29 April 2009

CHRISTIANS BEHAVING BADLY #10 killing infidels

Francisco Pizarro
(c. 1471 or 1476 - 1541)

In my attempt to show that
being religious is not a
guarantee of moral
behavior,this post is a part
of my series of reports
featuring the bad behavior
of religious people, past
or present....

Look for other posts
showing the bad behavior
perpetrated by members
of other religious groups.



In 1532, when Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incan empire, he captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa and promised to free him if the Incan people would fill one room (17” X 22”) with gold and two with silver. In 1533, once the task was completed, Pizarro killed Atahualpa anyway. His reason? The Inca was not a Christian, thus he had no obligation to fulfill a promise to him.
According to Wikipedia: “Though Pizarro is well known in Peru for being the leader behind the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, a growing number of Peruvians regard him as a kind of criminal. By taking advantage of the natives, Pizarro ruled Peru for almost a decade and initiated the decline of Inca culture. The Incas’ polytheistic religion was replaced by Christianity and both Quechua and Aymara — the main Inca languages — were reduced to a marginal role in society for centuries, while Spanish became the official language of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile. The cities of the Inca Empire were transformed into Spanish, Catholic cities. Pizarro is also vilified for having ordered Atahualpa's death despite his paid ransom of filling a room with gold and two with silver which was later split among all his closest Spanish associates.”
In 1541 Pizarro was assassinated by Diego Almagro II and his armed supporters in order to avenge Almagro’s father who had been a companion, and later a rival, of Pizarro. Pizarro (who was between 65 and 70 years old) collapsed on the floor, alone, painted a cross in his own blood and cried for Jesus Christ. He reportedly cried: “Come my faithful sword, companion of all my deeds.”

1 comment:

libhom said...

When you dehumanize people, it becomes easy to do inhuman things to them.

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