Just today I received an e-mail message from an old high school buddy named John. It dealt with an issue that bears much relevance to the times at hand: the separation of church and state. Next year is an election year and once again politicians and would-be politicians are on the roll with their posturing, positioning, gerrymandering and electioneering. Even the Catholic Church plays a part in the bizarre soap opera which is Philippine Politics.

Back to the letter.

Basically, John sent this message to a whole lot of people from our high school class, those with e-mail accounts (yung wala pa at nakikibasa lang, please lang kumuha na kayo!). His message elicited much response from the normally politically apathetic 4-A people. Usually we just talk about women and Thirdy Baranda. Politics and Religion? Never!

There's a first time for everything.

Tell me what you think. Mail me your comments and I might just post them.

The Letter That Started It All

My fellow Standards,

Last Sunday, I was at mass (yes, despite what you all think I do go to mass regularly) and right after communion was the usual trail of announcements and a surprising letter from Cardinal Sin. I almost zoned out during the letter and wanted to concentrate on this cute young mother beside me, when suddenly, in the middle of all the political crap I've come to expect from the arch-bishop, I heard the words "...this is the Will of God...".

Guys you know me as being as apolitical as anyone but that little sound byte really got to me. My two brothers (also 4A dorks), also heard that little tidbit and concurred with my assessment. It's bad enough that the Church in this country is such a political force but when they openly try to influence the ignorant and uneducated masses with any opinion (right or wrong, really doesn't matter) by saying that the arch bishop can discern and broadcast the WILL OF GOD, I think that's downright blasphemy! I really don't care much for all the politics regarding the charter change. That's entirely beside the point! Politics ain't my thing, you all know that, but I think that when Cardinal Sin specifically said "...it is the WILL OF GOD that..." I think he went overboard. Who does he think he is? Moses?

Am I wrong? I value your opinions on this matter because we all basically grew up together and slept through the same religion classes together. I also trust you boys to shoot my argument down if there is anything wrong (If anyone can bring down a Standard, it's another one).

Let me know,

John

Si Buddy Talaga!

I don't know about you but personally I am so sick to death of that stupid, meddling, fart-hog, asshole son of a bitch. Man, if I had a gun, I'd cap his ass in a minute. Besides, many people I know don't really give a fuck about what that son of a bitch has to say...they're so S-I-C-K of Sin. What has he done for the country? Has he brought investment in? Has he created jobs? Has he made the streets safer? Has he done anything to solve the traffic mess? Jack shit. That's what. Nothing but harp and harp and harp and be the "moral consciousness"...fuck him man.

- Buddy

Si Ramy Rin!

But seriously now guys.

Come on!

Religions are a product of the human mind. They never have, and never will be perfect; as is with the people who champion them.

We all run around trying to make sense of our worlds, and to convince as many others as we can of our own truths. Some inevitably convince better than others, helping give rise to collective beliefs, which are the foundation of religions.

Theology is nothing but a series of compounded justifications, one on top of the other, resulting in an intricate, super-complex, near-incomprehensible collection of ideas with one objective : to protect the religion from obsolescence. Remember?...religion evolves with man.

Back in the old days, there WAS no separation of church and state. The greedy, lazy, horny, slob that was the king was also the voice of God. In the Roman Catholic religion! Padre Damaso was a high priest. And in the 19th Century! And theology somehow manages to explain all THAT. The cardinal isn't doing anything earth-shakingly new.

So what am trying to say? I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE. Just that goddamit, it's fucking 11:55 pm, I'm sleepy, I've got work tomorrow, which is a Friday, which means I gotta have some energy left from work, to party and enjoy my life. I won't sweat the guy in the tall hat and red robes (is it red these days?) - he's just like the rest of us - all in one wild, fun circus ride - with no fucking clue, really - but still trying to do his thing, just trying to convince as many people as he can of his truths.

Let the man be. Who the fuck knows where some things stop and others begin? Use your religion to keep at peace with yourself. And then just kick back and enjoy the rest of the ride.

Harvard Boy

Why are we addressing each other as "standard?" Am I missing some reference here?

Such vapid opinions regarding the role of the church in society! And not so long ago we were all good little catholic boys lining up for communion, tallying up our venial sins beside the confessional.

I don't think the "masses" pay much attention to pastoral letters anyway. In what seems to be ancient history, I attended mass in Malate church, neck-deep in the masses, and a pastoral letter of some sort was read. It was read in English. The sound system was bad. It was hot. There was a little brat staring at me from the front pew. Every other word was polysyllabic. In short, I don't think anyone was listening, much less contemplating the implications of the letter in their lives.

Tips I would give Cardinal Sin would be: (1) write out the pastoral letters in simple Tagalog or whatever native dialect applicable; (2) keep it short, i.e. less than two minutes; (3) ask a minor celebrity to be guest reader (e.g. cast of TGIF for bigger parishes, neighborhood beauty contest winner for smaller ones: it's a win-win situation since the minor celebrity will benefit from halo effect of being associated with Catholic Church, and there of course should be publicity before the service in form of flyers or advertisements in parish bulletin boards); (4) ending with "this is the will of God" is not very vivid: end with something like, "this will make God happy, and that will result in (choose: better chances at lotto, visa approval at US embassy, OCW mother will not be beheaded in Saudi Arabia, annoying neighbor will get crabs, etc.).

If you recall Hitler's Mein Kampf, to make the masses understand and believe propaganda, it has to be phrased almost idiotically simple, with clear and concrete rewards for concurrence, and punishment for dissension. And the dear Cardinal, modern man he is, should go a step further and adjust the marketing to the pecularities of our culture: lots of flash, celebrity endorsement, and emotional tug will get you everywhere.

I'm having lunch at Patrick's wonderful Backbay brownstone this Sunday. We will most certainly discuss this further.

Ramon

Ayedee's Turn

Fellow Standards,

This is in response to John's letter and I am quite glad he took the time to respond to such "blasphemy." About one month ago, I was also quite unfortunate to hear a mass of similar nature after the medical boards. This priest (I forget his name) mentioned that a couple of medical students who were taking the boards came to him to ask for his blessing (for good luck I guess). And his whole sermon was about his complete and utter disdain for such requests, short of saying those med students were just hearing mass so that they could get "Divine Providence" from God for their upcoming boards. Granted, that may be true. But who the hell is he to judge the true intentions of people who come to him for blessing? Does that mean that every person who comes to him for blessing is selfish in doing so? I am sure that is not the case. And he was a Jesuit at that; and a member of the academe at Ateneo. I can probably take such crap from some other denomination, but taking it from a "good old" Jesuit was just too much.

It is such religious arrogance that I find irritating with men of the cloth. The only person I would believe who could discern the will of God would be the Pope, and even then I have my doubts. Remember Galileo? How it took over 400 years for the Catholic to recant their chastisement of his theories of the solar system? Or how about the Inquisition? The Church is not infallible. They are just like you and I. They need to eat, sleep, and fart too.

So I guess it all boils down to what we all personally believe in. When people ask me "Do you believe in God?" I reply : "I believe in science; the rest I leave up to God."

So there's my two cents worth of spam.

Bing's Thoughts

Fellow Standards.

wo ho! what's this? what happened to chicks and pick-up lines? but seriously folks.

but seriously folks, i would agree with boo. religion is a personal and quite touchy thing (see Israel and Palestine :-).

personally, i take a cynical point of view. i hardly expect (doesn't mean that i condone) "men of the cloth" to be apolitical. it's easy to legislate separation of church and state but the lines are hard to draw.

and when anybody claims to talk about the "will of God", i take it with a grain of salt (eh? is that surprising coming from a true blue, jesuit bred and educated atenean like me?) anyway, i just accept the fact that the church is primarily made up of human beings. it's a historical cycle i think. there will just be times when the church will lose/gain power through time. as for using the pulpit/mass for their personal "sermons," i don't think there is anything we can do about that. after all they have the captive audience.

hey on another note, it's quite refreshing to talk about things like this.

Boo's Side

John!!

Well for starters, please use my personal e-mail address: concorde@skyinet.net

Heh-heh-heh. The xxx@xxx.com address belongs to Gloria M. Arroyo's daughter, Luli. Of course, our office is anti-Charter Change. Well, thanks for your views anyway. We respect the voice of our constituents.

The Cardinal's making this a moral issue as the general welfare is being by-passed due to personal interests. Where moral issues are concerned, the Church feels it has to step in. Remember the adage: Vox Populi Vox Domini (the voice of the people is the voice of God). At the VERY least (2 mos. ago), 70% of the population oppose Charter Change.

I hope this enlightens somewhat.

BOO ;-)
PS - It seems like we're moving away from chicks and stuff...no!!
PPS - By the way, Gloria in excelsis!!

Jobet's Two Bits

Dear Standards,

yup, I agree with John - the Church plays a much too active role in Philippine politics, and sometimes carelessly inject their own opinion and label it as "the Will of God".

But who really knows what the will of God is? Nobody! (The Pope, well maybe he has some idea...) I think we would NEVER know what the Will of God is until it HAS happened. Everything from the creation of light to the coming of Jesus to the First and second World wars to the Marcos years to the to the death of Princess Diana to the "blasphemous" sermon of the archbishop to my writing this email WAS the Will of God simply because IT DID HAPPEN.

But then you still ask, "Yeah, yeah, but what IS the Will of God?!!" (Just imagine Rolan making kulit this question) You would never know. So don't lose any sleep over it. Just remember, carpe diem, and simply follow what your conscience tells you.

jobs

Ang Sabi ni Jappy

People of God (and those on the fringes, as well as those who dwell in darkness, where it's more fun),

I must most fervently agree with the Standard Agreement that claiming to know the will of God is a lot of hooey. Problem is, the number of intelligent people who can discern such crap is severely limited in this nation. But then again, how can something so blatantly deluded slip by? It all has to do with (like what you guys already mentioned) personal interests and agendas.

As numerous poets, humourists, satirists, musicians, etc. have said, cardinals, bishops, etc. have slots reserved in hell (or whatever torment after death you believe in). Be content with that.

On a final note: for some not-so-light reading (but very enjoyable), try out any book by Milan Kundera. I'm currently reading his first novel, The Joke, and it has a lot of stuff about Church and State. I'll leave it up to you to relate it to our topic at hand.

Keep the flame burning, Standards. This is the stuff good websites are made of.

Japs

The Epistle According to Paul

Hey guys. It's interesting to see you all revved up on this. John and I discussed what he heard, and he asked me to write. Anyway, here it is.

First, when I asked him what the exact statement was, he couldn't remember. All he could remember was the line "the Will of God" and something about the charter change. I think that's the root of the problem. John promised to talk to the priest to get a copy of the letter. I think that'll help clear up some of the confusion. Maybe we can suspend judgment until then.

Reading all your responses, one of the issues I saw was the principle of the separation of Church and State. This is something many politicians abuse to mislead the public. That's why many people think that it means that the Church shouldn't meddle in politics.

The real meaning of the principle is that the government should not give preferential treatment to any religion. When we were under Spain, there was no separation of Church and State. That's why the Catholic Church was given preferential treatment, and we all know about the abuses of the friars. Today, I don't think the government is giving the Catholic Church preferential treatment. In fact, you could argue that the government has been at odds with the Church on a lot of issues so separation of Church and State isn't a problem.

Now, when the Church "meddles in politics" it does so because it has a moral obligation to protect what it discerns as the Common Good. As we all know, the Church is against charter change now. It has taken this position because it has discerned in conscience that the people behind the initiative are serving their own interests and not the interests of the country. They are simply out to extend the term limits of those in power. When the Church speaks out against this, it is merely exercising its right to freedom of speech.

If I know you guys, I bet some of you are questioning the Church's interpretation of the Common Good. Charter change is another long discussion we could get into. If you want, I can post a copy of the official statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for all of you to study and criticize. If that isn't enough, maybe we could even meet over beer.

I think we'll find that there are rational explanations for everything and in the end, we'll all make our own decisions based on what we value.

Paul