Mexican Cristero War and the Modern United States: A Historical Comparison

A great deal has already been said about the Cristero War of the 1920s in Mexico, so I am not trying to add anything entirely new here. Instead, I want to look at Mexican history during this period and explore the analogy between the past and the present-day United States.For anyone without much historical background, let’s take a brief look at what led to the war.Around 1857, a new constitution was enacted that limited the power of the Catholic Church and made church property subject to the state. Although the law was poorly enforced, it still troubled the church establishment. In 1917, a revised constitution introduced even stricter boundaries and made the separation of church and state more explicit. Clergy were barred from voting or running for office, education was declared secular in both private and public schools, political speech from the pulpit was prohibited, and religious events outside the church were banned. These measures created serious tension between the church and the state.By the mid-1920s, tensions escalated. The message from the church to the faithful was essentially: “The government wants to take away your religion and the Virgin from you.” People took up arms, and a guerrilla movement led by the Catholic Church against the government began. That was the start of the bloody Cristero War.The modern-day United StatesThe United States has long seen itself as a religious nation. There are many signs that the separation between state and religion is more symbolic than real. Congress has chaplains in both chambers, the president has religious advisers, and elected officials often swear on the Bible.Over time, especially from Ronald Reagan onward, the country’s political future became more closely tied to religious institutions. Since then, political candidates have increasingly sought the approval of evangelical churches, and government policy has become more aligned with that branch of the religious establishment.Unlike the Mexican conflict, in the United States the religious establishment has claimed persecution not from the government itself, but from citizens who want stricter boundaries between church and state. The right wing of government and the church have formed an alliance to fight what they call “the left,” suppress dissent, pass laws aligned with religious priorities, and remove laws seen as threatening “freedom of religion.” In this effort, the religious establishment has found support across major branches of government, including the Supreme Court.As I write this, the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense have called for the deployment of the army against “the left.” Long ago, when I first thought about the similarities between Mexico’s past and the United States today, I never expected events to move so quickly. Even a couple of weeks ago, this still did not seem likely in the short term. Now, things have changed, and we may see a civil war or revolution sooner than expected.

In my home...

In My Home...

       

    There are places where the wind does not blow,

    and  light beams are glittered by dust.       

    A silent place ...

with a few whispers falling down 

straight to my heart.

    And now, you are in there,

    walking slowly by its rooms,

    Looking at its walls,

    touching with your hands.

   There is nothing to fear about,

                      nothing for you to hear,

                            to see...

                                 But me.