Skip to main content

Banning religious symbols in a country with NO SPACE for the secular

Christmas party pooper Raymond Palatino seeks to ban this religious symbol in UP's Lantern Parade!
The Honourable Raymond Palatino, Member of the Philippine Congress wants religious symbols out of public view especially in government offices and agencies. This is a copycat move and foreign import from the secular West, especially Europe. As a foreign import, it is totally alien to Filipino culture, Christian, Lumad, Muslim etc and MUST BE OPPOSED.

Filipinos are a nation of people with a faith tradition who support the separation of Church and State. Why? It is because they believe the separation of Church and State protects their freedoms, most especially of worship. This freedom of worship guarantees religious pluralism and the tolerance of most Filipinos to the diversity of beliefs. The Filipino as a Roman Catholic bishop once said, is "most ecumenical".

An good friend of mine, an American Episcopal priest who has spent his whole priestly life in missions in the Philippines and Asia told me that "there is no space for the secular" in the Philippines. Even the secular is expressed  in religious terms.

An example is the "godless" and state funded University of the Philippines in Diliman where there are two churches, both architecturally distinctive, always packed to the rafters with students, especially during exam week.  In December, the "secular" lantern parade is filled with representations of, and religious symbols called "Stars of Bethelehem" a.k.a. "parol". Palatino would be the greatest Christmas party pooper in the universe if he succeeds. What is Christmas without "parol"?

In probably one of his most significant lectures, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams reflected on the Magna Carta, which is the foundation document of civil liberties in England and America and through America, ours. Here Dr Williams argues that religion is the strongest motive to protect liberty since it defends the dignity of the human person, especially the most disadvantaged in society. Thus it should not be banished from the public sphere lest we lose all of our liberties.

Dr Williams concludes

"The public acknowledgment of religious freedom is the opposite of theocracy; rightly understood – as Lord Acton argued – it is a key to the full-blooded defence of pluralism and accountability, not some sort of concession to obstinate prejudice."


In a country whose people value these religious symbols, these symbols exist for the good of society. The jurisprudence of this country puts a high value to the freedom of worship and religious minorities like the Jehovah's Witnesses have been protected. They are not required to salute the symbols of the state like the flag since this violates their religious beliefs. What applies to a minority like them applies too to the majority Roman Catholic Church and even to atheists and freethinkers. Palatino's bill is aimed at the Roman Catholic Church. This has to be made clear. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kung bakit dapat maging wikang pambansa din ang Ingles

Isang kakatwang eksena ang nasaksihan ko sa isang pribabdong opisina kamakailan lang. Dalawang empleyado ang inatasang bigyan ng solusyon ang isang isyu tungkol sa logistics. Ang isa ang tubong Davao at ang isa ay taga Iloilo. Ang unang wika nila ay Cebuano (Bisaya) at Hiligaynon (Ilonggo). Ang dalawang wika ay halos pareho ngunit may mga katagang iba ang kahulugan sa isa't isang wika. Ginamit nila ang wika nilang kinalakihan at hindi sila nagkaintindihan. Ang nangyari tuloy ay gumamit na lang sila ng wikang Ingles! Yung na nga rin ang sabi ko. Mag-English na lang kaya kayo! At bakit di wikang Filipino ang ginamit nila? Sa totoo lang, marami pa rin ang hindi bihasa sa Filipino upang gamitin ito sa mga larangan tulad ng logistics. At hindi lamang sa mga larangang teknikal, sa mga biyahe ko sa ibat-ibat lugar sa Pilipinas, ang mga naka-paskel sa mga CR o palikuran tungkol sa pagtitipid ng tubig ay naka sulat sa 1)Wika ng rehiyon 2) Wikang Ingles 3) at minsa'y sa wikang Filipino S

Simoun's lamp has been lit, finally.. not by one but by the many!

"So often have we been haunted by the spectre of subversion which, with some fostering, has come to be a positive and real being, whose very name steals our serenity and makes us commit the greatest blunders... If before the reality, instead of changing the fear of one is increased, and the confusion of the other is exacerbated, then they must be left in the hands of time..." Dr Jose Rizal "To the Filipino People and their Government" Jose Rizal dominates the Luneta, which is sacred to the Philippine nation as a place of martyrdom. And many perhaps all of those executed in the Luneta, with the exception of the three Filipino secular priests martyred in 1872, have read Rizal's  El Filibusterismo . Dr Rizal's second novel is a darker and more sinister one that its prequel but has much significance across the century and more after it was published for it preaches the need for revolution with caveats,  which are when the time is right and who will in

President Manuel Luis Quezon's Code of Ethics

Being a denizen of Kyusi, in honour of the man who gave my city its name and for being the most colourful prez the Philippines ever had, I have the pleasure to post Manuel L Quezon's Code of Ethics on his birthday. Let us profit from the wisdom of the Kastila. 1. Have Faith in the Divine Providence that guides the destinies of men and nations. 2. Love your country for it is the home of your people, the seat of your affection and the source of your happiness and well-being. It's defense is your primary duty. Be ready to sacrifice and die for it if necessary. 3. Respect the Constitution which is the expression of your sovereign will. The government is your government. It has been established for your safety and welfare. Obey the laws and see that they are observed by all and that public officials comply with their duties. 4. Pay your taxes willingly and promptly. Citizenship implies not only rights but obligations. 5. Safeguard the purity of suffrage and abide by the decisions of