A book is a way to shut out the noise of the world. It’s a way to be alone without being totally alone.
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| — | Sara Nelson. (via insertpalindromehere) |
Water and Oil in Philippine Society
Art and religion are like water and oil. They cannot be mixed, just try to pour some oil in a glass of water. You can see the oil will be on the bottom while the water will be on top. Try to imagine our Philippine society as a glass of water wherein these two of different molecules are interacting differently with each other. Art versus Religion phenomenon here in the Philippines is inevitable Hence, we should take it as a by product of our Philippine colonial experience. Filipina journalist and writer, Sheila Ocampo Kalfors once noted a famous line “Colonial experience under Spain and the U.S. might be described as 300 years in a convent and 50 years in Hollywood.” I would like to be exact we are lived inside the convent for 333 years. Just try to visualize the vivid sketch of Jose Rizal in his immortal novels Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Subersive). Our colonial experience with the Spaniards has made us blind worshippers. I would like to borrow the title of the book of my favourite Sociologist Renato Constantino. “Veneration without Understanding” but I am not referring to Rizal here. Do we really understand the bible? Sometimes we are taking the scriptures literally.
I am deeply indebted to my alma mater UST for requiring me Theology courses that I had taken for granted. My Biblical history subject taught me about “contextualization” of the Bible. An English Theologian noted “Contextualization describes the process of adapting the unchanging gospel message to a myriad of cultural context in the world today”. In his article, what Is Contextualization and Is it Biblical? He explained further:
The gospel is like a diamond. The diamond itself doesn’t change at all, but the light it
diffuses looks very different from different angles or facets. Each cultural context will see
that unchanging diamond in its own color. It is the color of their own worldview which
‘feels right’ to them. What is good news to an American may appear very different than
what is good news to a Japanese or a Balinese or a Palestinian.
Majority of the people of the Philippines are Christians, so let’s just coined them “the water”. On the other hand, the deviants (sacrilegious, gays, lesbians, aliens, half aliens, artists and what so ever group) can be labelled as “the oil”. The oil says “we want artistic expression, we ask for Respect”, while the water retorts “Immoral, against the law of God, against the religion?” Obviously they cannot be mixed right?
Blasphemous Kulo Exhibit 2011
A year ago, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has closed down the ‘Kulo Exhibit’, the controversial creation of several artists featuring the religious images combined with phallic objects. The management have decided to ban the art exhibit due to alarming threats of security. In this scenario, we can see that water and oil cannot be mixed. The former was agitated while the latter was suppressed. The Christian groups called it fowl because the phallic objects have offended and the religious figure. Does the bible tell us so?
Lady Gaga Concert Ban 2012
Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Tour had a pandemonium reception in the Philippines. The Christian groups desperately protested to ban Lady Gaga but it seemed like most of the Filipinos appreciate the “fame monster”. My twitter timeline was flooded with tweets of little monster support and sympathy. One of them is Ms. Lea Salonga. Her tweet caught me by surprise, she said: “@MsLeaSalonga I just read the lyrics of @ladygaga’s Judas. This whole protest against it is much ado about nothing.
An OPM legend also tweet his heart out:
@Jimparedes If your understanding of Christianity is threatened by a singer who wears funny clothes, then what a puny understanding it is.
These two artists are just partial of the voices raised in my twitter time line last night 21 May 2012 during the first part of the Born This Way Concert. If we analyze the situation these Christian groups are justifying their “veneration” without really understanding it. They are judging Gaga without even understanding it. They are fussing about a song that does not really contain sac religious content. If only “the water” (protesters) will comprehend “the oil” (fame monster and its little monsters), the glass (Philippines) will not look ridiculous in the world. I would like to share this twitpic ten hours ago:
“I am not an alien, I’m not a woman, I’m not a man, and I’m not a creature of your government, Manila. I’m all your dreams and I’m all your potential Let me be all your insecurities and fears. I’m your future, everything that makes you sad and angry. I’m you little monsters. Tonight’s not the statement, tonight us coming together because we believe we all born this way. Some people say I stand for things that are bad. The truth is, I want the best for every single one of you. My lifestyle is like one whole performance of liberation. For those who aren’t free take this opportunity to free yourself.”-Lady Gaga
This issue of art versus religion or as I called it water and oil in the Philippine society will remain debatable. The water will justify their side by means of Bible literally or contextually. The oil will emancipate and rebel their freedom of expression by means of constitution. On a personal note, I am still whole human being. I download, listen, dance and watch Lady Gaga’s music and yet it doesn’t affect my faith in my God Jesus Christ. My faith remains the same.
By Ann Louise C. De Leon, 23 MA Philippines Studies (socio-cultural) student in UP Asian Center.
The worst part about reading a fantastic book is when you shut it for the last time and realize you don’t know how to exist in a world without those characters anymore.
