In Paul Vanderwood's The Power of God Against the Guns of Government, we are treated to the story of the Tomochic Revolt. Tomochic was a mestizo village of a few hundred people during the era of Porfirio Diaz's progressive policies wherein cooperation with North American many peasants had modernization and industrialization imposed on them. In this government context, the ranching, mining founder and leader of the Tomochic settlement, Cruz Chavez, became a religious leader for the Tomochitecos. Chavez and the Tomochitecos were highly influenced by Santa Teresa Urrea, the faith healer responsible for the cult of Santa Teresa. Tomochic informed the government they wished to obey only God, with Vanderwood arguing their motivation for revolt was primarily religious. This analysis will argue that though the Tomochic revolt was primarily one motivated by religion; Cruz Chavez, Teresa Urrea, and the ordinary Tomochic residents were motivated by additional political and social factors as well.
Today's unequal development between the rich and poor and the industrialization of developing countries due to globalization is an excellent framework for seeing the tensions, conflicts, and motivations that lie beneath the Tomochic revolt. Claiming themselves to be divinely inspired, the Tomochitecos viewed themselves as God's chosen to bring in a new millennium by rebelling against an oppressive government. Inspired by God, there is little denying this religious ideology was influenced by Teresa Urrea, a young faith healer. When discussing the Cult of Santa Teresa, Vanderwood maintains its ideology sought the "sublime state of community" and is difficult for those with their vision "clouded by enlightenment" to see the religious views as anything other than "superstition" (329).
Indeed, the Tomochitecos viewed themselves as divinely inspired to the point where they felt they were immune to bullets. Repeatedly re...