Voodoo is a religion Part 2

Hollywood enjoys making fun of Voodoo.  Movies like 'The Serpent and The Rainbow', 'The Skeleton Key' (though this one was more Hoodoo than Voodoo), 'Angel Heart', and 'Voodoo Academy' either poke fun at the religion of Voodoo, or make it out to seem like something evil...dark...and extremely dangerous.

If people did the same with Christianity or Judaism, there would be an international outcry.  However, it is okay to belittle the adherents of Voodoo just because they don't believe in the same mythical beings that Christians and Jews do.  (Why did I not add Muslims?  They are made fun of in films just as other non-Christians and non-Jews are.)

There are practices associated with Voodoo that simply are not true.  Under 'Myths and misconceptions' on the Wikipedia site, this entry does a better job than I could of explaining this:

Vodou is often associated with the lore of Satanism, zombies and "voodoo dolls". Zombie creation has been referenced within rural Haitian culture,^[33] but is not a part of the Vodou religion. Such manifestations fall under the auspices of the bokor or sorcerer rather than the priest of the Loa.

The practice of sticking pins in voodoo dolls has history in folk magic. "Voodoo dolls" are often associated with New Orleans Voodoo and Hoodoo (folk magic) as well the magical devices of the poppet and the nkisi or bocio of West and Central Africa.

The dark side of Vodou is often a dramatic device of modern horror and action-adventure movies such as The Serpent and the Rainbow and Live and Let Die (part of the Ian Fleming James Bond series).

If anyone would study Voodoo, they would learn that practitioners of black magick within Voodoo are shunned by followers of this religion. An excellent site to learn more of the truth about Voodoo is True Voodoo.  So what if practitioners conduct rituals, spells, and such?  Do not the followers of Christianity and Judaism do the same within their belief systems?

To me, Voodoo is more of a natural religion for American Blacks than is Christianity, which our ancestors were forced into accepting as their religion during the Slavery Holocaust.  In Africa before the coming of the White Man, the natives did not practice Christianity.  They had no knowledge of this religion until the Europeans unfortunately arrived.  Before Christianity made its way to Europe, even Europeans did not follow Jesus Christ.  They adhered to pagan practices, the worshiping of gods and (especially) goddesses.

I hope that my posts on Voodoo open the minds of visitors to this site.