Santeria Controversy

As a scholar of African religious beliefs, I have noted the controversy caused by the sacrifice of animals to the divine spirits of Santeria (Metro, Aug. 8). By any definition, Santeria is not a cult. Along with Vodoun in Haiti, and Candomble in Brazil, it is the traditional worship of the Yoruba and other African peoples carried to the New World, just as Christianity and Judaism were carried over and adapted to American realities.

Part of the worship service of Santeria involves the sacrifice of animals to the deities, with much the same meaning and in much the same way that animals were sacrificed to Yahweh in the temple in Jerusalem. By any measurable standard, a temple sacrifice is not less humane than butchering in a meat house.

Santeria or Vodoun should no more be judged by our celluloid fantasies of black magic than Christianity should by the antics of the Rev. R.L. Hymers Jr., or Judaism by the words of Joseph Goebbels.

DONALD COSENTINO

Folklore and Mythology Program

UCLA