A chance of religiousness?

By Klaus Döring

One of the most important parts of my life is the belief in a supernatural power that governs the universe. It doesn’t matter which religion we belong to or believe in: the recognition of God as an object of worship. The form of worship should be our primary need.

The Philippines is one of the most religious countries in the world. About 92% of adults identify as Christian, and 76% are Roman Catholic. While nearly 99% of Filipinos believe in God, religious participation is changing. Some locals go to church less often, but deep personal faith remains.

Belief is strong: Almost 80% of Filipinos pray every day. Daily prayer is a core part of life here. Christian majority: Around 76% of the country is Catholic. Groups like Protestants (12%) and the Iglesia ni Cristo (2.6%) are also large. Other faiths: Islam is the second-largest religion in the country, with over 6% of the population. Many Muslims live in the southern islands, such as Mindanao. Changing trends: A recent Social Weather Stations report shows that the number of people who view religion as “very important” dropped from 83% to 73% over a few years. People are praying just as much, but fewer attend in-person services.

During my stay in several Western countries, I experienced icy and conceited comments such as religiousness isn’t popular anymore. Religiousness makes people unwilling and morose because of exaggeration and sometimes even hypocrisy.

Increasing negative headlines about the “institutional church” nowadays and in the past, as well as embarrassing comparisons, lead only to discord.

How come? We want to see the religiosity of our fellow creatures. We want to understand their ideology.

But we are also poking our nose into other people’s business too much. Let’s look behind the scenes, and let’s find out what religious behavior promotes: humility in actual life. Maybe. It’s hard for us to do without affecting others. We even forget the real meaning of religiousness. St. John Chrysostom addressed the topic “Pagans and Christians” very well: “There would be no pagans if we were good Christians. But the pagans see us manifesting the same desires, pursuing the same objects — power and honor — as themselves. How can they admire Christianity?

They see our lives open to reproach and our souls worldly. We admire wealth equally with them and even more. How, then, can they believe? From miracles? But these are no longer wrought. From our conversion? It has become corrupt. From charity? Not a trace of it is anywhere seen.” Quotation: “Winnowing Fan,” Vol. XX, June 2003, S of G Foundation, Makati.

Most scientists agree that religiosity, also called religiousness, is not an independent personality trait, despite there being some commonality between their characteristics. Religiosity and personality traits both relate to one’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

I am proud to have people in my surroundings who taught me how to be on the right track — unconcerned and unnoticed. Natural and uninhibited, they showed me how to put real religiousness into action besides praying and going regularly to church. I call such people religious. I mean it as praise because they don’t like to blow their trumpets while acting as Christians in our daily life. Having such people around us makes it easier to practice forgiveness.

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