advanced civilization. >> i believe mystery and magic. >> i believe we cado ts. a battle is raging for the souls of the haitian people. one side claims the country is in the grip of satan, that all of its social, political and economic problems are the result of a blood pact made with the devil. the other side sees the faith that helped liberate their ancestors from the shackles of slavery threatened by outsiders. they are now struggling to simply keep that faith alive. i'm in haiti to explore the conflict that has gripped this nation between evangelical

christianity and vodou. >> reza aslan is an author and scholar. >> reza aslan is a scholar of religions. >> best-selling author reza aslan. >> as a scholar as a muslim, as american, what is your reaction? >> i've been studying the world's religions for 20 years. now i'm going to live them. there is an old saying. haiti is 70% catholic, 30% protestant, and 100% vodou.

chances are when you think about voodoo, your mind is filled with images of zombies and voodoo dolls and demon possession, the stuff of nightmares and horror movies. the essence of vodou is the melding of the spiritual and material worlds. there are thousands of spirits, or lwa, which act as intermediaries between believers and god. they can be worshipped through gifts and offerings, through altars made in their names. through music and through dance. the goal of a vodou ceremony is to invite a lwa to take possession over the body of a priest or priestess. this is called mounting, and it is the key component to vodou rituals.

each lwa has a unique personality and a specific function. >> this is erzulie dantor. erzulie is a lwa, a spirit. she represents love, passion, even eroticism. this is her and her mother form with her child gijon. does this look familiar to anyone? vodou traces itself back 6,000 years all the way to the african continent, but it was brought here on slave ships. and in haiti, you had african vodouists from all over the continent coming together in one island, and then having to mix and match each other's version of vodou while also adopting the catholicism of the slave masters. the result is a religion that

comes in a thousand different forms and borrows from everywhere. when catholics first encountered vodou, they absorbed it into catholicism. they transformed the lwa into catholic saints, which is why the lwa erzulie dantor looks like the virgin mary. years later when protestant missionaries arrived in haiti, they simply ignored the lwa. but things changed after the devastating earthquake of 2010, which left much of the country in ruins. a wave of evangelical missionaries arrived to help rebuild the country, and in the process have converted thousands of vodouists to christianity. and far from absorbing or

ignoring the lwa, they take them very seriously. they believe in them. they believe that they exist, that they're real. they just think that they're demons. they believe that anyone mounted by a lwa is possessed by the devil. indeed, they believe the entire country is possessed by the devil. they base that belief on an event that took place one night more than 200 years ago, a night that launched the only successful slave revolution in history. a night that gave birth to the nation. >> haitian history tells of a famous ceremony called the bois caiman ceremony. apparently enslaved africans and creoles came from different plantations. they sacrificed a pig. they took an oath together that

they would fight the french. they get possessed by their spirits who then say to them we're your backup. two weeks later, they start poisoning wells and lighting fires. and the revolution is on. and the white french are freaked because the africans have this multipronged rebellion. by 1804, they liberate the country and declared independence. they abolished slavery, and they make every haitian person a free citizen who is eligible to work the land and be equal. >> so in a sense, vodou becomes this force for liberation. >> it was unthinkable to the west, to france that a non-christian power could overcome a christian power. >> that conflict is still gog on. the idea of this conflict between christianity and vodou and what it means for the island. >> so the evangelicals think that vodou is demonic.

they looked at the bois caiman ceremony and they said hmm, gathering of people, possession by spirits, ie demons, sacrifice of a pig. they say this is a blood pact with satan. so that's why haiti has been in this downward economic spiral and political spiral. evangelicals surmise that in this founding moment of the nation, the leaders of that ceremony dedicated the nation to satan. >> they succeeded because satan helped them succeed. >> right. it's part of the devil's work. >> many of haiti's evangelical missionaries blame this blood pact with the devil for everything that is wrong with the country. haiti is wracked by poverty. disease is rampant. corruption is endemic. unemployment is through the roof. and infant mortality rates are the highest in the western hemisphere.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> james glynn is an evangelical pastor from illinois who has been coming to haiti to preach the gospel for years. in 2014 he moved his family here permanently. and while he doesn't have his own congregation, he goes from church to church preaching to haiti's rapidly growing community of evangelicals. tell me about that conflict between christianity and vodou. >> the protestant evangelical understanding is that the spirits of vodou are demons. then their authority comes from satan there is good and there is evil. there is right and there is wrong.

and they emanate from the spiritual entities that are god and satan. satan wants to kill, steal, and destroy humans. >> and you think that vodou has allowed satan in to take hold of this nation? >> haiti is a little unique in that the nation was given to satan. it's kind of the opposite what happened with the american slaves. the american slaves somehow got the religion of the slave masters, but they got it right. so what they were doing, meeting in secret and stuff like that, singing and praying and worshipping the lord and calling upon him when their release came, it was a blessing. >> but that wasn't the case with haiti? >> in haiti, they turned to the lwa and said basically we give

our nation to you if you will deliver us from the french. [ speaking foreign language ] >> is that what victory in this spiritual battle for the soul of haiti looks like? >> that's how it starts. it can't start any other way. >> how does it end? >> it ends with the economy of the nation going up, with things that people thought could never happen, happening. god's waiting for the unity, repentance, humility, love of the christians in this nation to invite him to come and take over. [ speaking foreign language ]

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haitians never liberated themselves from the bonds of slavery, as history teaches us. they simply replaced one slave master, the white man, for another, the devil. ♪ this is shalom tabernacle, the largest megachurch in haiti, upwards of 50,000 members. its founder is the charismatic haitian preacher, pastor andre muscadin. what kind of message did you give to your congregation after the earthquake? [ speaking a foreign language ]

>> it sounds as though you're saying there is a real demonic presence in haiti. >> yes. [ speaking foreign language ] >> almost everyone here converted to christianity from vodou. and in doing so, they left the lwa behind. but they don't believe that the

lwa have left them. in fact, they're convinced that the lwa are still battling to possess their bodies, to mount them. and they look to pastor muscadin to set them free. [ speaking foreign language ] [ chanting ] [ speaking foreign language ]

[ chanting ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> ever since the devastating earthquake that nearly destroyed

haiti, money has been rolling in from evangelical churches abroad, and more and more haitians have begun turning their backs on vodou in favor of the gospel. what was it about christianity, particularly the evangelical brand of christianity that drew you in? [ speaking a foreign language ] >> jacques maurice is an assistant pastor at shalom tabernacle. he grew up the son of a vodou priest and priestess, but abandoned vodou and disowned his family when he converted to evangelical christianity at the age of 18. one of the things that vodouists in haiti will often say that almost every one of those schools and almost every one of

those hospitals was built by foreign christians, by christians outside of the country. there aren't a lot of vodouists outside of the country. [ speaking foreign language ] (vo) what's your dog food's first ingredient? corn? wheat?

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in the evangelical imagination, vodou is a demonic religion that has held haiti captive ever since its liberation from french colonial control.

of course that is not how vodouists here understand their religion. to get a different perspective on vodou, i'm meeting with jean-daniel lafontant. a voodoo priest, or ougon. he's invited me to tour his temple or lacou. >> a temple doesn't belong to an individual. it's like a church. the church belongs to the catholic church, but it doesn't belong to the priests. >> right. can you explain this pole in the center? >> yes. the center pole is the link between the celestial world and the earth. because we believe that we are connected. >> and this is the center of every vodou temple? >> this is the center of everything. >> and these designs? >> these are called veve. each veve represent a spirit.

what it is, it's a canal for the spirit to come in. >> jean-daniel's lacou has specific rooms, each dedicated to a specific lwa or spirit. each room is decorated to represent the lwa's distinct personality. there is a saying that i've heard before that says something along the lines of you go to a catholic church to talk to god. you go to a vodou temple to become god. >> god is far away out there. but to become a god. >> yeah. >> a god because we believe there is one single god, but to become a lwa. >> there is one god, that's the creator god, but he is distant. >> very distant. >> he is unconcerned with us. and the lwa are how we in a sense communicate with that god. the lwa are almost

intermediaries between us and god? >> you're totally right. >> the knocking is to let the spirits know that we're coming >> let the spirit know that you're coming. sometimes the they are really busy. if you come unexpectedly they may be upset at you and you don't want that. >> you don't want, that no. >> that's ezuille dantor. easily dantor is a very important spirit in vodou religion. and i think the spirit that most people trust. she is really the image of a mother, of a tough mother. but she is always there. she will never give up on you. this is the ogou. this is really the symbol of war, the symbol of many kingdoms

of africa. and the red spirit, the spirit of the nights led the war of independence. >> for jean-daniel, the lwa are like friends there is an intimacy that he shares with them. but there is a dark side to vodou, malignant spirits that seek to cause harm to human beings. these spirits even jean-daniel fears. this room is dedicated to simbi. it's a room of dark power, of negative energy. in many way, it contains everything that evangelicals think about and fear when it comes to vodou. before we can enter, jean-daniel must perform an elaborate ceremony to cleanse this energy to prevent an unwanted mounting. >> this room is a reminder of

slavery and of the harshness of the life of a slave. this is why you find a coffin, elements of our past. a constant reminder of what we as a nation had to go through. there is an african saying that the westerners came with their bible. they taught us how to pray. they told us to close our eyes as we were praying, give us the bible. and we prayed really hard, closing our eyes and speaking to god. and when we got up and we open our eyes, they have stolen all of our lands. we don't believe in heaven and hell. there is no heaven for us. there is no hell. there is only life. ♪ >> as a vodou priest,

jean-daniel is a servant of the lwa and a summoner of the spirits. he holds regular ceremonies where his congregation comes together to dance and sing and play the drum, all as an invitation for the lwa to come upon them, to take hold of them, to possess their bodies, to mount them. ♪ >> being mounted by a spirit, you're not fully in control of yourself, but it's a great sensation. you're not fully aware, but you

have a sensation of freedom. i think it's a privilege. i think it's an honor. and i think it's a gift. ♪ >> seeing someone mounted by a lwa is strikingly similar to what i saw at the evangelical church. there is one major difference. at the church, they exorcise the spirits out. but here they invite the spirits in. with my moderate to severe crohn's disease,... ...i was always searching for ways to manage my symptoms. i thought i had it covered. then i realized managing was all i was doing.

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years by the western world. ♪ what dws me to vodou is the belief that there is no division between the physical and the spiritual realms. christianity says we are bodies now, but one day we will be spirits. vodou says we are both spirit and body. the dead are as real and as present as the living. there is no boundary between them.

[ chanting ] >> you have to cleanse yourself from anything negative there is so you can become a newborn man, all positive. ♪

>> water rituals are an essential feature of almost all great religious traditions, whether it's the jewish mikvah or christian baptism or hindus bathing in the ganges. water has the power to purify believers, to cleanse them of their sins, to prepare their souls for ascension into heaven. in vodou, water is a sacred element. bathing in this waterfall makes one worthy of coming before the spirit, of being mounted by them. after my initial cleansing, the priest of the falls allowed me an unexpected honor, to immerse myself fully in the sacred waters at saut d'eau. ♪

♪

>> i don't -- i don't know how else to put it. it was magic. given the weight and the power of that water just pounding on me. i mean, it was -- it was a literal cleansing, a literal cleansing. my body is still vibrating from the concussive force. hi my name is tom. i'm raph. my name is anne. i'm one of the real live attorneys you can talk to through legalzoom. don't let unanswered legal questions hold you up, because we're here, we're here, and we've got your back. legalzoom.

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now that i've been cleansed by the sacred waters of saut d'eau, i've been invited to take part in a traditional vodou ritual by a temple family in the town of leogane. >> bonjour. welcome. welcome. >> thank you so much for having

me. beatrice daleus is a vodou mambo, or priestess. she will act as my guide for the ceremony. >> first we'll call on the spirits and offer them a sacrifice. so the family is waiting for you. ♪ >> the first action in any vodou ceremony is the drawing of the veve. each veve corresponds to a particular lwa. they act as a kind of spiritual beacon, inviting the spirit to enter the lacou. >> this is the case for the spirit, make sure it participates. >> the hope is once the spirit finally descends, it will take hold of one of us, though no one really knows who in the room will be mounted.

>> now we're charging the veve. >> okay. once the veves are charged with offerings of alcohol, the gate to the spirit world can be unlocked and the call to the spirits can begin. [ chanting ] ♪ >> when we calling the drums, make sure that everybody is connected in vodou to call on the spirits of the ancestors. ♪ >> they're trying to summon the spirit of ogou as a very

powerful lwa, lwa of metal and war. then we'll present the sacrifices. ♪ ♪ >> finally, after hours of dancing, chanting, and pleading, ogou arrives. he mounts one of the priests in the lacou, taking control over his body.

the possessed priest can only speak in grunts and exhalations. >> he wants to salute you. >> i need beatrice to interpret his commands. >> he walks with you. be strong. we have to go get his offering. watch out. that's it. watch out. you're good? okay. let's walk together. put him down.

♪ this is where you will gather your strength, the strength that is with you. you take it. because this life will not be given in vain. you need to thank the energy from it. strength for strength. ♪ let the spirit be with you. >> animal sacrifice is very likely the oldest religious ritual in the world, and an important part of many vodou ceremonies. >> he is very happy at the offering and the feast that is provided for him. >> the offering is given to the spirits with the hopes of obtaining blessings in good health. ♪

>> we don't let the animal suffer, because he is giving you his energy. and no life is lost for no reason. it's not senseless, you know. we have to make sure that we honor him. we honor the life that he was. he is going to feed us. spiritually, it's energy feeding us too. the energy is transferred to you. that life is not lost. you know we are one in vodou. we know that we are one with nature. >> and then just as suddenly as he arrived, ogou is gone. that was an intense experience.

my tongue tastes like blood. it was hypnotic. it was so energizing but the energy was different when ogou. it connected us together. it's definitely one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. connected us together. one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.

♪

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voodo. in a way that protestant christianity has not. you're still the devil. >> but haitians are believing it and adopting that message. >> true. because it's drilled into their skull. they're giving them food for faith. but i believe we need to be respected. because i don't go and attack their religion. respect the fact that i worship my ancestors. there are three people in africa minding their business. leaders came and took everything from them. the only thing they brought with them was voodo. i believe the sacrifice of their life was not done in vein. >> there is this very powerful message that is being spread by some of these missionaries, which is if all of haiti's

problems are spiritual and say tannic, then the answer is easy, jesus. and so that will take care of all of haiti's problems. i wonder what's voodo's answers to haiti's problems? >> when we are in a community make sure we take care of one another. we should put more emphasis on that in my opinion. >> there are no voodo schools. how come? >> it's not financed by anybody. >> the christian schools are almost always financed by outsiders. >> if you're voodo, not catholic, nobody gets into school because you have to be christian to be able to have

school. so they push aside a big chunk of the population. what i expect and what i'm working for is the respect part and that we can sit down together for the community no matter their fate. >> haiti's got a lot of problems. but i spent a lot of time with voo voodoeys in their homes and what i did find was beauty and compassion, love of nature and a deep spiritual connection to the land and the spirits. to the ancestors who liberated this country from the true evil of slavery and who continue to shape its natural narrative, even as that narrative is being twisted buyoy outsiders. no matter how many pure hearted missionaries arrive, voodo will

never be eradicated from haiti. voodo is haiti. >> i believe as voodo is my root, it's also my rain. i believe in the strong beating hea heart. >> i believe that jesus is coming back. >> i believe that jesus is our only hope to have a better country and a better world. >> i believe the only hope for haiti is for the church of jesus christ to rise up to be a blessing to all the people of their nation. >> i believe in voodo. i believe in the human beings in the power of god. >> i believe in jesus every day.

>> i believe that voodo is a religion of nature, the religion of love and the religion of the future. los angeles is my home and the epicenter of the church of