In the polytheistic culture of the Mayans and the Aztecs, historians and anthropologists alike denote the importance the role of priests had on their respective communities. These cultures believed in the vengeance and power of their deities and explained almost all aspects of their environment, catastrophes, good fortune, and military prowess on the appeasement of their gods. The dominance of the priests over most of the political and social aspects of Mesoamerican life were so intertwined in these cultures that the practice of human sacrifice, among many other varieties of sacrifice, was all too commonplace.
             The long tradition of religious practice was rooted into Mesoamerican customs, and was most likely not questioned because it was so familiar. The Maya and Aztec take on the afterlife and the role of humans may explain why these ceremonies of bloodletting, crop offering, and, of course, human sacrifice, were not viewed as outrageous. There existed an extremely subservient mindset throughout their motives because they lived to placate their deities and they died with honor through sacrifice or war to ascend to paradise.
             When the Spanish invaded and overtook Mesoamerica, their attempts to push Christianity into order was not an easy task. The concepts and dogmas of the polytheists of the land were ingrained as with any culture's religion. Their need for constant sacrifice was their way of life and Christian doctrines at first did not appeal to these peoples. Eventually, when the Mesoamericans adopted some of the principles of Christianity, it was not without preserving some of their beliefs as well.
             The Mesoamericans conviction in their religion is not baffling. Each and every day involved constant reminders of the powers of their deities and every man's responsibility to satisfy them. Whether speaking of their glorious monuments to either their corporal God-kings or the deities in the heavens, their
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