15516: Hyppolite again, on Vodou and the discussion with Venerable Mambo, Kathy Grey (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Hyppolite Pierre <hpierre@irsp.org>

I am sorry Kathy to keep referring to you. I am sure that many others should
participate in this debate. Still, you've brought up some very interesting
points which I would like to deal with.

[By the way, thanks to my good friend Guy Antoine, I realized that I am
misspelling Vodou; in French, we do spell it with the "au", but we refer to
its more phonetic version in English, thereby "Vodou".]

You talk about Vodou as a decentralized religion. Then, so be it. If
Catholicism has a Pope, and Henry VIII's religion as the Queen of England as
its Supreme Master, Protestantism is as decentralized as the United States
of America. So there is no problem there, if Vodou is decentralized the way
you're suggesting.

Yet, it is vital that we know where we are going with this one. I don't know
why Aristide made the decision before consulting with "scholars" of the
religion, i.e. the Mambos like yourself, the Houngans, and the Bókós. Some
say it's a sure way for him to finish his term. Then, so be it; that proves
once again the power of our culture, enshrined in Vodou. (I am sure now that
I will lose some of my best friends. But that's Haiti for you.)

Your argument about Vodou, as just a neutral force, although appreciated,
forces me to think of some other things. If it is (and it is, indeed), a
neutral religion, and thereby amoral, someones (many) somewhere are
therefore benefiting from both the good, and the bad from it. Is there a
concern from the High Priests in that religion, that they may lose their
financial advantages by not being able to perform the "bad"? If so, how can
this concern be soothened or cured? Any suggestions from you?

Finally, if it is indeed a religion with such potential, as I believe it is,
will Vodou have its own "Bible", or "Coran", or whatever else? Now, if it is
to have something of that sort, how do you not have some kind of a
"federated congregation", responsible for propagating the good words,
instead of my previous suggestion of making it a "unitary religion"?

So no matter what, you will need at least in the short term, to have some
kind of body that emanates from the religion itself to ensure that most
people understand what they're getting into. By that I mean, those who may
therefore be willing to reject my religion, Catholicism, or my Mom's,
Protestantism. because they're more comfortable with praying God according
to their homegrown Haitian culture.

I am desperately waiting from some of your inputs, and others too.

Best to you,
Hyppolite Pierre
IRSP
http://www.irsp.org