Religion, politics and economics..the conquest.

One sublimely cool thing about religions through the ages is that they has inspired the greatest art and architecture ever. I do understand that some great stuff has been built outside of religious endeavors. The Great Wall of China, the Hoover Dam are really something. But, think about it. How can these compare with Angkor Wat, Chartres Cathedral, the Egyptian Pyramids, Tikal and on and on? I hope many of you can add so many sites, sculptures, paintings, works of music to this list of inspired creations.

I understand that for a lot of these holy places, their placement has a lot to do with ancient earth wisdom. The choice of locations was not random or based on some whim. There were signs in the heaven and the stars were read, and the ground was prepared through wisdom and prayer. That's how I picture it in an case.

But, then along comes the next best thing and wham, out with the old. Think about the Aztec centers in Mexico that were smashed to bits by the enslaved people who had loved them. Then the new thing, the Catholic Church, built their mighty churches on the same location they had just razed. The Aztec way was damned. It was pagan. They were worshiping  Gods with weird names. They dressed funny. They and their traditions had to die and die they did.  I read in Mexico Profundo that the population of central Mexico went from 18,000,000 to 70,000 in about 10 years. That pagan stuff was bad for your health. Who knows whether or not this is accurate, but I have heard similar numbers from the USA during the European conquest.

But those Catholics! They sure did create some great art, especially in Europe. I am extremely grateful for that. But, here in little Central America and in the USA some bad mojo is at work. These brand new Christian people who are converting Catholics to Christianity (sic!) are against all the art and culture and community and beauty that has developed since the conquest. They drag up Old Testament sayings and twist the New Testament into saying that a picture of a saint is an a sin because anyone looking at it is worshiping a person, not a God. I can't get that. Like, I never worshiped St Francis, but I was inspired to be a better person by stories of his life. Not to mention Buddha.

There are tons of people coming to Nicaragua who wouldn't be caught dead in a Catholic Church. There are thousands of people visiting Central America who have to avoid seeing any Mayan ruins because they are the work of the devil. This crap goes on all over the planet. Why can't we learn to respect others? This new Christian thing is determined to 'save' everybody from themselves. It is the oldest ugly story in the book. If it weren't so disrespectful and damaging it wouldn't be so frightful.

And there is no way, now or ever, that this isn't intimately connected, in fact, motivated by politics and economics.