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I'm not saying that the Spanish conquistadors were "saints." But neither were the Mayans or Aztecs. All their sacrifices were not voluntary, many were captives in war, tied up, drugged and slaughtered. I am not sure I would have the stomach to watch this and think, oh well just a different point of view in which I have to live.

That being said, there is a Catholic priest from Spain (I can't remember his name) that has a checkered history at best because he did the most work in translating the Mayan language, but then destroyed all of the Mayan writings he could find because they kept going back to their native religion, including human sacrifices. I think this is a sad historical conclusion to a conflict of cultures.

I can understand both point of views, his frustration in trying to end what he thought was barbaric acts, and their stubbornness in holding on to their culture(I would do the same if someone invaded my country and tried to do the same to me.)

By the way the Spanish did not conquer the Mayan Empire. It was in ruins long before the Columbus landed. They found ruins of the Empire and what was left of the Mayan people as they explored the Yucatan Peninsula.

I have a lot of respect for the Mayan people. I spent three weeks in the Yucatan studying the culture and ruins. They look at themselves as "Yucatecs" before they think of themselves as "Mexicans"(kind of like Texans in this country :)"