Trying To Decolonize Faith
If you think church and state conflicts are heated in North America, you should look at South America where the stakes can be far higher. Recently, Bolivian President Evo Morales has come under fire for his plan to remove Catholicism as the sole faith taught in public and private schools.
“Bolivian President Evo Morales on Tuesday said some members of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy are behaving as if they were in “the times of the Inquisition” as he defended his government’s plan to remove Catholicism as the sole religion taught in schools…”I want to ask the [church] hierarchies that they understand freedom of religion and beliefs in our country,” Morales told reporters. “It’s not possible to impose their views.”…Catholicism will be taught alongside world religions, especially Bolivian Indian religions.”
Bolivia has been heavily Catholic since it was colonized by Spain, Morales is the first indigenous head of state in 450 years. Morales hopes that his plan of demoting Catholicism to one of many faiths will knock down “ethnic borders” that have marginalized indigenous peoples in his country. But there have been rumblings from the Catholic establishment that violent resistance could ensue if Morales is seen as going too far.
“Bolivia’s Cardinal Julio Terrazas told Catholics on Sunday to stop being “passive” and defend their faith. “Great wars began with small theories … with this discourse of hate, rancor, of unforgiveness,” Terrazas said”
It remains to be seen how far “active” defense of the Catholic faith will go in this context. It should be interesting to see the cultural ramifications of Morales’ plan and how far he will be allowed to push Catholic religion out of a dominant place in the country before Catholic forces push back.
3 responses so far
VERY interesting. thanks for putting this on my radar.
EVO MORALES MUST EXPELL ALL UNMIXED WHITES TO SPAIN TO BOOST SPAIN?S DECLINING POPULATION- Evo Morales should confiscate all business and property of unmixed White Spaniards in Bolivia and forcibly expel them to Spain to shore up the declining population of spain to save Spain from extinction. The Moscow conference on Future of White Race bemoaned the fact that population of White Orthodox and White Catholics declining at alarming rates and it can only mean the demise of White Orthodoxy and White Catholicism in Europe. Spain would cease to exist as a White Nation in Europe because of its declining population. Aymara Inca Indian President Evo Morales would do a great favor to White Spain if he confiscated all property and businesses of unmixed white Spaniards living in Bolivia and forcibly expelled them to Spain to shore up the declining population of Spain. Spain should pass a legislation to require all its unmixed white Spaniards currently living in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, Central America to pack up and leave for Spain lest Spain become depopulated by population decline. Unmixed white Spaniards must pack up and leave Bolivia, Andean America and Central America and return to mother country Spain. Kalki Gaur reports on Times of America.
diplomatkalkigaur@yahoo.com
Blog URL http://360.yahoo.com/diplomacyofcivilizations
http://diplomacyofcivilizations.blogspot.com
http://www.clearblogs.com/neoconservativeparty
http://diplomacyofcivilizations.squarespace.com
http://www.clearblogs.com/indianconstitution
[...] I don’t know about you, but the simplicity and pervasive integrated nature of their offerings says so much about the appeal of indigenous and polytheistic worship. Simple, direct, and rooted in everyday experience. Ortiz also notes that she saw many “Westernized” Bolivians partaking in offerings to Pachamama, and wonders if this is a result of Bolivian president Evo Morales’ government re-writing the country’s consititution to guarantee freedom of religion and removing Catholicism as the sole recognized faith. [...]