As if people in Haiti haven’t faced enough problems already, Christians, many from outside Haiti, have begun attacking people there who are simply praying or singing.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Angry crowds in a seaside slum attacked a group of Voodoo practitioners Tuesday, pelting them with rocks and halting a ceremony meant to honour victims of last month’s deadly earthquake.
Voodooists gathered in Cite Soleil where thousands of quake survivors live in tents and depend on food aid. Praying and singing, the group was trying to conjure spirits to guide lost souls when a crowd of Evangelicals started shouting. Some threw rocks while others urinated on Voodoo symbols. When police left, the crowd destroyed the altars and Voodoo offerings of food and rum.
Some groups use an interesting method to convince Haitians to abandon their beliefs. Quoted in the same article, Pastor Frank Amedia of Miami-based Touch Heaven Ministries says:
“We would give food to the needy in the short term but if they refused to give up Voodoo, I’m not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn’t want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the Gospel.”
Does this mean that pelting worshipers with rocks, urinating on their sacred symbols, and withholding food from hungry people is the modern Christian way? Aren’t those acts themselves “contrary to the Gospel”? Why do outsiders, in this case mostly Americans, think that violence is the path to rebuilding a nation? When will we learn that acting responsibly in the world doesn’t mean insisting that we are always right and that our way is the only way?
See the photo in the Associated Press report at Voodooists attacked at ceremony for Haiti victims.
Chip's journey 
Chip, I am the daughter of Pastor Frank Amedia and I am impressed with your knowledge of the chance that the Haitians united to sing and request and praise for spirituality for salvation, very few people on the world know that other than that is really Defense forces who were on the ground first along with my father, First American outside of the IDF to land. Now should we start asking questions about that? However the tents and the food relief and the aid that you mention were there because of my father and the Israeli Defense forces, therefore, I beg for you to humble yourself in the fact that you aren’t one of the people on the ground -he was- and he was my daddy, and he risked his life, and I was scared. In any regards the conditions where that we fed everyone equally up until they refused to accept something that we believe can deliver them from the evil that is causing political regimes and reinstilling power in the civilians of a Third World country that are essentially being enslaved. Through my father’s ministry, we have since set up orphanages and and every church that my father preaches that we collect donations for the Haitian children that still live in those orphanages and go directly to them, I would even open up the financial if you would wish to see we take not even .01% of these funds I have no problem showing that transparently even on this website. It has also been my sole duty to open nonprofit corporations that facilitate opportunity For work and visas in first world countries, that clearly you aren’t even knowledgeable of. So when you are ready to learn about what you’re truly speaking of, and I am not attacking you, I am commending you for your research, I would love to speak with you further you have my email please contact me should you feel so lead
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tru dat, tru dat…
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Right. An extra irony here is that Voudo developed by drawing from both European Catholic and African religions. It was a syncretic response to having Catholicism forced upon the people.
This latest story reminds me of how you can force people to go through the motions, but real change depends on mutual respect and dialogue. To the extent that Haitians have truly adopted Christianity, it’s been through working together, not through threats of violence or starvation.
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Chip,
This is intrestin’ (sad but intrestin’…outrageous but intrestin’). I think it’s another recent example of confused right wing extremists making loud noises and appearing to be bigger and more representative of the population (here and there) than they actually are. I need not tell you how dangerous this is at a time when too many of us are in “sheep” mode.
While over the past decade evangelicals have successfully invaded great swaths of land and people in Central and South America…always thought to be impenetrably Catholic; as well as sub-Saharan Africa…which I’ve witnessed the impact of first hand, I grew up with the understanding that Haiti is 98% Catholic (Christian) and 100% VooDoo (Voudo)!
History begs to be resolved…and the African spirit lives!
🙂 Imani
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