Popular piety and politics (1)
The annual fiesta senor and Sinulog continue to show that popular religiosity or piety remains integral in the lives of many Filipinos. The crowds are marvelous and the devotion appears to be inspiring. We can say of the same with the other forms of devotion in the Philippines such as the Nazareno or the Virgin Mary.
However, I am bothered by the fact that in a country where people are so serious in their religious devotions, support for a government that is apparently passive in the face of Extra Judicial Killings remains high. We may add that this same government is now planning to reinstitute capital punishment despite the fact that our country’s justice system remains skewed. As of December 2016, President Duterte enjoys a 72% trust rating, which according to SWS is excellent.
Religiosity or piety is supposed to be rooted in more essential spiritual traditions that have values of its own. The devotion to the Santo Nino is not a mindless veneration of an image or a mere appreciation of an historical artifact. The Holy Child is none other than Jesus himself, a historical person whose message was intended for a specific group of people: the poor, oppressed and abandoned.
To be truly devoted to the Santo Nino therefore means to know and to follow Jesus whose ministry did not end with his childhood but culminated in his passion, death and resurrection.
When a devotion is partly more so totally removed from the very source of its meaning, it runs the danger of turning itself into an empty and repetitive show or performance – merely cultic and cultural, or worse commercial. Any devotion that cannot or is not connected to its spiritual source is a few steps closer to fanaticism. Or at the very least it is a business disguised as a religious tradition.
We need not wonder therefore why there is an obvious contradiction of values among many Filipinos. On the one hand they continue to pray to a God who is loving and merciful but on the other hand they do not see or feel anything worrisome with individuals being killed without due process. If one would be truly honest in his or her conviction as a Christian, it would be unthinkable to follow Jesus and his Gospel values while at the same time supporting a system that harbors or promotes injustice in an organized fashion.
Unfortunately, there has been so much of misunderstanding or lack of understanding in our popular piety. The more unfortunate reality is that those who are supposed to educate the people are primarily responsible for the people’s lack of understanding. It seems that we have been feeding on the ignorance and fanaticism of the many. (to be continued)