The issue is not God

The issue is the Catholic church as a political tool to seize power from government. It was only a question of time when President Duterte would take on the Catholic Church of the Philippines. It is consistent with his policy of anti-colonialism. And the Catholic Church of the Philippines has been part of the Filipino struggle against colonialism then and now. You need only open a chapter on the Philippine revolution against Spain to know that.

Jose Rizal, our national hero, was a victim of friar power when his family tried to defend the land his family had cultivated. His mother was made to walk from Calamba as a punishment for clashing with friars on who ruled the Philippines. He was shot to death as an example to future revolutionaries.  Worse, he was made to retract what he said in his writings and re-affirmed his Catholic faith. Until today few Filipinos know of that concocted retraction which is not taught in schools.

The Spanish government left the governance of the Philippines to friars so when we talk of revolution against Spain, friar abuses would top the list. Padre Damaso was the central figure to symbolize that abuse of authority.

It would not be true that all friars were bad. It could also be said that the deaths of native friars Padres Gomez, Burgos and Zamora inspired Jose Rizal to fight back not with arms but with the stories he wrote in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

The debate on whether Duterte said God was stupid is not the issue. Indeed he could have chosen his words more carefully so that it would not be open to vandalist interpretation which his enemies, the Liberals of  Aquino want. But Duterte being what he is will not mince words when he wants attention on his intention. It is my opinion that he wanted to get the attention needed for the issue and he got it. Those defending him say he did not mean God was stupid but the churchmen who use God as the justification of their stupid doctrines. Some of the doctrines have been discarded in time.

It is one of the tenets of ontology (the philosophy of first causes that it is impossible to discuss God and certainly not his nature.) That is why the Church has built a body of beliefs – you either believe its doctrines or teaching or not at all. It is more honest and scientifically plausible that man cannot know God or understand him. All teachings, especially on the present political debate in the Philippines presumes he is a human being. Apart from doctrines of the Church, God is not man.

If he can be understood and loved by man he would not be God. God is infinite and we cannot confine him to human interpretation or concepts.  A philosophy professor once said to me if he could be understood by man and judged through human senses and intellect then he is not infinite and therefore not God.

The Church is a human institution and it will have good and bad men who can just as quickly be corrupted by power like politicians. We can cite the Borgias who became infamous for corruption, cruelty, and murder.

The Church, as a political and social movement in our time was developed in Latin America and came to the Philippines by way of liberation theology. It was a major component of the National Democratic Front, a broad front of Communist groups who were dedicated to toppling the civil government. It was a movement developed mainly by Latin American Roman Catholics, that emphasizes liberation from social, political, and economic oppression as an anticipation of ultimate salvation.

At the very root of all things political in the Philippines there lies that most delicate of all matters, the religious question. No competent knowledge of affairs in the islands is possible without a clear understanding of the position of the church in Filipino life. As the church has affected the history of the islands in the past, so is its being tested again.

Indeed the Edsa Movement was pushed by nuns and priests, some of them well-meaning and others were rebels who would kill as well as plunder for their aims. I would not be surprised if this pattern is resurrected in the situation of the Philippines today.

I went this far to show how long the Church has been as a political power in the Philippines and why Duterte should want to preempt them in launching a revolution.

Soc Villegas does not have the political power of Cardinal Sin who would be the last Church leader to attempt to threaten Filipino Catholics  with mortal sin unless they heard mass in Luneta to display the power of the Church.

When I finished high school, parents in Catholic schools were lectured not to send their children to the University of the Philippines where it was said agnosticism was being taught by a Professor Pascual. I would have wanted to study in the state university but my parents believed what some Church officials said that it would be a sin.

In art too, some Church officials through their influence condemned ballet as indecent and should be banned.

That the Church should side with the discredited Liberal Aquino government is regrettable. It would have been more appropriate to its teachings for good and salvation to help Duterte’s government in its fight against drug dealing crime and corruption.

It may be an example of Filipino Catholic hypocrisy. They go to church and receive communion and then steal from the government without compunction of moneys that should have gone to the poor and health facilities for them.