WEA Commission Reports on Severe Persecution of Protestants in Western Mexico
Protestant Christians are experiencing severe persecution by traditionalist natives of Jalisco state, Mexico, according to the religious liberty commission of a global network of Christians.
Protestant Christians are experiencing severe persecution by traditionalist natives of Jalisco state, Mexico, according to the religious liberty commission of a global network of Christians.
The Huichol natives, indigenous inhabitant of the town Agua Fria, Jalisco state, Mexico have threatened to force Christians out of the area with intimidations of burning them to death, reported the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) in a Sept. 7 bulletin.
On Aug. 14, the first group of protestant refugees from the village of Agua Fria, fled into the neighboring state of Tepic, Nayarit. According to the RLC, the first batch of refugees numbered 70 including at least 12 infants. Many more Christians were forced to flee after the first set and it is estimated that more than 300 people have been forced from their home since Aug. 14.
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Among the groups persecuting the protestant Christian are Catholics. In the past, the protestant Christians have been persecuted by Catholics in areas such as the southern state of Chiapas and in the central state of Hidalgo.
“Catholics of the town went through the community with machetes and clubs, shouting they were going to kill us and burn us alive,” said Jesus Nunez Carrillo to La Jornada, a Mexican newspaper.
According the RLC, most locals practice a syncretistic religion, mixing the Catholicism of the Spanish colonialists with traditional Huichol rituals which involve shamanism and the use of the hallucinatory drug peyote.
The village leaders of Agua Fria state that if the protestant Christians want to return to their hometown, they must deny their religion and assume the traditional lifestyle of the village.
“It’s dangerous for the Huichol culture for religious groups to enter,” Magdaleno Lopez Ibarra, a municipal leader of nearby San Sebastian, told La Jornada. “Communal statutes stipulate that they can stay within the community as long as they practice Huichol culture, but if not, they must leave home.”
According to the RLC, the persecution of protestant Christian is likely the result of Mexico’s association of Protestantism religion with America. Traditional Mexicans view protestant Christianity as a threat to their culture, tradition, and Catholic faith, especially given the number of Mexicans in recent decades that have changed to evangelical Christianity after reading the Bible.
On Sept. 2-4, Mezquitic town officials reportedly plan to further discuss officially expelling the Huichol evangelicals from Agua Fria.
