Voodoo

Voodoo

After watching the A&E video on Voodoo It is hard for me to understand why people have such a negative image on the religion. Calling a religion satanic because of a lack of understanding is just wrong. Of course Voodoo has its differences from what we consider “traditional” religions like Christianity. Differences such as the use of pythons to represent God and drinking sacrificed animal’s blood. I believe that all religions stem from the same unknown origin and that is why there are so many similarities in them. Voodoo’s similarities to the more traditional religions are stories of sacrifice, cleansing with water, use of music and rituals for worship and of course a worship of a higher force.

Despite Voodoo’s status of one of the world’s oldest religions, dating back 5000 years, it has been typically characterized as a barbaric, primitive, satanic and practiced based on superstition and spectacle. Western societies are a big reason for these characterizations because of their portrayal of Voodoo in films and from what I believe is to be subtle racism. If we are not educated on different religions such as Voodoo, we only know what we are told. The idea of drinking a sacrificed bull’s blood to represents life is typically considered weird in the United States. Nobody has the right to judge this religion’s beliefs, especially since this is a ritual that has existed for centuries.

If we could look past what we consider weird, it is easy to see the many similarities that Voodoo has to our “traditional” religions. Just like in the Christian and Muslim religions, sacrifice holds a strong symbolic meaning. Many Christian celebrate Jesus sacrificing himself for their sins. In the Muslim faith, offering a sacrifice marks the completion of Hajj (pilgrimage). Why aren’t these events considered primitive and barbaric? What makes the Voodoo religion any different? The God’s may be different, but many of the symbolic reasons are the same.

I remember as a child growing up in a Christian home, our church services had a lot of song and dance, another similarity Voodoo has to other religions. Cores of daily life in the Voodoo religion are rituals like song and dance. In Voodoo songs, the beats are different voices of the Gods.