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Popularized in the 1970s and 1980s by reggae stars, Rastafarianism has its roots in Jamaica, and followers on many other islands. The cult expresses many people's longing for an African identity by invoking Ethiopia as the holy land and the late Emperor Haile Selassie as a god, and promotes the smoking of ganja (marijuana) as a sacrament
Many priests in the Caribbean have long since left the pulpit to become involved in social and political issues. The churches have traditionally been active in health and education, and since "liberation theology" spread from Latin America during the 1970s, they have become increasingly politically outspoken. In Haiti, a radical Salesian priest, jean-Bertrand Aristide, was elected president in 1991, only to be overthrown by the army nine months later. He was restored to power in 1994 by means of US: led intervention. |
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From continuous radio and broadcasts to tiny ramshackle churches on every street
corner religion is part and parcel of the Caribbean. There arc mosques in
Trinidad and Hindu temples in Guyana, and pilgrimage sites in the Dominican
Republic. With significant communities of Jews, Muslims, and Hindus, the region
is influenced by most major faiths. It is also a target for U.S. based
evangelical sect.
Most Caribbean people would describe themselves as Christians. European
colonizers brought differing Christian beliefs, a fact reflected in the islands
many churches. Catholicism, officially the main faith of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic, is widely practiced in the eastern Caribbean and is now
tolerated in Cuba. Anglicanism holds sway in the former British colonies
of Jamaica and Barbados. The influence of U.S. Protestant groups is
increasingly powerful throughout the Caribbean, and these sects have joined the
myriad existing churches. In Barbados, for example, it is estimated that
no fewer than 140 different denominations are active, one for every 2,000
Bajans.
Christianity
was the religion of the masters, the slaves had their own faiths, brought with
them form Africa. Religious belies and practices survived the horror of
slavery, preserving the slaves' identity and memories of their homelands.
Over time, these beliefs merged with Christian religion to create new forms of
faith and ceremony. These have different names on different islands. (santeria
in Cuba, pocomania in Jamaica), but the best known is voodoo in Haiti, where
religious activity is evident in all walks of life. Each tiny village has its
quota of churches-Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and hundreds more - and every
church has its faithful congregation. But there are no open signs of Haiti's
other religious phenomenon. As an old joke has it, Haitians are 99 percent
Christian and 100 percent voodooist. Even so, voodoo remains largely invisible
to foreigners, although visitors have ample opportunity to see suitably arranged
versions of the authentic ceremonies
Voodoo
calls up sinister images: candle-lit ceremonies of dancing, chanting, and
mesmeric drum, rhytmns: Initiates in trances flailing around intoning
predictions, eating hot coals, or making animal sacrifices. There is an
element of truth in these images, but voodoo should not be written off as
"black magic." Widely misunderstood outside Haiti, voodoo has a
deeply rooted role in everyday island life.