo practitioners believe in a supreme God and spirits who link the human with the divine. The spirits are summoned by offerings that include everything from rum to roosters. Though permitted by Haiti's 1987 constitution, which recognizes religious equality, many books and films have sensationalized voodoo as black magic based on animal and human sacrifices to summon zombies and evil spirits. "It will take more than a government decree to undo all that malevolence," Castera said, and suggested that construction of a central voodoo temple would "turn good words into a good deed." There are no reliable statistics on the number of adherents, but millions in Haiti place faith in voodoo. The religion evolved from West African beliefs and developed further among slaves in the Caribbean who adopted elements of Catholicism. Voodoo is an inseparable part of Haitian art, literature, music and film. Hymns are played on the radio and voodoo ceremonies are broadcast on television along with Christian services. But for centuries voodoo has been looked down upon as little more than superstition, and at times has been the victim of ferocious persecution. A campaign led by the Catholic church in the 1940s led to the destruction of temples and sacred objects. In 1986, following the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier's dictatorship, hundreds of voodoo practitioners were killed on the pretext that they had been accomplices to Duvalier's abuses.

Excerpted from Origins of Voodoo

AE
 
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Unfortunately we've all become too pc anymore to see the problems with a religion started for the purpose of indiscriminately massacring people innocent and non alike. Here is an excerpt from a historical account:

A man named Boukman, another houngan, organized on August 14, 1791, a meeting with the slaves in the mountains of the North. This meeting took the form of a Voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caiman in the northern mountains of the island. It was raining and the sky was raging with clouds; the slaves then started confessing their resentment of their condition. A woman started dancing languorously in the crowd, taken by the spirits of the loas. With a knife in her hand, she cut the throat of a pig and distributed the blood to all the participants of the meeting who swore to kill all the whites on the island. On August 22, 1791, the blacks of the North entered into a rebellion, killing all the whites they met and setting the plantations of the colony on fire.

Bois Ca?man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chip,

This religion wasn't started to kill all whites, it was used to unite all slavery victims into a rebellion against their white slave masters. You cannot blame illiterate slaves rising up against abismal treatment, for not being PC about it.

From an objective POV you can compare it to the unity amongst Chrisitan Spaniards during the reconquista of Spain. Christianity wasn't started as a counter to muslims, it was used as a banner to unite the Spainards under (and don't think they were kind to the Moors when liberating Spain)..

This so-called historical account differs from any ceremony that I know about by a mile, most notably in the woman being the one to wield the knife. Killing of sacrifice is usually done sanctioned by Ogun, who was also present, by a male priest.
 

Chip

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I don't care what religion it is we've learned as human beings now for millenia that willingly and purposely killing innocent women and children is barbaric and animalistic to say the least. Did my own ancestors do this? Yes. Have people in my own church done this? Yes. It's also a good chance they are all rotting in hell too. Good riddens.
 

Bernard Jean-Pierre

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I think that is just a failed attempt at trying to 'paint' Haiti as some crazed Voodoo nation, when in reality that is NOT the case. Is there Voodoo in Haiti? Yes. Did Voodoo start in Haiti? No, not by any means. Furthermore Voodoo is not an 'organized religion', as mentioned earlier by someone, this seems to be an indirect way of trying to imply "hey Voodoo priest, be sure to mix up a good batch of magic and pray for peace, because if you don't then its YOUR fault, since ALL Haitians are just uncivilized voodoo practicing inferiors". CNN (or any other major media source) will never report about the near 20,000 Haitians that are Jehovah's Witnesses (Christians). Nor will they ever mention the volunteer work they did before, during and after the Jan. Earthquakes. Why?? Its not 'news worthy' from the perspective of the news media. Bad news is 'better' than good news. Murder, Pitbull, Rape, Fatal Accident, 'highest ranking voodoo priest' are terms preferred over Volunteer, Gift, Helping, Graduation etc. Its all about 'painting a picture', maintaining a certain level of controversy.
 

bob saunders

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I think that is just a failed attempt at trying to 'paint' Haiti as some crazed Voodoo nation, when in reality that is NOT the case. Is there Voodoo in Haiti? Yes. Did Voodoo start in Haiti? No, not by any means. Furthermore Voodoo is not an 'organized religion', as mentioned earlier by someone, this seems to be an indirect way of trying to imply "hey Voodoo priest, be sure to mix up a good batch of magic and pray for peace, because if you don't then its YOUR fault, since ALL Haitians are just uncivilized voodoo practicing inferiors". CNN (or any other major media source) will never report about the near 20,000 Haitians that are Jehovah's Witnesses (Christians). Nor will they ever mention the volunteer work they did before, during and after the Jan. Earthquakes. Why?? Its not 'news worthy' from the perspective of the news media. Bad news is 'better' than good news. Murder, Pitbull, Rape, Fatal Accident, 'highest ranking voodoo priest' are terms preferred over Volunteer, Gift, Helping, Graduation etc. Its all about 'painting a picture', maintaining a certain level of controversy.

I think you are reading things into the statement that aren't there, just likes getsnothing. You see what you want to see. Anyway you look at it religion has not helped Haitians. Certain religious people have, and others have made the situation worse.
 

getthesenets

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Bernard,

There are certainly Haitians who distance themselves from, and want no parts of Voodoo. My parents were like that and it appears that this is your line of thinking as well. Whether people practice other faiths are embarrassed by the connection between Haiti and voodoo, or have witnessed firsthand some of the negative aspects of it......It's too integral a part of Haitian history and culture to ignore or dismiss.


I'm in that minority of Haitians who is from a protestant family, so catholicism and voudou which are major threads in the fabric of the country are foreign to me. I've done the best to educate myself about history though.

I saw a doc. about Haiti that was narrated by Maya Angelou and there was mention of the Hollywood film(horror) that first connected Haiti with voodoo and ritual sacrifice,etc. The country has always been somewhat isolated,so the screen depiction becomes "reality" for people globally ...and later tv shows, serials, plays build upon the image that is already out there.
 

getthesenets

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Voodoo as a religion in Haiti:

Haiti's government officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion

Thursday April 10, 2003.

Haiti's government has officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion, allowing practitioners to begin performing ceremonies from baptisms to marriages with legal authority. Many who practice voodoo praised the move, but said much remains to be done to make up for centuries of ridicule and persecution in the Caribbean country and abroad. Voodoo priest Philippe Castera said he hopes the government's decree is more than an effort to win popularity amid economic and political troubles. "In spite of our contribution to Haitian culture, we are still misunderstood and despised," said Castera, 48. In an executive decree issued last week, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide invited voodoo adherents and organizations to register with the Ministry of Religious Affairs. After swearing an oath before a civil judge, practitioners will be able to legally conduct ceremonies such as marriages and baptisms, the decree said. Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, has said he recognizes voodoo as a religion like any other, and a voodoo priestess bestowed a presidential sash on him at his first inauguration in 1991. "An ancestral religion, voodoo is an essential part of national identity," and its institutions "represent a considerable portion" of Haiti's 8.3 million people, Aristide said in the decree. Voodoo practitioners believe in a supreme God and spirits who link the human with the divine. The spirits are summoned by offerings that include everything from rum to roosters. Though permitted by Haiti's 1987 constitution, which recognizes religious equality, many books and films have sensationalized voodoo as black magic based on animal and human sacrifices to summon zombies and evil spirits. "It will take more than a government decree to undo all that malevolence," Castera said, and suggested that construction of a central voodoo temple would "turn good words into a good deed." There are no reliable statistics on the number of adherents, but millions in Haiti place faith in voodoo. The religion evolved from West African beliefs and developed further among slaves in the Caribbean who adopted elements of Catholicism. Voodoo is an inseparable part of Haitian art, literature, music and film. Hymns are played on the radio and voodoo ceremonies are broadcast on television along with Christian services. But for centuries voodoo has been looked down upon as little more than superstition, and at times has been the victim of ferocious persecution. A campaign led by the Catholic church in the 1940s led to the destruction of temples and sacred objects. In 1986, following the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier's dictatorship, hundreds of voodoo practitioners were killed on the pretext that they had been accomplices to Duvalier's abuses.

Excerpted from Origins of Voodoo

AE
Aristide was trying to garner support from more people by doing this, it alienated lots of non-voudou practicers though.


The army, the mulatto business families, the Catholic church, and the people who practice Voudou are the 4 power "groups/bases" in the history of the island.

And Aristide was playing politics, as Papa Doc had done when he rose to power...and it backfired on him.
 
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I think that is just a failed attempt at trying to 'paint' Haiti as some crazed Voodoo nation, when in reality that is NOT the case. Is there Voodoo in Haiti? Yes. Did Voodoo start in Haiti? No, not by any means. Furthermore Voodoo is not an 'organized religion', as mentioned earlier by someone, this seems to be an indirect way of trying to imply "hey Voodoo priest, be sure to mix up a good batch of magic and pray for peace, because if you don't then its YOUR fault, since ALL Haitians are just uncivilized voodoo practicing inferiors". CNN (or any other major media source) will never report about the near 20,000 Haitians that are Jehovah's Witnesses (Christians). Nor will they ever mention the volunteer work they did before, during and after the Jan. Earthquakes. Why?? Its not 'news worthy' from the perspective of the news media. Bad news is 'better' than good news. Murder, Pitbull, Rape, Fatal Accident, 'highest ranking voodoo priest' are terms preferred over Volunteer, Gift, Helping, Graduation etc. Its all about 'painting a picture', maintaining a certain level of controversy.

It also helps to keep Haiti in the limelight and hopefully they'll get more help than they've been receiving thusfar.
 

puryear270

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I'm the OP on this one, and I thank all for their input. I'm learning lots here.

As to the article, one question (among others) that I am not sure about:

Could this be seen as a way of "legitimizing" Haiti's Voodoo in the US press?
To most Americans, voodoo still has a very negative reputation.
(I'm not commenting on whether the reputation is undeserved or deserved.)
If I were a reporter and trying to do that, I would have used the word "vodun" instead of "voodoo".

A second question, that has come out of this discussion:
How is the negative perception of Haitian voodoo related to Duvalier's trying to use the religion to his advantage? Did it have a better reputation before then?

And a third question/musing, that is the cynic in me trying to keep this thread from getting too heated:
I wonder what would have happened if a Rastafarian had immigrated to Haiti instead of Bookman.
 

getthesenets

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I'm the OP on this one, and I thank all for their input. I'm learning lots here.

As to the article, one question (among others) that I am not sure about:

Could this be seen as a way of "legitimizing" Haiti's Voodoo in the US press?
To most Americans, voodoo still has a very negative reputation.
(I'm not commenting on whether the reputation is undeserved or deserved.)
If I were a reporter and trying to do that, I would have used the word "vodun" instead of "voodoo".

A second question, that has come out of this discussion:
How is the negative perception of Haitian voodoo related to Duvalier's trying to use the religion to his advantage? Did it have a better reputation before then?

And a third question/musing, that is the cynic in me trying to keep this thread from getting too heated:
I wonder what would have happened if a Rastafarian had immigrated to Haiti instead of Bookman.


1. article can be interpreted many ways....naming a recognized "leader" of the faith can be seen as "legitimate" in the press. I for one had no idea that there was one person who allegedly presides over the faith system in Haiti or what his name was.


2.power struggle in Haiti has been among Black masses and Mulatto business families. Mulatto families have strong blood and cultural ties to France. Papa Doc, to garner support from the masses....promoted Negritude, Blacks embracing their African culture including Voudou, and the Kreyol language. Papa Doc employed some of the traditions and stories of voudou in his own public image to relate to the common folks. shrewd.political manipulation

Like I mentioned earlier...there were plays and films done previously..but I think some very popular ones came out of Europe during his reign lampooning him and making fun of his "governing style" and voudou....
one play in particular....gotta refer to one of my books for the title..Think it's called "The Comedians"



3. rasta developed over 100 years AFTER the rebellion..but I think you knew that...;)
 

getthesenets

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puryear,

a GREAT book that I think every Black family should own is

040128_henryGates_hmed_12p.grid-6x2.jpg



0465000711.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg




Even if you're not Black...but are just interested in learning more about African, African diaspora....this is invaluable. first volume came out around 2000....is now DIRT CHEAP.

literally EVERYTHING.....

got a used one for 9 bucks...
 

dave6

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puryear,

a GREAT book that I think every Black family should own is

040128_henryGates_hmed_12p.grid-6x2.jpg



0465000711.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg




Even if you're not Black...but are just interested in learning more about African, African diaspora....this is invaluable. first volume came out around 2000....is now DIRT CHEAP.

literally EVERYTHING.....

got a used one for 9 bucks...

amazing!!! :eek: i have been looking for a book like this for ages! tell me does it give in depth detailed history of the black slave traders and tribal leaders that sold there own people into slavery? because i have been studying the subject and think it is simply amazing. i love to see how africans and europeans have so much in common. and all for 9 dollars :squareeye
 
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I don't care what religion it is we've learned as human beings now for millenia that willingly and purposely killing innocent women and children is barbaric and animalistic to say the least. Did my own ancestors do this? Yes. Have people in my own church done this? Yes. It's also a good chance they are all rotting in hell too. Good riddens.

Killing 'others' either tribe, religion, color has always been a practised way of making room for yourself.

Some prime examples are

1. The Hunnic Asian conquest, which lead to the Migration Period,

2. The invasion of the Ibero-Celtic people of the Americas which almost led to the extiction of the so-called Native Americans,

3. The intertribale warfare in Western Africa which produced many, many slaves both for the Arab and American slave trade

4. The Roman invasion of the Gaulic areas, killing roughly a million Gauls by Julius Ceasar et al

5. The second Worldwar, which was started to create 'lebensraum' on the European continent for Germans

6. The Muslim conquest, to create a Muslim world and to exterminate other faiths in those areas

7. The invasion of the 'Promised Land' by the Jewish forces under Mozes and Joshua, killing the population of the city states that existed there



I don't necessarily see how the uprising of the enslaved Africans in Aiyiti is any different
 
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