The recent news about Pete Hegseth shows how history repeats itself. Hegseth wanted to livestream a military execution. He viewed this public cruelty as a righteous act. This is the exact mindset of a Christian Nationalist. But history shows that public brutality never creates peace. It only guarantees a massive backlash.
We can see this clearly by looking at New Mexico in 1680. Spanish colonizers invaded the region in 1598 under Juan de Oñate. They established control through absolute terror. They mutilated resistance fighters and forced the population into slavery. Catholic missionaries and Spanish governors whipped the Pueblo people for decades. They banned native spiritual practices.
The tipping point arrived when a Spanish governor publicly executed and whipped several Pueblo medicine men. This public cruelty backfired immediately. Pueblo warriors marched on the palace and forced the governor to release the remaining prisoners. One of those prisoners was a leader named Po’Pay. He spent five years organizing a coordinated response. On August 10, 1680, the Pueblo people rose up together. They destroyed the Spanish missions and drove the colonizers out of their homeland entirely.
Spanish rulers thought public violence would force compliance. Modern extremists still make the same mistake. Public execution does not project strength. It reveals the panic of an empire that is losing control.
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