Woman faces prison time for smuggling skull for religious rituals: South Florida Sun-Sentinel — How would you like to be seated next to this person? Yuk.
He was a black man, in his 30s or 40s, buried sometime in the last year. His skull still had pieces of dirt on it when it was seized Thursday by Federal agents at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It was found in a Miramar woman’s carry-on bag as she went through customs after her return from Haiti.
She told investigators that she purchased the skull from a man in Haiti to use in religious ceremonies and had hoped it would ward off evil spirits, according to the federal complaint. Sevère told them that she practices Vodou, or Voodoo, an African-Christian religion, with roots in Haiti, whose practitioners worship spirits that can heal and provide guidance.
Has anyone in Haiti actually looked around that miserable country and perhaps considered the fact that these ‘spiritis” have either done a crappy job for them in general or are, perhaps, working against them? Just a thought.
Offhand, I can’t think of any nation in the past century or so that’s benefitted from a predominant or state religion. Are rednecks any better for the bible belt? Are Saudis any better for Wahabism?
About the best you can say is that religions that are closer to being philosophical systems (like Buddhism) seem to do well at getting out of the way of running an economy or a country.
Don’t knock Voodoo, it has inspired many a good zombie flick.
I think Bush must have put her up to it. No sane person or Democrat could conceive of such a thing.
> No sane person or Democrat ..
A sane Democrat? Sounds like an oxymoron. I think Ted Kennedy put her up to it. She was near water (all of Florida is near water). He’s moved on from cars to airplanes. ;->
Seriously though, this smacks of a clear freedom of religion issue. I expect she’ll get her skulls back. I don’t know about anyone else, but I find this woman incredibly entertaining. Is there is a big market for voodoo skulls in Haiti? Are there various grades of skull that affect their voodoo capabilities? How did the vendor certify that the skull was authentic so that she knew she was getting the genuine product or is she already intimately familiar with human skulls? Does the skull have a shelf life or is its power good indefinitely?
Thomas
That was a good comeback.