Religious and irreligious at Christmas

Filipinos in general do not question the beliefs and traditions they have been born into. It is a general passivity that has held them back from exploring ideas and changes that could have helped create a more aware and kind society. Part of that problem is the narrow perspective of the Roman Catholic religion that came with Spanish conquistadores. Religion may have been good for creating public order during the period of conquest promoting as it did obedience and docility with the threat of the fires of hell for those who had other things in mind. But times change. Today we are a nation forging our own identity in a complex and difficult world.

* * *

More than ever, Filipinos must learn to think for themselves, must learn to question when they are in doubt and cultivate the habit of curiosity and wonder. This is the gift of thought that this column offers to its readers this Christmas – to explore the firmament of their own hearts through respect and regard for other beliefs and traditions than what they have been used to both in their personal and public lives. The following quotations, both religious and irreligious, were culled and randomly selected in a day’s work among the books and articles that lay on my desk yesterday morning. Make what you can out of it.

* * *

The Winter Solstice from James Litton. "The Winter Solstice occurs this Friday, December 21. The sun reaches its lowest point in its annual journey across our sky in the Northern Hemisphere. Many celebrate this day as a ‘natural holiday’ an alternative to the religious feasts of this period, such as ‘Christmas.’ And for many this is also a time for gift giving and gathering together with friends and relatives."

* * *

The Birth of Jesus. From The Bible, Luke 1:78. "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman World. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register.

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them. Do no be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

* * *

The Dead Sea Scrolls. (Excerpted from a news article). "The Dead Sea Scrolls were a sensational discovery in the late 1940s but only a limited number of Filipinos had read of it or would ever realize its importance. It has now been finally published in full after years of controversy and scandal. It’s the greatest publication effort of the 20th century, said Jacob Fisch, executive director of the Friends of Israel Antiquities Authority.

"The scrolls, which have provided archaeological and religious scholars new ways of looking at the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish world of Jesus have been produced in 37 volumes by the Oxford University Press."

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea by two Bedouin tribe shepherds. The scrolls are believed to have been written by a monastic group of religious people known as the Essenes who lived during the time of Jesus.

Before this great religious archaeological find the only existing records on the life of Jesus Christ were written by four Christian evangelists namely Luke, Mark, Matthew and John. The earliest of these so-called Gospels was written at least 50 years after the death of Jesus. Not one of them wrote the gospels during Jesus’ lifetime."

* * *

Islam – A short history by Karen Armstrong. "Even though they all claimed to be devout, committed Muslims, the esoterics had all changed the religion of the Prophet. Muhammad would have been startled by the doctrines of the Faylasufs, and Ali would almost certainly declare themselves to be his partisans. But, despite the convictions of many of the faithful in any tradition, who are convinced that their religion never changes and that their beliefs and practices are identical with those of the founders of their faith, religion must change in order to survive. Muslim reformers would find the esoteric forms of Islam inauthentic, and would try to get back to the purity of the first ummah, before it was corrupted by these later accretions.

"But it is never possible to go back in time.

"Any ‘reformation’; however conservative its intention, is always a new departure, and an adaptation of the faith to the particular challenges of the reformer’s own time. Unless a tradition has within it the flexibility to develop and grow, it will die. Islam proved that it had this creative capacity. It could appeal at a profound level to men and women who lived in conditions that were quite different from the desperate, brutal era of the Prophet.

They could see meaning in the Quran that went far beyond the literal sense of the words. And which transcended the circumstances of the original revelations. The Quran became a force in their lives that gave them intimations of the sacred, and which enabled them to build fresh spiritualities of great of power and insight."

* * *

The Little Prince from Antoine de Saint Exupery. "And he went back to meet the fox. Good-bye, he said. Good-bye, said the fox. And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. "What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. "It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important. "It is the time I have wasted for my rose," said the Little Prince, so that he would be sure to remember. "men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . . "I am responsible for my rose," the Little Prince repeated so that he would be sure to remember."

* * *

Erratum: In my column last Thursday, December 20, 2001 a paragraph read: "If citizens think that the Constitution no longer serves its purpose, and a government persists with the same Constitution that government can be said to be governing properly. A Constitution is a road map that should show us which way we are going. The word can should have been cannot. Therefore it should have read: . . . "If citizens think that the Constitution no longer serves its purpose, and a government persists with the same Constitution that government cannot be said to be governing properly. A Constitution is a road map that should show us which way we are going.

* * *

I do not usually correct typing errors especially those made inadvertently, but I am making this exception because it is important enough to what I wanted to say. Readers may have already noticed its discrepancy with the rest of the text and would have known that there was something wrong in the sentence.

* * *

My e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected].