On Religion and Politics

Disclaimer: This is not a blog post about Christianity and other religions. This is not a blog post about the Duterte Administration (for the most parts). This is a view about Filipinos and their double standards.

If you don’t know much about the Duterte Government, I don’t think it would be fair for me to talk about it and explain why I am not a fanatic. I’ve never been. I considered voting him early during the campaign period, but I am proud of my choice not to vote him. I also refuse to identify myself as part of any color (Most Duterte Fanatics label non-Duterte supporters as yellows, which by the way is plainly stupid).

I would like to discuss how some so-called “religious” filipinos have double standards when it comes to Duterte. Duterte is known all over the world for his war on drugs. He has this order which allows the policemen to arrest drug addicts and shoot them if the person fights back, or at least that’s how it was ideally supposed to be.

Being in a religious environment for a long time, I have known and interacted with a lot people with double standards. I find it amusing to see so much hypocrisy when they post on Facebook something about praising God, doing good to others, and being a good christian/catholic but afterwards, they talk about how great Duterte is as a president and how much “drug addicts” he has ordered to be killed. There is even a commandment “Thou shall not kill” but it seems like Duterte was their exception to the rule. It is cringe-worthy when they advocate some religious organizations but they never condemn such obvious violations to their so called Law of God. Does this law apply only to the people they identify as evil? Who is evil in the first place?

Some people even has the nerve to go to church and post religious things on Facebook, but then at the same time they justify that those victims of the war on drugs were drug addicts anyway, and they deserved it because they could be future fugitives, murderers or rapists. This kind of filipinos takes the law into their own hands and justify who is good or evil without even the due process. They even go an extra mile to question you when you disagree to them and say that you are protecting this so called criminals and not caring about the rape/murder victims.

If one thinks about it, only the small time “criminals” are being killed and arrested. Where are the big players in this drug game? Wasn’t Duterte’s son even dragged into this mess? Why was he given due process and not judged easily? Why are people saying that he is innocent just because he is the son of their loving president, and everything is just black propaganda? How come he was given time to explain himself? Funny how they say that everyone is their own brothers and sisters in their God’s eyes, but turns a blind eye to people who are never proven as criminals but automatically judged because that’s what the government or media says so. Who are your brothers and sisters? Why can’t it be these people as well?

Why can’t people just not believe or follow this rule if they are not willing to apply it to everyone? I don’t understand why the government has to be an exception to this rule. It doesn’t need to be black or white anyway. One doesn’t have to be completely against anything. One can still support and clap their hands for the good things that the government is doing right. But of course, there’s a fine line where one needs to acknowledge, comment or even protest if the government is doing wrong already. If the scales are starting to be imbalance, and more wrong doings are being done, isn’t that a sign to question if the government is really up to protect the good or just to gain more power?

I think one doesn’t have to be religious to at least know what is morally correct. However, I think the Filipino nation has been in so much shit for the past years, from broken political promises to corruption. Having someone who seem to be not like a traditional politician gave some form of hope that maybe this nation can be fixed. And this exact belief is one of the main cause why the people are blinded.

Even though I am almost always annoyed to see and talk to this kind of people, I just shake my head in disappointment. I never know where they are coming from, but I know they are hopeful for some change. They are too hopeful to the point that they lost their self, their morals in this hope. They are hopeful that they will be somewhat saved someday by this government and provide change, and at the same time hopeful that after life will provide them salvation just because they have been “religious” all their life.

As Duterte said, “Change is coming.” The only thing is that whatever that change maybe, no one really knows.

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