BGU Journal 7/20/09

Doctoral study is not about sophisticated content. It is about a new level of intentionality regarding the most basic things in life. The basics include such things as food, water, housing, and fellowship. If our ministries are not clearly addressing the basics of the human condition, then we are doomed to fail. We are also doomed to fail apart from God's intervention in people's lives.

Our first lecturer this morning was Professor Christian Gomez, who spoke to us about Aztec culture. The Toltecas came before the Aztecs, and they actually worshiped a monotheistic god that had dual masculine and feminine characteristics. The people described the god as "always near." It was not a bloodthirsty religion. The goal of humanity during this period of time was to grow in moral character. Medidation on god was important and art forms developed. This all changed during the Aztec era when they emphasized a super-god system among many gods, including the offering of human sacrifeces to the sun god. At one point the Aztecs were sacrificing over 8,000 people per day, with four lines of people stretching at least one kilometer long from the temple. The people that were sacrificed were captured from neighboring tribes. Their hearts were pulled out while they were still alive. The people burned certain parts of the bodies to the gods, and they ate many of the body parts that were left. The Aztecs believed they were commissioned by the sun god to be rulers over the other tribes, so they justified their practices. This same justification was used later on by the Catholic Church for torturing and killing indigenous people if they did not accept Catholicism.

Today there are over 10 million indigenous people in Mexico who speak many different dialects. Because they yearn for independence, they often look to their past and the glory of the Aztec days instead of progressing forward or reinventing themselves. They worship many different things, which often causes difficulty in modern attempts to spread the gospel message. The mestizo culture, which is the majority in Mexico, is still strangely tied into forms of pre-Columbian worship which they have mixed in with Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Church has allowed these mixtures of religous symbols, and many people did not have access to the Bible for hundreds of years so they did not know any other way to worship. The Protestant Church has a difficult time making progress in Mexico because they ordinarily do not allow people to continue worshipping other idols tied in to ancient religious practices.

Roman Catholicism was the only religion practiced in Mexico for 400 years, starting in the 1500s when the Spanish arrived. For most of this time, indigenous people were violently tortured or killed if they did not convert to Catholicism from their old religions. A person who did not pay their tithe to the church was either stoned to death or burned alive. Catholic beliefs were imposed by fines, by having feet and hands put into stocks, having stones hanging from your feet, or by being placed into slavery to work for priests. The Bible itself was prohibited, and the Spanish intentionally made sure the indigenous population had a 100% illiteracy rate. The Catholic Church for much of this time owned over 50% of the land in Mexico, and they were rich in cash that was piled up in storehouses in the churches. Eventually the indigenous people and the mestizos rebelled. In 1821 they gained their independence from Spain, but only after forming a strange union with the Catholic Church that stated that Roman Catholicism would be the only religion practiced in Mexico. Currently, the evangelical church is gaining ground in Mexico, even though the Vatican II opened the Bible to the Catholic people of Mexico in 1961. It is still a struggle today because the Catholic Church is tied into every aspect of life here, including politics and the economy.

Another lecturer, Professor Fermin, spoke about the history of relations between the USA and Mexico from a Mexican perspective. When the Spanish conquered the indigenous people in Mexico, it created a culture of death and defeat that continues even to this day. When Columbus arrived there were 100 million people living in Latin America. After 100 years, there were only 5 million indigenous people remaining because of the arrivial of the Spanish. Over the past two hundred years ago, Mexico has felt like it has always had to push the US back due to geographic proximity. The US played a huge role in the revolution of 1910. Basically, the Catholic Church wanted to maintain power against the revolutionaries so they supported the US militaries interests. 10,000 US troops invaded Mexico illegally, but the revolutionaries eventually won anyway. This created great resentment on the part of the Mexican people toward the US. Things improved following WWI, when the US was permitted to build up infrastructure in Mexico to import their oil and mining materials. Tourism to Mexico greatly increased as well during this time. Things continued to improve after WWII, but they got progessively worse when America became a world superpower. Mexico got into debt to the US, and the relationship now is very inhumane and predatory. This has especially occurred with the arrival of NAFTA. It was intended to be a good policy, but the US has looked out for its own interests to produce profit and not supported the intentions of improvements in Mexico's economic infrastructure. There are many problems with free trade between the countries. There is a move to stem the influence of American culture here, even though that process has been made more difficult by the rise of globalization.

Protestants missionaries from the US have helped to spread the gospel in Mexico recently, but many Mexicans still feel like they are imposing American culture on the country instead of sharing the gospel. Many pastors in Mexico think they can succeed by rubber stamping American models into their churches, so things like the prosperity doctrine are huge here among evangelical churches. A competitive spirit has grasped the mind of Christians here, and the country is becoming a free market for souls and churches.

This afternoon I participated in a scavenger hunt with Julie, Derek, and Muthu. It was an interesting way to learn about new things in the city. I loved the National Palace, which had many murals depicting the historical life of Mexicans. I also loved the Cathedral, but it was hard for me knowing that such a beautiful church was built on the backs of indigenous people who were tortured and killed by the people in the church.

For the remainder of the day we rode a tourist bus around the city. Everything about this place is amazing, from the parks to the statues to the modern buildings to the traditional architecture and everything in between. This is probably my favorite city I have ever been to, including LA and NY. It is much bigger and it has much more culture. This place is the soul of Hispanic culture around the world.

The presentations this morning provided a solid background from which to study this great city. You cannot grasp the culture here without understanding the history. Pittsburgh feels extremely small compared to Mexico City. However, I did pick up on some things that I may be able to apply in my ministry context. I need to be careful of projecting my culture onto my friends in Homewood. I need to respect the work that God is already doing in Homewood through other individuals, churches, and organizations. I need to continue to seek to understand the history of oppression that is such a large part of the African American culture in America. I should not offend people and then try to explain it away by saying that it was "unintentional." Studying context is a huge part of my development as a leader.