Brooklyn, NY--Communists generally view religion as the opium of the masses but can this "opium" save Marxism-Leninism? Yes, says Andres I. Perez y Mena, associate professor of educational anthropology at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus.
"What was once opium is now the last ideological stronghold for the communist leadership. The Catholic Church traditionally has been anti-capitalist and the revolutionary leadership now wants to claim Christianity as a substitute model for socialism.
"Knowing this, the Catholic Church plays a game of attraction-repulsion with the government," he adds. "It participates in some activities intended to relieve economic hardships but refrains from participating in the Communist Party. Protestants are the ones most likely to participate in this search for a Christian-based socialism. Their activism is what's keeping some social projects alive--those in the areas of education, health care and housing. This is very different from the days when atheism was the single criterion for measuring revolutionary participation."
Perez y Mena will travel to Cuba for the Papal Visit (January 20-26) as co-chair of the Commission on Cuba and Religion, organized by the Program for the Analysis of Religion Among Latinos (PARAL) of The City University of New York.
"In Cuba, I plan to meet with Afro-Latin practitioners to find out their perceptions of the Pope's visit," he said. "I feel they will view the visit with a lot of suspicion that the white Cubans are organizing to take back control of the Island."
There is a new pluralist opening for religion in Cuba today, which makes for a whole new concept of what it means to be ecumenical, according to Perez y Mena. "Afro-Latin religions, historically persecuted by all governments, are involved in most ecumenical encounters in Cuba. Most African-based religions (including Santeria and Yoruba) have ceased to function clandestinely and are often considered 'oficialistas,' sanctioned by the government. Believers appear at church services wearing their Santeria vestments."
Perez y Mena is an authority on Afro-Latino religions--spiritualism, Santeria and vodun. He is author of Speaking with the Dead (AMS Press, 1991) and co-editor of Enigmatic Powers: Syncretism of African and American Indigenous People's Religions in America (Bildner Center, 1995). He is co-investigator for the Program for the Analysis of Religion Among Latinos, an inter-university research group, and produced a documentary on Espiritismo in the South Bronx.
Contact:
Michele Forsten, Public Relations Director, 718-488-1418, [email protected]
Andres Perez y Mena, 718-780-4572, [email protected]
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