When was it better – Then or Now?

Published June 18, 2022

by Joseph Toone

Often on tours or the lecture circuit folks ask “When was it better – when the indigenous ruled or after the Spanish conquest?”

That’s a loaded question if only because there is no easy answer.  The politically correct answer is to honor the indigenous, however that’s tough to do.  They were often violent with human sacrifice and cannibalism the norm.

Now, that’s not to imply it was all butterflies and rainbows once the area became conquered starting the Inquisition centuries (1520 to 1820).  Catholic Spaniards had their own gruesome murders and customs.  With the exception of Mel Brooks, no one can find humor in the Inquisition.

Recently I read a 1990s book by an Irish-American priest whose whole point is how Mexico was better off under the Spanish than the country has been since freedom from Spain.  Now there’s a point of view I’ve never heard uttered.

The author’s perspective was Spain (aka the Inquisition, though he never once called it that) brought civility, culture and the one true faith to Mexico.  I am the first to promote that if the Inquisition brought any gifts here it was health care and education.  That’s why most hospitals and schools are still named for saints or Jesus’ mother.

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