Part 17/20:
Catholicism replaced the old polytheistic religions—a triumph that was both spiritual and transactional. The indigenous religions, with their darkness, chaos, and blood, were replaced by a faith of love and salvation, which attracted the marginalized and oppressed. The church’s role became central to the survival of native communities, even as it often exploited them.
The Traumatic End and the Heavy Metal of History
The demographic and cultural devastation was immense. In just a century after the conquest, Mexico’s population reduced from twenty million to about two million—comparable to nuclear-scale catastrophe. Society was left in ruins—literally living amidst the ashes of their ancestors.