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This is what I do when I’m bored.

Last night, I watched Apocalypto again, this time with my brother.  Knowing the story now, I watched the film differently.  While the first time through seeing some of the violent acts were primarily shocking to some extent (and thus didn’t necessarily register fully), the second time through I was left with the impression: Aztecs were evil.

Now obviously people don’t read very well these days (as evidenced by Touchstone, for instance), so let me make this following point as clearly as I can.  The following argument is extremely nuanced, refers only to the Aztecs (not any other group), and is not to be taken in an overly generalized manner!

With that out of the way, the Aztecs were extremely evil.  Again, the movie does not depict them as bad as they actually historically were (which is saying something because they’re really bad in the movie).  So the question obvious arrises: Isn’t it a GOOD THING that the Aztecs were wiped out?

I think so.  I know this isn’t politically correct to say, but in this case it is true.  The Aztecs killed thousands of people in human sacrifices.  They glorified in this, much like ancient Rome with her gladiators.  The Aztecs brutalized everyone around them.  They did not understand the concept of “mercy” in the slightest.  They would go on raids against villagers for the sole purpose of getting more slaves and more sacrificial victims–not even for the sake of new lands or money, which while still evil is less depraved.

These people were utterly depraved in their civilization.  When the Spaniards showed up on the scene, the Aztecs got exactly what they deserved in the sense of resipricosity.  What they did to others was done unto them.

Now obviously I am not going to excuse the Spaniards here.  They did not do this out of a sense of righteousness.  Instead, we see what was already spoken of by Isaiah thousands of years ago, when he spoke of the Assyrians coming to destroy pagan Israel (Isaiah 10:5-11):

Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

God used Assyria to punish Israel, but this did not make Assyria righteous.  Instead, Assyria acted out of evil intent, and thus God likewise punished Assyria (vs. 15-17):

Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.

In the same way, I see God using the Spaniards to punish the wicked Aztecs.  This does not excuse the behavior of the Spaniards, and indeed God has dealt with them for that as well. 

The bottom line, however, is that despite their portrayal in publik skrewl, the Aztecs were not peace-loving, innocent Native Americans who were raped and killed by the vicious white men.  The Aztecs were brutal, evil people who were destroyed in a like manner.  From the perspective of the captives slaughtered on the pyramids, the Aztecs got what they deserved.