Afro-Cuban Religion

In this part of the final paper I will examine the religions in Cuba from an etic perspective. As Marvin Harris (1968, p. 575) said “Etic statements are verified when independent observers using similar operations agree that a given event has occurred”. From an etic perspective afro-Cuban religion probably looks strange to outsiders as other cultures looks to me.

Looking afro Cuban religion in Cuba from an etic perspective is instructive because even though is normal to us may look strange and people don’t feel comfortable around it. Even Hemingway was interested in Santeria. He usually had carried the rabbit’s feet which is for good luck. Santeria is a hybrid religion available to any people no matter race and gender or color. Santeria is

Is wrong to say that Santeria have many gods.” There’s one supreme god who is the holy trinity of the Catholic Church, the names are olodumare, olofi and olorun. Olodumare is the supreme begins the father, the creator. Olofi is the third manifestation of god and olorun is the owner of heaven. Which is the same thing as in Catholic Church know as a “the father, the son and the holy spirit”. (Cynthia Duncan P.2) statistics suggest that as much as 80% of the population has some connection to Santeria. Globally, people of all races, socio-economic backgrounds and educational levels practice the Lucumi religion. It proudly holds on to its Afro-Cuban roots, but it 's no longer limited to people with ethnic ties to Latin America and Africa. (Cynthia Duncan P.2) on the other hand communism had a lot to do with Cuban religions. Since early ages communist parties had used Santeria as their religion in 1959 when Fidel Castro was giving his first speech a white dove landed on his shoulder for two hours straight this means he was protected for obatala a divine king in the Yoruba pantheon. Gerardo machado who was the Cuban president in 1933 he was considered that he was a santero too. Furgencio Batista

We gain an understanding of the reasoning behind different cultures without imposing our own opinion. Anthropology helps us to look into our culture like an outsider and that way we can see how they look things from another point of view. Examining Cuban religion and communism from an etic perspective is possible to see how Cubans were and still scared of what’s happening in their country and what others think about Yoruba religion. While examining Fijians girls and disorder eating from an emic perspective I learn how important is for them to be thin to fit in this new era. Taking an etic perspective on your own culture and an emic on another’s culture allow us to flip our point of view in order to counteract held belief about what is normal for us and what is normal to