CULTURE, SOCIETY, IDEAS AND INNOVATIONS

Camille D. Ibabao September 7, 2023

BS-Psychology 20165011

Reflection: Ideas of Religion

Religion is generally defined as a system with a set of beliefs and worship towards a
supreme being (monotheistic) or group of gods (polytheistic). Some of them emerged due to a
“revelation”, like from the history of Mormons where Joseph Smith claimed that Angel Moroni
visited him through a vision. Some of them were greatly influenced by their history and culture,
like the birth of Judaism in Israel that is based from the Mosaic Law and the “Pentateuch” (books
from Genesis to Deuteronomy) and even the emergence of Messianic Judaism (recognizing the
deity of Jesus Christ that is somewhat against the traditional Judaism as it only recognizes the
God the Father). Some religions arose based on the embodied ideology of a supreme being from
various ethnicity or what we call the “ethnoreligious groups”. And there are also religions that
appeared without the holy intervention from above, but built to invade other countries (e.g.
emergence of Christianity in the Philippines during the Spanish colonization). True enough, there
are numerous reasons why religion becomes a part of every nation’s identity and turns to be a
trademark in our society. Either with a motive of spiritual enlightenment or based on selfish
desires, it is inevitable to think that religion is a sensitive issue to tackle as it lit up fire of
fallacies, divisions, discrimination, illogical principles and dogmatic claims.
I was 12 when I renounced my faith in “Him” and to the church; for I questioned His
existence in my life (piled-up family problems). I found religion as a mere human-made group
that makes “tithes and offering” as their way of living. I also found it unnecessary to join a
religious group since my own parents didn’t teach us the importance of religion (they were
Catholics back then). I was cursing Him on my mind and lived my life miserably by rebelling;
not until my mother got into an accident. She experienced attempted murder one night when a
mentally challenged man who disguised as a mangangalakal dragged her in a sugarcane field
and hit her hard in the head several times. I cried so hard that the first desperate response I did to
soothe my panicking self was to pray (making me think during our discussion about the origins
of religion that it seems innate to a person to call into Someone higher than us humans to do
miracles that we cannot comprehend, leading us to build a religion). I promise to the Unseen that
I will commit myself again to Him just to save my mother. Miraculously, my mother survived
the multiple traumatic head injuries she got from the tragedy. When she was able to speak again
after weeks, she told me that while she was on her way going outside, that was the very first time
she prayed again; to give her a long life and healthy more years because she wants to see her
children graduating in college and be successful in life. From them on, I devoted myself to
“Him” and that means joining a religion again where I can adhere my devotion with. The only
concern that I had with my previous religion is when I felt controlled and suffocated without
really knowing what I am doing (e.g communion, tithes and offering, unfair sermons not only of
the priest but the hypocrisy of the church leaders, etc). To make it short, I converted into Born
Again (Protestant) and that’s when I got to know Him more by studying the Holy Scriptures
hermeneutically. I learned how to understand everyone’s shortcomings and struggles. I learned
how to honor my parents and believe in the power of love that covers the multitude of sins. It is
with my religious belief that has made me go back to school again after three years of being an
on leave student in college and why I feel sustained, blessed and hopeful for my future. As what
David Christian said, “all religions, all indigenous traditions, all origin stories, provide a large
map of where you are”.
But it doesn’t mean that I find my religious experiences good in general.
I was hurt by the first church I attended together with some of the church members,
making us depart from their group and pioneer a new church we established. But did I blame the
religion in general despite the issues we had? Probably not. I strongly believe that religion
doesn’t intend to harm, but it is the people that uses it for their own personal gain. The primary
goal of religion is to seek spiritual enlightenment and societal unison; but the real evil takes place
by using religion to control and deceive human beings (e.g. discriminating other people by
insisting that they are the only people who knows the truth and who will be saved; monetary
issues like Apollo Quiboloy)
Majority of the people questions the existence of God by pinpointing the phrase, “why do
bad things happen to good people?”. Why does an innocent man, like a war on drugs victim Kian
delos Santos, has to be involved in this kind of crime if He surely exists? The answer basically
falls on the idea that there are just people who do not intend to follow the command of the
Almighty about “loving one another”; making their hearts corrupted with rage and evil deeds
(e.g. murder, corruption, human trafficking, etc). This convinces me that religion is not bad in
nature. It is our failure to adhere to the motive of religion to love others just like how we want to
be loved (not only in the context of Christianity alone). It is in the people if we want to do good
or bad things despite the religion we live on. One great example is the discrimination for both
religious and non-religious people. If you are religious, one wrong move and you will be labeled
as hypocrite and not practicing what you preach. If non-religious, you will be discriminated by
telling you that you will surely go to hell and you do nothing but evil. Who is right and who
isn’t? None. Not the religious person. Not the non-religious person. Just none. The same goes
with the idea that we cannot treat Psychology as bad just because a single person, who happens
to be a psychology major student who must consider the mental health of others, fails to show
empathy to their introvert classmate as they mock him/her for being “weird”. This applies to the
concept of religion as well.
Last example is in relation to Science. Just like religion, Science seems to be
“demonized” in our society due to its “unethical practices” as what they perceive it. Take
eugenics as an example. Eugenics intended to “alter human gene pools by excluding people and
groups judged to be inferior or promoting those judged to be superior”, making it known as one
of the most immoral act in the history of science. But in the modern days, eugenics is used to
prevent and cure genetic disabilities in the field of medicine through prenatal diagnosis. I
remember what Lewis Wolpert said on his article: “scientists can abuse their role as providers
and interpreters of complex and different phenomena. When mixed with a political or social aim,
it can be perverted”. Why am I taking this into consideration? To emphasize that just like
Science, religion is just a raw material and it is with us, people, on how are we going to use it
proficiently to produce an outcome. Is it for our personal gain or for the common good of all?
Like Eugenics, religion can be a useful tool as well to live with unity and with fervent love to
one another to live in a better place.
Of all the religions that we discussed, one thing is for sure: religion can be our moral
compass only if we use it with good motive. With proper execution, it could be used to control
and minimize criminalities and man-made dangers in our society and promotes peace and order
to have harmonious relationships with others. There will be no more hate. No more leaving the
marginalized people and the poor. No more cursing and debates about who is good and right. As
what the Holy Scriptures said in James 1:27, “pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the
Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world
corrupt you”, and James 1:26 says, “if you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue,
you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless”.