What About Freedom From Religion?

By Herbert Vego

FREEDOM of religion is one of the four fundamental freedoms enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the others being freedom of speech, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

For this column, let me ask, what about freedom from religion?

For one week already, the nation awaits with bated breath whether the leadership of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is pushing through with its “massive rally in support of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s call for lawmakers not to file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.”

That may not push through though, since two impeachment complaints have already been filed before the House of Representatives on several grounds, including betrayal of public trust and death threats against President Marcos.

Obviously, the direct beneficiary of the INC’s “support” is the beleaguered VP Sara.

Interference in government affairs is nothing new to the adherents of the INC, which imposes block voting among its members on the basis of a Bible verse, Romans 13: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

Should we believe that admonition?

If no, then why not freedom from religion instead?

Freedom from religion means thinking for ourselves, shielding us from religious dogmas that transform us to mere robots.

In its broader sense, veering away from INC, freedom from religion also means ignoring the “hate campaign” of the religious sector against politicians who support artificial family planning, premarital sex and divorce, or other advocacies contrary to Church.

Who has given the bishops and priests authority to chart the future of married couples? To dictate us whom to vote for and whom to reject during elections?

Certainly not God, who has given us a rational mind. Any modern man who allows his brain to be manipulated by the clergy belongs to that era when disobedience to the Church was punishable by death.

On the lighter side, their hypocritical vow of celibacy makes the bishops and priests “killers”. Celibacy results in “sperm failure” or inability to create human life.

While it has already been more than a century since we gained our independence from Spain, we are still under the spell of religious leaders who threaten us with fire and brimstone if we don’t toe their line.

History throbs with cases of erroneous theocratic decisions. The most infamous of them all was the conviction and life imprisonment under house arrest of famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei for heresy in 1633. Galileo had taught that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

The official Church position at that time was that the Sun revolved around the Earth.

It was not until 346 years later in 1979 that Pope John Paul II declared that the Roman Catholic Church “may have been mistaken in condemning Galileo.”

During the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine (306-337 AD), heretics (persons who opposed church teachings) were sought out, tortured and eventually murdered.

On March 25th, 1199, Pope Innocent III declared that “anyone who attempted to construe a personal view of god which conflicted with the church dogma must be burned without pity.”

The reign of Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) saw the beginning of the Inquisition, a campaign of torture, mutilation and mass murder of heretics.

If it’s any consolation, the clergy has relaxed its stricture against homosexuals, pedophiles and other “immoral” sectors of society. There are reasons behind this.

One of them is that “80 percent of priests at the Vatican are gay,” to quote French journalist Frédéric Martel in his book “Closet of the Vatican,” which is the result of interviews with 1,500 cardinals, bishops and priests, among others.

Believe it, or not.

-oOo-

SPREAD MORE LOVE BY GIVING MORE

WE are happy to learn that more and more Ilonggos have responded to the call of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) for Christmas donations, in cash or in kind to the less fortunate by dropping them in its giant gift box at Plaza Libertad, adjacent to the company-donated Christmas tree.

According to MORE Power President Roel Castro, donations in kind may include new or used clothes, toys, hygiene kits, books, household goods until December 20, 2024. They will be turned over to a local charity chosen by the Iloilo City government

Indeed, Christmas is in the small acts of love that light up the world in ways we may never fully understand, but will always feel.