The Haiti Disaster…. Hell on Earth
The visual images of the Haiti disaster are all at once frightening,
nauseating, angering…. and curious. How on earth can there be so
much human carnage, how can this kind of thing happen in our world
today? Why did it happen? Could any thing have been done? What can
be done now? There is such a mind-reeling helplessness that floods
over a person as they watch the coverage of the rescue attempts. (I
felt a similar feeling when as a teenager I first viewed photos of the
Holocaust.) Sure, we can, and will give money, food and medical
supplies… in fact we must respond to the call for aid in times of
human suffering such as this. But one has to ask the question, and
make no mistake, everyone is asking it, even if it is just in their
mind… How did this natural disaster produce such an epic “hell on
earth” as some of the news headlines called it? Some cited the fact
that there were no building codes, or that the country had been living
in poverty for too long and just could not sustain this kind of
catastrophe. Those are true facts but I am not sure if that actually
answers the question. Most assuredly, if they would have had a better
infrastructure as a country the loss of life would have been
far less. In 1989 the United States experienced the exact same size
earthquake in Loma Prieta California. (Remember the upper deck of the
Bay bridge collapsing?) There were only 63 lives lost. Everyone
however did not live in cinderblock hovels on the sides of mountains in
California like they do in Haiti so the infrastructure protected many
lives. I would not expect a small island country to have the same
resources as the United States but still there is just something
interesting about Haiti. They are on the same island of Hispanola as
the Dominican Republic, but they have always lived in poverty whereas
the Dominican Republic is an entirely different kind of country. Haiti
for some reason has not been able to create a sustainable government or
employment. (80% of Hatians are unemployed.) A country can not survive
if literally almost everyone is unemployed! Why is this… and most of
all what can we learn from it?
I think we have to look at the history of that country to try and
decipher what went wrong and what happened to create an unsustainable
country that would become so vulnerable that a natural disaster could
have literally wiped it off the map and possibly (as it did in ancient
history,) made a whole people group extinct had they not had the aid of
the rest of the world!
Taking it all the way to the root of human behavior…. simply said…
we do what we believe. Our society will reflect our actions which in
turn is a reflection of what we as individuals think about life.
Government structure, although critical, is only a by-product of
society. It is the society that is foundational in the stability of a
group of people and society is made up of individuals with specific
beliefs. It is from that “collective belief system” that a
governmental philosophy is established and implemented.
So what type of society established the governmental structure of Haiti? Let’s take a look at the “foundations” of this nation…
History of Haiti
“Hayti” (or mountainous land, as it was known by the original
inhabitants, the Arawak Indians), was discovered by Christopher
Columbus and named “Hispaniola”(Little Spain) in 1492. The Spanish
colonized the island and under their rule the Arawak Indians were
virtually annihilated. In 1697 the western portion of the island was
ceded to France and named Haiti. (The eastern portion under Spanish
rule became Saint-Dominique, now Dominican Republic.)
Haiti flourished under French rule and became invaluable as a resource
for cocoa, cotton, sugar cane and coffee. By 1780, Haiti was one of the
wealthiest regions in the world. The plantation system was however
built upon the backs of vast numbers of slaves imported from West
Africa.
Several consequences of this era provide the foundations for the
present situation. Firstly – the West African slaves brought with them
the religious practices of voodoo. Secondly – the French colonial
masters treated the slaves with such undue harshness they created
hatred amid an already resentful environment. Thirdly – a class of
“mulattos” (light skinned, sophisticated, Catholic, French-speaking
Haitians) arose from the relations of the slave owners and the slaves.
They were at odds with the dark-skinned, voodoo practicing,
Creole-speaking masses.
The “Bwa Kayiman” or Bois Caïman Ceremony
On 14 August 1791, a black slave and witch doctor named Boukman led the slaves in a voodoo
ritual. Supposedly the spirit Ezili Dantor possessed a priestess and
received a black pig as an offering. They sacrificed the pig and drank
its blood to form a pact with the devil, whereby they agreed to serve the spirits of the island for 200 years in exchange for freedom from the French. The slave rebellion commenced on 22 August 1791, and after 13 years of conflict, the slaves won their independence. On 1 January 1804 they declared Haiti the world’s first independent black republic. An iron statue of a pig stands in Port-au-Prince to commemorate the “Boukman Contract”. (This was 206 years ago.)
Voodoo Official Religion
“Past President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was a former Catholic priest
who gained notoriety with the Catholic Church and popularity in Haiti
in the late 1980s on account of his liberation theology.
Aristide was elected president in 1990, ousted in a coup in 1991, and
re-elected as president in Nov 2000 (results disputed). He survived
coup attempts in July and December 2001. November 2002 was marked by
unrest and anti-government protests.
In light of the historic and political facts it is therefore very interesting that in April 2003, President Aristide made voodoo the official religion of Haiti declaring, “voodoo is an essential part of national identity.”
Haiti is reckoned as being 95% Christian (predominantly Catholic),
but according to Catholic missionary John Hoet, Haitians “are 100%
voodoo”.
It is also interesting to note that in the year prior to Haiti’s
independence the French sold the “Louisiana Purchase” and the port of
New Orleans to the United States in 1803. During that time of unrest
there were many Haitian’s that migrated to the area of New Orleans making it the largest center of Voodoo worship in the United States.
As we can see the societal history of Haiti has been one of
slavery, victimization, violence, poverty, confusion, spiritual
darkness and it is no wonder… these are the same characteristics of
the “god” they serve! If this is what Satan does to an individual, it
would only make sense that this is what he would also do to a society!
In Haiti’s recent days they have even reinforced their country’s
foundations in the worship of Satan by making Voodoo the national
religion. Voodoo, (sometimes called voudoo or vodoun) is technically
the worship of the Devil. Here are a few details…….
Voodoo notes:
They call the “spirits” of the island, the “loas“. Danbhala-Wedo, or the Grand Serpent (also called Danballah or Damballah), is the “father” of the loas,
which brought forth creation. Before the days of slavery, Africans
worshipped a large python, called Danh-gbwe, as an embodiment of the
gods. Aida-Wedo, the Rainbow, which arouse out of the waters of the
earth is the wife of Danbhalah. She, also, is a serpent: a short-coiled snake.
A main part of Voodoo worship is the summoning of the Loas or spirits. True communion comes through divine possession. When summoned, the gods may enter a govi, or “mount a horse”–assume a person’s mind or body. The possessed loses all consciousness, totally becoming the possessing loa with his or her desires and eccentricities.
Magic, used for both good and evil purposes, is an integral part of
Voodoo. They recognize no dichotomy between good and evil. They see
evil as the mirror image of good. Devotees feel that the “magic of the
spirits” is there to be used, if that magic is evil, so be it.”
This seems obvious to me that the practice of Voodoo is a worship of
the devil with possession as the ultimate desired outcome! Imagine an
entire nation… a society that had it’s foundation in this kind of
religion! Granted there is a good mix of Catholicism in Haiti also…
there are icons, there is a Virgin figure, a St. Peter figure etc….
it is the typical syncretism one finds in these small mission
countries. But as we have been told by many, although there is a
Catholic influence…. Haiti is still 100% Voodoo!
So what can we learn from this? First, for our own country, we must
continue to be a nation founded on a belief in Almighty God and in the
principles set forth in the Scriptures. If we cease from doing this we
open the door to becoming a nation of slaves and victims which will
lead to poverty, violence, confusion… all those things that
characterize Haiti today as “hell on earth.” If disaster strikes us in
that condition there will be no hope… because we have rejected the
Hope of the Nations. Let us then strive as individuals and
subsequently as a nation to draw near to God and He will draw near to
us. We were at one time a “City on a Hill”. I pray that we can once
again become that light that will point other nations to our sustaining
God of hope and freedom!
Second we must never forget that without God… people perish… and it
is ugly… it is heart wrenching. We must reach out to give not only
physical life sustaining food and water. We must also give them the
Bread of Life and the Living Water so they can become spiritually
healed and capable of sustaining a healthy society and subsequently a
thriving government and country. Only when Haiti receives spiritual
healing will they have a hope of being rebuilt on a more solid
foundation.
Bee
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