Jose de Acosta talks a lot

Jose de Acosta was a Jesuit big wig who wrote a treatise on converting indigenous Americans called How to Provide for the Salvation of the Indians.  He was there in the late 1500s.  Essentially, he says that while its been tough going converting the Indians (he mentions the cruelty of the Spanish conquerors/colonizers as being a major impediment), the Indians will come around, just be patient and keep at it.  He draws examples of people who didn’t take to it right away from the Bible, although not being a Christian I didn’t really get his examples.  Its refreshing to me that he seems to consider them to be human beings, and to be worthy of compassion and respect.  Still, his utter lack of consideration for their own beliefs is baffling to me (not that anyone else we’ve read about has been any better).  I can’t understand how someone can be so set in their beliefs as to completely disregard the beliefs of others, especially in regards to religion.  In that sense, no matter how smart he is otherwise, Jose de Acosta is as blind and ignorant as anyone.