A Striking Contrast: Two Opposing Identities in One
Filipino religiosity is no doubt a trait that commonly sets us apart from the rest of the world. We have this belief in God that is clearly shown by the sprouting and proliferation of so-called Christian Churches in the archipelago, besides the fact that ours is a predominantly Catholic country, considered as Asia’s center of Christianity. What is noticeable in this situation is the presumption that being such a Christian country, Filipinos, the whole population of this Christian land, are all God-fearing and spotless when it comes to morals, government, religious matters, and everything associated with financial affairs. That presumption is a false impression–a reputation imposed upon us by our ancestors to uphold, as well as by the Spanish friars who instilled in our forefathers’ hearts and minds the idea that it is only through submissiveness to the teachings of the Church can one attain wealth reserved in heaven, that this influence in the way they thought about religiousness bound us to the rigors of holiness and subjugated our ways, belief, and practices to conform to the requirements of maintaining the impression of being a religious bunch of people. The strength of that subjection resulted to fanaticism, if not downright belief in what is not fully understood elements of saintliness. That process of imbibing the homilies carried out in the pulpits of preachers continues to this day, linking the churchgoers of by-gone era and of the present times.
The sad truth, however, is that a certain brand of religiousness comes most of the time in the form of outward observance of traditions, the basis of which, if traced back to its roots, is devoid of connection to the true Christianity as recorded in the annals of history. This sad fact can be easily demonstrated by no less than the observance of certain holidays which are supposedly rooted from the true religion founded in the earliest times but which historical records reveal otherwise. Without due diligence in looking back to the origins of that which are considered religious ways of living, one may be tempted to accept with open arms and with eyes closed the veracity of claims of such religiousness. This excludes the benefit of the doubt.
In the same line of reasoning, consider the idea behind the justice system that we and almost all other countries have: that of having courts of law. It would seem incredible to anyone who does not know about what is written in the Bible that it is against the Holy Scriptures to file a suit against a brother in faith or a fellow Christian. So why do we have courts and lawyers to defend or to prosecute, Christian undertaking legal proceedings against another Christian? The mere fact that we have the Constitution and government officials enforcing the laws–laws which are apart and different from the Law in the Bible– even if some may contend that the laws of the land are in harmony with the spirit of the Law given by God, still proves that we have gone beyond what is written, that is, by establishing our own laws and government, we have departed from the original plan of bringing all people into subjection to no other laws but the law of God. It is for this reason that those people under the law of men, being apart from the sacred laws, are no longer bounded by the words of God originally intended to rule the heart of every man that blatant corruption is a clear proof and manifestation of the falseness of any claim of religiousness on the part of people in the government. It is no surprise that this stain in the reputation of Filipinos goes side by side with the supposed religiousness of our people.
Another explanation to the mingling of religiousness and corruption prevalent in our country can be offered. This smear in our identity as a people is not an isolated case. It is a universal phenomenon but varies only in degree. What could be behind this seemingly contradictory state taking form in one and the same people? Examination of this question discloses an obvious answer: the question is wrong in the first place. It is because we cannot treat the whole population as one person any more than each of us cannot assume two sharply contrasting personalities at the same time. Those taking part in the corruption must not be viewed as identical with those who are completely innocent of the corrupt practices. Thus, the idea that we are both corrupt and religious at the same time is a mere illusion. Moreover, people are not programmed like robots or computers so that whatever the programmer wished the programmed machine to do would be done exactly without any grumble. People have the free will to decide for themselves whatever they want to do. This free will is what Judases in the government take advantage of that they feel it is their privilege to steal or plunder.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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