A Country's Religion

It was around six o'clock in the morning and I can hear my grandmother preparing breakfast under our room which I shared with my brother. We lived in a two story house and almost all the bedroom were found in the second floor leaving only the guestroom on the ground floor with the kitchen and the toilet. Today was Sunday which means we will go to mass at around nine in the morning.
We didn't have any church back then but we did have a priest. We celebrated the Eucharist in different houses and sometimes in ours. It was always like that, means going to church from one of the neighbor's house. It was so simple. Whatever the host had, we use. If the host only had 12 chairs and 2 benches, we would only use 12 chairs and 2 benches and the older males would volunteer to stand up behind.
For us, going to mass wasn't just a duty but also a lifestyle. Everyone, on Sundays, would close their shops in the market. Some wouldn't work for the whole day and some only starts at noon when the mass is finished. As for my loving and God fearing grandmother, she hired someone to take care of the shop until we come from the mass held in one of the congregation member's home.
I use to read the scriptures in ilocano during mass and would sing out loud and out of tune before and after. I remember my grandmother used to remind me not to sing loudly as it really wasn't the best tune to praise.

First Mass in the Philippines

I am a member of a native tribe who live in the mountains in the Philippines. We all know that when the Spanish conquerors invaded the Philippines, one way of invasion was soft and the other was by force. By soft, they used the concept of an ideology, a lifestyle, a religion. They built churches and converted most of Filipino's to the religion they've brought from Europe.
But even Christianity provides punishment for the non believers, and the Church's treatment to Indio's before weren't the same as today.

Pahiyas

I am an Igorot and a huge part of my ancestry roots down to the Indones. Before the conqueror's came, we already had our own belief of our origins and how the world works. From the Alamat's and Bathala for the Tagalogs to the Anito's in our tribe which meant spirits or ghosts - depending on which context it is used. What the friars did was to mix Christianity to the local belief. For Christianity to be accepted, the friars and/or monks somehow related their religion to the local's belief. We see a lot of examples of this from the Wiccan holidays to the festival of a saint in a country. A good example is the Pahiyas in the Philippines wherein San Izidro of Lazaro is celebrated coinciding with the harvest festival or the once pagan belief celebrated on the 25th of December. The holiday where St. Nicholas and the birth of the Christian Savior is celebrated with a decorating a tree and going house to house to sing carols.

Religion has become a lifestyle. That in every Christmas, we exchange gift. During the day of St. Valentine's, we celebrate love by exchanging love letters, going to a date etc. And sometimes, the fine line between Lifestyle and Duty is becoming a blur. Filipino's go to mass every Sunday. The devoted pray every before and sometimes after meal. Devoted's believes that the way to salvation is through this lifestyle, this belief, this religion. And if they did follow the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B.I.B.L.E.), they would be spared from the fiery punishment in the afterlife, hell.

Devotion or Dillusion

Religion have turned from a basis of morals and value to a duty that must be done for a reward and if it wasn't followed, Punishment is guaranteed.Worst is, some uses it as a way of making money and gaining fame or any other selfish reasons. But that is just one problem.
I believe in the goodness of the people that even without religion, humans are born good. The survival instinct of human comes not as for an individual but survival of a whole society.
Which brings us into why Filipino's are a religious group of people.

1. We were baptized at a young age and have been exposed to the lifestyle.
2. Religion is our basis of Morals. It is good if the Holy Book says so.
         - There are somethings not directly covered by the Government Law
3. It has turn into a duty. (Reward and Punishment)
4. Hey, who doesn't want holidays!
5. There must be a reason why this mortal life is hard and if we're good enough, we will have a better life.
6. It is God's will, whatever happened. Accept it.
7. We were invaded by Spain.

There are more reasons but I will just cover those mentioned above.
Most Filipino's were brought up the Christian way and there is nothing wrong with that. It's actually good that they are afraid of and respects God.
I'm not saying Religion is a bad thing, I'm also not saying that it doesn't hurt progress or anyone.

Today, where I grew up, we already have a church on top of a mountain. It was built from the unity and charity of the church members. But do we really need to go to church every Sunday?

If belief on something was enough for us to live by, if we know what is right and wrong based on the fact that if you don't want it to happen to you, then do it to others, if we believe that people are good...
Do we still need Religion?

Alert

A girl's being raped, seven years old by these seven apes.
She can't handle the weight, she can just scream and wait
for the help that will never come, A help that these apes should've done.
She can't even get up and run, She lays, suffering until it's done.

But there someone, There's one man
Like Rizal to the Dayuhan
Who stood up and faced the guns
Is it you or we're just waiting for no-one

From the natural disasters, to the slave and masters
Fishermen and farmers, kneeling down to their owners
A calamity of our ancestry turned to an opportunity
as a necessity to be on the top of the hierarchy

But there someone, There's one man

Like Rizal before Dapitan

Who stood up against monstrosity done

Is it you or we're just waiting for no-one

We were once united, now divided

Now, no respect for the heroes departed

For our independence and pride, is now dead

Bring up the Filipino, The Pinoy, Once Chanted

Music: Take the Power Back - Rage Against the Machine

That's because I'm a Filipino

Last week, my friend brought my 2 years old godson to our basketball game. It was around eight in the dim evening when he came with his son in a small blue bike. I was taking a rest, sitting down where I used to. The venue was an outdoor basketball court in the middle of a 2 wall of 30 story buildings. After a couple of minutes, we went back in the game. Now with my friend and a Chinese guy who joined us after playing alone for sometime on the other side of the court.

Source

My friend's son, which is also my godson, met two kids in a nearby park who were also riding a bike. All three of them had similar bike designs, a regular front and back wheel except the back wheel had 2 smaller wheels to support the rider's lack of balance.
As for me and my friend, we were dominating in the court. Playing 5 on 5, me, my godson's friend, the Chinese guy and two other buddies.
I was playing SG and the tall Chinese dude and my friend was taking care of the inside play.

I came to the play ball around five in the afternoon and already had three games before the game we are currently playing. Unfortunately, at the end of the night I only played 3 1/2 games. In the middle of the game, a light shower started. At first we thought it was just water from the air-conditioners from the flats above but then it became slightly heavier. We decided to postpone the game the game and hoped the shower would stop and wouldn't wet the court.

At first, we were hopeful that it would stop. But it didn't. The Chinese guy invited us to move to an indoor court nearby and so we started walking. We decided we can't play on the previous court since it was too wet to play. As we started walking, the Chinese guy suggested that my friend bring his son home wherein I replied, "The kid's a Filipino, No Problem".

He laughed.

What amazes me is that ,We, Filipino's are a proud bunch yet sometimes we forget why. A lot of times I use the reply "Nah, No Problem. I'm a Filipino" yet most of the times it was just a witty yet empty reply.
When a friend asks me to bring an umbrella or lends an umbrella during a rain shower, when someone suggests I go to the doctor or take medicine for an illness and sometimes when a friend offers a jacket for the winter. It's either "No Problem, I'm a Filipino" or "It's fine, I'm a Filipino".

Source

Filipino's believe that they have 'Agimat', a charm or an amulet of protection, luck or any other superstitious belief. Some believe that it comes just by being born a Filipino.
An artist called Bamboo stated in one of their song, "Hoy, Pinoy ako. May agimat ang dugo ko". The direct translation of this would be "Hey, I'm a Filipino and Agimat runs in my blood".

But in reality, it's not about the Agimat. In the end, it's not how strong your faith is. What made Filipino's what they are today are the hardships they face both in their home country and in a foreign country where they left to find a better life for their families back home. Modern Filipino's are toughened by the heat of the sun from farming, the high waves of the ocean when catching fish just to sell in the market, the one meal a day technique of survival, the selfish leader/s of the past, the decades of slavery and revolution etc.

So, whenever I say "It's fine. I'm a Filipino", one shouldn't see me being arrogant of my nationality but understand the hardships I came. That we didn't use umbrella's to protect us from the sun when farming. Back at home, we don't worry about slow Internet connection nor which side of the pillow should be colder. It's not that we reject the life of luxury but we just couldn't afford it. So, whenever you encounter a Proud Filipino, which is very common if you are surrounded by them; don't feel that it's arrogant. It's pure pride that we can handle any hardships.

A lot of Nationalities are proud of their own and there's nothing wrong with that. Some because of the unique culture they possess, some from the natural wonders they have at home, some because of what have they achieved throughout history.

Source

But we sometimes forget that we are humans. We are humans for a reason. We evolved the way we are and survived catastrophes and most of the time Nationalities are put aside. The Japanese have survived one of the most devastating event in our generation. The Chilean miners survived being trapped in a hole for a month and so as some of our Chinese brothers. Our Haitian brothers and sisters stood back up from a calamity that devastated their homeland. These are just few examples that we, humans, have survived disasters. Not because we are Filipinos, Chileans, Chinese, Haitian etc but because we are human toughened by our own environment, Our Country.

So yes, when I say, "No Problem, I'm a Filipino" I only mean that we, humans, have hardships of our own that toughened us up. The term Filipino comes because I was toughened by a place, and that is Philippines. If I grew up in DPRK or in Brazil, I would say, "It's OK, I'm North Korean" or "No worries, I'm from Brazil".

In Ending, We all have our own hardships in our own homes but conquered them all just because as the children of the earth, we can. We have our own National calamities and tragedies but faced them in a united view, race and nationality aside. We are Humans, and We are Here, so Everything is fine. Since, I am (Insert Nationality Here).