The recent kidnapping of 17 missionaries by a Haitian gang, with ransom demands and threats of murder, briefly brought public attention to its failed-state status. Since the UN peacekeeping mission withdrew there has been no real governance or enforcement of civil order. Not that Haiti is unique - Somalia in 1993 got world attention for its civil war (which lasted roughly from 1991-2012) due to the battle of Mogadishu. Afghanistan is probably in a similar condition, although at present news reports are scarce. What is the root cause?
Mankind has a sin problem, going back to Adam and Eve. But the modern consequences have a spiritual dimension, that affects all of society. The Bwa Kayiman ceremony and the Haitian slave revolt of 1791 reflect this primal human sin nature - that the ends justify the means. Is it less evil to use kidnapping and murder as a means to create a better society than to subjugate and enslave people by torture and murder? Veritas ipsa loquitur. To buy just a bit into Satan’s worldview is to contaminate the whole. Whether Voodoo is the cause of Haiti’s social dysfunction or a symptom of it, the desire for supernatural power to inflict evil on another has but one source. This is not a trick question.
What of the professed Christianity - Catholic or Protestant - of a large fraction of the Haitian population? Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, so why are His children subject to Satan’s power? The Scriptures give a few hints. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes people who hold to a form of godliness but deny its power. Acts 19:13-16 describes the attempt of some would-be exorcists to cast a demon out in the name of Jesus but not actually knowing Him. We do not know the hearts of the Haitians (God does) but the social acceptance of voodoo speaks for itself. Claiming Christ but also hedging bets by acknowledging voodoo - a compromised heart - is syncretism no different than Jewish idol worship in historic Israel.
Satan’s deception is extraordinarily sly; he knew exactly how to trick Adam and Eve into their first sin. When appeals to people who name Christ to repent of and renounce their sin and the world, the flesh, and the devil have fallen on deaf ears, the only(and inevitable) outcome is the determined by cause and effect.
In the U.S. and western countries we view social breakdown and dysfunction as something that couldn’t happen here. But we should heed the warning of this object lesson. Syncretism in Haiti may one day unravel. Syncretism in western culture - worldly religion, Christianity along with worship of economic or political idols, I mean ideals - could engender future disaster for us. We can’t have it both ways. Either Jesus is Lord, and we choose to know and walk with Him, or else not. We can’t create heaven on earth or build the kingdom of God by worldly means. If we have compromised hearts (mixed loyalties), He will use the consequences that result from our mixed religious allegiances to refine us, just as He does others.
I Chronicles 28 records David’s warning and promise to Solomon when he became king just before David’s death. Verse 9 states, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” These words speak to us.
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