Puerto Plata.- Great stir has caused in the municipality of Sosú Regidores From the Cabildo there, who with the incidence of religious leaders approved the withdrawal of the Colossal underwater statue of the Taína Atabey goddess that functions as an ecological restoration and tourist attraction project in the bay of that town.
This measure approved by steam by the councilors in a session held last Tuesday, wields the thesis that this statue of 16 feet, allegedly “constitutes an object of idolatry to false gods”, but, the majority of the population has been qualified this motion as “a tremendous stupidity committed with religious passion.”
It was learned that the proposal was submitted to the Chapter Room by the councilor Francisco Martínez (Cholo), complying with two applications made in this regard, through letters sent by the priest Jhonny Espinal Castillo, who is the priest pastor of the San Antonio de Padua Church and the severe pastor Cordero Capellán, who chairs the Federation of Pastors of Puerto Plata.
During his motivation of the piece, the councilor Martínez said that, to be in harmony with the Christian community, preserve faith and good customs, the withdrawal of the effigy of the Atabey goddess of the background of the beach of Sosúa is urgent, since allegedly in contrary to the spiritual principles that support a large part of the Christian population in that municipality.
With the premise that the withdrawal of the aforementioned 16 -foot high sculpture reflects the commitment to the values and beliefs of the Christian community of Sosúa, the controversial request was approved unanimously by the five councilors present: Fausto Santos, Chisell Hernández, Wellington Padilla, Oscar Luis Gómez (Lupi) and Francisco Martínez (Cholo), without listening to anyone and without any analysis.
However, the reactions have not been expected and the municipal councilors continue to receive critical village acids, accusing them to act as “religious fans” and to be “unaware of the great cultural and anthropological heritage of the aboriginal inheritance in our nation”, in addition to the benefit that this statue represents for the regeneration of the corals in the Bay of Sosúa.
Several citizens who reject that decision warn that in the Dominican Republic constitutionally there is freedom of worship, which is why the councilors had to investigate and listen not only to religious leaders to avoid committing that great stupidity, due to the cultural and historical in a completely different thing from those that are or raised religiosity.
In another optic, the pastor Hipólito Chalas who presides over the fellowship of Sosúa shepherds, alleges that the statue of Atabey means worshiping or preserving an image that leads to a polytheistic belief (several gods), when the faith and belief of that Puerto Rican town is supposedly based on monotheism (one God).
Pastor Chalas alleges that according to the Bible, specifically in the books of Deuteronomy 5: 8, Psalm 115: 4-8 E Isaiah 44: 9-20, emphasize that you should not create or worship images because God is jealous and only he deserves worship.
Important data
Atabey deity comes from Tainly mythology represented the goddess of fertility considered as the mother of the earth and waters, that one of the deities of that indigenous race that lived in the Caribbean islands before the arrival of Europeans in 1492.
It should be noted that the colossal and ahuecada statue of Atabey was placed in 2020 to serve as a new habitat for marine life at the bottom of the Bay of Sosua that was eroded, offering a new place to establish corals and other species.
The project was promoted by the Maguá Foundation and the Global Coralization International Organization, with the purpose of promoting art, culture and environmental conservation through the restoration of coral reefs in that tourist town.
This initiative was also supported by the Atabey Innovation Center which is a Dominican non -governmental organization dedicated to sustainable local development through the promotion of environmental sustainability, biodiversity and green economy.
