Haiti and the Voodoo Curse: The cultural roots of the country's endless misery.

Wall Street Journal ^ | February 5, 2010 | Lawrence Harrison

[reaganaut1]

Haiti has received billions of dollars in foreign aid over the last 50 years, and yet it remains the least developed country in the Western Hemisphere. Its indicators of progress are closer to Africa's than to those of Latin America. It has defied all development prescriptions.

Why? Because Haiti's culture is powerfully influenced by its religion, voodoo. Voodoo is one of numerous spirit-based religions common to Africa. It is without ethical content. Its followers believe that their destinies are controlled by hundreds of capricious spirits who must be propitiated through voodoo ceremonies. It is a species of the sorcery religions that Cameroonian development expert Daniel Etounga-Manguelle identifies as one of the principal obstacles to progress in Africa.

Voodoo is practiced mostly by poor Haitians, who make up the vast majority of the country's population. But all Haitians feel its influence, as one of my sons-in-law, who is Haitian and holds a graduate degree from Harvard, assures me. Wallace Hodges, an American missionary who lived in Haiti for 20 years, observed: "A Haitian child is made to understand that everything that happens is due to the spirits. He is raised to externalize evil and to understand he is in continuous danger. Haitians are afraid of each other. You will find a high degree of paranoia in Haiti."

But voodoo is not the only progress-resistant force at work in Haiti. The treatment of the slaves in French St. Domingue—the colony that would become independent Haiti in 1804— was particularly brutal. The Haitian slaves won their freedom through an uprising that left them in charge of their destiny, but they were left with a value system largely shaped by African culture and by the experience of slavery.

[americanmother]

How many times have you prayed for the destruction or correction of your enemies? How is that not spell casting?

Christians do not pray to destroy our enemies. God offers His protection to those that give their heart to HIM. Read His word and you will find that Satan comes to kill,steal and destroy And God gives life and more abundant. Just trust and obey. If you choose to follow the devil then you will get what he has for you.
Example..The pilgrims Kneeled on the beach in VA and dedicated this country to the One True God. See... how God has protected and blessed this country. We are now destroying our land with sin.

[americanmother]

Something else that is never discussed is the African cultural “value” of getting over on someone else. For Americans, this is best illustrated in the Brer Rabbit fables. The “moral” of the story was never to do what is right but to get over on whomever you’re dealing with. I read this great essay years ago

THANK YOU.. VERY GOOD.

[jocon307]

That google thing worked, thanks!

This article was interesting, but it came to a rather abrupt end.

[Jeff Chandler]

You seem to be missing the point, which is the stultifying influence of voodoo religion.

A decisive element of European progress from the Middle Ages on through the present is the advantage incurred by a particular mindset bequeathed by Christian thought.

The rejection of cyclical time, the separation of the supernatural from the material world, the suppression of determinism, the embrace of progress and historical destiny, and a belief in a loving God who takes a personal interest in human affairs has given Christendom an edge over other civilizations in the pursuit of progress and knowledge.

You may argue that the West has prevented Haiti from sharing in that advantage, but the difference between the Christian culture and voodoo are stark and consequential.

[norton]

Voodoo and Christianity simply do not compare. Voodoo does, however, show some Christian trappings just as do other pagan beliefs that were influenced by Christianity and reverted to the old beliefs when the padres looked the other way. Voodoo still does exist under a civilized veneer in places like Louisiana, Florida and some large US cities.
It is a religion of ignorance, fear, and status quo, which totally absolves the individual of responsibility (unless the individual is buying a curse on someone else) and ethical behavior (as in buying a curse on someone else).
The problem with your "avenging orishas versus avenging angels" fantasy is that few people, if any, expect an avenging angel, described a couple of thousand years ago, to actually cause them personal injury or death in 2010. Those who might worry about an angelic ass kicking at least believe it requires some sort of sin to bring it on.

As to US policies toward repressive regimes; it is not and has not been our general policy to change someone else's government just because they weren't up to our standards.
On the other hand, when we have supported or allowed "hope and change" to a non hostile government our record is utterly abysmal.
Check out today's Iran (we literally pulled the Shah and praised the ayatollah), Vietnam (cut and run), Cuba (withdrew support to anti-Castro Cubans while Castro was hailed as savior), South Africa/Rhodesia (sanctions and divestment), and what was once Yugoslavia (invasion in support of Albanian muslims).

For a current example, please note Obama's attempts to "fix" Honduras!

Those of you who pretend that the reform of allied government is our job can and sometimes do make equally moronic claims over S. Korea, Germany, Israel, and Taiwan.
We might even see some benefit from reforming the Saudi or Mexican governments, if we got lucky, too bad that we are still taking flack for removing Saddam Hussein from Iraq!

You can't even count the number of times we have rescued Haiti - only to watch it slide back into it's pit! The Haitian government was early to recognize the independent USA and we have felt a need for repayment ever since. That, together with a laudable belief in the value of human life, will cause the US to pound tons of dollars and effort into rebuilding a state that never got built by its own people, that will most likely reward us with the same results we've seen in the past.

It might be helpful to note also that we are already being criticised for our efforts.

[little jeremiah]

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All beliefs are not equally good, valid or true; and wrong, ignorant and vicious beliefs influence actions and choices in a negative way.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Agreed, but what factors make for a fertile cultural ground? Why has this nation not had greater success in spreading democracy in the world? It certainly serves our interest to have democratic regimes in the world rather than dictatorships whether fascist or socialist. We have a record of supporting regimes that get overthrown by Marxists or elected out by socialists fairly regularly and then spend lots of money trying to cope with the result. We have also assassinated or helped drive from office leaders who were freely elected because we didn’t like their liberal politics. A generation later we wonder why they hate us.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

No, read the text and follow the logic:

Prayer is spell casting.

Prayer- petitioning an unseen spiritual entity to fulfill one’s will or wish

Spell casting: petitioning an unseen spiritual entity to fulfill one’s will or wish

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Come on now, we both know that in the real world people pray to remove harm to themselves, their loved ones, their nation. My comment was not exclusively defining the object of prayer as destruction to one’s enemies, I also said correction of one’s enemies.

You and I both have prayed powerfully for the correction of an enemy or a problem person in our lives. The point I’m making is that the subject of the prayer is immaterial, the act of prayer draws upon the same factors of petition to a higher power as does putting a spell or hex on someone, same mental process. Some say miracle, some say magic. It’s the same mental process for the same ends. The words are interchangeable.

Prayer is a fascinating subject and should be studied by religious people.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Good comments, Jeff, you think clearly. But I would qualify your conclusion by saying- Christian thought after the Gutenburg Bible allowed religious idealism to express itself freed from the repression of Papal Infallability and a dictatorial priesthood. What you speak of is Christian _idealsim_, which is a beautiful concept. I wish more Christians expressed their idealism.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

I dunno Norton...coupla years back a lot of Christian car bumpers had “Jesus is Coming and Boy is He P*ssed” stuck on them. Let’s not be naive, God doesn’t just give his enemies a terminal case of Darwin Award, he quite often “smites” them and that ain’t a passive activity.

You say the US’s job has not had a policy to change a nation to our standards. Boy, don’t try to sell that to the black ops dept. at CIA or Nicaraugua, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and so on, an embarrassingly long list. Google US Marines and United Fruit in a single query.

We both have a good command of history and I agree with your assessments on some contemporary examples of intervention. But it still works to our advantage to have democratic regimes in the world because we are a democracy and have discovered that it’s not a bad idea. Problem is we supported a lot of fascist repressive regimes simply because they were anti-communist. If you recall, so was Hitler and the support he had in this country under the America Firsters and German American Bund and a lot of big wheel industrialists was not chopped liver.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

No, read the text and follow the logic:

Prayer- petitioning an unseen spiritual entity to fulfill one’s will or wish. Spell casting: petitioning an unseen spiritual entity to fulfill one’s will or wish

If I send my brother an email asking him to send me money, is that spell casting too? Obviously it isn't, and it demonstrates that you "logic" and understanding of prayer is paper thin. Yes, some prayer is petitionary in nature, but much of it also seeks forgiveness and expresses gratitude. It is illogical that a spell caster would engage in such prayer, because he doesn't worship or have a personal relationship with your "unseen spirits". They are simply a means to an end. Clearly, prayer is nothing like spell casting.

The Judeo-Christian God (the God) is not a tool that is used to get something. The purpose of prayer is for communicating with God not for operating Him. Further, that communication is understand His will not ours, to ask for things that will benefit His plan, not just our earthly wants. Again, nothing like the spell casting you describe.

I wouldn't expect an atheist to know these things. But try to avoid making a fool of yourself with such ridiculous comparisons.

[Jeff Chandler]

Christian thought after the Gutenburg Bible allowed religious idealism to express itself freed from the repression of Papal Infallability and a dictatorial priesthood.

That statement is based upon the notion that the Middle Ages were a period of scientific, intellectual and industrial stagnation- a common misconception. The Middle ages were the incubator of our modern culture.

[metmom]

Your comments do not help. Go away.

Wow, you're good. How'd you do that?

"This account has been banned or suspended."

IATZ

[metmom]

Two down. I’m impressed.

This almost qualifies as a bug zapper thread.

[metmom]

And one to go.

IBTZ

[JouleZ]

The one on the left is the girl, according to the way my cow breed grows horns, anyway.

[JouleZ]

“Where you don’t have misery, you don’t have revolution, period.”

###########3

A profound statement, indeed. Explain the Jewish death camps, please. Lots of misery, no revolution. Mexico and the drug wars are misery but they have an outlet to the U.S.

I’m not trying to be antagonistic, but to learn. Thanks.

[Poe White Trash]

Voodoo has nothing, and the African religions upon which it is based are also lacking in any ethical or philosophical framework. They are nothing but the most primitive form of religion, which is essentially an attempt to control or placate the things that people fear and provides no foundation for human social life.

You do know that Haitian voodoo is considered to be a syncretic religion -- based on a "mixture" of West African religious beliefs and Roman Catholicism? I'm not a Roman Catholic, but I'd be foolish to argue that it lacks an "ethical or philosophical content." Same goes for the West African religious traditions found in Haitian voodoo.

Because I believe a particular religious tradition to be in error, or to be false, doesn't entail that it is primitive or "lacking in any ethical or philosophical framework." The Aztecs, for example, had a religious tradition with a complex and detailed philosophical and ethical system -- one which was also vicious, inhumane and false.

For Harrison to claim that Haitian voodoo "is without ethical content" -- and then to argue for its direct effect on the work ethic of the average Haitian -- is the height of absurdity. The fact that in his brief essay he can't decide what's really to blame for Haiti's lack of progress -- 'cept to stress that culture is at fault, not race... especially not race -- makes me wonder what his real aim in the article is.

[Poe White Trash]

The slavers in Haiti never wanted the slaves to learn to read and write, nor even to be converted to Christianity.

Hence, they kept their African religions and knew next to nothing about what was happening on the next plantation, let alone the outside world.

Really?

My understanding is that slaveowners in French Haiti, at least by the late 17th century, were not only permitted to but were legally obligated to make sure that their African slaves were baptized and brought up in the tradition of Roman Catholicism.

By King Louis XIV's decree!

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