A Spanish blog I read called Vivir Mexico has recently started a great series called (in English), “That’s how we are: Mexicans.”
The idea is that they are going to explore Mexicans and their culture, talking each week about an aspect of Mexican culture (they say they will explore both the good and the bad).
This week’s topic was Mothers (El Culto de La Madre (Spanish link)). Here’s some of what they had to say:
El Culto de La Madre
Mothers and the word Mother is something that is reflected in every aspect of Mexico, from religion to culture; from moral values to politics.
You can see the difference between Mothers and Fathers just by looking at the difference between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day. Mothers’ Day is practically a national holiday while Fathers’ Day goes practically unnoticed.
Motherhood represents the protection, faith, and safety of always having somebody by your side regardless of what happens. Somebody will always be there to comfort you, attend to you, and will always be ready to forgive you and love you unconditionally.
To be a bad mother is the worst possible thing in Mexican society. Bad mothers are the villains of every story. This logic would also explain the controversy over the legalization of abortion, halting the possibility of being a mother.
In Mexico, you can steal, kill, kidnap, beat, and do whatever, but to abandon your children is to fall to the bottom.
The same thing applies to children. You can do anything else, but the child who abandons his mother deserves less than the devil himself, especially if the mother is elderly.
It is even said that the devil acts the way he does because he didn’t have a mother to advise him.
I look forward to this series. There are many things there that I had already noticed, but to hear it from a Mexican and to think about the implications have helped me understand the culture so I can better minister within the culture.
(Image by carf on flickr)
