Ban God?
- Details
- Published on Friday, 22 June 2012 00:00
- Written by DAHLI ASPILLERA
By A Web design Company
‘Rep. Palatino calls attention to the romano rituals and graven images in public areas of government buildings. This government location is not for use of any religion.’
Philstar columnist Cito Beltran writes, “A member of the Philippine Congress wants to ban GOD in public….” Beltran accuses Rep. Palantino of being an atheist, a crackpot, anti-Christ, attracting attention. This is a perversion by Beltran who should have the brain and discipline to understand this bill complying with the Constitution:
“The state cannot be seen as favoring one religion over the other, in allowing the prominent conduct and display of religious ceremonies and symbols, respectively in public offices and property.”
Nowhere did Rep. Palatino mention condemning, eliminating supernatural beings whom all living in the Philippines love, honor, worship, and consider Almighty. Where in Palatino’s bill is “Ban Jesus,” “Ban Buddha,” “Ban Mohammed,” “Ban Allah”? What possessed Beltran to see the bill as “Ban God”? Did Beltran bother to read the bill before spewing out his bias?
The bill is about: 1) questioning Romano religious rites in government lobbies; 2) separation of religion and state; 3) accommodating one religion to the exclusion of all others; 4) displaying tax-bought graven images which the Bible strictly prohibits; 5) tolerating a practice that is against the Constitution’s separation of church and state,
What does the Bible warn about graven images, the use of statues and pictures for worship? “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I The Lord thy God am a jealous God.” (Exodus 20:4-6)
Government public areas assigned to romano worship are not available to all other faiths and Christian protestant sect worships. This is wrong. All government buildings belong to tax-payers. The government buildings were built with tax money paid by all tax-payers in the Philippines, natives or aliens.
We have a spate of religions and sects made up of tax payers, ranging from Adventist to Zoroastrianism.
The Palatino bill checks and balances the Constitution’s separation of church and state. Romano altars with oversized graven images, bought with taxpayers’ money, displayed in public places of government buildings.
In the Philippines, the separation of church and state is a mandate of the Constitution. But this mandate is defied by the Romano Church. The same space and privilege is not open to other religious worships. Romano Church worship services are held in public areas of the government buildings. Romano Church graven images are displayed at public altars in the building, and these graven images were bought and paid for with taxpayers’ money.
Were all the taxpayers of the hundreds of religions and Christian sects asked, consulted if it’s okay for them to have their tax money spent on wood, plastic, marble, clay, cement statues that romanos talk to, hug and kiss?
Antagonists of the Palatino bill say that the Filipinos are a happy people because romanos have conversations with their graven images of wood, plastic, stone, marble. Vanuatu, the island country in the Australian continent voted as the place of the happiest people on earth is not a Romano country and the happy Vanuatus do not talk with graven images.
I hope the Palatino bill will get far enough to mandate that a private room/space be built in every government building and this room will be scheduled to be used not only for romano masses, but all religions which need space to do worship.
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