Stereotypes of religions that need to go

[Jumi]

8- Shawurma is a religion...

Wait! It isn't a religion?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Lilith Dorsey, a Voodoo Priestess (among other things) over at Patheos is on a quest. Like many religious minorities, Voodoo struggles with its image in the minds of the majority, but few religions have been more maligned than Voodoo in my culture. It's been the plaything of Hollywood movie makers for decades, and this, combined with racism, has caused many to have horribly inaccurate and hurtful ideas about the religion. Lilith has five erroneous stereotypes about Voodoo that she wants us to erase from our minds:

1. Voodoo is evil and negative dark magic.
2. Voodoo has zombies.
3. Voodoo has dolls.
4. Voodoo is demonic possession.
5. Voodoo is dead, false, or non-existent.

You can read the rest of her article here, along with more of her writing here that offers a fascinating window into the Voodoo tradition. How many of these five things did you think were true? It's okay, most of us have probably gotten most of our "knowledge" about Voodoo from Hollywood. You can say yes.... I would have said yes to these too for an embarrassingly long portion of my life.

What are some stereotypes of your religion that need to go? Let's see what we can banish!

Nice.

Buddhism

1. Buddhists worship the Buddha
2. Buddhism has no deities
3. Nichiren Buddhism is a cult

Paganism/witchcraft

1. The craft is using psychology and calling it supernatural
2. That witchcraft is a nasty word
3. That "spells" are fake (lack of better word)
4. That witchcraft is modern (folk traditions is a better word for customs practiced by pagans around the world)
5. That people seriously mix up the letter B and W on purpose
6. That pagans steal customs of other groups and make it their own (difference between making your own rosary and using the Catholic rosary for pagan prayers)

To be continued.

Oh. I forgot. Catholicism

1. That Catholics worship bread and wine
2. That Catholics believe the Eucharist is the nails, bone, blood (DNA), of Jesus (which would make them dellusional?)
3. That Catholics worship Mary and the Saints
4. That Catholics dont believe in the Father (I found out that Jesus is not seen as the Father-taking out Christs Father. No trinity)
5. That priests dont wash the cup they drink from
6. That priests drink from the same cup as the congregants
7. That confession is necessary for Al sins not just mortal
8. That Catholicism IS a pagan faith rather than has pagan practices in it.
9. That all Catholic priests tell Catholics they will go to hell
10. That Catholicism is an "organized" religion while JW, Baptist, pentecostal, and LDS is not.
11. That a person can be noncatholic (meaning the sacramental effects just disapear as if nothing happened)
12. That Catholics misinterpret water (H2O for the Holy Spirit)
13. That only Catholics can take communion (exceptions at ones death and Othorodox Catholics can take during holidays)
13. That Catholics are canabilists
14. That Catholicism teaches against GBLT Sexual orientation (they call us disturbed and il instead)
15. That all Catholics are comfortable with every aspect of theie faith
16. That all Catholics think the same (and surpringly people think they believe the same too)
17. That Catholics only believe in the crucifiction (Mass goes through the full Passion)
18. That priests are now thinking about melesting young boys
19. That the "Church" (Catholicism) agrees with melestation.

I could go on.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Here's a few about Buddhism:

1. Buddhists worship Buddha as a god
2. Hotei (the 'fat' Buddha) is the Buddha
3. Buddhism teaches and promotes it's own martial arts
4. Buddhists are idol worshippers
5. Buddhism teaches reincarnation
6. Karma is like a law of return, or worse, karma is fatalistic
7. Buddhists only meditate, and don't care about day to day life
8. Buddhism teaches you to empty your mind
9. Nirvana is like heaven
10. Buddhism is atheistic (this one always needs a bit of explanation)
11. Buddhism teaches that reality is an illusion

Rats. I forgot those.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Wait! It isn't a religion?

Well of course it isn't!... ah... I think!

 

[David1967]

It's a difference in underlying philosophy. Hindus believe in an eternal soul that transmigrates, Buddhists don't. I have seen some Buddhists use the term reincarnation, but with the Buddhist understanding of rebirth. However, I do think some Tibetan Buddhists believe in something closer to reincarnation than the traditional Buddhist understanding, but I'm not sure on this, as I'm not as familiar with Tibetan Buddhism.

I believe you are right about the Tibetan form. From my understanding Tibetan Buddhism is influenced by their traditional pre-Buddhist religion, I think it is called BON. If there are any here who practice Tibetan Buddhism please correct me if I'm wrong. I have long been fascinated by Buddhism as well as Hinduism. I am a Christian and find many similarities between the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama and Jesus. Seeing that Siddhartha Gautama came from a Hindu upbringing I have read the Bhagavad Gita and found more similarities. Obviously in many ways they are very different, but in essence there are also many things in common.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It's a difference in underlying philosophy. Hindus believe in an eternal soul that transmigrates, Buddhists don't. I have seen some Buddhists use the term reincarnation, but with the Buddhist understanding of rebirth. However, I do think some Tibetan Buddhists believe in something closer to reincarnation than the traditional Buddhist understanding, but I'm not sure on this, as I'm not as familiar with Tibetan Buddhism.

Even with Tibetan reincarnation and an eternal soul don't quiet work the same as is typically thought of in the Western sense. Actually, the Dalia Lama has stated he may not have another incarnation, and the Chinese are demanding her reincarnate in Tibet and that they chose the next Dalia Lama, to which the Dalia Lama responded he will be born in Exile if things between China and Tibet don't change, and China will have their own Dalai Lama while Tibet has their own according to tradition.

 

[Riverwolf]

2. Hotei (the 'fat' Buddha) is the Buddha

Some of the others you bring up might be more serious, but this particular one REALLY bugs me!

Even Foamy the Squirrel (anyone else remember him?) made that mistake and extrapolated from this error that the secret to the Buddha's enlightenment was apathetic hedonism.

 

[Akivah]

Stereotypes that need to go regarding Judaism:

That Jews are blind.
That Jews don't know how to read their own bible.
That Jews purposefully don't read certain parts of their bible.
That Jews are descended from Khazars.
That there aren't any real Jews anymore.
That the eternal covenant that Jews have with G-d doesn't exist anymore.
That Jews are unable to recognize their own messiah.
That Jews kill all their prophets.
That Hebrew is a lost language and no one knows how to read it properly.
That rabbis hide certain parts of the bible from their congregants.
That Jews are descended from apes or pigs.
That the Jewish bible is corrupted.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I see that some have missed the point of this thread, but I don't have the patience to address all of it.

 

[Skwim]

Lilith Dorsey, a Voodoo Priestess (among other things) over at Patheos is on a quest. Like many religious minorities, Voodoo struggles with its image in the minds of the majority, but few religions have been more maligned than Voodoo in my culture. It's been the plaything of Hollywood movie makers for decades, and this, combined with racism, has caused many to have horribly inaccurate and hurtful ideas about the religion. Lilith has five erroneous stereotypes about Voodoo that she wants us to erase from our minds:

1. Voodoo is evil and negative dark magic.
2. Voodoo has zombies.
3. Voodoo has dolls.
4. Voodoo is demonic possession.
5. Voodoo is dead, false, or non-existent.

You can read the rest of her article here, along with more of her writing here that offers a fascinating window into the Voodoo tradition. How many of these five things did you think were true? It's okay, most of us have probably gotten most of our "knowledge" about Voodoo from Hollywood. You can say yes.... I would have said yes to these too for an embarrassingly long portion of my life.

What are some stereotypes of your religion that need to go? Let's see what we can banish!

Not saying she might not be right; however, she might also be trying to whitewash it. Particularly telling is her claim that ". . .dolls certainly can and are used for magickal purposes, but this is not founded in Voodoo tradition," which is contradicted by others, one who says:

"The making of Voodoo dolls, poppets, fetishes, and ritual effigies has taken place since antiquity. Though the practice is ancient, their present use remains similar. In order to understand how to use your Voodoo doll or poppet, it is useful to understand them in their historic context. Much can be learned from studying the ancient cultures and mystics who held the esoteric knowledge that forms the very foundation of modern day magick, Voodoo, and witchcraft."
source

Just saying; buyer beware.

 

[psychedelicsoul]

I hate the stereotype that people who create their own religions are arrogant.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

More

That eclectic pagans aren't real pagans
That there are such things as "traditional" pagans
That folk traditions or customs the Church calls pagan has to do with the devil
That natural means of healing, protection, and so forth are "new aged" practices.
That a lot of new age practices are, well, new age (they are not)
That all Wiccans are young teens trying to find their religion
That eclectics are just people who haven't found the right religion
That there is only one or two types of pagans
That paganism is reserved for traditions older than Abrahamic faiths or traditions that are polytheistic
That we even know what pagans actually practiced (and if they were pagan to begin with--which I assume if they knew the derogatory name behind it, they wouldn't use it)
That Witches are fake
That reconstruction pagan beliefs are young people's attempt to make a "traditional" religion
That traditional is supposed to be right and modern wrong
That witchcraft is practiced universally (It is not)
That witchcraft is a nature belief system similiar to that of neopaganism
That people can become part of folk traditions without being born or raised into the culture that is what makes the religion what it is

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Atheist

That all atheists are former christians
That you can choose to become an atheist
That atheist is a belief system
That atheists belieive in nothing supernatural just because they don't believe in deities
That atheists disbelief is limited to the christian God
That all atheists know about science
That science is an atheist religion
That atheists have no morals
That atheists don't understand why people believe in God
That atheists are "out of the loop" just because they don't believe in Gods
That atheists have to be non-religiouus
That atheists cannot have a religion
That atheists refers to people who reject religion
That atheists refers to people who reject God

Here is something I found informative about our biases.

 

[psychedelicsoul]

dualists reject all of neuroscience
dualists don't update their beliefs to modern times
dualists reject all of physics
dualists believe everything Descartes says
dualists necessarily believe in god
dualists necessarily believe in ghosts/afterlife
dualists believe only humans have souls
dualists all believe in some form of religion

 

[Politesse]

Not saying she might not be right; however, she might also be trying to whitewash it. Particularly telling is her claim that ". . .dolls certainly can and are used for magickal purposes, but this is not founded in Voodoo tradition," which is contradicted by others, one who says:

"The making of Voodoo dolls, poppets, fetishes, and ritual effigies has taken place since antiquity. Though the practice is ancient, their present use remains similar. In order to understand how to use your Voodoo doll or poppet, it is useful to understand them in their historic context. Much can be learned from studying the ancient cultures and mystics who held the esoteric knowledge that forms the very foundation of modern day magick, Voodoo, and witchcraft."
source

Just saying; buyer beware.

Not sure what you think you're proving. No one argues that poppets and the like exist all through European history. But they have no special role in Vodou, aside from having gotten tangled up with it at some unknown point, via the tourism-infused syncretism of the American South as your link (though questionable anyway) indeed admits.

 

[Skwim]

Not sure what you think you're proving.

Try reading it a second or third time.

No one argues that poppets and the like exist all through European history. But they have no special role in Vodou, aside from having gotten tangled up with it at some unknown point, via the tourism-infused syncretism of the American South as your link (though questionable anyway) indeed admits.

"One of the most important tools for voodoo rituals is the voodoo doll itself. They come in various types, as a voodoo doll made of cloth or wool (string doll), or with heads made of clay, self-drying clay or modeling clay. In addition, you can assign the voodoo doll to different characters through facial expressions, clothing or other accessories. According to research modern ritual voodoo dolls originate from the so-called bocio figures. These were mainly produced from clay or stone in West Africa, for example in the Benin and Togo. They were used as a kind of mascot or protective hero and protected their owners against crop failure, drought, from disease and accidents. Each bocio figure was made in several rituals by various people.
source



". . . Archaic dolls bound with cat gut or twine and stuck with pins or fish bones have been discovered on several Louisiana plantations. Some of these figural forms found among slave populations bore a striking resemblance to the bocio of Africa. The bocio figurines were aesthetically provocative empowerment objects produced primarily in the lower Western Africa regions of Benin and Togo

In Haiti, another form of doll emerged that may have taken the place of the more threatening boico.

How much influence one culture had on another with regards to Voodoo dolls is unclear; however, what is known about the contemporary Voodoo doll is that cultural influences are many.

Alvarado, Denise; Voodoo Dolls in Magick and Ritual, 2009. pp. 12,13.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Try reading it a second or third time...

The magical nature of voodoo dolls has in part to do with the extension of the term. See e.g., Ogden, D. (1999). Binding Spells: Curse tablets and voodoo dolls in the Greek and Roman worlds. In B. Ankarloo & S. Clark (Eds.). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Ancient Greece and Rome (pp. 3-90). University of Pennsylvania Press.

Alvarado, Denise; Voodoo Dolls in Magick and Ritual, 2009. pp. 12,13.

A relevant (to this thread) passage from this text:
"Contrary to popular belief, Voodoo dolls are usually used for blessing and healing, as opposed to hexing and cursing."
Alvarado, D. (2009). Voodoo Dolls in Magick and Ritual, p. 30.

 

[Politesse]

"One of the most important tools for voodoo rituals is the voodoo doll itself. They come in various types, as a voodoo doll made of cloth or wool (string doll), or with heads made of clay, self-drying clay or modeling clay. In addition, you can assign the voodoo doll to different characters through facial expressions, clothing or other accessories. According to research modern ritual voodoo dolls originate from the so-called bocio figures. These were mainly produced from clay or stone in West Africa, for example in the Benin and Togo. They were used as a kind of mascot or protective hero and protected their owners against crop failure, drought, from disease and accidents. Each bocio figure was made in several rituals by various people.
source

Your first source was a individual blogger of the "metaphysical spiritualist" bent. Your second is a commercial website for people who literally are out to sell "Voodoo dolls". Your third is a woman who makes a living selling "conjure magic" in New Orleans. Seeing a trend? If, as I have said, the dolls are a relatively recent addition to the folk magic of the South, and not a central part of Haitian Vodou as generally practiced by those who actually belong to that tradition, you would expect the sellers of this stuff to be the most passionate advocates for the portrayal. Whereas people who are actually Vodouisants would reject the stereotype. And that's exactly what you see.

Aside from easily explaining why small human figurines are often found in the archaeology of the Deep South, the connection to bocio is ludicrous; the bocio have more in kind with Catholic icons than they do with the popular image of "Voodoo dolls". That even a passionate advocate of this view is also hedging and admitting that there's no clear link should be telling.

 

[Skwim]

Your first source was a individual blogger of the "metaphysical spiritualist" bent. Your second is a commercial website for people who literally are out to sell "Voodoo dolls". Your third is a woman who makes a living selling "conjure magic" in New Orleans. Seeing a trend?

Yes, your apparent prejudice. God forbid that anyone with a knowledge of Voodoo be commercially involved with it. Obviously you require a scholar in Voodoo, someone with a PhD in Voodoology I presume, to sign off on everything said on the subject. Know of any such person?

Aside from easily explaining why small human figurines are often found in the archaeology of the Deep South, the connection to bocio is ludicrous; the bocio have more in kind with Catholic icons than they do with the popular image of "Voodoo dolls". That even a passionate advocate of this view is also hedging and admitting that there's no clear link should be telling.

Sorry, but I'm sticking with someone who's shown they've actually done research into Voodoo, such as Denise Alvarado. So far, you have not.

 

[Politesse]

Whatever you may say of Denise Alvarado, she has not taken the ason as far as I know. Indeed, it is also worth pointing put that not all who participate in Hoodoo folk magic are necessarily interested in the religion of Vodou.