16454: Vilaire: Re: 16425: Christians vs Voodoo (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Vilaire@aol.com

Here we go again with some holier-than-thou, know-it-all pseudo Christian
with a pledge to take Haiti out of its 200-year "curse" and turn it into a
Paradise, courtesy of the great white man! However, if these crusaders were to
honesty allow themselves to look at the facts, they'd have a different appreciation
of what has ailed Haiti over the past 200 years.

The Catholic Church, unlike Vodou, has been the most powerful institution in
Haiti from time immemorial. Since the signing of the Concordat, it has had the
upper hand in matters regarding the education of the Haitian youth. What do
we have? The highest rate of illiteracy in the Western Hemisphere. Instead of
adopting a progressive role side by side with the poorest, it has judged better
to mingle with the rich and powerful; it has joined ranks with the ugly,
reprehensible and morally repugnant forces of terror while preaching the gospel of
otherworldly nonsense to the poor! You wanna talk about a curse? Hello! Yeah,
I'm aware of the exceptions, but they are just that: Exceptions to the
INSTITUTION that is the Catholic Church!

As for the Protestant sects, they have earned a stable reputation as a bunch
of condescending, hypocritical batch whose only concern is to rid us of the
inherent sinister characteristics, which they seem to believe inhabit our
chromosomes.  No matter what seems to be confronting us, their response is an
ever-present "Bondye Bon" all the while teaching us to hate ourselves since we and
our nation were baptized with the blood of Satan, as opposed to that of Jesus
Christ. You wanna talk about who's done bad things to Haiti?

And I haven't said a word about the Church's role in "blessing" the slave
trade!

The way I see it, Christianity has had its way in Haiti for way too long.
It's high time we give Vodou its rightful place as a full-fledged religion and
allow it to evolve without the persecution of all these forces of, ehem, evil.

Finally, Mr. Snow writes:
"August 14 will go down in the history books. A day that the Churches of St. M
arc came to together in one voice to declare Jesus as Lord and renounced
voodoo, with its destructive influence as it has affected Haiti's past."

Excuse me Mr. Snow, August 14 is already in the history books. It's
remembered universally as the day Haitians -- strong, black, proud -- began what would
become one of the most remarkable feats of human resistance to terror and
injustice. And here's a little secret: Long after the anti-Vodou demonstration in
St. Marc is forgotten and has passed into oblivion, Boukman and Bwa Kayiman
will resound loudly in the hearts of every Haitian, check that, in the heart of
all who believe in liberty and justice.

Marx-Vilaire