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The only way God can seem stupid is when lives are wasted, rights violated, the rule of law undermined and justice compromised, and believers, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, remain silent on the sidelines [19659003] Published 8:03 AM, July 8, 2018
Updated 08h05, 08 July 2018
Photos published with Courtesy of Malacañang / Rob Reyes / Shutterstock
"I could slip to number two or even number four, but I'm not bothered because if God wants me to win, I'll win." are the words used by the then candidate, Rodrigo Duterte, to repel opponents who doubted his chances of winning the presidency. This was obviously not the first time that he invoked divine intervention to account for his political career. Before the public announcement of his electoral plans, he also said, "I must seek the direction of God because at the end of the day his presidential decision will be the decision of God."
Indeed, God was on the side of Mr. Duterte. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections, he managed to obtain the approval of the influential Iglesia ni Cristo . His eventual rise to power was described by Pastor Apollon Quiboloy, the "named son of God," as a validation. from a vision he had received from God more than two decades ago . In this vision, he claimed to have seen Mr. Duterte play golf on the very ground of Malacañang.
The inclusion of religion in the narrative of power is, of course, as old as humanity itself. The story is full of various episodes involving Egyptian pharaohs, Babylonian kings, Greek conquerors, Roman Caesars, medieval popes. and kings, and modern strong men who define their claim of power with either proximity or identity with divinity. Part of the early myth of Mr. Duterte was informed by this leitmotif of the divine anointing. Not surprisingly, he worked on the Filipino psyche given our natural cultural propensity to equate God with the will to power.
Recently, however, Mr. Duterte seems to have denied his own claim to divine anointing when he declared in a public speech that God is stupid. God never misses enemies from ancient times until our own time; invariably it has been called several names. It's a rescue name, whether it's the exclamatory or the defamatory genre, does not work on God. Philosophers, mystics, gurus, and theologians agree that God, the true, is simply beyond all human adjectives.
Mr. Duterte's slander against God may appear as atheistic or blasphemous or heretical, but they are not of the type that could or should breach. A Luna or a HR Ocampo or a Van Gogh or a Picasso becomes no less an art simply because a philistine does not see its aesthetic value. At best, I suppose his statement should be taken as it is – that is, the provocation of a demagogue dripping with personal and political resentment.
What is disturbing to the public is perhaps the novelty of how much a traditional politician can compromise himself for the pleasure of deluding himself . public unrest has not increased enough.
I do not think that Mr. Duterte really intends to pursue a debate on the exegesis of the second book of Genesis or the origin of the problem of evil or of the morality of human free will or rationality of the And I do not think that anyone seriously considering engaging in a speech on any of these topics, given its propensity to ad hominems or intelligent shaming or straw man
His noisy attacks against God and some theological doctrines may be better seen, in the broader context of his controversies backed against the Catholic Church being given the anti-Duterte position of the latter since The first day With its clearly Catholic overtones coupled with previous episodes of tirades against the Catholic hierarchy, the remark "God is stupid" can appear as the way of Mr. Duterte raised the level of his dispute with Catholics.
In the coming days, we should expect more hostile diatribes. Mr. Duterte discovered and immensely maximized the utility of the presidential podium as a tyrannical pulpit to insult him. It is not surprising that his verbal attacks become more and more brutal until the dissident power of the Catholic community is neutralized.
Ironically, it's good news. The Catholic Church as an institutional political force is a testament to its residual recognition of the radical characteristic of religion.
In the dark years of martial law, Catholics also played a role in challenging the excesses of the old Marcos regime. A crowd of bishops, pastors, religious and nuns were at the forefront of the resistance, whether in the street parliament or in the street. Pupils from Catholic schools were also at the center of the activities. sm. Catholic media like Radio Veritas served as a beacon at the time when the mainstream media functioned as spokesman for propaganda This Catholic involvement would reach its peak at EDSA where the fate of the dictatorial regime of Marcos was finally sealed.
This kind of Catholic activism has not been felt by the public for a long time. The last time the Catholic Church bowed muscle significantly was around 2006 and 2008 facing the charter change that was being played around with then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo The Catholic Bishops were able to give public opposition to constitutional change a voice that then led Mrs. Arroyo to backtrack and postpone her plan to be a voice of reason as a bearer of light
The Political dilemmas and social crises have given the Catholic community a new way to witness to one's faith and to ensure that justice is not displaced by the greedy arrogance of power.
In this context, the ongoing campaigns of hatred and shame against Catholics led by Mr. Duterte and his henchmen, though discouraging, should also be seen by the faithful as an opportunity to rethink and revisit the part of the old socio-political anima is retained in its commitment of creed. God is not, and never will be, degraded by any public criticism, not even by the most perverted mind.
To paraphrase St Paul, there will always be something in God that will appear madness to man. No wonder the most pious in Nietzsche's eyes in his work The Gay Science is the madman. If God is beyond good evil, he is definitely beyond "stupid". The only way God can seem stupid is when lives are wasted, rights violated, the rule of law undermined and justice compromised, and believers, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, remain silent on the sidelines. The Atheist Karl Marx reminds us that "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of the soulless condition …" It is perhaps time for Catholics to become religious again. – Rappler.com
Jovito V. Cariño is a member of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Santo Tomas.
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