Did you know that Costa Rica is the only country in the Americas with an official religion? Our national religion–no, it’s not fútbol or bureaucracy–is Catholicism, as defined by Article 75 of the Constitution of Costa Rica. From the smallest rural towns defined by a soccer field, a pulpería, and a Catholic church, to the cities of the GMA with their grand cathedrals, about two-thirds of the country practices the religion first imposed here centuries ago by the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors.
As for the other third, it is composed of a small mix of Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, discreet agnostics, and atheists, with the bulk of that final third being Evangelical Christians (ECs). The EC’s are staking out their territory across the country. About 20% of Ticos identify as Evangelicals, and if you are out on a Sunday morning, and you aren’t sure where they are, just follow the amplified music. Guitars and drums banging, people singing and swaying their sins away. Making gleeful noise.
If you didn’t know the time and place, you might think you were outside a nightclub. The service in the nearby Catholic church is a sober, glum affair by comparison, fueled by guilt and penance, and overseen by a man in robes conducting part of his liturgy in a dead language.
While the schism is not as earth-shaking as back in 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door in Germany, they sometimes seem like two sects separated by a common god. An Evangelical I know explained to me a basic difference: the Catholics love their symbols, while the ECs reject saints, icons, and Virgin Mary (or other virgins) idolatry. For the ECs, the Pope is the head guy in a cabal of weirdos holed up in Vatican City.
That national holiday that falls on August 2nd honoring La Virgen de Los Angeles, and recognizing her as Costa Rica’s Patron Saint? The day that attracts romeros who start their journey to the church in Cartago days in advance? The Evangelicals don’t observe it. Nor do they care that the government does not recognize religious marriage ceremonies other than those conducted by the Catholic Church.
The Evangelicals also believe every word of the Bible to be true. That it is divinely inspired and infallible. How would I, a confirmed agnostic, know this? Here is a good place to reveal that the Evangelical I cited above is, in fact, my wife. She was not this way when we married but has evolved to this position over time. Maybe as a result of being married to me. We have our own schism within the household, though tolerance and acceptance is the general rule.
She doesn’t understand why I don’t believe in praying to a god I am skeptical of; I don’t understand why she believes every word of the Bible is true as stated. ‘How do you know the Spanish translation is exactly as originally written?’ I will ask her. “You can’t really believe the universe is only 6 thousand years old and that a 500-year-old man built a boat that carried two of every species during a great flood…can you?”
If it makes you happy, and no one is really being harmed, do it. She is happy being a part of that world, and I accept it. As an agnostic, I sometimes play the ‘If I had to choose’ game with major religions. My personal choice would be Buddhism, as it is as much a philosophy as a religion, and does not rely on superheroes with a direct line to God.
And if I had a gun to my head and had to choose between the Catholics or the Evangelicals? I guess I’d go with the place that sounds like they are having a party.
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Don Mateo
