Bolivian Constitution Mentions Earth Deity
Is Bolivia a trendsetter? If you are going to include religion in your constitution, at least embrace early as well as later gods:
...Bolivia has eliminated any mention of the Roman Catholic Church in its new constitution, and instead recognizes the Christian God and Pachamama, the Andean earth deity...
Roman Catholicism is out, but "the Christian God" is in! Not only that, but now the constitution is shared by "Pachamama", a deity I'm sad to say I've never heard of.
...Adoption of the governing document was celebrated in El Alto, one of Bolivia’s poorest cities. Festivities included a military parade and a ritual by an Aymara priest, who burned a llama fetus as an offering to Pachamama (or Mother Earth) to invoke divine protection for the charter.
Maybe this is where my rituals have been going wrong: I've not burn any llama fetuses! Heh!
President Evo Morales adds:
“...I believe strongly in the rites and in Mother Earth (Pachamama). But, of course, I am a Catholic and an admirer of Jesus Christ...”
This certainly is an interesting example of a local culture's expression of traditional religion, as well as their embracing and interpretation of later Christianity. Seems very polytheistic to me. After googling around a bit, I found a 'Pachamama Alliance' concerned with rain forest issues. Cool.
6 comments:
Wow - who can blame them for not wanting any association with the Roman Catholic Church and it's known history of corruption & violence.
If it's true that the Pachamama Alliance cares about the environment - that is promising as well.
oh... sorry - I forgot to include the Roman Catholic Church's history of MISOGYNY in my previous comment.
And you can't forget ethnocentrism! :)
One thing sure can be said for them though: some priests and nuns have paid with their lives supporting the rights of the oppressed in Central and South America. Others have also been active in environmental issues there.
Here's another reason to Excommunicate the Roman Catholic Church:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/07/vatican-defends-excommuni_n_172810.html
Yes, and the rapist is still welcome in the church! Nice how this religion treats women like shit stuck on the bottom of a boot. If anyone needs further confirmation on the horrors of a patriarchal monotheistic religion, check out green greenghosts huffington post link. No wonder women are leaving such religions in droves. Here's the direct aap link
Very interesting! Can't say I feel sorry for the Catholics, however. They had a good run. Now it's time to return to Pachamama--hopefully this bodes well for Bolivia on a spiritual level.
Odd about the llama fetuses--don't know that you can get one of those at your local pagan bookstore!
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