Blog Post # 6 Module 2 Assessment

Blog Post #6: 

Does Haitian Voodoo have the same impact on 

Believers, Non-Believers and the Curious?

Facts & History:

• Several studies have shown that the impact of Haitian Voodoo on believers & nonbelievers is different. This impact differs based on individual intellect, cultural history & personal religion. 
• Voodoo divinities, unlike angels, are worshiped and served as substitutes or surrogates to Gran Met. 
• The Christian faith forbids the worship of any other god, as stated in the very first commandment (Exodus. 20:3), and this applies also to angels and departed humans (e.g., Revelations. 22:8–9).
• The idea of lesser divinities as intermediaries is also inconsistent with Christian theology. There is one mediator between God and man—Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life (1 Timothy. 2:5; John 14:6).
•  The Gran Met of Voodoo is not the God of the Bible. The god of Voodoo is Satan, who through various schemes has infiltrated the culture and religion to create distortions in terminologies and practices to cause humanity to worship him and his demons in the place of the only true God.
• One of the difficulties in defining Voodoo beliefs has to do with the lack of a standard source of authority that explains its doctrines. The beliefs and practices of Voodoo have passed from one generation to the next through oral tradition. In the absence of standard authority, relativism abounds in both the beliefs and practices of Voodoo. Until the recent publication of La Priye Ginen and Recueil de Chants Sacres by Beauvoir, no text could be evaluated to determine the fundamental authority behind the beliefs and practices of Voodoo. The way of worship in Voodoo involves the use of divine symbols. Example shown below:
• 
  

Divine Symbol of Haitian Voodoo

• Such practices violate biblical faith, which states that no representations of God should be made as a means of worship (Exodus 20:4)
• For Christians, the character of God as revealed in the Bible is the basis of morality and the commands and teachings of Scripture provide a clear moral standard. In Voodoo, however, the lack of a standard of doctrines leads to the lack of a standard of ethics. Although the concept of crime exists in their vocabulary, it seems to refer primarily to behaviors that are sanctioned by the community in which one lives. There is no clear moral standard or concept of sin. Evil magic can be applied to people or objects; life and property can be destroyed for personal satisfaction, vengeful purposes, or personal advantages.
• More....

Research Plans and Sources:

Video:

youtu.be/MBdLrgXgW6o

•  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-trial-that-gave-vodou-a-bad-name-83801276/
•  https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgireferer=http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&ved=2ahUKEwjTn7GE7JPhAhUBZawKHUNZC30QFjALegQIARAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholarworks.wmich.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1534%26context%3Djssw&usg=AOvVaw0W-ijrLAtjoaRnDq6--L48&httpsredir=1&article=1534&context=jsswdoo

  Upcoming Research:

·         Researchers of voodoo have treated it in various ways including as an alternative medical system (Snow, 1974; Webb, 1971), a religion (Williams, 1979), and a subculture (Benyon, 1938; Snow, 1973). 

·         Wilson, Michele (1982) "Voodoo Believers: Some Sociological Insight, “The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 9 : Iss. 2 , Article:

  Conclusion:

  Usually includes more of your personal opinion and a solution or prediction. Should recap the ideas from the introduction and state what you have proved or disproved.

o    Voodoo is a culturally embedded “belief, its certainty and credibility is based on the individual’s perception to desire its validity. Trained by their surroundings just as any other training psyche in this world such as black cats are bad luck, splitting the pole or Friday the 13^th is death and bad luck. In the eye of the beholder, generationally trained and rituals passed down.

o    Nonbelievers can and often will pass off voodoo as rubbish, foolishness, or counterfeit