While there were many historical events that occurred during the 16th century, the most prominant one in the Western world was the spread of colonialism throughout South America. There is a very close connection between colonialism and religion, especially with the spread of Roman Catholicism in the Americas by the Spaniards. One thing that really stuck out to me was the “Doctrine of Discovery” that was used by the Spaniards as their justification for conquering the Americas and forcefully converting the Native Americans throughout the land. While this way of thinking was not as prevalent among the Protestant settlers in North America, the Spanish however sought to spread Roman Catholicism by any means that they deemed necessary. This subsequently led to the mistreatment of the Natives. While evangelizing to people who don’t know Christ can be very good, there is an appropriate way of doing this. Christianity does not call for the oppression of others but instead it calls it’s followers to spread the good news. This way of spreading Christianity to other parts of the world was completely wrong and it is a shame that many tried to justify their actions using religious rhetoric. The Spanish unfortunately did not do a good job of reflecting Christian values during this conquest. One connection that I noticed between religion and colonialism is that the Spanish embraced a form of pride that made them feel more elevated than the Native Americans. In Religion and the Legacies of Colonial Violence the author writes, “Religion as a racialized category, then, was deployed to identify those with the “correct” religion (Christians), “incorrect” or “false” religion (Muslims and Jews, or the two “others” of Europe), and those deemed to have no religion and thus to be less than human and targets for colonial control, conversion, and liquidation”. This approach of spreading religion was wrong because the Spanish did not treat the Native Americans with dignity and respect, but instead they treated them as subhuman. People should never be treated in this manner because all people possess the same amount of intrinsic value.

References:

Omer, Atalia, and Joshua Lupo. “Religion and the Legacies of Colonial Violence.” Religion, Modernity, and the Global Afterlives of Colonialism, 15 Sept. 2024, pp. 1–22, https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.21995779.3.