Voodoo High Priest: Christians Hogging Haiti Aid

Robertson 'devil pact' slur reflects 200 years of prejudice
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2010 10:10 AM CST
Voodoo High Priest: Christians Hogging Haiti Aid
Voodoo pilgrims bathe in a waterfall believed to have purifying powers in Saut d' Eau, Haiti, Thursday, July 16, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Evangelical Christians are blocking much-needed aid from reaching Haiti's many voodoo practitioners, says the religion's top leader. "The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves," high priest Max Beauvoir tells the Daily Telegraph as he points to the first aid shipment to arrive in his community. Pat Robertson's recent "devil pact" remarks, Beauvoir says, are typical of 200 years of Christian animosity toward voodoo.

Voodoo blends Catholicism with traditional West African spirit beliefs; adherents say it has nothing to do with the human sacrifices and pins stuck in dolls in Hollywood movies. Many of the voodoo faithful do, however, echo Robertson in their belief that the earthquake "happened because people were sinners so God was angry, because people did wrong." (More voodoo stories.)

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