A game of terror trump cards. Or: Other things compatible with religion besides science. Or: Happy/Not-so-happy Halloween. | Mexican drug cartels are worse than ISIL | Musa al-Gharbi | Al Jazeera America | alj.am/1Fqz7dd A good deal of the cartels’ violence is perpetrated ritualistically as part of their religion, which is centered, quite literally, on the worship of death. The narcos build and support churches all across Mexico to perpetuate their eschatology. One of the cartels, the Knights Templar (whose name evokes religious warfare), even boasts about its leader’s death and resurrection. When cartel members are killed, they are buried in lavish mausoleums, regarded as martyrs and commemorated in popular songs glorifying their exploits in all their brutality. Many of their members view the “martyrs” as heroes who died resisting an international order that exploits Latin America and fighting the feckless governments that enable it. The cartels see their role as compensating for state failures in governance. The narco gospel, which derives from Catholicism, is swiftly making inroads in the United States and Central America. In short, the cartels’ ideological disposition is no less pronounced than ISIL’s, if not worse. --- More on La Santa Muerte: | Death Couture: Not For Halloween Only | Stephen Andes | Religion Dispatches | bit.ly/1s0t4TF As recent polls conducted by both Latinobarómetro and Consulta Mitofsky have shown, popular confidence in the Church still remains stronger than other institutions in Mexico (such as congress, political parties, and even the presidency). But this support is eroding quickly, especially among the young, many of whom are more likely to participate in the unauthorized devotion to La Santa Muerte than go to Mass. This fact has not been lost on the Mexican hierarchy, who has sought to channel popular devotion into orthodox directions. For example, the relics of John Paul II drew thousands of faithful in a recent tour of Mexico, and one woman from the Yucatan even claimed to have been healed from cancer through the intercession of the former pope. But for many Mexicans, devotion to La Santa Muerte provides more hope in dealing with the profound social fragmentation and instability caused by drug violence than the spiritual succor offered by the institutional Church. In contrast to the American celebration of Halloween, largely a religious-turned-commercial holiday, Mexico’s Days of Dead are spaces where community solidarity, remembrance, and family continuity take shape. In this context, the image of La Santa Muerte is momentarily freed from her association with drug violence and reimagined as simply another member of the panoply of spiritual helpers, along with todos los santos (“all saints”) in the Catholic sacred universe. --- (Tags: drugcartels, cartel, lasantamuerte, dayofthedead, deathcult, cult, halloween, pn009, )
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 14:19:48 +0000
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