Our Readers' Opinions
April 13, 2007

Ancestral worship – a curse on any nation

13.APR.07

Editor: I wish to share my perspective on what seems to be an increased awareness of so-called heritage and culture in our nation. A nation’s heritage is often, if not always birthed out of the vision, sacrifice and blood of its fathers and warriors and their belief in some type of influence. Whenever the ultimate sacrifice is paid, I believe that every effort must be made to honour their memories.

Having a pilgrimage to Balliceaux to pay tribute to the memory of the hundreds of Garifunas who lost their lives on the island is one thing, but to summon their spirits back into the life of the nation is another.{{more}} We need to pause and examine the activities of this event, and if our spirits are alive to God, we will conclude that it is demonic and can only incur the wrath of a holy God on our land.

The ritual of lighting the gun followed by drumming, chanting and dance to “symbolize the soulful presence of the departed” is nothing short of an occult activity to awaken the spirits of the ancestors in preparation to worship them. Yes, I say worship them! Offerings in a spiritual exercise and climate are acts of worship. Hence the reason churches (assemblies) worship God with their tithes and offerings.

The two Garifuna women from Belize who were making offerings unto their ancestors were WORSHIPING their ancestors, and you know what, every member of the contingent participated in that activity by their presence. The prophet Hosea says “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge”… All our young people and others on that pilgrimage have been exposed to witchcraft and have opened their spirits to demonic oppression and possession. The same subtlety with which the devil deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden is the same degree to which our young people and others are drawn into witchcraft in the name of heritage by this country’s hierarchy.

This satanic practice of calling upon the spirits of our ancestors must stop before it gains foothold and truly becomes part of our culture. If it is not stopped, this nation would be thrown into decadence and can walk in the path of Haiti, Sudan, Darfur and others. The worship of ancestral spirits always demands the sacrifice of blood for their blood that was shed. Generational spirits and curses cause a people to forfeit purpose and destiny.

The God of heaven must become our source. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord (Jesus Christ). We must be able to say like the Hebrews – “The God of our fathers has given us an inheritance”. Sadly the Garifuna and Callinago people did not worship Jehovah, but worshipped the god of fertility.

I am therefore calling on the Christian Council, The Association of Evangelical Churches, Ministries in Action, Youth for Christ, The Tele-Evangelists, The Radio Evangelists, every Bible-believing church, every interest group and everyone who believe that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people to stand up and let your voice be heard on this issue.

Let us stop the genocide now. The book of Proverbs chapter 21 verse 16 says “The man (People) that wandereth out of the way of understanding (God’s Ways) shall remain among the congregation of the dead!”

Chris Noel