There has been wall to wall coverage of these religious
events on our two Filipino satellite channels, ABS-CBN and GMA. The city has been preparing for months for
the Pope’s arrival, and the news stories have focused most of their stories on
the Pope’s security, the Pope’s itinerary through Tacloban
City Philippines
Oh
Sorry
I should have said: celebrated their devotion to a holy
relic. But I just can’t.
Since marrying a Filipino Catholic and especially since
leaving Christianity myself, I have striven to be tolerant of Religion, and
respectful of Faith. I truly have. After all, these people are Catholic
Christians. They are not like lunatic
Muslim fanatics who routinely believe themselves justified in killing anybody
they perceive as insolent towards their particular brand of Faith. But there is something about watching a
professional news reporter admiring the bloody feet of young men who chose to
fight through a mob and touch the black effigy in their bare feet as a sign of
their devotion and humility. As I
watched the satellite news channels with Rosemary, my level of religious
tolerance just saturated. It was exactly
like watching fawning national news coverage of a state-sponsored Benny Hinn miracle
rally.
I asked Rosemary if anybody in her family has ever
participated (I refuse to say ‘celebrate’ as the Filipino press regularly does)
in the Black Nazarene procession. No,
she told me, her family would watch the event on television, but would never
attend in person. They felt it was too
dangerous. But they did admire the Faith
of the people who did mob the area, as apparently all Faith is to be
admired. Rosemary reminded me that not
every one of the estimated 12 million people in the streets were devout
Catholics. Many of them were pick-pockets. There were many vendors along the roadsides
taking advantage of the opportunity by selling food and souvenirs. There were also quite a few daredevils who
just wanted to fight through the mob as a thrill to tell their friends – sort
of the Filipino equivalent of running with the bulls.
It is religious hysteria, I told her. It is well organized, mass scaled, delusional
superstition. It is millions of
desperate people believing in a miracle if they just so much as touch a magical
statue. I asked her why people believe
they will be cured if they touch a statue.
Rosemary: “It is just
their belief. They are born with
it. You cannot understand. You were not born there.”
Me: “I think I sort
of understand. I remember my mom getting
whipped into a frenzy by traveling revival preachers. Not as many people. Different method. But I think it is the same mindset. If I had my way, every one of those sons of
bitches should have been thrown in jail.
That is why this stuff bothers me so much. It is false hope. It is harmful superstition.”
Rosemary had heard lots of stories about the charismatic
religious beliefs of my mother, and she could not understand our tent revival
culture the same way I could not understand her Black Nazarene culture. But Faith is Faith no matter what the
culture. The desperate hope for a
miracle cure transcends boundaries.
Me: “The Pope is
visiting Manila
Rosemary: “Oh no, he
would never do that.”
Me: “Why not? I mean, these Catholics believe in God don’t
they? They should believe in prayer,
shouldn’t they? If they need a miracle,
why not go to Church during mass and pray for their miracle there. I mean even when I was a Christian myself I
figured that out. I stopped believing in
these traveling miracle salesmen and just prayed in Church. Why can’t somebody in authority, somebody
that they will believe, tell them the truth??”
Rosemary, of course, had no answer or just did not want to
discuss it, and I did not want to try her patience. I let it go.
On this occasion, like so many others, I feel like I have to
walk a tightrope or balance a scale. On
one plate of the scale is my society’s insistence on tolerance for different
religions and cultures. I get that. I understand that. I cannot be so arrogant as to insist that my views
and opinions about the nature of reality are superior to everybody who holds
different views and opinions. But on the
other plate of the scale is my tolerance level of what I see as obvious
delusion, hysteria and superstition. I
can live and let live, but at some point my tolerance level reaches its
peak. When I see millions of people, as
a unity, act with such irrationality, and a society that views this irrational
behavior as virtuous, I feel like I am living in a Twilight Zone. I do not feel I am in a position to correct
Faithful people who believe in the efficacy of this superstitious
behavior. But I am sure glad that
certain people had the courage to correct my own superstitious behavior.
Religious Tolerance vs. Calling Bullshit. It is a tightrope that I am still learning to
walk.
video courtesy of inquirer.net :
video courtesy of inquirer.net :
4 comments:
You have such interesting posts HeIsSailing. :)
This part here: "Rosemary had heard lots of stories about the charismatic religious beliefs of my mother, and she could not understand our tent revival culture the same way I could not understand her Black Nazarene culture. But Faith is Faith no matter what the culture. The desperate hope for a miracle cure transcends boundaries."
This stood out to me, Rosemary not understanding and then you not understanding. But I thought to myself, aren't they the same thing and if so, understandable? Both as you say based on faith. If she understands the Black Nazarene culture than she does understand the tent revival. Same for you, only in reverse. :)
I found it interesting as well about the people Rosemary said weren't there for altruistic reasons. That a number of the crowd weren't part of the mayhem for religious reasons. It's not quite the same thing but recently I read about someone who was part of the Billy Graham revivals in stadiums. He talked about how when the invitation is given, the altar all, that those people who start to move right away towards the front are already saved. They are trained to get up and get moving to the front to help those in doubt or on the fence move, to take a step of faith. A tactic and one that is anything but genuine in seems to me. But to a Christian organization I guess the ends justify the means. :(
ZOE, if you look on Youtube, there are all kinds of videos uploaded from adventure seekers trying to fight the mob and crowd surf just so they can touch the Black Nazarene and record it all on Go Pros strapped to their heads. But by far, most of them are religious penitents. There are plenty of people in this culture who continue to crucify themselves (literally) as a form of penitence and devotion. The Pope recently visited this same area, and I really freaked out about the worship that man got in Philippines. It really freaked me out. That overwhelming WORSHIP of a single man is something not present in my Christian background, and something I cannot relate to at all. I have to write an article about that soon. Take care, ZOE.
I saw footage of the Pope there and I cannot look for but a second or two. It makes me ill.
ZOE, I have been struggling to write an article about the Pope's recent visit to Manila. My wife and in-laws were glued to satellite Philippine television during the whole spectacle. He left two weeks ago and I still feel ill.
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