Unrestrained Thoughts

The compiled words below are part of my journal entries in my Educational Guidance subject.
--gold
Religion as a Form of Guidance: November 30, 2003

The declaration of Ramadan as a national holiday (2003) by Pres Gloria Macapagal Arroyo illustrates, in some respect how religion have become a form of guidance for the president. Although she herself is not a Muslim, her knowledge of the importance of this celebration to Muslim Filipinos is enough to make her declare a holiday—thus showing not only respect but also reverence by giving Muslims a chance to exercise their faith. As a president of a country that is somehow divided by religious orientations—with the Muslim playing as the disadvantage minority on the one hand and the Christians as the favored majority on the other hand, acknowledging the importance of the Muslim religious tradition is a brilliant move to reach out to them.
On a more cynical view, however, I must say that the move is more politically motivated, that is to gain the needed support of the Muslim community not for any religious harmony’s sake but for a longer political life.
Going back to the idea of religion as a form of guidance, I really do not see religion as such. Faith guides, religion indoctrinates and faith is not equal to religion. Through and through it is indoctrination and nothing else. Who, better than us Filipinos should have known this?
Religion was used by the Spanish conquistadores as a tool to exploit us and our resources. With it they incite fear and guilt in the ignorant minds of our forebears. They had used religion to manipulate us. They even incorporated our own pagan practices just to attract more followers. Back then we are Indios who didn’t know any better than to hear and follow what they say.
We are not allowed to think.
To reason for ourselves.
To grasp the truth of a Supreme Being as we experienced it.
They told us what to believe and forbid us to ask questions. For Indios like us questioning is heresy. We are treated as an Indio, acted like one and for many years after that, the collective psyche of the Filipinos remains that of an Indio. Everything that come from the West are better—even their very mistakes and social malaise look better compared to our feeble ones.
Taking anything foreign as better than our own is no mere colonial mentality. It is ingrained in our innermost being, our spiritual psyche. Our inferiority as a people does not stem from our race. It comes form our religion.