Religion

Catholics will walk around with a statue and a bunch of flowers quite often during the year, and Christians will wear a white shirt, and have a Bible in hands all the time, usually going daily to their church.

Catholics don?t have a problem mingling with voodooism or brujeria, while Christians see it as satanism...

In general, Catholics are more easy going down here (maybe because everyone use to be catholic), while Christians are more "hardline".

But everyone gets along just fine, there?s no problem whatsoever (so far as I can see...)

Then, you have all the other guys, Jehovah?Witnesses, Adventists, Mormons...

jrf said:

Hey there-and Feliz Navidad,

I have a question about religion and the, either DR or Carribean, about the difference with saying, being a Christian or being a Catholic.
Being from North America-Canada-to me there is not much of a difference but in the DR it seems to be quite different.
Anyone know why?
Thanks

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I though Catholics were Christians, in fact, the original Christians. What do you define as a Christian?

Here in DR, Catholics and Christians are 2 different groups. Christian is the name given to protestants. They feel they are the original christians because they go by the book, versus Catholics, going by various traditions... (wrong or right, that?s reality down here,,,)

There's catolicos and evangelicos. As far as I know, my Dominican host being an evangelical pastor in Puerto Plata, the evangelicos believe the catolicos are not true Christians, one reason being they "worship Mary" and "everyone gets to go to heaven after purgatory". In fact, he was asked to pray at his cousin's funeral, who was a catolico, and he went so far as to say that his cousin would be going to hell because he hadn't repented and been "born again"--an essential evangelico tenet. It was quite awkward in the funeral parlor at that time.

There are other divisions as well within the evangelico camp. Pentecostals, more of the hardliners, have long hair (women) and wear long skirts.

The Iglesia Biblica Cristiana, which is my host's denomination, was actually started in the DR in the 60's (I need to re-read the history of it to be sure). They are more modern--reminds me of a typical "nondenom" in the States. They have all the typical church programs my Virginia church had--married couples, divorce groups, kid's clubs etc. Modern and traditional hymns, communion. The women can wear pants...much more modern in my view.

I've also been to the International Baptist in Santo Domingo and they were pretty rocking--had a great band, reminded me of modern worship services in the States. The preacher was pretty straight--he said, "Look ladies, you are dressing very provocatively, cover up a bit, would ya?" It was refreshing, real-world.

Anyway. My two cents. Could be way off.

Evangelical Protestants, of the extremist kind, call Catholics non-Christian. The worst part is that even among Hispanics in the US you hear people saying: "He was Catholic, but now he is Christian", meaning he joined one of those sects. I think those statements are rooted in complete ignorance.

In the US, for example, Baptists and others do drink and dance and go to war.

I have heard their Latin counterparts stating they can't do any of these things because they are "Christian".

The example of the pastor's speech at his cousin's funeral illustrate how fanatical and un-Christian some of these people tend to be. They decide what your afterlife will be, they send people to hell even while still living, they read God's mind.

In the US only evangelical protestans are called evangelicals. In LA evangelicals used to mean all Protestants. It was Catholics and Evangelicals, now it is "Christians" vs. Catholics.

well, one good thing about Christians, they are usually better employee, since they don?t drink, they tend to be more reliable.
However, on the negative side, their schedule isn?t very flexible, because they have to attend church daily, and there?s always some activities going on.

Overall, it seems (from what I can see... for what it?s worth...) that Christians are more responsable for their family (no gambling, no drinking, no smoking...it helps).
Less wife-beating, less abandoning wife and kids in need...
They care for a better education for the kids... It does seem to make a difference...

Other than born-agains and evangelicals are there mainline protestant churches in the country?? i.e. episcopal, luthern, methodist, etc. I know that its a hugely catholic culture there and i think i read somewhere that until recently only catholic churches had the authority to perform weddings. It would seem that with the influx of ex-pats their religions would follow.

INternational Baptist in Santo Domingo is a mainline protestant church in the DR. I have heard of Episcopal churches but never have seen one. Iglesia Biblica Cristiana is a mainline church in Puerto Plata. I believe the evangelical pastor was so hard in his prayer because it was his cousin and they had a history of religious debate. Otherwise he shows much less judgement in his dealings with non-Christians. I like him a lot, and he likes me--despite the fact that I am a beer drinking, tattoed believer. It takes all types.

There are Episcopal, AME, Methodist, Southern Baptist, Pentacostal BAptist, and then the fringe evangelicals...

HB :ermm:

I see what you are saying, jrf. Your outward appearance and actions are your calling card, especially in a culture like the DR.

I believe in a time and a place for everything--my pastor friend, even though Cafe Cito is literally in his front yard (he is also a business man) would never come and drink a beer with me at the bar. However, everyone at the bar knows I am staying with the pastor and usually the mission I am on. And the pastor quite frankly knows I have my own life. He's kind but not soft. He'll tell me what he thinks yet I never feel condemned.

My tats are only visible in a bikini--wearing one in the DR is more socially acceptable, by the way (among Christians, I mean)--I never wore one in the states until recently. My tattoos are also religious in significance so...well there you go. Someone asks me about them and I am honest.

I'll be honest too that religion does not do a whole lot for me. I'm very spiritual and also very private. I've had to seriously question the church's role in my life, expecially in the past few years as I went through divorce. Some people in my old church no longer talk to me. I just can't figure out why they are so judgemental. It hurts and I do not go to church much now.

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and when necessary use words."

Actions, actions! I'd rather share a beer with someone who needs a listening ear and a nonjudgemental shoulder to cry on than wag my finger and say, "Well, you really have screwed up and you shouldn't have done x, y, z and if your hair was different you maybe could get hired and blah blah blah take out those piercings."

Time and place for everything. All things work together for good for those who love God.

Well I've preached long enough.

I'm proofing a book for a Coptic Priest - His 16th... Here is one sentence, the last one that I read - and I have not read more yet... "It finally dawns on us that we must go on alone."

Oh yes, forgot to say, I'm neither coptic, nor any other thing.

Dominican Christians tend to be just like Pharisees. If you don?t look the right way and attend church at the right time, on the right way, then everyone assumes you?re a hopeless "worldly" guy, or worst, a "descariado".

If your wife wears jeans, and you hang out in shorts and flip-flops, this is it ! Most church folks will assume you can?t possibly be a christian !!!

I guess if Jesus would ever show up today down here, he might be asked to get a hair-cut, and buy a white shirt in order to be accepted !

Squat said:

Dominican Christians tend to be just like Pharisees. If you don?t look the right way and attend church at the right time, on the right way, then everyone assumes you?re a hopeless "worldly" guy, or worst, a "descariado". ... ... I guess if Jesus would ever show up today down here, he might be asked to get a hair-cut, and buy a white shirt in order to be accepted !

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Dominican Christians tend 'to be more papist than the pope', as the old saying goes, and tend to take the Bible literally. I enjoy using the Scriptures against them, like when I ask if they could tell me Christ's first miracle (you know, at the wedding feast in Kana (one of 8 miracles mentioned in John's), the one where he turns water into wine. And sometimes I recite to the women all the misogynism in Peter's or Paul's. Then there's the extreme jealousy of the violent Yehova against the tolerance of the loving Christ. I've noticed that most Dominican Christians have never gotten to read the entire Bible.

We hear of 'evangelical' churches in the campos and barrios laying down a very hard line to their impressionable, uneducated followers.

They tell people to accept their lot in life because "their reward will come in the afterlife". This is a very dangerous message because it preserves the status quo, injustices and all.

They order women to stay with their husbands even if they are abusive, and forbids contraception of any sort. This is not condusive to progress or development.

I'm no fan of any sort of organised religion, and think that on the whole humanity would be better without it, but IMO the Catholic Church is more pragmatic on these counts at least.

Looking at it from another angle, if you consider religion to be a form of social control, the "evangelicos" are - on the whole - more successful in getting their followers to keep to the rules.

Also, it is a good professional and/or business opportunity. Imagine, with only 10 productive members in your flock, you have a salary, considering that tithing is a must. I've always considered setting up my own church as one of my livelihood options ;-)

You can be ordained online, I'm told. Just google and see!

Signed, the Reverend Chirimoya

In the States - people have foregone using the word protestant and now subsitute it with christian. Which of course makes me and my husband laugh but then again we decided to call ourselves catholics - the marians since we are supposeduly not "christian".

There is another sect of catholics yet to be talked about here. The ethnic catholics - are catholic because of ethnicity.
These are the catholics who:
1. have not stepped in a church in years except for holidays and weddings and funerals
2.know when to kneel and when to get up
3.the sign of the cross,
4.understand the concept of catholic guilt and how to get over it.
5.And in midwest of the US know a bar will be within in a block and during the festival there will be bingo or pulltabs and beer.
- Just a little catholic humor.