Pinas Forum

marunong · Member

Bishops against Christians, Muslims getting married

marunong · Member

This freak has no business being in Marawi! And the coven of the wackos full of psycho-sexual baggage and power issues. They make us look like a nation of bigots. What cultural difference are they talking about? Here AND overseas, Filipinos have always intermarried racially AND regardless of religious differences. And Adel Tamano, a muslim, is the 'crush ng bayan' (the sexiest man about town) for god's sake. This is clearly a power and religious issue for them. Catholics are a very, very small minority in mindanao and they are not making progress. Intermarriage between members of different religions is not unusual, and membership in the cult keeps dwindling. Thus, the ruckus over intermarriage of christians and muslims.

oppie · Newbie

Mierda!

wee · Newbie

This must be a part of the "Jesus is a jealous god" campaign of the Catholic Church that aims to turn Filipino Catholics into intolerant bigotted Catholics. Except for a few, an OVERWHELMING majority of Filipinos who claim to be and worship in Catholic churches are only superficially christians.

Anitismo- ancestral and nature worship - is, of course, the most popular and persistent of Filipino religious beliefs. Filipinos just modernized it, praying to their lolos, lolas and other ancestors, and praying to the diwatas - our nature spirits - instead of giving them material offerings. To them, Jesus is just another god, anitismo not being exclusive of other religions. And bathala, the king of the diwatas, is, of course, the almighty.

And there are the highly attended pseudo-Catholic celebrations and rituals- essentially indigenous Filipino fertility and harvest rituals, and the like, camouflaged.

rod · Member

Walanghiyang mga bakla!!! Pekeng relihiyon! sabi ni Emilio Jacinto. Mga p

tangina. Kaya pinapapatay ni Andres Bonifacio.

Para basahin si Jacinto at Bonifacio sa The Katipunan, Pasyon and Revolution, click dito.

jamju · Newbie

First off, I agree with you Marunong! The Bishop's call to prohibit Christian-Muslim unions should be classified as "pathetic bordering on the absurd". This Bishop should be flogged, flailed, tarred and feathered, dunked in a vat of hot molasses, or roasted on the stake! (Prescriptions for heresy/sorcery by the Vatican-approved "Malleus Maleficarum" - The Witches' Hammer, used extensively by Torquemada's Spanish Inquisition AND by the Puritan villagers of Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials over 300 hundred years ago)

I don't think the Bishop is a bigot though... he's just plain clueless! Hehe... baka nag-uulyanin! Whoever listens to Bishops these days anyway?

Having said that, Marunong also wrote: "Catholics are a very, very small minority in mindanao"

Uhm... wrong! Mindanao's population is roughly the same as Metro-Manila, 16M-18M... of which roughly 5M-6M are Muslim... which leaves about 9M-12M Mindanaoans professing Christianity, about 80%-90% of whom are Roman Catholics. The balance of around 1M, give or take, are the original animist tribes still existing on the island.

Even Basilan, my Province is 25% Christian (90% Catholic), and my hometown, Isabela City is 70% Christian (80% Catholic). Stock info lang for those who care to know. Heheh.

...and about the "and they are not making progress." comment... Hmm... whatever do you mean by THAT? Please clarify.

(Note: unbiased views and figures posted by a non-religious - I personally don't believe in ANY of the organized religions, so...)

adam · Newbie

In this country, it is difficult to tell if a person is a Catholic or not, unless you are very close to them. Very many Filipinos outwardly appear to be Catholic when, in fact, they are not. It has been mixed so much into Anitismo beliefs and rituals and Filipino traditions. Also, many consider their religious beliefs to be a private matter and keep it to themselves. Some even claim to be Catholic when asked because of our history of religious persecution and forced Catholic conversions. Besides, when you say you're not a Christian, the priests and the Don Tiagos and Dona Victorinas won't leave you alone, which is obnoxious. So who wants to deal with that. In any case, modern Filipino Anitismo, praying to lolo, bathala and other gods is not obvious. There are also those who have only a vague notion of Catholicism who attend their affairs for the cheap entertainment and merrymaking and dole outs

A good example is my family. Great-great- grandparents were Anitistas and Catholics. They dropped Catholicism during the revolution. Great-grandfather and grandfather were secular men who married women who were Anitistas and Catholics. Parents do not believe in organized religion and distrust priests. Dad is purely secular, but ma likes the mumbo jumbo. She is an Anitista who also believes in Jesus. My older sister is a Protestant and another a waivering Protestant. But my younger brothers and I, like dad, are not Christians. Except for my Protestant sister, all of us kids are Anitistas but very seldom practise it.

Except for my ma and Protestant older sister, our family is secular. But we were all baptized and go to church when ma and sis want company as the family likes being together. Ma likes to go to go to Catholic church because it was where grandma used to worship. But NONE of us is a Catholic and some of us are not even Christian.

The case is pretty much the same with my close relatives, friends in school and at work. Although some of families have a Catholic or two instead of Protestants. The few other true Catholics I know are a friend who works for the church and probably a majority of my rich friends who went to Catholic schools. And some very old women.

While I'm not from Mindanao, I tend to agree with Marunong rather than Jamju. Simply because it is what I see is happening in my family, clan, close friends at school and work...

-- Edited by adam at 05:22, 2008-07-16

adidas · Member

Catholic country tayo, di ba?

adidas · Member

Ano ba ang anitismo? Secular?

josh · Member

adam wrote:

In this country, it is difficult to tell if a person is a Catholic or not, unless you are very close to them. Very many Filipinos outwardly appear to be Catholic when, in fact, they are not.

I agree. An American friend, a bit amused, asked me recently if Filipinos were confused about religion. Apparently, the newly recruited Filipina nurses in his hospital were all marrying Jewish doctors. Well, there's your answer.

And Padre Damaso, go to hell.... o di kaya Siquijor na lang. That's where you belong.

rapunzel · Member

Ano ba 'to???

chito · Member

adidas wrote:

Ano ba ang . . . Secular?

Secular means non-religious. This can mean someone affiliated with a religious group but who does not observe the religious rituals --- e.g. a Catholic who does not attend mass nor observe other Catholic customs and rituals. Or it could mean someone who does not belong to any religion.

-- Edited by chito at 04:15, 2008-07-21

chito · Member

adidas wrote:

Ano ba ang anitismo?

Anitismo or Anitism is our indigenous religious belief. Ancestral and nature worship. It has similarities with shintoism and other Asian religions. It is not exclusive of other religions. Because it is not an organized religion, presumably religious practise differs from one family to another, depending on tradition. In its most modern form, it is more of a religious philosophy rather than a religion.

I believe only tribal minorities continue to practise it in its original form which may differ from one region of the country to another. A diluted form is typical with rural folks with their amulets and nature spirits... With city dwellers, to my knowledge, practise is confined only to praying to the family dead and a belief in bathala. Except for the Catholic-Anitista, who tend to be very superstitious and believe and fear the nature spirits and other supernatural beings as well... (High educational attainment does not seem to have much effect on the Catholic-Anitista; I have aunts and uncles with Harvard and Yale M.A.s and ph.D.s who actually believe in the spirit of the balete, engkantos,...)

My immediate family is purely secular though. So I would not presume to be an expert in the matter. I just hear close friends and relatives talk about it in social events. But from what I have personally observed, Anitismo appears to be very popular.

-- Edited by chito at 04:57, 2008-07-21

tala · Member

In his article Ethnographic Notes from the Philippines educator Paul Clark outlines his brush with religion in a chapter by the same title: The religion in the Philippines (as you already heard) is Catholic. However, what is not clear in that statement is how Catholic they are. Every activity relates to the church at some time and in some way. Being a good Catholic is associated with being a good person and so one could not be a good person without being a good Catholic. Not to disappoint, this section is also full of contradiction, proving that things are not always what they seem. The Philippines religious experience that is animistic and its manifestations are as alive today as the day they were created. Paul Clark outlines: However, although the country is Catholic from the Spanish conquest (beginning with Magellans landing at the end of his global circumnavigation in 1521). The Filipino culture has existed far longer than that and while on the surface it is Catholic, it is more deeply rooted in animism. There are pagan beliefs that transcend and are washed together with the Catholic. For instance: There is the Kulam or sorcerers sickness. Unexplained sickness was traditionally blamed on a sorcerer who with an evil stare can cause illness. There is also the Aswang who is a demon who inhabits the night. He can take the form of a pig or a dog and while he could do harm to anyone he is particularly threatening to pregnant women because his favorite food is live human fetuses. This means that many women sleep with all the windows closed (no matter how hot it gets) for the duration of their pregnancy because of the Aswang. Manananggal is a female vampire who can separate the top of her body and fly around to the beds of unsuspecting men. You can kill her by spanking salt on her severed torso. Nuna Sa Puno is a tiny old man who sits on an anthill and could help you or hurt you depending on his mood. It is always a good idea to ask his permission when you pass an anthill. Gayuma are love charms that help you win over the heart of someone you desire. If you are suddenly attracted to someone who is a mismatch for you then gayuma is suspected. More on this issue can be read in Ang Mga Asuwang: A Bicol Belief in Yengoyan and Makil Philippine Society and the Individual - Selected Essays of Frank Lynch, 1949-1976 175-189.

lirica · Member

The aswang and manananggal are the very primitive spirits, malevolent spirits. But you also have the wholesome ones. Like the ever popular Maria Makiling and the many names she takes. A beautiful and enchanting goddess and the embodiment of the mountain itself. She is said to have lived amongst men once and loved a mortal, and would shun the world after man desecrated the woods.

-- Edited by lirica at 07:27, 2008-07-25

lirica · Member

tala wrote:
Gayuma are love charms that help you win over the heart of someone you desire. If you are suddenly attracted to someone who is a mismatch for you then gayuma is suspected.

Yes, indeed. And when your lover falls for another, and you want him back, you consult a spirit specialist to counter the gayuma of the other woman. But if you prefer to just get even, then you go to a mambabarang and ask him to put a hex on them.

lirica · Member

All of the above I learned from the older women in my household, graduates of Catholic schools and "devout Catholics."

booba · Newbie

The line that the Philippines is a Catholic country is crock. A myth. The Catholic church and some very powerful Filipino Catholics simply are the ruling class who impose their religion on everyone else and claim the country for themselves.

Below is the result of the 1998 Survey on Religion by the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) per Mahar Mangahas.

Strength of belief in God (True belief) 79 percent of Filipinos chose this ardent response to one of the ISSP questions: I know God exists and I have no doubts about it. This was the average of 78 percent among Catholics, a much higher 89 percent among other Christians, and 76 percent among non-Christians (mainly Muslims) in the Philippines.

Respect for other religions. When asked if There is truth only in one religion or There are basic truths in many religions or There is very little truth in any religion, 42 percent of Filipinos said There is truth only in one religion.

Several years ago, when I told the eminent psychologist, Fr. Jaime Bulatao, S.J. (author of the essay Split-level Christianity) that the surveys did not make Filipinos seem particularly Catholic, or even particularly Christian, he just flashed a big smile and said, Actually, we are ANIMIST.

Go to webpage below to read more - THE LINK DOESNT WORK! http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080726-150769/Filipinos-exceptional-religiosity

Most of the true Christians in the country are actually our Protestants and members of the independent Filipino Christian churches, not our Catholics.