Freedom From Religion - Part 4: A Final Appeal

Please note: This is not a response to oshundayo's excellent responses to my videos. Part 5 will be my response to him.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• freedom from religion
• santeria
• ritual animal sacrifice
• orisha
• culture
• documentary
• christianity
• islam

[TheSaritaXD]

well yuu do have a point there, i would have used a little bit more umm how do yuu call it, like i would have kept it a little more secret, i wouldnt like it if some guy/girl went out on the streets holding a cross screaming at everyone that we need to go to church.. and i would have closed the door to the shed the dude had or would have just done my orisha room inside the house so that nobody would see or hear anything.. butt yea, we have taken freedom of religion a little too far.

[mikepulcinella]

You are a reasonable person and I'm sure that if we had been living next door to you we wouldn't have had a problem. I do not want to take away anyone's freedom to worship.

[TheSaritaXD]

k, i respect what yuur saying mike and i understand where yuur coming from. yuu would need to know the religion and everything involved with it to fully understand that some of the things yuu said were wrong, butt thats ok cuz like i said yuur not part of the religion. im also glad that ochundayo made a video response. now people will see both sides. butt again i respect yuu and yuur videos and nice job. plz dont hesitate to reply. i would be fully honored to hear from yuu. muchlove from hialeah

[mikepulcinella]

Thank you for your kindness and understanding. I am aware that my knowledge of the religion is incomplete. However, the issue here is not whether or not I understand the religion perfectly, but if ANY religion should be allowed to bypass the laws of a community. Have we taken freedom of religion too far?

[oshundayo]

Hey Mike, just watched your vid... Thanks for posting at the beginning that this was not a response to my series of videos. This will eliminate confusion that this is a continued attack after our dialogue we've been developing.

The ending was a nice touch to what's coming ahead.

For those of you who are not aware, Mr Pulcinella and I are developing a diaglogue where he and I can jointly put all these debatable and controversial issues into a balanced perspective that both sides can respect.

[mikepulcinella]

Yes, the words "illegal activity" are used in this video once again. That is not a rebuttal to your videos but merely reflects my viewpoint as of a month or so ago when I started to put this together. I felt I had to finish this off to show the full story before we went into a dialog.

[delinkme]

OK were the heck is part 5

[gatomjp]

@marieilaria418 I appreciate your comments. The issue at stake here is not a deeper understanding of the religion. I believe I did research it's origins quite a bit. However, whether I understood it or not, the practices that Melendez was performing were illegal in that part of the city.

The issue is ultimately that the law was applied differently to him than it would have been to anyone else simply because of religion. That is wrong.

[marieilaria418]

i am not an initiate of santeria/lucumi but at a cuban i am familiar with it of course. santeria pervades all cuban culture and much of caribbean/latin american culture. i know the orishas, i know certain folkloric stories, etc. it's a rich and beautiful practice. it is full of culture. i would liken it to hinduism and catholicism because there is a belief in a one true god but most practitioner seek the help or orishas/saints/demi-gods to help them with the everyday.

[marieilaria418]

...you should educate yourself more on lucumi/santeria and other african diasporic religions. i feel like you should attend certain services and talk to practioners with an open mind to understand two sides of the story. i am white and latina. so i understand that for anglo america it may appear foreign, pagan, etc to see an animal sacrifice but others need to be more open-minded to the beliefs, practices, and traditions of other cultures. try not to be so close-minded.

[marieilaria418]

to outsiders the lucumi/santeria religion can appear primitive, barbaric, etc. but really it's a religion like any other. and i think when you deeper behind the meaning of certain traditions/rituals (ie animal sacrifice) that you will find a profound philosophy/theology that is equal to any other religion. and just like any other religion (christianity, judaism, islam, buddhism, etc.) there are practitioners and priests that probably don't represent the religion as it should be. i feel like...

[marieilaria418]

wow. you really went to a lot of trouble to stop these santeros. i understand that melendez probably wasn't the most diplomatic or the nicest person to deal with but really? i just wonder what your true motives were. it appears that you are attacking a belief that you do not understand. i see that you reached out to certain groups but i mean...i feel like after doing this project that you should take the time to educate yourself about a religion/cultural practice that you have no idea about.

[naiely81503]

where is the next part? I don't see it.  Was it taken down? :( I want to know how this all ended.

[kutulu6]

If this individual is breaking the ethics and laws of Santeria than the Orishas will exact their punishment. I know its hard for you non believers to understand but thats the truth I have seen many who have defied the Divine Laws and were severly punished. If on the other hand there is harrasment because of religious prejudice than expect the wrath of the Orishas to be exacted, sounds cruel but that is the way things go.

[janhanjanhan]

Melendez is obviously dangerous lunatic. What I don't understand is why would anybody go through this much trouble just becouse religious privileges bothered him? If animal rights would bother him I would understand. From what I heard it seams that Mike wouldn't have problem with goat slaughter if anybody could do it, what seems to be bothering him is the fact that somebody has the privilege to do this because of religious beliefs. I think animal rights should be above religious rights.