Thirteen years in a small Catholic school taught me a lot of things: don’t wear makeup and sleeveless tops, being gay is abnormal, women must submit to their fathers and husbands, and mental illness can be healed by prayer alone. From the get-go, I found these ideas strange, but it wasn’t until graduating and meeting more people from other walks of life that I realized how shallow and narrow-minded these perceptions are.
Catholic belief teaches us that we are brought to this world to achieve life after death. In order to receive this reward, we have to show our worthiness through obedience to God. And obedience to God means we abide by the laws and authorities of our religion.
Religion is known for its conformity, and while it can bring communities together and even fuel a sense of purpose, it can also poison our beliefs when clung to in extreme means. Bigotry, a common example, fuels conflicts within communities and even in policymaking in the Philippines.
Worse cases manifest religious trauma, driving followers away after they were promised refuge and comfort. This resonates more with the youth today, choosing to denounce or not recognize the religion they were baptized into.
Many of these cases, especially in schools and parishes, are often pushed under the rug mainly due to the power and charisma that religious authorities are given. Called to “represent God,” they may take advantage of their followers and get away with it under the excuse of it being “God’s will.” When talking about controversies within the church, sexual abuse and misuse of funds are no secret. This makes religious trauma a difficult conversation to heal from—let alone talk about.
It doesn’t stop there, sadly, as this translates into the national scale. It’s difficult to believe that there is a separation of Church and State in the Philippines, given Catholicism’s influence even after the Spanish rule. Legislations on divorce, LGBTQ+ rights, and reproductive health have been decades-long debates with no clear vision of coming to fruition. Meanwhile, our colonizer Spain, which fed Christianity to us in the first place, legalized same-sex marriage in 2005—almost 20 years ago. Lawmakers and dogmatists still constantly heed religion instead of looking through a sociological lens, one that is crucial to creating an environment that upholds diversity, safety, and human rights—in acute contrast to what Jesus taught throughout His ministry in the Scriptures. It becomes difficult to do this, leaving those affected to suffer the consequences of outdated systems.
Intense—may it be even toxic—conformity definitely presents itself in different ways that supplies religious trauma in any direction. Compliance with the “word of God” that has been left up to human interpretation, and the consequent thought of receiving rejection from the community contributes to the pressure of perfection, where one slip up sends us straight to eternal damnation as a lost cause. It becomes about performing for others rather than performing for God, and being afraid of His displeasure rather than being empowered by His welcoming.
Let’s be reminded to embrace and be humbled by our humanity. Looking at religion—something that is regarded as absent of error—with human thought, bias and nuance are concepts to consider especially in education and policymaking. In the presence of conformity, seek accountability and engage in discourse just as Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Always come back to whom we are really doing these deeds for.
What 13 years taught me and what the nearly 503 years taught the entire country is an unfortunate and stressful reality that needs to be discussed in this contemporary society. Faith can turn out to be blind obedience rather than a principle to live life with dignity and purpose. Tainted by the teaching of being punished by the eternal flame plus the shame for being undeserving of salvation, religion loses its essence of reflection, purpose, and community. There’s no wonder why many people today decide to walk away from the faith they were raised, and promised, with.
Sure, being a religious country is a part of our “pride” given how devoted we are, but it hides the fact that it does not equate to having a good relationship with it. We should be ashamed by the discrimination, abuse, and trauma that our people commit supposedly in God’s name.
