Which one here constitutes a crime?
An artist performing a dance version of “Ama Namin” (Our Father), expressing her/their struggles of being both queer and Catholic?
Or this 21-year old self-proclaimed savior who recruited his townmates in Socorro, Surigao del Norte to find salvation from doomsday, and is now charged by ex-members of trafficking, detention and abuse?
The answer should be obvious, but last week, the artist was arrested to face trial for “immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions and indecent shows.”
A few days later, the 21-year old “savior,” dubbed by many as “con-artist,” managed to walk into a Senate hearing and walked away to clarify the charges filed against him.
Those events happened in a week, and somehow put into play the paradox of our being a Christian nation.
We are considered “the most LGBT-friendly” nation in Asia, according to the Pew Research Center. But the performance of artist Pura Luka Vega, is challenging that perception, given that 11 local government units – four of which are from Mindanao – have declared her/they as persona non-grata, while hundreds and thousands of comments and posts on social median are filled with homophobia, gay slurs and the Christian “righteousness.”
An aspect of our being religious is the belief that we follow doctrines and what is deemed good. But the struggles of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) for acceptance has opened the doors, and books, questioning how the Christian faith adapts to this. The Vatican continues to tackle this, as it has recognized same-sex unions and discussed acceptance of the LGBT.
This means belief is dynamic. Even that point that Vega’s dance is “blasphemous and disrespectful” needs to be seen on the dynamics of our unique tendency for symbolic performances. Meaning, if we take the symbolism of dancing with the Santo Nino, or the barefoot procession of the urban poor just to touch the Black Nazarene, these are religious practices, folk Catholicism, which Nick Joaquin notes have been looked down upon by European Catholics for some time. But these practices have defined our Filipino Christian identity.
I may even stretch this argument a bit to say that if we think the LGBT shouldn’t re-interpret Christian songs and worship, can we raise that “Christian” people should stop commercializing and re-interpreting Lumad and Moro dances and costumes in festivals just to woo tourists and earn prizes?
Another paradox of our faith is how we have perhaps the greatest number of Christian sects in the world, yet some border on, let’s say, weird practices. Remember that charismatic preacher who tells his followers to turn their umbrellas upside down so they can catch blessings from the sky? Or another charismatic leader who said bullets from rebels could not kill him, but ended up getting kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf? Or this so-called pastor who ran this pyramiding scheme? Or that benevolent group ran by a family in Dinagat Island, whose leader was arrested for murdering his wife, but not before his 2,000 followers staged a shootout to defend him. He surrendered, escaped, got captured, got convicted and died in jail eventually. His conviction got the best of him.
That is what we also hope would happen to this so-called “savior” with a weird alias, “Senior Agila,” Jay Rence Quilario and his group, Socorro Bayanihan Services. His is an incredulous story, preaching the end of the world when an earthquake struck his province. But what is more earthshaking are the stories now being told by ex-members about child marriage and embezzling money. There is also something weird about preachers with names starting with Q for being caught up in their salvific sense.
Despite these controversies, we still go to church, we still say our prayers. We question what we believe amidst these trying times, as good people get caught in bad situations. I learned from a movie that faith is more than showing goodness by exclusion, but more of inclusion and acceptance. And in these present times, faith can call for action against injustice, to rise up against hate, greed and biases. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Tyrone A. Velez is a freelance journalist and writer.)
