...On Blind Faith and the Poor...

While hearing Easter Sunday mass in Bicol, this small kid suddenly appeared out of nowhere to poke me and asked for alms. I told him off, saying a mass is going on. Later, this woman was guiding an older blind man to ask for alms as well. I shook my head and they went on to bother other parishoners.

At first, my choice of actions bothered me. Is it not hypocritical of me to hear mass, yet not "practice" the Lord's teachings by "sharing" my gifts to the poor? But upon examination, I realize, I am either enlightened, or I will soon burn in hell. For what it's worth, I'll share my thoughts, and hope that one of you readers of mine would buy into my idea so that my faith in this country might be restored. Or at least I'll have someone I know burning in hell right there with me.

I looked up Christian or Catholic countries in the world. And it seems to be dominated by either 3rd world, developing, or struggling countries. Yes, one might argue that Christianity is the dominant population in the world but looking at the ratio of it, I would conclude that Christian-dominated countries are struggling economically. It's actually not surprising, though.

I'm not saying that God is to blame. The problem I see is lack of education. The poor continue to be poor because they hold on to the fact that "God will provide" for them. They love each other and express their love physically until they have enough children to form a basketball team. And a cheering squad. Some take advantage of their stature and a person's faith, just like what the kid and the blind man did that Easter Sunday; they compel you to give alms because you wouldn't have the heart to turn them down while in Church,would you? I guess they figured that since after-mass alms are the most they get in a week, why not take it a notch further by asking for alms DURING the mass?

It is said that "faith begins when reason ends"; there are things that we just cannot explain and would have to rely on faith to satisfy our curiousity. There are several variations of faith and religion, yet we cannot know for certain which is true, if there is any. Defenders of one's faith may challenge me on this claim by proving their religion is true (I tried to debate with a Salesian Brother and an Iglesia follower back in high school, only to reach a dead end), but really, faith is only as strong as how you believe in it.

It is regrettable to admit that the most number of Church goers happen during Christmas and New Year. I reckon it is because people are dictated by the norm that one MUST go to Church during these days.

Faith, I think, has been reduced to a mere traditional norm and an excuse to be miserable.  It seems to me that most of us have not completely shed our "indio" mentality and remain ignorant of how faith works. And sue me, but I think some local Church leaders exploit this fact by advancing their causes during homilies, leading ignorant zombies to believe, hypocritical parishoners to support, and power hungry politicians to prey on the opportunity to grab votes. What, you think a signature of Anti-RH bill will save your soul in the apocalypse?

I am not trying to antagonize Anti-RH Bill supporters. You people take a stand as I do, and as long as we stand for it for the right reasons, then we can educate each other through a healthy discourse. I am, however, against how some people are educated by “spiritual” leaders. And here, I am not exclusively talking about the Catholic faith. I try to watch a couple of TV shows despite the fact that I know somehow they would just take a jab at each other. I am under the impression that these “spiritual leaders” are dictating rather than enlightening minds. They tell people what they should think, and not educate them on what could be thought.

In the midst of the current calamities we are facing today, it is abhorrent to know that some people see these disasters as God’s way of “punishing” us because of the RH Bill. I think such a claim is another illustration of how religion is making zombies rather than enlightened people.

I dare say that blind faith keeps our country from progressing. As long as we have a false sense of salvation by following what is dictated by spiritual leaders rather than actually thinking, our country will remain a third world country. Beggars will continue to beg, exploiting one’s conscience so that they may live day by day without even trying to find a decent occupation. Politicians will continue to keep these beggars as they are even if they don’t pay taxes because they can eventually pay them for their votes.