Venezuela: A war of religions?
What is religious liberty? Which is the mission of a religion group? Why the State
and the church are always in conflicts? Is there a war of religions? Those are difficult questions that this essay pretends to answer through the analysis of the Venezuelan case. Venezuela is a deeply catholic country, more than 90% of the population professes this religion, Catholicism is the official religion of the State, no matter if there is liberty of creed. Only 2% of the population inclines towards other Christian religions that are extremely related with the American protestant culture. Among those groups, The New Tribes and Mormons have recently been in the middle of a controversy. On October 12th, in an inflammatory speech, Chavez proclaimed that New Tribes constituted a “true imperialist invasion”, Chavez said that the missionary group would shortly have to abandon its jungle bases. It is very interesting the fact that the
government assumed the
indigenous’ defense in a Columbus Day (which Chavez has renamed Indigenous Resistance Day), a symbol of the oppression and destruction of the native Venezuelan culture, this message emphasizes the need of recovering the roots and ancient traditions that have been threatened by the these groups, according to the government.
But it seems to be a contradiction, many indigenous groups defend the work of these organizations, their fight for the creation of an educational system in their own language and the improvements of their general conditions. Is it true that there is a price to pay, the numbers of conversions increase everyday, but it is also true that the catholic religion wasn’t the creed of the native Venezuelan, therefore, the critics who defend indigenous cultures, should also analyze the imposition of this religion. All the indigenous groups that support the expelling of the “New Tribes” claim for the government’s support, this revealed the lack of attention towards them and the importance of this religious group in the country.
In the last month, 200 Mormons have abandoned the country due to the tensions that the government has created over them, because they are been considered spies and members of the CIA. The political tensions between the United States and Venezuela have injured the right of following a religion creed, because Mormons that have abandoned the country were already part of this community, they have been removed from their mission abruptly and they are running the risk of losing everything they have achieved. In spite of having no cordial relations, the Catholic Church and the government have agreed on the expelling of these groups, they shared mutual political ambitions, they want to demonstrate power. Is there a war of religions? It seems that the dominant Catholic religion feels a strong threat in these organizations, but this church contradicts itself because proclaims the respect for other religions. Religions and power are extremely related in the world, and Venezuela is not a special case; but the most terrible situation is that people supported by the spiritual, social, educational and economic aid of these churches will not longer count with this relief in a certain way, because the churches are going to lose their main infrastructure. The new tribes and Mormons, among others; should also consider the impact that their message has in a society that is closed to changes, because if they claim to continue here, they have to co-exist with the government and the powerful Catholic church.