foxxcherry, i feel sorry for your soul. voodoo is evil evil evil!!!!! may god have mercy on your soul.

To all those who think I am ignorant and uneducated african, MAY THE FLEAS OF A THOUSAND CAMELS INFEST YOUR ARMPITS! Unfortunately the colonialist never showed an interest in us when they conquered Africa hundred of years ago. They didn't show an interest in our way of life, religious beliefs back then and they are not about to try and understand us in 2006.Yet we try so hard to be like them. We have sacrificed so much to be like them and forced ourselves to love our Masters because white is beautiful. Yet they still disrespect and call us stupid when we try to do things independently from them. If we had pride as our race, we would NOT frown upon our true religious beliefs. We wouldn't try to straighten our hair nor bleach our skins. Africans the world over, need to unite and love ourselves as a people. Most africans states gained indepence in the mid twentieth century yet we still depend on western countries for everything including the fact that thier God will save us some day. Well, what if God ends the world one day and none of us africans ever get to see this fictitious 'heaven' because we believed our spiritual beliefs were not worthy. Why do we still let these whites decide what is good and what is bad. Are we really free? It's time we took back what was taken away from us. It's time we stopped giving a damn what the whites think of us and our beliefs. The only way we can claim to be independent is if we do things for ourselves and stopped depending on our former masters for brain capacity. sorry to disappoint u blossomonof2 but i just have a strong love for my people as well as our cultural and religious beliefs.

the only truth is the word of God...if it doesnot line up with the truth its evil in His sight..i pray the scales fall off your eyes.... and you seek a relationship with your creator!!

if you think africa is so much better , and you hate the whites, move back to africa and take over your wonderful culture! I am sorry we took you from your country but nothing is tying you here now. Get over it! There is not one culture living here that was not given some kind of trouble for being whatever religion , nationality or creed. I get so sick and tired of hearing poor me. Just because you are black does not mean you have to be poor, uneducated or need to steal to make a living. We have all been there. Blacks try to be white, white try to look black.. we are ll the same. Lets stop worrying about poor me, and unite for a better us!

i guess u think that blacks are whining from your "poor me" comment, well i have to say in your own statement you are being some what stereotypical,why do you immediately associate stealing and being uneducated, with being black? but just to make a small comment, a friend of mine, with a phd, teacher for over ten years, female and black, had an interview for an assistant principal's position in the state of xxxxxxxx was told that there had never been a black administrator on his staff, and he had no intentions of hiring one now. we are not all the same.

There are some who say that religion is just a way to God. That, perhaps the vehicle in which you travel to reach God is not as important as how you navigate the journey, and that the end destination is the same. I am not a religious expert, but this sounds nice. I cannot imagine a "Members Only" Heaven, where people of good heart are turned away based on the way they reached the doors. Blossommomof2, pagaspm, debbynrussell, your comments show anger and frustration, more than likely you are fed up with the views of people like that of foxxcherry and tempressm. As I am sure the same can be said vice versa. People's views come from personal experience, and it is best to look upon differing views as a learning opportunity given from another angle. God, whoever He may be to you: Jesus Christ, Buhdda, Allah, Shiva, Haile Sellassie, etc., etc...should be the epitome of your life's focus, not the judging of others. It is not for us to judge. Tempressm, it is true that we are not all the same. This is unfortunate, do to social castings, economic standings, catergorization, and ignorance, we remain seperated, even as we like to think that with time our society becomes more "civilized". The only seperations, however, are put in place by PEOPLE, not biology, as each of us are 99.9% genetically alike. This story is another example of how things are misinterpreted, and will remain so because of people's reluctance to open their minds and try to understand other cultures, rather than degrade them. Perhaps one day, we truly can all be one...with the way things are now, I don't expect it any time soon.

many thanks to kevarp78 for your comments, yours made up of for all the others and I agree with every word you said.

There seem to be great confusion in the meaning of Voodoo... I will tell you this, specially to blossommomof2, Voodoo is a religion that mixes Catholicism and some african tribes beliefs. What facts do you have that it is sooooo EVIL? the diverse animals sacrifices? Well, if it is for that, I recommend you to read the Bible's old testaments and read about all the many sacrifices that were made in the name of God. Now if you ask me if SOME haitian people use voodoo to do bad, I will tell you yes, some do some don't. It's just like you can use ANY religion to do BAD... religion is simply a tool, you decide if you want to have it to do and think good or bad. For example: Have you ever heard of "Black mass"? When people preaching evil use the catholic religion to do bad... they actually do it in a church just like a normal mass but using other rituals like dressing all in black and putting the bible upside down and everything they need to do to preach evil... All i am trying to say is that Voodoo for a long time has been seen as Evil, when it's just another religion... I come from Haiti, I am haitian, born and raised in Haiti... I had a chance to have a good education and travel to study. I was born Catholic, but i do not practice it for the simple reason that I see that religion bring so much war, that I decided that I respect all religions, and that myself i believe in God and to me god is everything positive and good that surrounds me in other words... and I have met a lot of people that practice Voodoo and that have no evil intentions just like i have met a lot of people that practice it with the intentions of bad (selling their soul to the devil to gain something)... It's their choice... but i can reassure you voodoo is simply a religion, it's just that a lot of people use it as a tool to greet and praise Evil.... that's all... And as for the clolour of skin discussion that i have been reading on the comments, well all i can say is that we are all humen beings, we all bleed red... There will always be someone of a certain race hating or being unjust to another of another race... but it doesn't mean that one have to bring himself down for that. To tempressm, all i can tell you is that this person who refused your friend's position becasue of the colour of her skin is simply an ignorant and i don't think you should let an ignorant have you say that we are not the same... Ignorants will be ignorants... more power to others who value more than just a race! and by saying that we are not the same because of that, you are giving him all the reason to treat you as inferior. I am black and I am not inferior nor superior to any other race and VICE VERSA... so my dear, the person didn't recognize your friend's value, someone else will :-)

Jesus loves us all the same...knows every hair on every human's head...cries for our salvation from false idols and damnation...desires for us to know and love him as deeply as he knows and loves us...desires for us to love each other in the same way he demonstrates love for us. If we were all to love one another in this way, there would never be a need for vengeance or separation. There are no "bad practices" through faith in him...none other than that of Satan. Evil can disguise itself in beauty...Satan's greatest trick was to convince the world that he does not exist. But Jesus bought us at THE most expensive price so that we could all be cleansed of our impurities...because he loves us THAT much. It is for this reason that I owe him my life and I love him with all my heart. I am clean, I am forgiven, and his grace flows over me...and this is something ALL of us can have...He yearns for every heart to find its way back in his loving presence and accept his invitation to have a personal relationship with him. He will not give up easily. He loves us all too much. I pray for those of the world who do not know him (or do not know him yet). I pray blessings all over the world. My heart breaks for the lost souls, as does Jesus' heart. But I am excited to see the amazing ways he will redeem the world.

I see racist is still alive and well in America.