Questions about the Inquisition and Notes about "Somos Sur"
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While reading Cook’s Forbidden Passages, I found myself questioning the authenticity of conversion. If Maria Ruiz had maintained her faith in Islam, despite marrying a Christian man and following through with Christian practices like confession and communion, was the Inquisition’s actions truly effective? What is the point of having people “convert” if, privately, they do not practice? People can very easily fake their commitments, and I was wondering if forcible conversion is even worth it? Is the purpose of faith not authenticity and true belief? Words do not properly relay a person’s genuine feelings. One may say they renounce their faith out loud, but their heart can still stay dedicated. I understand the hardships and humiliation people go through when they are forced to insult their faith. It is incredible difficult and emotionally tolling, but aren’t these faiths also based in forgiveness and understanding? If within their heart they do not mean what they said, would it not be okay to “play for the audience”? I fear I may not have a proper comprehension of faith as I do not engage with religion. Perhaps even uttering words with no basis is as blasphemous as the real thing. I hope I do not come off as ignorant. I just wonder why these institutions, like the Inquisition, force people to convert knowing that there will always be the possibility that their conversion is not truthful. I genuinely cannot understand intolerance as it seems so ridiculous for me.
Questions aside, I also wanted to discuss “Somos Sur” by Ana Tijoux. This song is incredible (as I say with every song that is part of our readings each week, but I truly mean it). In an engaging rhythm, Tijoux and Shadia Mansour stand up against colonial powers. What I truly admire about this song is the stand with most of the countries that have faced obstacles at the hands of the West. Tijoux lists all the African and Latin American countries that hold their ground, and Mansour brings to light the hardships in the Middle East. The perseverance in these lyrics is very inspiring. There is a sense of proudness and unity against the common enemy. They are not afraid to call the West out for the crimes and their downfalls. Songs like this demonstrates the determination found in these nations. I absolutely adore how artists can take music and turn it into an important message. They allow listeners and fans to pay attention to their words in a catchy and beautiful way. It reminds me a lot of System of a Down and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, who use their music to discuss politics and bring awareness to their countries resolutions.
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These are great questions, Grace! Regarding your question as to why there would be a point in having people “convert” if they do not practise privately or believe it in their hearts, I have some speculations as a history major who has learned a little bit about Inquisitorial approaches to religious deviancy. These institutions functioned as much for social control as they did for (supposedly) ensuring the salvation of the souls they governed. Whether the pendulum swung one way or the other depended on the personal motivations of the many individuals that comprised these institutions, and that is unfortunately difficult to tell without something like preserved diaries from all of them.
As far as the effects go, Inquisitions functioned–regardless of the motivations of the inquisitors–as a deterrent. Prosecuting, torturing, imprisoning and sometimes executing people for having unorthodox beliefs sends a message to the population to at least pretend to be Catholic, or else they might get reported. It is useful to compare the perception of Moriscos with the perception of the indigenous peoples in “New Spain”. Whether a Morisco was secretly Muslim may not have mattered because their souls were a lost cause anyway; what mattered were the souls of the indigenous peoples, who were vulnerable to “corruption” by Muslim ideas. For example, Friar Sotomayor was concerned about this, so he filed complaints against the Morisca Catalina de Ibiza and her children for being so disruptive of Mass (Cook 90). If the Inquisition could scare Muslims into thinking that their neighbours could report on them (which they very much did, like in the case of Pedro Hernández (Cook 96)), they would keep their ideas to themselves and thus stop them from propagating. The Inquisition and the colony as a whole stand to lose power if they cannot maintain at least the impression of spiritual orthodoxy, considering that a major justification for the colonial project hinged on the Christian belief that these lands were given to Europeans by God and it is their mission to “save" the "primitive” indigenous populations.
Sorry for this long response; I hope it may be of some use. Of course, this is only one approach to some of your questions, so please feel free to add to it or contest it if you or anyone else would like to!