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Pages:
2 pages/≈550 words
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2 Sources
Style:
APA
Subject:
Social Sciences
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Haitian Voodou (ANTH 305)

Essay Instructions:

Assignment 4: 

Globalizing Religion:  The Search for Meaning

 

Point value:  9

 

This assignment involves one of the religions from Ch. 11 in the textbook, The Search for New Meaning.  Write on one of the following:

  1. Haitian Vodou
  2. Santeria
  3. Cargo Cults
  4. The Ghost Dance
  5. Mormonism (mainstream)
  6. Wicca
  7. Branch Davidians
  8. Unification Church
  9. Heaven’s Gate

10.  Raelians

11.  Mormon Fundamentalism

12.  Islamic Fundamentalism

 

In your essay, specify what type of religious phenomena it is (e.g.  syncretic, revitalization, neo-pagan, new religious movement (‘cult’), fundamentalist), and what that means.  How does the religion give a sense of meaning to its followers?  How is the religion relevant to modern times (or was it relevant for its time in the case of older movements)?

 

Sources

  • Stein and Stein (SS) Ch. 11
  • One of the following websites:
    • Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance (OCRT):  www(dot)religioustolerance(dot)org
    • World Religions and Spirituality Project (WRSP):  www(dot)has(dot)vcu(dot)edu/wrs/index.html
    • Belief Net (BN):  www(dot)beliefnet(dot)com
    • Outside sources welcome, but not required

 

Citations and References

  • Cite sources in your text by the abbreviations above (SS, OCRT, WRSP, and BN)
  • Reference two sources at the end of your paper:  the textbook and one of the three websites above.  Most people will find information in the first two sites. 
  • Reference outside sources you use, or additional websites (e.g. you used two of those listed).  Beware:  many sites will be biased concerning these religions.
  • Web references should be in the following format:
    • Author (or Name of Website, if no author).  Date (copyright or last update).  Name of Website.  Name of page used in Website.  URL (address) of Website page.  Date you last accessed Website.

 

Technicalities:

  • Write about a page, 2 pages maximum (300-600 words), references not included.
  • Margins 1”, 12pt font
Essay Sample Content Preview:

World Religions: Haitian Voodou
Name
University
Haitian Voodoo
Haitian Voodoo is a syncretic religion that fuses Christian (Roman Catholic) and traditional beliefs. However, it is arguable that Haitian Voodou can be classified as a sectarian religion (an offshoot from a mainstream religion) given its historical ties to Catholicism. In The anthropology of religion, magic, and witchcraft, Stein and Stein (2007) explain that Voodou developed alongside Roman Catholicism among West African slaves in the Caribbean who were keen to worship their African gods. Having been supplanted from their African traditions, the slaves, who were brought to work in sugarcane and maize plantations in the Caribbean, were forcefully converted into Catholicism by their French masters. Given the labor-intensive nature of sugarcane farming, it was necessary to bring in as many slaves as possible, who soon outnumbered their masters, necessitating the need to convert them into Catholic Christians as a safeguard against possible rebellion. In 1804, however, the Vatican broke its ties with Haiti and recalled all priests in the country, creating a religious vacuum. The isolation of Haiti from the Vatican meant that there were no infrastructures from the early 19th century onwards to maintain a Christian faith in the region, giving room for Voodou to develop by borrowing worship practices (rituals and sacrifices) from Roman Catholicism and infusing them with those practiced in West Africa (Stein & Stein, 2007, p. 245). Regardless, given its popularity in the regions where it is practiced, Voodou is recognized as a mainstream world religion, but distinguished from most other religions through its syncretism nature and superstitious beliefs, such as the belief that a dead man who has been buried can be revived and live as a “zombie,” a person with no will of his/her own (OCRT, 2010, p. 5).
The term “voodou” is borrowed from “Vodun,” an ancient god worshiped by the Yoruba people who lived in the Dahomey Kingdom (present day Benin), in the 18th and 19th centuries (OCRT, 2010, p. 5). The slaves who were brought to the Caribbea...
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