Block discusses the histories of Spain and England and its
call to Christian dominance. Christian rhetoric was central to survival in the
Caribbean as told through the lives of the six different persons in the book.
She tells the story of a plantation master that converted to Quakerism; one
might ask “how does this relate to the difference in religion on the subject of
the Dominican Republic?”
Besides the fact that the Quakers were amongst the first to
denounce slavery, and he was a plantation owner, many individuals realized that
conversion would grant them safety and also the opportunity to expand
commercially. This was after the Protestant English failed to convert the
natives, then attributed it racial inferiority. Europeans were concerned with
colonization and conversion to Protestant and Catholic religions. She attempts
to argue that over the course of time, monetary gain has led to an increase in
toleration amongst various religions in the region. However, in my honest
opinion and research, many Dominicans prefer the Afro-Dominican religion known
as Santeria. This is a pantheistic religion that originated from the Yoruba,
and includes some Catholic rituals.
Santeria can be viewed to Westerners as “Folk Catholicism”;
many legends are rituals are passed down from generation to generation. These
include shrines, voodoo dolls, and other forms of worship. Historically this practice has been fueled by
a patron-client relationship with the supernatural. The client will ask a favor
of the patron in return for agreeing to endure some sort of suffering. It is
similar to Catholicism because “the image of a saint is the ideological
representation of a spiritual entity who lived at one time upon the earth as a
human being , but for the santero, the Catholic image is the embodiment of a
Yoruba God”. Santeria was appealing for colonized Africans because it allowed
them to maintain their faith while appearing to have accepted Catholicism. Over
time, the ability to maintain the religion of the motherland had allowed many
Dominicans to accept their strong African roots. It is very important to note
that antihaitianismo; which is
literally the hate of Haitians, was rampant because they were darker and went
to the extremes of practicing Santeria. Dominicans that were colonized by the
Spanish grew to hate their Haitian counterparts due to belief that persons of
darker complexion were inferior. They were looked down upon because they chose
to worship spirits instead of converted to a “superior” religion.
Catholicism in the Dominican Republic was for the elites;
those that were tied into politics and had a significant amount of wealth. The difference in the religions ended up
creating a gap between wealthy and poor; the haves were catholic and the
have-nots continued to practice Santeria. This, of course, was under the rule
of the Spanish. The population was able to assert its independence under French
rule (due to it being neglected). This
is not to say that Catholicism is a negative thing, as much of the country is
Catholic, however a great number of people stuck with and still stick with
Santeria.
The Journal of American Folklore , Vol. 118, No. 469 (Summer, 2005), pp. 308-326
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of American Folklore Society
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4137916
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , Vol. 37, No. 1 (Mar., 1998), pp. 74-89
Published by: Wiley on behalf of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1388030
