Would you do it to a ‘Muslim’?

Anumber of “born again Christians” are now posting and sharing on social media, news articles and commentaries about how certain members of Congress mocked and ridiculed Supreme Court lawyer & CPA Jocelyn Fabian for her profession of faith and for expounding on her Christian beliefs as the basis for her career related decisions and choices.

All this took place as Fabian was invited before Congress in relation to the impeachment complaints filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Commonly shared on Facebook was how members of Congress mocked and suggested Fabian was being irrational for giving up her job in the private sector and choosing a very uncertain career and low pay in the Supreme Court.

Politicians would certainly find it hard to believe that a normal person would take such risks because politicians have largely depended on themselves and not God. They don’t surrender to faith and fate, they take charge, they plot, scheme, bully and buy their way into power. They manipulate everything from laws, elections and nowadays use government budgetary allocations as weapons for Mass Submission in order to create a federal form of government with only their future and prosperity in mind. They’ve forgotten that taxes are paid by all Filipinos for all Filipinos not just the members of the Congressional little boys club from Mindanao.

Apparently many members of Congress have been infected by the venom of dictatorial tendencies and forget that they are not prosecutors nor are they judges in a court of law. What’s worse is that they invite people as resource persons and then treat them as suspects, to the point of mocking their religious beliefs. Are these misrepresentations of lawmakers so hell bent on impeaching Chief Justice Sereno that they have lost whatever decency and logic they have left.

I understand that lawyers on occasion would have to try and discredit certain witnesses because of their incompetence, dubious character or questionable integrity and inconsistencies in claims. But members of Congress no longer see, respect or understand that you do not cross the line of religion or personal faith. It seems that even committee chairmen or even the Speaker of the House no longer cares about respect for co-equals, or fellow legislators. I was quite shocked that even Congressman Rey Umali seemed to get sucked into the flow of interrogation spearheaded by junior members of Congress instead of displaying control and his no-nonsense management of issues and allegations that he once possessed. Perhaps Cong. Rey should review how former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile maintained order and “respect for all by all” when Senator Enrile headed a similar body and event.

I can’t help but wonder if those same members of Congress would dare mock and call a believer of Islam an irrational being because they don’t think, act, or behave like members of Congress. I seriously doubt it, because for all their bravado and bullying tactics, many of these Misrepresentations would be scared to pick on “Muslims” who will fight and avenge any disrespect towards Islam. They fight back and are not hogtied by the threat of contempt and of cutting their budget allocations down to 1 peso a year. Unfortunately, Christians and civil servants have to turn the other cheek because on one hand, it is a test of our faith and humility and on the other hand, if civil servants sparred or stood up to such idiots, it could land them in the basement of the Batasan or be terminated from work. Ironically, would the high priests and zealots at the Batasan Temple be able to stand up to a public accounting of their professed or declared religion or belief? Would they submit themselves and their positions to scrutiny outside of Congress and without their powers of contempt? I doubt it.

Suggesting that a person is irrational because they make choices based on a desire to serve and live by the teachings of the Bible, Koran or their professed faith reminds me of a character who is probably the role model of several politicians particularly in Congress. His name is The Devil. The character who came to Jesus Christ as he was fasting for 40 days, telling Jesus to turn the stones to turn into bread. Jesus answered, “It is written: “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”.”

As you may notice, the devil does not honor God nor man and prioritizes the stomach or greed. He dishonors the spiritual act of Fasting by disrupting it, the same way those members of Congress dishonored and disrespected the faith and practice of Ms. Fabian who chose to leave the private sector to serve in government. We always ask people to be patriotic and nationalistic and when they do, the Congressmen and Congresswomen suggest that they are impractical and irrational. This is proof that these Misrepresentations are in it for the money, power and not public service. Well enough is enough! It is time that WE who live by faith, who behave on the basis of socially accepted good moral values, and make choices and decisions based on the teaching of our faith whether we are Catholic, Born Again, Iglesia, believers of Islam, must now stand up to and against these politicians who flaunt their power, their perverted lifestyles and twisted sense of what is logical or correct. If they persist and insist on treating people with such contempt and mockery, then they have set the tone to be treated as much because it is written: do unto others as you would have others do unto you!