President Duterte blasphemes the Catholic FaithBy Maximo Tumbali IMAGE AND GRAPHICS CREDIT: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSEFreedom of expression and freedom of religion might have goaded President Duterte to spew unsavory and blasphemous remarks against the God of the Catholics and the story of creation in the Bible. Quite many, however, have questioned the manner in which the President has exercised said freedoms.
Believers in God most particularly the Catholics continue to denounce Duterte's blatant abuse of such freedoms. To state in public that the God of the Catholics is stupid and that their concept of original sin is baloney is unforgivable and profane and has hurt and maligned the whole Catholic faith.
His having said so without substantial and convincing proof has made Duterte look naive and shallow as regards his understanding of God and of the original sin. No less than his daughter Sara has admonished the public not to listen to Duterte, her father, when he talks about God for as she has said he's not a biblical scholar. But the damage has been done and inflicted.
How can the President amend the gruesome wrong he has done to the Catholic church? Will his saying sorry be enough to repair the damage he has done? For sure the President will say he did what he did because the Constitution allows him to do so. As there's no law prohibiting him from speaking against any particular religious belief, why should he be restrained to speak out?
So on that fateful day, June 26, 2018 in Davao where he was heard fulminating against the Catholic Church and its hierarchies, Duterte with all his speaking might repeatedly pronounced to all and sundry that the God of the Catholics is stupid. Such blasphemous statement issuing from his mouth has shocked the whole nation. No one could believe that in his capacity as the President Duterte had the temerity to say that.
Many were wondering why the president has gone to such extremes. Granting that he was not happy about what some Catholic priests and nuns have been doing to his administration, Duterte should not have mocked nor cursed the Almighty for He is the same God that all theists believe in whether they be Catholics, born-again Christians, Protestants, etc.
To defend himself Duterte has been reiterating that the God he has mocked and cursed is the God of the Catholics and not the God of all humanity, and therefore he said why should he feel sorry, guilty nor be repentant. Others who share the President's opinion stress that Duterte was just venting what he feels, thinks, and knows about the Catholic religion.
Summing up what he said, one can feel or sense the extreme hatred Duterte has against Catholicism. And it was so unbecoming of him as President to deliberately show disrespect to the Catholics by claiming that their God is stupid. He is fundamentally a lawyer and he should know that the freedom that one has does not mean the license to do anything even if it results in defaming the dignity and beliefs of others.
There's much to learn from what the President has done. To speak about something you know the least is quite dangerous, be it a criticism or what have you. Aside from becoming a laughing stock, you may hurt people's sensibilities and egos and may incite them to do untoward acts as some kind of revenge. Instead of nurturing the spirit of unity, your unscrupulous speech sows the seed of animosity.
Prudence dictates that if you don't have anything good to say don't speak. And sense of ethics must always be present in the person's character to guide him in anything he does.
An unrestrained tongue may precipitate one's tragic downfall. And no less than the President may suffer this same fate knowing him to be a person so accustomed to cursing and throwing expletives almost everytime we hear him speaking in public.
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