By: Casey Zachary

This is a series of posts that will cover the next several weeks examining the concept of sin and moral responsibility in the mind of a Haitian. Let me preface this by saying there are many Haitian Chrisitans who truly have felt the full force of the Gospel and are strong, faithful believers, and their example is a constant companion of mine, challenging me along the way. This survey of soteriology/ hamartiology is by no means exhaustive. My intention is not to project that I have the ultimate insight on such things. Many have lived in Haiti longer than I. In many ways, I am a weak and short sighted man. However, growing up as an MK in Haiti several things perplexed me, one of which was the perpetual disconnect in evangelistic efforts in regards to how the missionary and the host culture understood the Gospel. To this end, I invested a good deal of time studying. The following is a result of the research I did. Again, I do not intend to come across as presumptuous. There are as likely as many views on sin in Haiti as there are Haitian people. I simply believe it is good to think on these things. The content of the posts will be

1) an Introduction
2) A Brief History in the Development of Religion in Haiti
3) Poor Assumptions by Missionaries
4) Understanding the General Worldview of a Haitian
5) Haitian’s Understanding of Sin and Moral Responsibility
6) Towards a Biblical View of Sin and Moral Responsibility
7) Essential Shifts in the Haitian Worldview

Voodoo does not have written account of doctrine or an organized orthodoxy. This section will examine views on several concepts that help to shape a rural Haitian’s worldview and how these understandings impact their view of sin and moral responsibility.

View of God

Bon Dieu is the Creole word for God and is regarded as the absolute controller and sustainer of the universe. It is quite common for the word Bon Dieu to be on the lips of the Haitian people (whether voodoo, Catholic or Protestant) with statements like, “Ci Bon Dieu vle” (translated “if God wills”). This phraseology often points towards a fatalistic view of life instead of a trust and devotion to God. To assume they fear, think of, or worship Bon Dieu often is not a necessary conclusion to their frequent use of this phrase. In fact, many perceive God as impersonal, remote, and too high above human beings to be concerned with their daily lives.[21] God is understood to be too busy to listen to the pleas of men or intervene in their lives, thus there is virtually no perception of the capacity to have a relationship with him. Haitian Christians themselves demonstrate a failure to recognize this relationship as they often describe the dynamic between they and God with the phrase, “M’ap sevi Bon Dieu” (I’m serving God) and rarely speak in terms of being adopted as sons/ daughters, being redeemed, reconciled, or even a rudimentary understanding of the loving nature of God.

Because there is no acknowledgement of a possible personal relationship with God, there is little to point the rural Haitian towards the understanding that individual sin separates or breaks this relationship and that it is able to be restored through the person and work of Christ. When missionaries challenge unbelievers to confess their sins to God in order to convert, many would-be converts see this simply as a ritual that initiates them into access to the increased and superior power offered in Jesus Christ, who is too often recognized as a powerful lwa rather than God Incarnate.

View of Spirits

Unlike God, who they consider inaccessible, intermediaries are approachable and necessary to bridge this gap.[22] These intermediaries, or spirits, are two distinct categories, which are lwa and ancestors. There is a hierarchy involved, with lwa ranking above ancestors and exhibiting more power. These spirits are the protagonists of a cult of affliction and healing.[23] The lwa live in Guinea, a mythical place without a physical location.[24] The lwa are personal and have names (such as Legba, guardian of cross road and all barriers), and voodooists who practice folk Catholicism either attach saints to corresponding lwa or they see the lwa and saints are separate entities, but able to call upon both for help. The lwa frequently intervene in the lives of Haitians, and can inflict supernatural punishment on those who offend them, often in the form of ailments and persistent bad luck.[25] In addition, the lwa may reprimand or punish an individual for behavior his relatives of neighbors deem reprehensible.[26] This familial and societal pressure is the context out of which a Haitian senses he/she has done wrong or sinned.

Worship and appeasement of the lwa are the essential functions of Voodoo.[27] There is a sacrificial system imbedded in the practices of those who practice Voodoo. However, these sacrifices are not for the purposes of covering one’s sin or repairing a relationship with a lwa. Rather, these sacrifices honor the lwa and make the lwa they are offered to even more powerful.[28] The typical activities that are associated with voodoo practice, such as dances, drums, sacrifices and other offerings, are for the purpose of manipulating and persuading the lwa to deliver good luck and healing to the practitioner. There is also another aspect of the lwa that greatly impact the lives of Haitians, and in a very practical way, their view of sin and moral responsibility. This is the lwa’s activity of possession/ trance of an individual. The influence this has on an individual’s view of sin will be investigated in the section below pertaining to “personhood.”

Ancestors play an active role in communication with the lwa as well. Ancestors are those who died and were released by means of the ritual “rele mo nan dlo” (call the dead from the water) to come dwell and serve in the local voodoo temple. As noted above, the lwa live in a mythical place called Guinea. Although Guinea does not have an exact physical location, it is generally considered to be in, around, or above Africa, since this is the location of where these traditions originated before being brought on the slave ships to Africa. This is significant for the purpose of ancestors. Ancestors in and of themselves are not seen as able to inflict harm directly on those living. Their function in the hierarchy here is that they ferry back and forth across the waters to call the lwa from Guinea to Haiti, in order for the lwa to hear the appeal, receive the sacrifice, or take possession of those who are living in Haiti. Similar to the lwa acting as mediators between humans and God, ancestors act as a sort of mediator between the lwa and humans.[29]

View of Reality and Causation

Rural Haitians believe that both the visible and invisible world are ruled by spirits and a chief concern they have throughout life is contacting these spirits. The relationship of the living to the lwa is one of total subservience. An individual born and raised in rural Haiti develops an understanding that no human is able to control his/ her own destiny, because ultimately, the lwa are in control of life.[30] They control each human’s fate without the individual having a choice in the matter. The constant attempts to appease or manipulate the spirits with the right ritual are an effort to induce the spirits to determine one’s destiny favorably.

Everything that happens, whether good or bad, moral or immoral, is attributable to the activity of the lwa. In essence, this leads to the inevitable conclusion that a person is not culpable for sin or wrongdoing. The spirits dictate what transpires and people are defenseless to prevent it. This leads to a fatalistic attitude which is evidence by the typical Haitian response of, “C’est pa falt mwen” (It’s not my fault). There is always a reason as to why something happens, but it is linked to the spirit world rather than the personal conscious decisions of an individual. This fatalistic attitude results directly in a severe lack of personal responsibility for one’s actions, which many of those who claim to be Protestant Christians in Haiti evidence today.

View of Personhood

As is stated above, possession plays an important role in the voodoo religion, as well as the neglect of moral responsibility in the mind of a Haitian. Each individual has a “gwo bon ange” (spirit or soul), which is driven out by a personal lwa upon possession. When the lwa takes possession of a person, it drives out the “gwo bon ange” and becomes the “mait tet” (master of the head). This possession is referred to as mounting and is likened to a rider on a horse.[31] While the “mait tet” does not permanently possess an individual, the characteristics of the personal lwa that mounts him/ her shape the person’s character henceforth. Therefore, if an individual is initially possessed by Ógou, the warrior spirit, his/ her life will likely be dominated by issues related to justice and power, whether for good, in promoting freedom and equality, or for bad, in selfishness characterized by drunkenness and lying.[32] This understanding helps to reinforce the fatalistic attitude that places culpability for the results of sinful behavior on the spirit world rather than the individual him/herself.

View of Community

In the rural Haitian’s worldview, their idea of community is highly significant to their understanding of sin and responsibility. It is the culture and community in which the individual lives that determines what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. This is true in Haitian culture as well. Relationships are central to community life in rural Haiti. Individuals who do not meet the expectations of the community and are seen as having committed a “sin” often attempt to justify themselves by asserting the fatalistic attitude noted above and blaming the spirits for their actions. However, it is not the action in and of itself that brings shame, but rather, it is the failure to control or successfully manipulate the spirits to bring about a desired outcome. Again, this highlights the lack of ability a rural Haitian has to see him/herself as personally culpable for sin.

This community based approach to establishing ethical guidelines causes the rural Haitian to identify and locate problems or “sins” in terms of relationships rather than within the individual him/ herself. Therefore individual responsibility and personal guilt are inconsequential. Relationships are central to community life in rural Haiti and include relationships with other members of the community, ancestors, and lwa. A person can negatively impact them when one commits a wrongdoing resulting in relationships being described as “tied,” “chained,” or “bound;” while voodoo healing is able to positively impact these relationships through healing and describe them as “open,” and “free flowing.”[33] It must be noted that this is a problematic area for voodoo, often resulting in the reasons people resort to sorcery and magic. The goal of any moral system of a rural Haitian is to survive. Therefore, there is no essentially good or essentially evil. Someone might have to “tie up” or “bind” another person in order to “open” another more significant relationship.

[21] Herskovits, Mellville, Life in a Haitian Valley, 291.

[22] Simpson, George Eaton. Ideas about Ultimate Reality and Meaning in Haitian Vodun, 188.

[23] Brown, Karen McCarthy, The Moral Force Field of Haitian Vodou, 190.

[24] Dash, Michael J., Culture and Customs of Haiti, 68

[25] Ibid, 68.

[26] Simpson, Ideas about Ultimate Reality and Meaning in Haitian Vodun, 191.

[27] Dash, Michael J., Culture and Customs of Haiti, 67.

[28] Ibid, 72.

[29] Once the ancestors have convinced the lwa to traverse the waters to Haiti, human intermediaries come into play in the form of houngan (voodoo priest) and mambo (voodoo priestess). The houngan and mambo typically function as one who figures out which lwa one had offended, what recompense is necessary, and how to persuade them to act and influence in positive ways.

[30] Metraux, Alfred, Voodoo in Haiti, 15.

[31] Brown, Karen McCarthy, The Moral Force Field of Haitian Vodou, 190.

[32] Ibid, 190-191.

[33] Ibid, 195.