African Religions Attracting Americans

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Voodoo, Santeria and other religions with African roots are drawing followers in the United States among immigrants and black Americans interested in their ancestry, their leaders say.

But their practice can result in clashes with neighbors and police over rituals such as animal sacrifices and sacred drumming - especially since they're mostly conducted at home, in residential neighborhoods.

``This is a country founded on freedom of religion,'' said George Ware, an organizer with the National African Religion Congress. The group, formed five years ago, has members from a half-dozen religious groups and is meeting this week in its home base in Philadelphia.

``They (mainstream religions) are all given room and space to function within this country, and we are asking for the same,'' Ware said.

When voodoo practitioners held an annual ceremony honoring their ancestral spirits at midnight, neighbors in a sedate section of Philadelphia called police as drumming started.

``We are not happy about the noise, because we don't want to disturb the neighborhood,'' Ware said. But ``we have a spiritual obligation to continue.''

Police and neighbors decided to tolerate the noise. But citations over noise ordinances and animal sacrifices have sometimes landed in court, at least once reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.

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