Welcome to the Pastor Malory's Case!

INTRODUCTION:

A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. These words were offered by Mahatma Gandhi. Far from being a simple mosaic of values or a simple collection of historical artifacts, a culture is a complex value system interwoven into the collective memory of the inhabitants of an ecosystem called namely a nation. It's the expression of a dance that speaks to the deep belief and reality of the practitioner; a music that resonates into the inner chords of beings; A unique cuisine which soothes the hearts; Finally, it's a religion(s) which uplift both the people collectively and carry each individual through their complex life journey with courage, hope, and harmony. Haiti's troubled outset overshadow all too often a vibrant and rich culture. Oftentimes, some people attack the socle of our nation's fabrics, our culture, either by lack of understanding or with guided malice to rob our people of our collective consciousness.

This site is dedicated to a seemingly isolated recent incident, around the controversy of Pastor Malory Laurent and his opposing view regarding the participation of a renowned Haitian female icon at an event. Yet, it's my strong belief that this topic offers a unique opportunity to explore history to investigate and identify the root cause of the conflicts between western tradition churches and cultural celebration, especially, one specific sensitive area: Music.

KEY EVENTS SUMMARY -

Pastor Malory Laurent, a New York-based Haitian Pentecostal pastor stirred up a series of dramatic controversies recently when attacking a well-known and respected female Haitian music icon named Emelyne Michel, commonly referred to ever so affectionately as "Diva" or "Queen". The very colorful public debate on social media mainly among Haitians both in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora started when Pastor Malory, a charismatic preacher who is very loved in his community admonished promoters he claimed invited the Haitian songstress, Emelyne Michel, a non-Christian according to his words, to partake in an alleged Gospel Concert.

His arguments were unequivocal based on the saint scripture, darkness should not mix light in his attempt to explain his opposition to the participation of the Haitian songstress to sing at an evangelical event. He demanded from the pulpit of his church during a regular church worship event which was being broadcasted online that the promoters stop the concert. Lastly, he went as far as acknowledging that his word will likely be cause for stirs on social media but he is ready. Soon several public personalities mostly from the social media sphere, Haitian religious leaders, cultural proponents and a few religious leaders from the Christian all came forward to either condemn the words of Pastor Malory.

What started as a simple disagreement over the strict application of holy scripture, as to decide whether a non-Christian like Emelyne should be allowed to take the same stage with other Christian singers to worship God would see a dramatic turn when both old and recent interviews in which Emelyne Michel participated clearly placed her as a public professed Christian. In fact, according to the content of these interviews -- Which all took place before Pastor Malory's public attack, Emelyne Michel alleged to be born as a Christian from a Christian family and furthermore attested she believed in God and always stayed with that belief all her life. In one of the interviews, she went further and publicly declared attending Brooklyn Tabernacle Church regularly and announced her next album to be a Gospel opus which generally compiled Gospel songs she has sung all her life both on her previous albums and live in church as a young artist.

Following these turns of events, Pastor Malory doubled down on his claim while Emelyne Michel appeared in a thank you video, visibly distraught to thank her supporters for standing up with her through the recent events without openly pointing fingers at one specific direction. Additionally, one of the promoters appeared as a guest at a Youtube live session to clarify she grew up as a Christian and that the event was not an actual gospel concert but a benefits Evangelico-Cultural benefit gala to support feeding poor kids in Haiti, a ministry that spun over a decade with meager finance from personal savings of the two sisters behind the project.

MY BACKGROUND AND PERSPECTIVES -

As a pastor's son myself, a church maestro and Haitian at heart, I have decided to add my two cents on this matter as a public letter addressed directly to our beloved Reverend Pastor Malory Laurent as a 12-part series in hope to create a holistic public debate. I personally have zero interest in whatever faith the pastor chooses to promote in front of his congregants both under freedom of religion principles and also due to my personal affinity with the pastoral ministry. For instance, I have several points of disagreement with my father on the Holy Scripture, one of which concerned Tithes and offerings, where I struggled to recognize the current Missions as the same as the intended storehouses mentioned in Malachi 3:10. In spite of our disagreements, my dad always had the maturity level to welcome our opposing views with compassion and patience, demonstrating both the true landmark of the sacred parish virtue. I grew up with that understanding of the parish virtues which includes teaching, giving, praying, and above all, love for our fellowmen. When a member became weak and needed support, they would naturally turn to my dad for pastorship.

It is under the auspice of a pastor's son where I can sympathize with our dear Pastor Malory and both as a musician and someone who grew up in church like Emelyne Michel, I would like to offer my perspectives within a cordial and welcoming ambiance. During the publication of these 12 letters, I intend to draw a parallel from Biblical references and other historical resources to shed light on the conflict between western church traditions and the culture of poor countries like Haiti, along with the syncretism utilized as tools both to confuse boundaries and to an extent unfairly discriminate against the locals as demons or evils, unless they abide by western traditions to evolve. I will also bring some perspective to our Pastor Malory in hope to help him and his congregants gain some more insights on the word of God and history in response to the public declarations of our dear beloved pastor.

PUBLICATION DATES -

Here is a list of dates of the publication of these 12 letters:

1. August 18, 2024

2. September 1, 2024

3. September 8, 2024

4. September 15, 2024

5. September 22, 2024

6. September 29, 2024

7. October 6, 2024

8. October 13, 2024

9. October 27, 2024

10. November 3, 2024

11. November 17, 2024

12. November 24, 2024

    
    

These letters will be published in 3 languages: English, French, and Spanish.

Special note: I have adopted the pen name "Dr. Elanaxe Yvel" to preserve my privacy and allow our audience to strictly focus on the content of the letter. I am not a medical doctor and only borrowed the Doctor title from the Bible as to refer to the "Doctors of the law" who were teachers of the scripture. It's with humility and love I offer to share some teaching in hope to facilitate a productive and enlightening for all our attendance.

FINAL WORDS -

Lastly, instead of trying to perpetuate a conflict or delve into any religious polemic, we invite everyone to participate with an open mind and mostly with love for all men. We will focus on the words and on facts. We invite all scholars, researchers, cultural advocates, reporters, community leaders, including church leaders, and by and large, the whole Haitian community whether you are in Haiti or abroad to kindly lend your ears and heart to this public so we can explore together the underlying facts at play in this story, which encompass both the church and the peristyle evenly. It concerns the culture of the Haitian people. We must not fear to speak.

With love and humility,

Dr. Elanaxe Yvel