The ‘stupid’ God
We can all be creative and philosophical in our answers in defending PRRD in his stupid God assertion. The fact is God’s existence is ultimately a matter of “faith.” And as to who is that God the 7.2 billion human beings in this world profess could be anyone’s guess. The Hindus (India) alone have 32 million gods and goddesses and the Shinto’s (Japan) have 8 million kami, or Gods; this is not to forget the millions of Pagans who have more than one Deity. And based on theological characteristics, there are no fewer than 24 major Gods. Even Satanism is a form of religion with Lucifer as their Deity.
With that being said, no human being, MUCH LESS A POLITICAL LEADER, or even a theologian, has the right to say and judge therefore that a believer ‘s God is stupid because as far as the believer is concerned, and as demanded by his/ her faith, the God that he/she worship truly exist and is not stupid, otherwise, he/she might as well just change his/ her religion. And this explains why God and Religion are not debatable or can never be the subject of any type of debate because the “faith” of a believer can never be questioned. And this stands to reason why in the name of their God, or in the defense of their God, we had 123 accounted religious wars (e.g., The Crusade, Spanish Inquisition, 30 Years War, Moorish Invasion, Reconquista etc.) in the history of mankind. Understand “faith” and “reason” are mutually incompatible.
Long story short, as far as the faithful or believer is concerned, there is no stupid God!
I am a Muslim and the God that I profess is Allah (SWT). Now in so far as the ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Abu Sayyaf, Maute and other Islamic Jihadists groups are concerned, who kills in the name of Allah (SWT), do I have the right to judge and say therefore that the God that they profess, which is Allah (SWT), is stupid? Certainly, I can say in public that with their twisted interpretation of the Holy Qur’an they are irrational, insane, stupid and what have you. However, I cannot say that the God that they profess, Allah (SWT), is stupid. And on the same vein, I can also publicly declare that a priest who molest children, steals the coffers of the Church, rapes women, sells drugs etc. as being a moron, an imbecile, stupid and the like; but certainly, I cannot allude that his God, Jesus Christ (PBUH), is stupid. Moreover, I can openly assert in public that a political leader is corrupt for stealing public funds, but certainly, I cannot opine that his/her God (whoever it is that he/she profess) is stupid.
Obviously, under these circumstances, it would be a non-sequitur or a fallacy to blame his/her God for his/ her misconducts, or sinful ways, for a faith-driven God gave His creation the “free-will” and “discernment” to make their own decision in this earthly and temporal world.
Ergo, no faith-based God is stupid! Besides, there is no God that commands His flock to commit sinful things or live in sinful ways, unless however, his/her god is Satan (by the way he is the god of this world) or if he/she belongs to a personality, doomsday, polygamist, racist or terrorist cult. Regardless, because of man’s innate free-will, only human beings are capable of being stupid, and incidentally, you can find a lot of them among our political leaders, including their blind followers. And only arrogant politicians refuse to apologize for their stupidity! Need I say more what is the obvious?
It’s public knowledge that President Duterte frequently uses “foul”, filthy”, “dirty” and “vulgar” languages in his fight against drugs, crime and corruption; including in his conducts both in national and in international affairs. In running the business of government, we also know that he does not only normalizes, but he also actively instigates, promotes and ratifies a “culture of violence and hatred” in our society, advertent or inadvertent it might be.
With that being said, by any mea- sure of moral and ethical standards, and regardless of one’s religion, creed, ideology, gender and sexual orientation; to a decent, rational and sane person, President Duterte’s conducts are considered to be inappropriate, indecent, offensive, derogatory, repulsive and obnoxious. And if we are to use the same arguments of President Duterte’s characterization of a “stupid” God, can we, therefore, say by deductive reasoning that his god, or the god that he profess, is also a stupid” God? Otherwise, if he has a faith-based perfect God, he would have conducted himself all along in the public affairs of government at least in a civil way i.e., respecting the dignity of those whom he opposes, those who hate him, those who are trying to destroy him and those who are against him.
If we genuinely care for PRRD to succeed, we should be honest enough to express to him when he is wrong and say good things of him when he is doing the right things. Otherwise, we end up with a troubling psychological disease in the country called “fanatics” with a cult-like reverence of President Duterte, which would then displace our reverence and faith with our true and perfect God (i.e., Allah, God Jesus Christ, Buddha, Brahman, Kami etc.).
Finally, since the nation’s spiritual and moral soul has been under attack by the Incivility-in-Chief, let’s seriously ponder on and live by the famous quotation of Honest Abe (Lincoln): “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”