Faith and State

this pic was taken inside our car. it's my dad's rosary. the one on top is the statue of Jesus in our church. He
must be praying for peace right now.

“Anong kukunan ko ng picture ='( (yes, with the sad face)?!”

Yup, that part of making this photoblog bothered me more than writing the essay that would accompany it. I want to take a picture of something that would really capture my thoughts on Philippine politics and so I spent days, even weeks of finding the right everything to capture the perfect image. Of course, thinking of the perfect topic goes with it. I want to write something new, something fresh.

Then, one Sunday, while attending mass, it struck me like there was divine intervention. I realized that my topic need not to be so complicated and far off. I found something to write about right there and then and with a few tweakings, I even found my (near) perfect image.

By just looking at the pictures, one would already know what my topic for this photoblog is. The next question would be why. Essays about religion and politics are a dime a dozen. I mean, there’s nothing so extraordinary about it which would mean that I didn’t succeed in finding a fresh topic right? Well, not exactly. As I mentioned earlier, my topic need not to be so complicated and far off and why write something new when you can explore other areas of a topic never opened up before (pampalubag-loob =)). Wow, that would be a challenge but that’s what I will try to do.

Now what about religion and politics? Ever since I reached school age, I have studied in a Catholic school, my parents are active members of Couples for Christ, and I’m part of Youth for Christ (wherein I’m currently super inactive) so you could say that religion plays a big part of my life, another reason why I chose to write about this topic. However, I really haven’t thought of its influence and impact on my political thinking. Maybe because we’re not one of those families who do block voting which is also done by sectors like the Iglesia ni Cristo and El Shaddai for example. I have nothing against this kind of voting, those who do that are entitled to do so. This is a free country, “democratic” as they say so.

Anyway, before getting lost to a different topic, I think the only aspect where being a Catholic doesn’t affect my political thinking is the way I vote. Even my parents don’t tell me who to vote for. But then again, its strong influence on the rest of my thinking is all over the place. That rest would include the issues surrounding political affairs. The Church (in my case since I’m a Catholic), the Islamic community, and those other major religious sectors always have their say in what’s happening in the world of politics may it be about the power players, the laws, the bills, the projects, etc., etc., etc. Politicians make sure they have a sector who would back them up or endorse them a hundred percent to ensure them of votes come election time and when a politician is elected, the president for example, there is sure to be a spiritual adviser. Important events in our country are also influenced by religion or like the EDSA People Power I (the only real People Power for me). People back then fought guns and tanks with flowers and rosaries as seen in the 500 peso bill. That’s how strong the influence of religion is. Heck, we even have a priest who was elected governor (for a change daw according to some interviews) and that running priest (I forgot his real name because he’s more famous by that title) who’s almost always present in rallies.

Let’s face it. We can’t avoid that. Ever since time immemorial or since the time of the Spaniards in our country for that matter, this overlapping of the relationship between religion and the affairs of the state is already there. Our high officials see to it that they consult the religious leaders and have their approval before doing a move. It’s like part of our culture which I think can be a good thing and at the same time, a bad thing. A good thing because well, unfortunately, I can’t think of a good thing right now. Honestly. They are two very different institutions for me and although unavoidable and of course, impossible, I think one should not interfere with the other because even though they may have the same concerns and interests for the people, these concerns have different roots.

Take for example, the reproductive health bill which is one of the hottest issues today sparking a conflict between the two. Obviously, the Church is absolutely against this bill since it would be against their mighty principle of promoting natural birth control methods. Their opposition of this bill is rooted on morality and other religious teachings especially the “go forth and multiply” part. An interesting event connected to that bill happened to me. The priest’s sermon the time where I had a “divine intervention” for my topic was about that and what a coincidence, after the mass, a pair of third year high school students came up to me and asked me to sign a petition disapproving the bill. One of them even said, take note, this is verbatim, “Ang ipokrita ko nga diyan eh. Nag-sign ako pero gusto ko naman yun [bill].” Both of them study in a Catholic school and when I asked who made them do the rounds with the petition paper, they said it was for their parish. Was the point implied? As for the government side, they look into the population control and economic aspect of it and for that, it seems they are with the bill although it hasn’t been passed yet and as for me, apathetic as it may seem and even though we already had a debate about this in class, it would take a while for me to decide which side I am really on. This bill is just a part of a bigger picture which involves religion and politics.

Next to Catholicism in terms of number is Islam. Our brothers and sisters also have this difficulty (I don’t want to say problem) between their religion and the state. The case is still the same although the stakes here are bigger. Like, it’s the safety of people and territory we’re talking about. I don’t really know much about how it all started. All I know is that this religion’s effects and influence on politics are very obvious and like Catholicism, it can also be a good thing or a bad thing. First, the good side (Wow. I can think of a good thing here). As much as possible, they always have to have representations in national politics which is good I suppose so they won’t feel outsiders in their own country. I think feeling that is one reason why some of them run amok leading to war. Their ritual (I’m not sure of the term) such as the Ramadan becomes a feast for us. We “feast” because it’s a national holiday which would mean there’s no classes and work. Some say the President did that para magpabango to the the Muslim Community but whatever her real motive is, I hope the outcomes are worth it.

Now the bad side. Of course there’s the never-ending warfare in Mindanao that no matter how many peace talks there will be it will take time before it’s resolved. I’m not being pessimistic and all but that’s reality, these peace talks are not even pursued as far as I know. Then there’s the issue of territory. Muslims are known to stand up and fight for their faith but honestly, I don’t know anymore where this warfare and quest for territory are rooted, if it’s still because of their religion or some other reasons. Maybe that’s where the more complicated position of politics comes in and since I’m not an expert in this religion, I might as well not delve deeper on that angle.

I just realized, I’ve been using the word religion throughout this essay and yet, I haven’t defined it in my own context. For me, religion and faith are different terms even though when you shift+F7 the word religion on Microsoft word, the word faith also appears. Faith is universal, abstract, intangible. One can say that he has a strong faith but not that he has strong religion. Faith for me is like so heavenly I can’t even explain it fully in words. On the other hand, religion for me makes faith tangible. Unlike faith, religion has social bearings. When people ask, they won’t ask what your faith is, they would ask what your religion is and I think that’s one cause of discrimination and hasty generalization for others.

What’s it got to do with politics? Well, if we are divided by the very thing that we all have which is faith (translated into religion), how can we become a nation? Politics isn’t all about the government since it’s the affairs of the state and WE are the state so this division among religions do affect us in one way or another whether we like it or not. As for the overlapping part, it can’t be easily changed since it’s always been there. I just hope people think more about faith than religion in relation to politics.

--Dane Medina, 2005-44215, BSDC--