A Facebook friend I'll call Desdemona posted video from
the September 21, 2014 People's Climate March. The video depicted dancers in
Aztec-influenced costumes dancing before a several-foot-high Aztec-influenced
stone skull idol. The skull idol represented Coatlicue, the Aztec fertility
goddess.
Desdemona's video is linked, below.
Here's Wikipedia on Coatlicue
"She is represented as a woman wearing a skirt of
writhing snakes and a necklace made of human hearts, hands, and skulls. Her
feet and hands are adorned with claws…Her face is formed by two facing serpents
after her head was cut off and the blood spurt forth from her neck in the form
of two gigantic serpents, referring to the myth that she was sacrificed during
the beginning of the present creation.
Most Aztec artistic representations of this goddess
emphasize her deadly side, because Earth, as well as loving mother, is the
insatiable monster that consumes everything that lives. She represents the
devouring mother, in whom both the womb and the grave exist."
Coatlicue gave birth to Huitzilopochtli after she was
decapitated by one of her children. Huitzilopochtli sprang from her headless
corpse fully grown and ready for battle. He killed his brothers and sisters. Huitzilopochtli
became the Aztec god of war and human sacrifice. Aztecs bragged of sacrificing
80,000 human beings over the course of four days. Hearts were extracted in
these sacrifices.
I "met" Desdemona through a mutual Facebook
friend. Desdemona is a very nice lady and a very talented artist. I love nature
and she loves nature. She creates art based on nature and I very much
appreciate her artistic depictions of trees and birds. So far, that has been
the sum of our Facebook contacts. Desdemona posts her paintings of trees and
birds, and I click "like" and offer praise.
Because I like her as a person, I did not want to do or
say anything to hurt her feelings.
I was scrolling down my Facebook feed one recent morning,
and Desdemona's video of the dancers appeared. I commented, "It's not
really sacred until they rip out the still beating heart of a captive, and
offer it to Huitzilopochtli."
I posted the brief, fact-based comment, and moved on.
I received a message from Desdemona upbraiding me. She
said, "I am deeply saddened and offended by your comment. Whether this is
Sacred is not up for debate and is disrespectful of me, my beliefs and my
Spiritual path to question it. I defined this as Sacred to ME in my words above
it and ask you to respect that."
Desdemona's friend wrote "Danusha, are you part of
the Danza community? Is this your and your ancestors traditions? These are my
beloved friends in the above video doing ceremony at the Climate March. I can
assure you that what they are doing is sacred and filled with love and beauty"
Another message said "Respect people singing and
dancing in honor of Mother Earth."
I went back to Desdemona's Facebook page. I deleted my
message. Again, it was never my intention to hurt Desdemona's feelings. I
didn't know her religious beliefs. I didn't know that she identified with the
Aztec-influenced dancers.
I do know this: Desdemona demanded that I
"respect" human sacrifice. I do not.
Desdemona was attempting to demand that I lie for her.
That I un-know information that is inconvenient to her – that the costumes,
dance, and statue she was admiring were all built around human sacrifice.
How about Desdemona's and my own shared love of nature?
After all, these folks were at the People's Climate March. Were the Aztecs at least
planet-friendly? In fact pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is associated with
environmental collapse, both in Mexico and in the Four Corners area, where the culture
spread, in mass cannibalism. Maya culture collapsed before the rise of the
Aztec, and Anasazi culture collapsed after Mesoamericans moved north, bringing
cannibalism and terror with them.
I knew something that perhaps Desdemona and her friends
did not know: that Aztec culture practiced human sacrifice. I mentioned that
fact, and was ordered to "respect" "love and beauty" and
"Mother Earth." I stated that I don't respect human sacrifice, and
left the conversation.
It was one of those moments when coexistence does not
work, not because of disagreement, but because one group – in this case what I guess
might be called the New Age Pagan group – demanded that facts not be mentioned,
and that evil be disguised and respected.
Recently one of my liberal Facebook friends instructed
her Facebook friends that she does not want them to post photographs of Sarah
Palin or Rush Limbaugh. I can't imagine ordering my Facebook friends not to
post photographs of people I don't like.
Me? I am a Christian and a Catholic. Insults directed at
Christians and Catholics flow through my Facebook feed daily. Sometimes I address
them. Sometimes I don't. I've never made a blanket request that my Facebook
friends not post negative truths about Christianity or Catholicism.
In fact, I would not want to live on the planet where I
had such power to control others' thoughts or words.
You can read more about Aztec culture's cruelty and
bloodlust here.
You can see the video Desdemona posted here
Or here
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