The (Fanatical) Zeal of the Convert

Religious belief has always figured in the history of God-fearing Filipinos. But belief can turn into fanaticism, religious fervor into blind faith. Such blindness has in fact kept Filipinos away from an awareness of society's problems, and worse, incited them into murder and mayhem.

In a lecture delivered during the international conference on "1898 and the World", Dr. Aurelio Agcaoili explained how fanaticism, fundamentalism and force -- he called these the three Fs -- can turn a people against themselves and derail the country's aspirations for unity and nationhood.

The lecture, one of the many that were delivered in the conference "1898 and the World: Contexts and Actors, Transitions and Transformations," discussed how fanaticism, fundamentalism and force were used by the United States in its low-intensity-conflict campaign during former President Corazon Aquino's term in 1986-1991. These kept Filipinos from realizing the real reasons and forces that influenced national events such as the successive coups d'etat, poverty, continuing war in the countryside and human rights violations. These have likewise kept many Filipinos ignorant, a condition which prevented them from doing a collective soul-searching in the light of a newly-regained freedom from the dictatorial rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

During those post-Edsa years, news of cults waging war in the countryside and using violence and gory practices hogged newspaper headlines.

Many of the cults were rabid anti-Communists and were involved in the government's counter-insurgency program. They brandished the powers of their amulets and anting-anting which, they claimed, could make them invisible before their enemies, immune to bullets, and have superhuman strength. They performed strange rites and practices, including the mutiliation and eating of their enemies' body parts.They also massacred entire communities they accused of being Communist-infested.

These cults had the blessings of the military, and in fact, were para-military groups which carried out orders from military officers to eliminate members of anti-government armed groups, including Communist and Moro rebels. Civilians and children were not spared from encounters between these warring groups.

In explaining the existence of these cults, Agcaoili quoted a Manobo tribesman who was a member of the notorious Tadtad cult which was reported in the newspapers as one which killed and ate its victims: "Lowlanders look at me as just a Manobo, that's why I joined the cult... I felt brave, especially right after the leader has prayed over me."

Joining the cult gave the Manobo tribesman the respect and importance he did not have as a member of an ethnic tribe. This sentiment was apparently exploited by the military which manipulated the cult for their own purposes.

Agcaoili said some of these cults were quasi-Catholic groups which performed rites that joined Catholic and cult practices. The Catholic Church in Manila readily washed its hands of these cults and said their activities were not sanctioned by the Church.

Cloaked in religious armor, these cults succeeded in diverting the people's attention from the urgent task of opposing the government's militarization program which resulted in thousands of deaths and human rights violations, and a homeless, impoverished and hungry people.

Fundamentalism has served the same purpose, said Agcaoili. Fundamentalists, or people who look to the Bible as the primary source of religious authority, multiplied during Aquino's term.

Like the cults, these fundamentalist groups were part of the US's low-intenstity-conflict drive and were funded by rightist groups. Agcaoili called them escapist for being indifferent to the social realities ailing Philippine society.

Fundamentalists have been known to wax ecstatic during their prayer meetings. "Nakaka-heaven ang feeling" is how one of Agcaoili's sources has described the experience. But ne of the members of these fundamentalist groups who apparently saw inconsistencies in her religious belief and social responsibility said: "While I mumble prayers inside this airconditioned room (where the groups often converge), I realize that children outside are sleeping on pavements, hungry and cold."

Agcaoili wondered how these fundamentalists, with their exclusively "spiritual" experience, help the nation solve its social ills. Instead of confronting these problems, fundamentalism "has pushed us to escape by not naming our collective pain," Agcaoili said.

The religiosity and piety of Filipinos have made them the unwitting victims of powers-that-be who wish them to remain subservient. The Spanish colonial period proved this true when the friars taught the people to accept the conquistador's rule out of fear of God and the Church. Sadly, this misuse of religion continues to this century, specifically during the Cory administration, as Agcaoili has pointed out.

But all is not lost. In a related lecture, Fr. Antolin V. Uy, S.V.D., of the Divine Word Seminary, explained how even in the time of the friars' oppressive rule in19th cetnury Philippines, some priests found merit in the Filipino rebellion against the Church in the Philippines. Guidi, the Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines, stated in his letters to the Vatican that Filipinos disliked the friars but not necessarily the Pope.

"While Guidi did not absolve the Freemasons and the Katipuneros of blame, he held the religious orders partly answerable for the mess in the Church," Uy said.

(JBBalcita)

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