Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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As we were discussing the destruction of the Aztecs and Incas in class today, it started me thinking about the whole meaning of religion. For as long as history has been recorded, the world has been in turmoil concerning spirituality, religion and the way in which it is practiced and expressed. In forcing our personal views on others, we have destroyed the goodness and purity which is the foundation for Christianity. Those who are not christians have suffered at the hands of an often hypocritical and overbearing group of people. When it comes right down to it, the question of what religion is right is obsolite. As a confirmation student of the catholic faith, my best friend once asked the priest how we were to know that our religion is right. His reply was that we cannot, yet, whether a person is Jewish, Christian, Buddist, Islamic/Sufism, Hindu, or Taoist, they all believe there is a supreme being or one who watches over humans. It is the way in which we chose to practice our faith or explore our spirituality that determines our religion. If only the world and all those who are prejudice and biased towards others, on account of their religious practices, could wake up and understand that. Even if people chose not to believe in a supreme being who are we to tell them they must?
There are all kinds of spirituality to explore. I even found a site for exercises for spiritual enlightenment and suspending conceptual thinking. This site helps you look within yourself to understand the world and your surroundings. Each of us needs to find our own way to interpret and enjoy the world. The rigid restrictions and rules, which organized religion often places on our imagination, is the birth place of discrimination and intolerance of other peoples and beliefs.
The utter destruction of the Aztec Civilization by the Spanish Conquistadors is a good example of the intolerance and misunderstanding of other cultures. Cortes and his men plundered the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, destroying it's temples and killing the natives. The motivation for destroying the people, their culture and their city was wealth. Mostly, the conquistadors were after the gold which was abundant in the city. Spain built a massive empire over the ruins of the city. Their conquest of the Aztecs brought about attempts to convert the people to Christianity. Yet, what could Christianity offer that these people did not allready have. The Aztecs had created one of the most advanced civilizations in the world at the time, which included their own way of worship that had served them well for years.
The Spanish also conquered the Incas and captured the city of Tahwantansuyo. Here again they were on a quest for gold. They destroyed a people and attempted to convert them to Christianity. Yet, what is this religion that allows men in the name of their God to kill others for beliefs contrary to their own? How are the actions justified?
We must not forget either that people have been fighting with eachother since homo sapiens emerged. Whether over land or food, killing has been a part of this world forever. The emergence of religion brought about another reason for man to fight amongst eachother.
The hypocrasy of the actions of Cortes and his men, however, are far reaching. As they recorded the practices of the Aztec religion with horrific details. The culture and religious practice of sacrifice which the Spanards so strongly spoke against was no worse than the actions of themselves and of their fellow Europeans back home. The sacrificed Aztec people went willingly to their death, believing that something better awaited them on the other side. The condemned witches who were so brutally murdered in European countries did not go willingly, nor where they given a fair chance at life or justice. All around Christain men were teaching that women were the vessels of sin. The torture and evil practices inflicted on the accused women were as bad if not worse than the practices of the Aztecs. For example, there is an instance of one woman being stripped naked and all her body hair shaved off to seek in hidden places of the body the sign which the devil inprinted on his cohorts. Warts, freckles, and birthmarks were considered certain tokensof amorous relations with Satan. Furthermore, victims were charged for the very ropes that bound them and wood that burned them. Each torture carried its fee. After the execution of a wealthy witch, officials treated themselves to a banquet at the expense of the victims estate. These witch hunts and brutal killings persisted in Europe from 1450 to 1750 C.E. Even the New World where people fled the religious persecution going on in Europe, was not immune to the horrors of witch hunts. The Salem Witch Trialsis a prime example of how insecurities and prejudice can turn men into monsters who justify there actions with their God. Yet is in not ironic that one of the most prominent of the Ten commandments is "Thou shall not kill"?
The Jewish Holocaust is yet another example of a destruction of people because of intolerence and insecurties. The way in which they worship was seen as "wrong" by a particular group of people who then found ways in which to justify killing millions of people.
In conclusion, by examining history and the persecution of different peoples and civilizations throughout the world we find man, specifically Christian man, to be insecure, hypocritical and intollerant of differences. Throughtout history Christians have used the bible and God as their support and reasoning for the atrocities they commited. Yet, in reality, God would never approve of their actions. The destruction of the Aztecs, the Inca's, the Jews and innocent women because they were thought to be witches are just a few examples of mans outright stupidity. I will leave you with a quote I found on The Dark Side of Christian History web page: " By denying evil we do harm. By denying darkness we obscure the light. Over a period of almost two millenia, the Christian church has oppressed and brutalized millions of individuals in an attempt to control and contain spirituality."