In Religion and Empire, Conrad and Demorest and provided examples as to how intertwined religion is in ideology as well as political and social status between both the Incas and the Aztecs. And the authors discussed how each God was important in a different aspect to Incan/Aztec life. They discuss the balance that is needed to be successful to rule and empire successfully. One example that was given was how the Aztec empire was in a state of unbalance when Cortes made his appearance in Mexico. Like with most empires built on military triumphs, there is a high risk of too much growth too fast, which can throw off the balance.
I also believe that the militaristic values to both cultures were important. In both cultures they were always in a state of defense or attack against other city-states and Mexican civilizations surrounding them. In the Aztec religion, they were heavily invested in sacrifice to the Gods, which is significant that even their religion is heavily invested in the spilling of blood. Human sacrifice of warriors captures from rival civilizations became common practice for the Aztecs. We have seen in other cultures since then, how important military or religious leaders can be to an empire. I believe in both the Incan and Aztec empires, that they were able to weave together both, while at the same time maintain order with working and military classes. I think when you look at the reign of Caesar and Napoleon, you can see a means to an end after the awe of their military might wears off, but is the case of the Aztecs, the war aspect and the spilt blood was heavily invested in their religious practices.
I think you make an important observation of how the authors give a deliberately thorough explain of how the religion of the Aztecs directly influenced and eventually dictated their political motivations. The relationship between religion and justified violence is one that has been wide-spread across the world and has deep historical roots at the same time. The authors describe how the the ritual sacrifices of the Aztecs demand an endless flow of their victims’ blood and at the same point in history, the Catholic armies are driving out the Jews and the Muslims on the Iberian Peninsula; reclaiming that land for God. Both the Spanish and the Aztecs had a dedication to the spread of their physical empires that culminated with their beliefs and their desire to please their own ‘god’ through violence. Whether pleasing their ‘god’ was just a convenient political tool in order to gain wealth, power, and esteem or whether the politics came after their religious wars had begun is an interesting discussion.
ReplyDeleteLike you pointed out, in the case of Caesar and Napoleon violence was a means to their end: power, riches, and praise. Whereas with the Aztecs, their end was very different, yet the means were very similar to those of Caesar and Napoleon. When people act on their religious and philosophical beliefs through violence, it is much harder to see what their ‘end’ is because there are those who genuinely believe that they are pleasing God while at the same time, many capitalize on the religion bandwagon and use it as a convenient justification for the violence.