15499: Re: 15486: Hyppolite to Mambo Racine on Vaudou (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Hyppolite Pierre <hpierre@irsp.org>

Well, Kathy, I knew that if someone was going to reply, it was going to be
you. You've raised a number of issues here, and I am no specialist. What I
know is what I know.

My experiences with religion as a whole, suggests that for any religion to
get to where it belongs, in the heart of society in general and as a
respectable faith, it has to go through some very important and basic
patterns.

You keep saying for instance, Kathy, that Vaudou is about power. Well, yes
it is. It is a neutral force that people and institutions use for their own
goals, private or public. By your focusing so much for instance on
Christianity as a religion with morale, you seem to forget as well that
Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, and every other major Western religion is
about power as well; in fact, they are about power first and foremost. We
won't go too deep into it but I'll give you some quick examples. Bob, please
allow me to digress so I can make my point here. I have to make this
comparison.

 -When the Queen of Spain sent Columbus to the New World, one of the very
first things that those guys did the moment they got to the new lands, was
to plant their cross on these lands, a symbol of Catholicism;
 -After the U.S. came to Haiti as an occupying power in 1915, one of the very
first things that they did was to bring along Protestantism;
 -During and before the Middle Ages, when the Kings and Queens of Europe were
ruling based on their own personal law, not only did they claim that they
were God's representative on earth (Absolutism), but also were protected by
the Catholich Church.

We could go on, and on, and on. After all, if Christianity or to be more
specific, Catholicism, was not about power, why was it that we had
Inquisition in Spain? Why would someone like yourself, would have been
considered and heretic, and burned to death?

Kathy, how else could European powers you control the natives' mind, unless
they brought along their own version of God, their religion when they
occupied those natives? Could you please tell us?

Religion Kathy, was, is, and will always be first and foremost about power.

Also Kathy, no society can thrive without morality. None. That morality
better be enshrined therefore, in your religious culture. At least the
perception that people have and have always had of Vaudou, is that of a
religion that is only about evil power. That perception and the reality of
it, must be worked on, transformed. There have to be some strong laws on the
books, on that issue.

The issue of "ashte figi moun" (kissing ass) have never been my strong
point. The truth is, as far as I am concerned, a rich and a middle class
person are as much part of any society as a poor is.

Again, Kathy, religion is not just about faith; it is also about culture.
When a potentially vital segment of your population stands firm against the
culture of the majority, that country is in serious, very serious trouble.
Although all Haitians are influenced by Vaudou (denial, denial, I know), the
most interesting place that such "amoral" behavior is found is in our
politics. When and even before we get to political power, we don't care
about society, morale, or anything the like so long as our own problems are
resolved. That kind of attitude perhaps may be directly involved in the way
we have allowed as a society, the Vaudou religion to develop. Well, that is
perhaps just one of the many reasons why Haiti is still enveloping, rather
than developing. We don't care, so long as our problems are resolved.
Otherwise, how could you explain the attitude of politicians who just can't
negotiate in good faith, and compromise on even some of the most trivial
issues? Well, Kathy, it's again the issue of lack of morality. We have to
get that stuff out of our system.

Just remember, always, that I am not, never was, and probably never will be
about being nice to a group, or a class. That to me is, pardon my French,
just poupou. It is always to me, about building a nation; making it a whole
so we can move forward for better things.

Hyppolite Pierre
IRSP
http://www.irsp.org