Public Voodoo Ceremony in Haiti Honors Quake Victims

In Port-Au-Prince, in a ceremony sure to unsettle Pat Robertson, "hundreds of Voodoo practitioners chanted, prayed and pounded drums Sunday to honor earthquake victims in an unusually public ceremony for a religion most often celebrated in private homes."

The white-clad voodooists, many with black sashes around their arms, walked under the scorching Caribbean sun from a downtown plaza to the shoreline, where they asked for the spirits of the dead to be cleansed in the ocean and sent on their way to reincarnation.

"Without us, there is no Haiti," said voodoo priest Jean Claude Bazil, claiming his religion as the country's true path. "We have to pull ourselves together to save Haiti." Source: Voodooists honor victims of Haiti's earthquake, Associated Press

Some voodoo practitioners are frustrated because, although the practice of voodoo is historically intrinsic to Haiti, it's Christian organizations that are getting the bulk of aid support. And, at present, many Haitians actively oppose the practice of voodoo.

The Jan. 12 earthquake, which killed a government-estimated 230,000 people, roused tensions among Haiti's religions as some of the outpouring of aid has been funneled through Christian groups. A ceremony in a seaside slum last month was disrupted by angry crowds that threw rocks at voodoo practitioners.

Organizers of Sunday's memorial chose a location amid the rubble of the shattered city center and promoted the event with radio advertisements in an effort to increase acceptance of voodoo, which was sanctioned as an official religion in 2003 by the Haitian government. Haitian National Police kept a close watch from pickup trucks, but there was no violence -- only prayers.

Voodoo, a blend of Christian tenets and African religions fused by slaves, is practiced across the nation of roughly 9 million people. Many Haitians consider themselves followers of both voodoo and Christianity.

Voodoo followers believe in reincarnation, one God and a pantheon of spirits. Voodoo leaders say that although they do not believe in evil spirits, some followers pray for the spirits to do evil.

One voodoo priest, Augustine Saint-Clou, said they were praying for all the earthquake victims, although he does not believe other religions have shown the same consideration for Voodooists.

"This is the real religion for all Haitians," said Saint-Clou, who wore a skull pendant on a chain around his neck. Source: Voodooists honor victims of Haiti's earthquake, Associated Press

So, what's YOUR opinion? Should Voodoo practitioners feel shut out of the aid process or is there no room for Voodoo in modern Haitian society?