move over pope

there has been a very significant shift away from catholicism in Guatemala.  while previously it was the only religion the country is now split and 50% of those practicing religion are catholic - the 50% are called evangelical.

i have no idea what the evangelicals believe or don't believe.  i can say that there are missionaries all over Guatamala and i did overhear this conversation at a local shop in Antigua.  clearly, this youngish [20 something] guy and slightly older woman were missionaries i'm just not sure which flavor.

him:  someone asked me about the cross and i didn't know what to say
her:  we don't ever talk about the cross or crucifixion because they are symbols associated with catholicism.

ummm.  ok.  i didn't wait around to hear more.  

one day on an hour-long ride to Santa Teresita where there are hot springs we got to speculating about this shift away from catholicism.  urbanization and economic decline were early factors and but it was the catholic church's alignment with the guerrillas during the civil war that opened the flood gate of evangelicals.  from there it seems the catholic church wasn't 'tending it's flock' and that led to the massive exodus.  

more on the religious practices in Guatemala.

sinful, sinful people

before i even land i notice a lot of people praying and strangely reading traditional paper books.  first i think they must be concerned about the weather and flying.  then i realize they must be missionaries - and there are tons of them everywhere here.  i suspect the Guatemalans must be really sinful and evil people to require such large numbers of missionaries.  also, the number of churches is proportionately large.

more on the churches later. 

i've seen faith based organizations at 'work' around the world so i can say with confidence that they do good but it's usually with a heavy dose of doctrine.  they typically operate within the antiquated model of aid by providing goods and services at no charge which is not a sustainable model.  disaster aid is different but is still better delivered by organizations who have spent decades working humanitarian disasters.