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[508 U.S. 520, 524]
I-A
This case involves practices of the Santeria religion,
which originated in the 19th century. When hundreds of thousands of members
of the Yoruba people were brought as slaves from western Africa to Cuba,
their traditional African religion absorbed significant elements of Roman
Catholicism. The resulting syncretion, or fusion, is Santeria, "the way
of the saints." The Cuban Yoruba express their devotion to spirits, called
orishas,
through the iconography of Catholic saints, Catholic symbols are often
present at Santeria rites, and Santeria devotees attend the Catholic sacraments.
723
F.Supp. 1467, 1469-1470 (SD Fla. 1989); 13
Encyclopedia
of Religion 66 (M. Eliade ed. 1987); 1
Encyclopedia
of the American Religious Experience 183 (C. Lippy &
P. Williams eds. 1988).
The Santeria faith teaches
that every individual has a destiny from God, a destiny fulfilled with
the aid and energy of the orishas. The basis of the Santeria religion
is the nurture of a personal relation with the orishas, and one
of the principal forms of devotion is an animal sacrifice. 13
Encyclopedia
of Religion, supra, at 66. The sacrifice of animals as part of
religious rituals has ancient roots. See generally 12
id., at 554-556. Animal sacrifice is mentioned throughout the Old Testament,
see 14 EncyclopaediaJudaica 600, 600-605 [508
U.S. 520, 525] (1971), and it played an important role in
the practice of Judaism before destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem,
see id., at 605-612. In modern Islam, there
is an annual sacrifice commemorating Abraham's sacrifice of a ram in the
stead of his son. See C. Glasse, Concise Encyclopedia
of Islam 178 (1989); 7 Encyclopedia
of Religion, supra, at 456.
According to Santeria teaching, the orishas
are powerful, but not immortal. They depend for survival on the sacrifice.
Sacrifices are performed at birth, marriage, and death rites, for the cure
of the sick, for the initiation of new members and priests, and during
an annual celebration. Animals sacrificed in Santeria rituals include chickens,
pigeons, doves, ducks, guinea pigs, goats, sheep, and turtles. The animals
are killed by the cutting of the carotid arteries in the neck. The sacrificed
animal is cooked and eaten, except after healing and death rituals. See
723
F.Supp., at 1471-1472; 13 Encyclopedia of
Religion, supra, at 66; M. Gonzalez-Wippler, The Santeria Experience
105 (1982).
Santeria adherents faced widespread persecution
in Cuba, so the religion and its rituals were practiced in secret. The
open practice of Santeria and its rites remains infrequent. See 723
F.Supp., at 1470; 13
Encyclopedia of Religion,
supra, at 67; M. Gonzalez-Wippler, Santeria: The Religion 3-4
(1989). The religion was brought to this Nation most often by exiles from
the Cuban revolution. The District Court estimated that there are at least
50,000 practitioners in South Florida today. See 723
F.Supp., at 1470. 4 |
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