The most baffling thing is once subjugated peoples now being the most ardent in their beliefs.
Many of those people were intentionally replaced or mixed with settlers.
In Latin America, the christian conquerers forced people to pray to their god. So people adapted by praying to their old gods in the guise of the new.
Catholicism was the only religion allowed in the colonial era; the indigenous were forced to abandon their beliefs, although many did not abandon it at all, for example, countries with predominantly Amerindian population such as Bolivia and Peru there is a syncretism between indigenous religions and the Catholic religion, that has occurred since colonial times. In Brazil or Colombia, Catholicism was mixed with certain African rituals.
Jokes on the white dude, Jesus is a reskinned sun god.
December 25 literally the Day of the Birth of the Unconquered Sun, invented by Emperor Julian in an attempt to restore paganism to the Roman Empire in the early 300s.
Dec 25 only became accepted as the birth date of Jesus afterwards.
Can’t make it up.
tbf Julian was more of a neoplatonist rather than a sun cultist, and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti predates Julian. But yes, December 25 being ‘Christmas’ is absolutely part of the Christian exploitation of pre-existing pagan traditions to make conversion easier - as is Christmas’s relation to Saturnalia, a way cooler holiday than some dweeb being born in Bethlehem, smh.
