Help!!! Essay on Caribbean Religion?

Question

Alright so I have to write a two page essay for this Caribbean religions college course and I'm pretty stumped. Here's the question:

Characterize the attitude, roles, and actions of Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) historically among the Caribbean peoples, religions, and cultures. What effects did this have on the ways of life in the earlier period and what lingering effects are prevalent in the region today?

Only serious answers plz. Whoever posts the most pointers and helpful tidbits of info I'll give you the ten points by tomorrow morning as it's due at noon. Much thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The English controlled the area for a long time and they exported the Protestant and other religions to the area. Santeria or Voodoo has a strong Christian influence and other African jobs mixed in with it. The main action of the Catholics was from the Spanish who had a convert to Catholicism or die policy with the natives they found. The British brought over Protestant religions of all forms. The official Cuban government position is that there is no God.

Basically, Christianity came in and took over most of the are in some way, then it got its ‘fingers’ into all the other religions of the area except in Cuba where it was denied. It had strong influence in Santeria and other African religions.

The pirate and trading culture brought in Eastern religions like Buddhism and Islam.

Check out the article on Catholicism to see the various flavors of Christianity that still honor Rome: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism.

Check out the article on Protestants for the various flavors of Christianity that they encompass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant.

Jamaica adds Rastafari as well as Bahai, Buddhism, Islam. Practisers of Spiritism and Obeah

Puerto Rico is a huge melting pot of religions, mostly Catholic it has the other versions of Christianity including the various African religions: the Yoruba beliefs of Santeria and/or Ifá, and the Kongo derived Palo Mayombe. Santeria is often known as Voodoo and it has a strong Christian influence.

Cuba is mostly Catholic thanks to the Spanish convert or die program, but the official religion is atheistic. However there is a strong syncretisms influence in the area as well.

What I did was go to Wikipedia and look up a few nations, then in the articles list of topics I clicked on religion. You can go to those areas and click on the links to find out more about those religions.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_community#Religion
“The influx of African-Caribbeans to the United Kingdom was accompanied by religious practices more common to the North American continent. In Britain, many African-Caribbeans continued to practice Non-conformist Protestant denominations with an Evangelical influence such as Pentecostalism and Seventh Day Baptism. African-Caribbeans have supported new churches in many areas of the country, which have grown to act as social centres for the community.Religion[›] The manner of worship in some of these churches is more akin to that of African American practices, than to traditional English Anglican or Catholic liturgy. Gospel music also came to play a part in British cultural life. African-Caribbeans played a central role establishing British Gospel choirs, most notably the London Community Gospel Choir. Some British African-Caribbeans continue to practice other religious beliefs such as Rastafarianism, which developed in Jamaica. The Rastafarian belief system, associated personal symbols such as dreadlocks and cultural practices concerning cannabis were to influence British society far beyond the African-Caribbean community being adopted by both indigenous Britons and other ethnic groups residing in the nation.”

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico#Religion
“The Roman Catholic Church has been historically the most dominant religion of the majority of Puerto Ricans, although the presence of various Protestant denominations has increased under American sovereignty, making modern Puerto Rico an interconfessional country. Protestantism was suppressed under the Spanish regime, but encouraged under American rule of the island.
Taíno religious practices have to a degree been rediscovered/reinvented by a handful of advocates. Various African religious practices have been present since the arrival of enslaved Africans. In particular, the Yoruba beliefs of Santeria and/or Ifá, and the Kongo derived Palo Mayombe (sometimes called an African belief system, but rather a way of Bantu lifestyle of Congo origin) find adherence among individuals who practice some form of African traditional religion.”

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica#Religion
“65.3%[7] of Jamaica's population are Christians, the majority being Protestant, which is primarily due to the influence of British colonialism, and the later influence of denominations from the U.S. Today, the five largest denominations in Jamaica are: Church of God, Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Pentecostal and Anglican.
The largest non-Christian religion is the Rastafari, which was founded on the island and reveres the late Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
Other non-Christian religions in Jamaica include: Bahai, Buddhism, Islam. Practisers of Spiritism can also be found on the island.[8] The West African folk cult of Obeah is found in poor urban and rural areas of Jamaica.”
According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba#Religion
“Cuba has a multitude of faiths reflecting the island’s diverse cultural elements. Catholicism, which was brought to the island by Spanish colonists at the beginning of the 16th century, is the most prevalent professed faith. After the revolution, Cuba became an officially atheistic state and restricted religious practice.”

Caribbean music is varied and if you look at this article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_calypso-like_genres) then each source for music would also be a source for religion.

Answer 2

Slaves, forced converts, poor slaves, poor religous people stripped of there own religions.

Answer 3

They loved to eat cheese, and they liked to live in the carribean