Mexico was in crisis. The bloody Spanish had invaded. The people were being enslaved and exterminated. The Church had no use for "pagans" as they dubbed the Aztecs--even though the Aztec religion called for extremes of asceticism and moral purity that made Europeans of the time seem like the most debauched sinners. And then, a miracle. An enslaved Aztec priest had a vision at a mountain holy to an Aztec goddess, Tonantzin. He saw a mixed race---European and Native American---woman dressed in a blue mantle surrounded by light. Addressing him in his own religion, she asked why he was afraid and told him
"Am I not your mother?"
Natives converted to Catholicism. Or rather, their own brand of Catholicism. They honored Mary above Jesus. They called Mary "Tonantzin." And, centuries later, when Mexico drove out Spain, they did so under the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Were those early Mexicans who co-opted Mary to become their own Goddess members of a Medieval "Third Way"? Did they sully the purity of their own religion, set back their own cause--freedom from colonial rule---by working within the system? Or, did they subvert the message of the conquerers which was "Everything belongs to Spain" by finding a tiny germ of decency, a bit of common ground upon which all could stand and flourish?
It is easier to cut away the old---say, on a guillotine---than to change hearts and minds. You do not change hearts and minds by declaring much of the world---and the people who exist in it--- evil, corrupt, taboo, "corporate." It does not work for ISIS and it does not work in the US.
Hillary Clinton has been ridiculed, excoriated, damned for attempting to find common ground with conservatives via their Christian faith. But their Christian faith is the only germ of decency that many on the right still possess. When one contemplates the true meaning of Christianity, one realizes that the message is one of universal love, equality and a willingness to change.
"I have come to cast fire upon the world."
The best kind of fire does not merely sweep away the past. It lays down a fertile soil on which the future can grow. And if we are to achieve peace in our lifetime, we must be able to engage the hearts and minds of everyone. Come together.