Last February, the Christian Coalition for Righteousness, Justice, and Truth released its position on the SOGIE bill. Completely disregarded was the discrimination the LGBT community faces as a sector, and the lack of laws protecting them.
Days later, Iglesia ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo was appointed as President Duterte’s Special Envoy for Overseas Filipino Concerns on grounds of his connection to OFWs.
The cases of indifference and misuse of power are just two examples of how the mighty church can let its public down. Further exacerbating this is the fact that the consensus on the church is one that is flawed.
Where Evangelicals choose to pray for spiritual revival (and consequently, an influx in their numbers) instead of the victims of school shootings, much of the Catholic Church refuses to acknowledge other sectors of society.
What is concerning is that silence towards social issues is not exclusive to any one church. Other religious institutions need to join the discourse. The Protestant church, for example, has been relatively mum; its megachurches, for the most part, confront social issues with an inclusivity reminiscent of the president’s brand of populism.
The role of churches is to guide their faithful. As religious institutions, they hold the responsibility of instilling values in civil society starting with their own flocks. What they can do is spark discourse within their own congregations.
Article II, Section 6 of the 1987 Constitution states that “the separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.” What most people overlook is that the Constitution also stipulates that the State may not interfere in the expression and exercise of its citizens’ religious beliefs or establish an official, national religion.
After all, the reality of Church and State relations is that they are more than just the dynamics of the two, despite the often exploitative relationship between them.
While the appointment of Manalo is deemed completely legal, it is unmistakably a political accommodation. A background check reveals no unique or substantial qualifications for his position. What it does yield, though, is the significant role he played in the election of Duterte.
It is true that we allow churches to operate without much intervention from the State. We see this in their lack of financial disclosure, for example. But the separation of church and state is good, if and only if the people understand it.
None of this is to say that the church is a damaging presence. After all, they have been one of the most prominent voices opposing President Duterte’s drug war.
More than what the Constitution says, what is pressing is how these groups act on the totality of these issues. The challenge is to see the “church” as more than just a flock of the religious, and to see outside the squabbles among churches. It is to see beyond the sublunary and the secular.
Just like the state, the church is a human institution, and consequently, a flawed and political one. It is time it be judged as such.
I believe in one God, one Father Almighty. That God is not us, nor our elected leaders. We cannot expect perfection, but we can demand accountability—in all its forms, from all institutions.
