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?