More detailed look at cultural change

Many of the readings we have done so far have mentioned the tendency for indíginas to move away from traditional dress, language, and customs. The reading this week helped me understand in more specific terms the concepts from other readings.

I particularly liked all of the information regarding religion. In the past, so many of the indígina versions of Catholicism has been a combination/assimilation of European Catholicism with Mayan costumbres. However, this brand of Catholicism is losing ground in many villages and being replaced with a Westernized mentality of opposites. Basically, you either believe in one savior in the manner in which the pastor/priest tells you to or you aren't a part of that religion. You are saved or you aren't. Not only evangelical sects have emphasized this; the Catholic Church has also created this division by telling indíginas that they need to choose Catholicism over their costumbres and over the protestant denominations as well. This religious and cultural inflexibility seems like a very Westernized concept to me.

What I think the author of the article is trying to get at is the idea that this development in religion mirrors modern cultural choices in Guatemala. You can 'become' a ladino by deserting indígina customs, but it is less easy now to assimulate these Western concepts into the Mayan mindset, because they are so inflexible. I will be very interested to see how this applies to the area we are in this May.