I haven't seen much that supports Brown's works being much more than fiction, as he presents them himself. Jesus broke many taboos, so it is possible he had relations with Mary Magdalene that were undisclosed by the early leadership...still, I think it is not unreasonable to accept that he never pursued relationships like this. Many spiritual/philosophical men are so dazzled by their message and conviction that they forego relations, so it isn't that weird. The whole notion of Jesus escaping to France to sire a line of kings seems terribly convenient and contrived. On the other hand there is much support that he had brothers even from the canon Gospels, and non-canon gospels call Judas Thomas 'Didymus' meaning the twin...take that as you will.

The thrust of the thread is rationalized paganism.
You rightly point out the direct relationship with Gnostics.
Haitians promoting rationalization of vodoo fall in the camp of promoters of new world order.
The n.w.o. is based on both your topic and the thread's but are luciferians- straight satan worship.
Spin it for public consumption as they will, that is their doctrine.
Unfortunately for Haitians, the n.w.o plans for them is to be "culled".
They may be of the same religion roots of anti-Christ.
But they will not be allowed on that bus.

As a Christian I do not buy any spin on the Bible other than what it says.

When you say "culled", do you mean it in the same way that the tainos and other native americans were "culled"?

Unfortunately I find it says things that are meaningless without spin, aka further analysis. I don't know if you are implying that you are a literalist/fundamentalist guano, but in any case that approach to the Bible does not even seem possible to me... after all the religion's founder was no theologian, but instead a man who loved to speak in parables, analogies, and riddles. Also the four evangelists who we are taught give us the most authoritative news about him couldn't even agree amongst themselves on a great deal.

I'm a Christian and while I don't practice vodou or have any role in promoting it, my only problem is that Haitian vodou is portrayed as a pagan satanist faith when vodou's counterparts in other countries such as Brazil (Candomble and Umbanda) and Cuba where they practice Santeria are simply shrugged off as non-mainstream afro-derived religions, faiths which are highly similar. And the funny part of it all is that Haitian vodou has an important Taino element with some essential aspects of the faith bearing Amerindian influence. This is said to have occurred because of the African marroons (mawon in creole) that sought refuge in the mountains where they settled and integrated with Taino natives.

Look up n.w.o. and dig into the doctrine behind it.
Culled is their word for depopulation, and exactly what you suspect.

Rather than read what others say about the Bible one way or the other, go to the source.
Read the Book of John, which addresses exactly what you are talking about, who wrote the Bible.
It is always better to see what the original says rather than what others say.
Then you can see what you see clear of others opinions, or manipulations.
The Bible speaks for itself.

Book of John is one of the most problematic Gospels in terms of literal interpretation. It presents a very different Jesus than the other three gospels. More questions than answers for the critical reader.

Shin I think the reason those perceptions exist is because Voodoo is simply more well known. Most people don't have any impression at all of Santería of Candomble because they have never heard of it ... perhaps there is a cultural historian on the forum who can explain why Voodoo gained such notoriety in US culture. I imagine it has to do with New Orleans culture.

Well..New Orleans "Voodoo" (American Hollywood spelling) as it is known over there is an American incarnate of the Afro-derived religion with similarities but little connection to Haitian Vodou. Although Haitians to a slight degree have a historical link to the region of Lousiana, I can say there is little Haitian influence if any in Lousiana Voodoo. Louisiana Voodoo places a lot of emphasis on direct folk magic, an aspect which is quite lacking in its Haitian counterpart. Voodoo dolls in the sense of inanimate objects which are manipulated to harm people do not exist whatsoever in Haitian Vodou and it's just a Hollywood publicized myth. Vodou is a very spiritual faith with high emphasis placed on worshipping spirits than practicing black magic. Movies such as Live and Let Die of the James Bond series certainly didn't help ease off some misconceptions of the religion. If I'm not mistaken doesn't the Dominican Republic (and Cuba) have a sort of similar belief system (though it probably is a small minority) called Palo?

I heard that when the Lwa's would mount a Dominican. That person would speaki Creole even if the person didn't know how to speak the language.