Religion in Latin America

Religion in Latin America is amazingly different then in the United States (this is at least from my perspective).

As I arrived in Nicaragua and was waiting at the customs counter I started to talk with the Nicaraguan lady behind me. Asking her which taxi company I should take...the conversation quickly turned into whether or not I have accepted Jesus into my life. I nod to the question of whether of not I am waiting for his second arrival, trying to move the conversation on. I get asked if I am part of a church, which I regrettably say no. I then get handed a brochure on her church and small lecture on why preparing for Jesus is the most important thing in life. I keep nodding and saying si every few seconds...finally it was my turn at the entrance booth and my interaction with the perhaps 65 to 70 year old lady ends with her reminding me that a great way to practice my Spanish is to read from a bilingual Bible and that she will pray for my. She reminds me of both of those things a last time in English just in case I didn’t get it the first three :)

So there is certainly this type of faith in Latin America. Extremely devout Christianity. But to the average Latin American I have found their faith in Catholicism to be more a lifestyle and act of tradition then of fear. And more about liberation then obedience.

My second experience with Christianity in only day one comes at the Centro Cultural Batahola, the community center. The centerpiece for the organization is a large mural that is be backdrop of the stage they have (it appears like a small lecture hall). The mural is magnificent but at a quick glance alone appears typical. A few dozen people face a glowing baby Jesus with gifts. At closer inspection, and in my case a tour guide :) you notice much more. Who are the people following Jesus? Revolutionaries! The most obvious to me was Che, but next to him is Sandino (historic figure of Nicaraguan liberation and name of the Sandinistas movement which was a socialist moment following the fall of the US supported dictator: Somoza). Laura, my tour guide, then goes around the mural placing names to the faces. They are community organizers, guerrilla fighters, political scholars, people of the community that disappeared during the Somoza Dynasty, feminist leaders of the community... Each face is recognizable to the few thousand people that go through the center each month. The majority are local community leaders that have taken stands against injustice.

Christianity in this community represents something very different then in the United States. Rather then a construct for obedience it is more so a construct of liberation. Jesus is as a figure of the poor, a political figure, and his mission is viewed as being completed through people who have taken stances against imperialism and injustice.

While in the United States figures such as Che were perceived as atheist during the Cold War. In Latin America Che is viewed as a person who was following the path of Jesus.