Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) has been a trending topic now for several hours since yesterday. The picture that Top Gear Philippines posted on social media
says all the reasons why it is trending. Motorists and commuters are
steamed by the rally INC has decided to hold in front EDSA Shrine, and
at the nearby intersection of EDSA and Shaw Blvd, without prior notice
to the public — a warning could have allowed motorists to avoid the
area. The rally has put EDSA, the major circumferential road of Metro
Manila, into a virtual standstill.
Asked
by media reporters why they chose the Shrine for their demonstration,
the rally participants replied that the place is a symbolism of freedom,
and they are now fighting for freedom from government oppression. That
may be, but a text message has been going around urging INC members to
converge at the rally site since it was time to mess up the traffic. Top Gear Philippines,
which got hold of this text, is still verifying its authenticity.
Authentic or not, it is not hard to conclude that the intention of the
rally is to snarl traffic since INC did not give the public any prior
notice.
The government oppression that INC is referring to is the move by
Department of Justice (DOJ) to entertain the case of a minister whom INC
just expelled and who claims he was detained by INC against his will
for several days. INC claims that by entertaining this minister with
the view of assisting him in filing a case against INC, DOJ Secretary
Leila de Lima is meddling in what is supposed to be an internal affair
of a religious organization, never mind if it was the minister who
approached DOJ for help. Illegal detention is a serious crime, but INC
can’t understand why Sec de Lima seems to have given this minister undue
priority when there are more cases of national import pending in her
desk. But it is simple to understand. Sec de Lima used to be a human
rights lawyer. It has to be that this is something intuitive with the
Secretary when she sees a case against human rights, as that of above
mentioned minister, is as equally important as all the other cases
pending at the DOJ.
INC is known to vote en bloc, and they make no effort to hide
that they are a monolithic organization. They even encourage the news
that it is their voting ways that has put into office Joseph Estrada and
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This is the reason why candidates court the
support of their leadership during elections. It would be interesting
to note in the coming days to see if the administration of President
Benigno Simeon Aquino III (PNoy) will give in to the pressure of this
group that tries hard to be the top kingmaker in Philippine politics.
It is interesting to see if the administration of PNoy has principles,
or operates based on vague political expediencies.
However the decision of the PNoy administration will end up, INC has
already shown that they will brook no dissent whether it is internal or
external. They will go to extent of snarling a traffic in a major part
of the capital city of a country, if only to prove their point. Never
mind if there are people trying to catch a flight. Never mind if there
are ambulances on emergency calls that could mean life and death. Never
mind if there are millions of people just trying to get home from a
long, tiring day of work. Never mind if there are thousands of trucks
that urgently need to deliver goods on time so that there is smooth
commerce. Maybe, it is a way INC wants to tell the public that traffic
could be fatal in order to prove DOTC Sec Abaya wrong when he said that
traffic is not fatal.
If INC has shown that they don’t care about public safety and health,
two of the persons aspiring to be a President of the Republic have also
shown their true color. With the case of the minister still being
clarified and no case has yet been filed, these two presumptive
presidential candidates have already decided that the DOJ is wrong. Can
we please ask them the basis for their decision? Grace Poe and Jojo
Binay said that government should not be meddling with something
internal to INC. Never mind Binay who everybody knows is a TraPo (traditional politician), but a neophyte like Poe? What is with INC that could transform a seemingly untainted newcomer into TraPo,
already protecting vested interests like she was a veteran of it? How
do Poe and Binay know the government is meddling; have they listened to
aggrieved party who appears now as being scared of his life?
Our understanding is that religion is supposed to bring out the best
in people. Well, in less than 48 hours, they have managed to transform
motorists and commuters into beasts. Just look at what these people
have been posting in social media. But let us set that aside because we
want to know how they are impacting our leaders. Just recently, Bureau
of Customs (BOC) Chief John Sevilla resigned because he could not give
in to the lobby INC was pushing regarding an critical appointment in the
agency. That hurt us because the new BOC Chief now wants to mess with balikbayan
boxes. That is just one example of their meddling with government and
is the most recent, but they have been meddling since the beginning.
And, they accuse the government of meddling? Will Sec de Lima also
resign now just because of them? That is not bringing out the best from
our people and our leaders, does it?
We are all for Freedom of Expression, as well as Freedom of Religion,
but when they do such things to us who are not part of their religion,
can we at least ask if they are a religion when they are acting like
they are not a religious organization, but a political one? Worse, they
are acting like a business corporation?
The trouble they are inflicting on the public seems to be a result of
their internal troubles. They are a very secretive society, but from
the bits and pieces that are leaking, it appears that there is an
on-going strife among their leaders. One faction is questioning what is
the need of their leader buying a Php 1 billion worth of property in
Forbes Park and a private plane which all seem to be just for the
private use of the leader. They are also questioning why they had to
build so large a venue, the Philippine Arena, which seems to have more
of a secular character to it. There are also accusations of corruption
among the management group that they call Sanggunian. While we
don’t care whether they are growing or squandering their money, and for
heaven’s sake, we really don’t, and shouldn’t care, is it too much to
ask that they keep their fights among themselves without say, snarling a
traffic? It is very hard to imagine that if there was a squabble among
stockholders in say, Philippine Airlines or Philex Mining, that the
public be made to suffer only because the companies have internal
fights.
They are acting like they are not a religion because it is likely that, indeed, they are not
a religion. They call themselves Iglesia ni Cristo, or Church of
Christ, and consider themselves as Christians. We can therefore assume
that they are referring to the same Jesus Christ whom all other
Christians believe in. Unlike other Christians, however, INC insists
that Jesus is just a man. If Jesus is just a man, then it can be said
that their group can be called the Church of a Man. And yet, we always
thought that religion had something to do with something divine. So,
could they consider themselves a religion if they are just a church of a
man. There is another religion that follows a man, and they call
themselves ISIS. This group is trying to get to heaven by letting other
people in Iraq and Syria suffer. Is this the reason why when INC is
pursuing something they see to it that the public suffers?
Stephen Colbert, of Comedy Central fame, in a recent interview,
quoted J R R Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings): “What punishments of
God are not gifts?”. Colbert was talking of a time when his father and
brother died, and he said he had learned not only to accept what had
happened but actually to rejoice in it. Flummoxed, the interlocutor had
to ask again, and that is when Colbert quoted Tolkien. Of course, the
interlocutor, and for that matter non-Christians, still didn’t
understand. But, suffering takes a meaning only Christians understand,
and that is why when the first Christians were being persecuted by the
Roman Empire, they bear their suffering quietly. Imagine even a
comedian, who happens to be a Christian, understood this. For sure, the
first Christians didn’t stop the traffic of horses, carts and cattles
in any part of the Empire.
If INC call themselves Christian and they insist that theirs is a
church of a man and don’t understand suffering as even Colbert
understands it, but understand it the way ISIS understands it, what does
that make of INC. Shouldn’t we suspect them of deceit and
prevarication?
In any event, we really don’t care what they believe. And, we have to emphasize this, we don’t care.
For all we know, they might be worshipping the moon and the stars, or
just the money and power they appear to be obsessed with, who cares?!?!.
All we ask is please do not disturb us, so we won’t disturb you.
