Religion anywhere in the world tends to have social, cultural or ancestral components that are unique to the people. Mexico is no different.
Although about 94 percent of Mexicans claim Roman Catholicism as their religion, only about 15 percent of them practice it, according to Baptist Mid-Missions (BMM).
BMM, an independent organization that seeks to evangelize Mexico, describes a brand of Roman Catholicism as “Christo-paganism,” meaning merges of tribal practices with Roman Catholicism, some to greater degrees than others. Not all Catholics there practice idolatry.
In Mexico today, there are religious groups that allege it is government policy to keep foreign religious practitioners out of Chiapas and Oaxaca, two areas in southern Mexico that are steeped in the practice of Indian culture, tradition and ritual.
These areas have documented cases in modern history of extreme religious intolerance toward evangelicals and other religious groups.
In some of these areas, there is an attempt to mix Jehovah worship with the worship of idols, a practice the apostle Paul soundly condemned in his letters to early New Testament churches.
Long-standing practice
The BMM reports that there is long history of idol worship among indigenous peoples of Mexico, with one of the most prevalent being the syncretism of Catholic and Mayan religious practice. People embracing this practice view Christianity — and any other religion — as a threat to their culture, and most will fight it. The Maya and Aztec civilizations were two of the most predominant and highly advanced Indian groups in Mexico.
The BMM states that in connection with religious intolerance, particularly in areas of Mexico that are under the influence of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, homes have been burned, crops destroyed and people beaten and killed.
Whatever the religion of a group of people or an individual attempting to visit Mexico for religious purposes, they must secure government permission, according to the U.S. Department of State.
The Mexican government maintains that it does not deny visas based on religion and that it does not expel religious workers based on their religious activities.
Instead, it says that foreign religious workers have been expelled for inappropriate political behavior, according to the U.S. Department of State.
Catholicism came to Mexico through the predominantly Catholic country of Spain during its rule of the country for 300 years.
Today, many other groups practicing their own kinds of religion, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah’s Witnesses, are active in many of Mexico’s cities.
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