Are They Muslims, Christians, Jews or Devil Worshipers?

Shalom Students

One of the benefits of teaching cross-cultural studies is the knowledge I gain in the process.  In some formal settings where I teach I assign students to study a people group or cultural group that is not their own.  Most of the places where I teach their libraries are limited and even their access to Internet resources are restricted.  In spite of the disadvantages, their research introduces me to a world that I did not know exist.  Here is two people group report (two more next post) from my recent class with Shalom Biblical Seminary, which I found interesting.

Yezidi of Iraq

If you stay current with the fighting in northern Syria and on the border of Iraq, you may have heard of the Yezidi (Yazidi).  These people are monotheistic though they are neither Muslim nor Christian.  A persecuted group, sometimes accused of “devil worship,” they believe God did not destroy the rebellious angel (Lucifer for Christians).  Space will not allow in this blog to discuss their belief system in depth, but it is a fascinating study and people group.  About 0.01% Yezidi’s are followers of Christ.  

One of my students provided this chart on the similarities of Yezidism, Christianity, Islam and Judiasim.

Religious practices in Yezidism similar with other religions.

Name of Religion	Practices adopted in Yezidism
Judaism	1. Do not eat pork or wear pigskin. 2. Do not mix meat and dairy. 3. Feast of Sacrifice – God calling Abraham to sacrifice his son – provides a lamb in place of his son. Yezidis commemorate Abraham’s experience by sacrificing a lamb. 4. They believed that they are descendants from Adam but not from Eve. 5. Circumcision (not compulsory).
Islam	1. Do not eat pork or wear pigskin, nor mix meat and dairy. 2. Do not eat lettuce, cabbage, okra, pumpkins, or gazelle meat among other foods. 3. Pilgrimage to Lalish for Yezidis, similar to pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims. 4. Five daily prayers. Dawn Prayer, Sunrise Prayer, Noon Prayer, Afternoon Prayer, and the Sunset Prayer.
Christianity	1. Practice the rite of baptism; immersion in water for purposes of ritual cleansing and as a sign of belonging to the group. 2. No marriage in the month of April. Eastern Orthodox Christians tend not to marry in the spring as no marriage can be performed in the fifty days of Lent that precede the Easter celebration. 3. Yezidi women dye eggs in bright primary colors to celebrate the spring New Year festival just as many Eastern Christians do for the spring feast of Pascha (Easter). 4. The color red is emphasized during the Yezidi New Year festival with women decorating both houses and family graves with red flowers.  In a strange parallel, some Eastern Orthodox communities use only the color red when dying their Easter eggs. 5. Putting shells of colored eggshells on doors so that Tawus Malik will identify their homes can be sync closely with the Jewish practice of applying the blood of lamp on the door post during the Feast of Passover. 6. Every Yezidi is designated a "Brother or Sister of the Other World" on reaching puberty similar to Godparents.

   

They Kill Twins

The Akha live in the mountains of Burma, China, Thailand and Laos.  Though the Gospel has been had some success among the Akha of Myanmar, those in Laos remain unreached, 0.03% believers, their religion is a mixture of animism and ancestor worship.  

What interesting is their belief that twins are considered a curse.  Several cultures hold this belief, but others cultures see twins as a blessing.  Among the Akha, they believe that only animals could give birth to more than one offspring and therefore considered twins as beasts.  Two decades ago it was not uncommon for parents to kill twin babies.  As a twin myself, I’m glad we weren’t born Akha.