Religious Change Over Time in Latin America and Caribbean Essay

end-to-end the years of 1450 to make, the religion of Latin the States and the Caribbean went through a number of changes. Although the ghostlike beliefs and conventions of these areas were mostly animistic prior to 1450, they turn up to be flexible and went through legion(predicate) an otherwise(prenominal)(prenominal) alterations get to where they are to solar day. Prior to the stretch of the Spanish Conquistadors, the Latin American throng had never heard of Catholocism, which would eventually fashion a dominant religion.In the proterozoic centuries of Latin America, the religion was polytheistic. The mountain cognize as Aztecs, who lived in towns located along rivers, built sacred temples to honor their many graven images. They worshiped at least 128 deities in total, including Tlaloc, the god of rain. Little distinction was made amidst the world of the gods and the natural world. The temples, about of which hush stand today, were made of egraphicsh and/or large burial mounds. The burials include art such(prenominal) as pottery, paintings, and carvings and were often go with by rituals. These rituals contained human open, cannibalism, and executions. In the pointedness after militarism, human sacrifice became overmuch much prominent than before. It has been questioned whether the reason for the sacrifice was actually the result of unearthly conviction, or simply done as a tactic of terror towards rulers and priests. Aztec people had cognize nonhing other than this lifestyle for centuries until a new culture made its trend to their land.In 1492, Spanish Conquistadors such as Hernan Cortes sailed to the coast of Latin America, bringing their religious views along with them. Cortes and his army of 600 conquered the land, destroying precious temples in the process. They pulled down all the polytheistic idols, rearranging their rock music to replace them with Christian architecture such as Catholic cathedrals. In this sequence period, art and architecture were prominent and intend to serve the glory of immortal. Dominican mendicant Bartolome de Las Casas replaced the Aztecs long-practiced human sacrifice with Catholic mass. In addition to the conquistadors, there was another group called the Jesuits who sought new pursual of their religion.The Jesuits offered special privileges to those who converted to universality, musical composition the Spanish convinced the people that their Catholic God would provide protection from diseases and harm. Although the majority of the people were won over by Catholicism, more or less chose to re of import isolated and continued to practice polytheism. Regardless, all Aztec people remained given up to their religion. meanwhile in the Caribbean, Spanish and Italian merchants began to result African slaves to work on the some sugar plantations that operated on the islands. These slaves brought a categorization of religious beliefs along with them, their own infidel views mixing with Christianity.In both present day Latin America and Caribbean, Catholicism is the dominant religion. In modern day Caribbean, the small non- Catholic population consists of divers(a) forms of Christianity that were formed with the arrival of African slaves. virtuoso of these other religions is Rastafarianism. This is a form of Christianity with a distinct Caribbean style. It uses the Bible as its main text, but interprets it much differently than the more traditional Christian sects. On the other hand, the Latin American non-Catholic population consists of a small group of people who were not converted by the Conquistadors and chose to remain animistic. end-to-end all the changing, some Latin Americans shit had the same animistic beliefs despite whats been going on around them. The Latin American people always agree and always will be devoted to their religion, as we can tell by the great pyramids mounds they built that are hushed standing today.Prior to 1450, relig ious beliefs and practices in Latin America were polytheistic and included human sacrifice. When the Spanish Conquistadors and Jesuits came to the area, Catholicism was introduced and began to blossom rapidly. Now, in present day Latin America and Caribbean, it is impossible to avoid Catholicism. It has move around the major, dominant religion of the area and its followers are as devoted as ever.In addition to the large Catholic population, there continues to be a form of religions and practices of polytheism and voodoo throughout the area. Societies change for a number of reasons, one being contrary influence. If it wasnt for the missionaries coming into the Latin American and Caribbean society, the people would most likely confine remained polytheistic forever, because there would be nonentity new introduced. For these reasons, religion in Latin America and Caribbean has changed drastically from its early years, while also staying the same in some ways.