Does Catholicism Make Us More Tolerant of Corruption? Posted by Joe America on August 26, 2013 · 36 Comments ArroyoTheories On Why Corruption Is Pervasive in our Catholic Dominated Society Guest Article by Andrew Lim As I write this, the Napoles scam grows more tentacles by the day, ensnaring much of the past Arroyo administration’s officials, (some of whom jumped ship to Pnoy’s Liberal Party in 2010) , local government executives and even the Catholic church hierarchy. The outrage seems to be gathering steam slowly, fueled by media’s series of articles on it. But a nagging concern is this: Why is corruption so pervasive in a country where Catholicism is a dominant force? (We will define corruption here as the misuse or abuse of public office for private gain. Expanding its definition suited to one’s ideological bent is beyond the scope of the essay; e.g. Bishop Villegas attempted to re-define contraception as corruption in a public speech.) Claiming it has membership of 80+ % of the population, Catholicism has been operating here for 400+ years, with its schools and churches built all over. Catholic rites and rituals are well-attended. Surely, it would not be unfair to expect that it has had its chances to impact on morals and culture. Now take a look at the six administrations from the time of Marcos- three of them can be classified as highly corrupt, reaching up to the highest levels of governance. (Marcos, Arroyo, Estrada) Arguments can be made that corruption did and does occur also with the other three – Aquino, Ramos, and Aquino – but it was/is relatively tempered and there was/is more control over it. In any case, three corrupt out of six governments is an astoundingly high 50%! Why are we so cursed with bad leaderships? Is there a shortage of good men? Why is integrity in public service in such short supply? To gain some perspective, let’s look at it globally: an outfit called Transparency International tracks corruption and perceptions of it world-wide and ranks them according to a uniform standard. The latest survey of 2012 puts the Philippines in the bottom half, at no. 105. (out of 174 countries ranked) Now here’s where it gets interesting: when I was doing research for this paper, I noticed that very few Catholic-dominated countries could claim to have low levels of corruption, as per this index. Only Switzerland is in the top 10, and one can argue that it is a very secular state with divorce and reproductive health laws in place. Italy hovers near the bottom of the first half, at no. 72. Spain though, fares better at no. 30. But for countries who shared the same trajectory as the Philippines – conversion through colonization – the results are dismal; South and Central American countries land in the bottom half. Is there a correlation here? Is there a pattern? To gain insight, I looked at certain aspects of the dominant Catholic religion in the country and found some key concepts or doctrines which could have an impact on the high tolerance for corruption and which may inadvertently encourage it to persist. I. LACK OF A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD Catholicism is fond of hierarchies and the use of intermediaries, unlike other religions which encourage direct communication with God. In Filipino culture, directness is not emphasized, and the use of go-betweens in mediating conflicts and communication is common. One feels protected by this wall. After all, go-betweens usually do not take sides or judge critically. Does this lack of directness lead to a lack of accountability for one’s moral decisions? Perhaps. I want to use an analogy to drive home this point: foreigners often wonder how Filipinos, who are friendly in person, very gracious and hospitable turn into rude, dangerous and inconsiderate drivers on the road. My theory is that the separation of the individual from the other guy emboldens them to be so- the car itself, the tint, the sunglasses. As long as there is no eye contact, you feel you can do as you please. It’s probably the same with religiosity – when you have all those hierarchies, go-betweens and intermediaries (who will not be critical of you) then your sense of personal accountability to God goes down. II. USE OF INTERMEDIARIES JIVES WITH PADRINO SYSTEM The use of padrinos or “taga-lakad” is pervasive in our culture, and this is mirrored in the use of saints and other holy figures in Catholic doctrine. Saints have a specialization for each kind of need: sickness, lost items or loved ones, impossible situations, etc. In the secular world, fixers exist for various reasons: licenses, permits, faster lines, etc. Job applicants and contractors seek padrinos in offices, hoping to seek the slightest advantage – e.g. for advance information, or in extreme cases, outright advantage in securing the objective. Can we reach a point where we can get rid of this negative cultural phenomenon if we have Catholicism as a dominant religion? III. CONCEPT OF PURGATORY Purgatory is perceived as a “halfway house” between heaven and hell, where those who have sinned can still get to heaven if they spend some time in it, to do penance. This concept does not exist in other Christian religions. Does this embolden would-be corrupt officials, since they think they will still have a chance to go to heaven when they die, since purgatory exists? Why not delay your conversion from sin to your death bed, and enjoy life according to your wishes instead? Is this what the pork barrel Congressmen were probably thinking? Is there less fear of punishment in hell because of this concept? IV. EASY FORGIVENESS, LACK OF JUSTICE, AND THE BASTARDIZATION OF “DONT JUDGE OTHERS” In the aftermath of the 1986 EDSA revolution, the call for reconciliation instead of justice was louder, with Tito Sotto even writing that song “Magkaisa” (he admits to backing the Marcoses before) . But what is reconciliation without justice? Too often, one gets variations of these answers in social media forums, when corrupt officials and clergy are outed: Don’t judge others lest you be judged; we are all sinners. God will forgive you over and over again, as long as you repent. Translation: you can dip your hand into PDAF repeatedly, as long as you say sorry, or get Monsignor Josefino Ramirez to say Mass in your Magallanes home. Doesn’t this encourage corruption to persist in this country? Doesn’t it render the justice system ineffective? In the previous elections, a movement called Catholic Vote Philippines was organized to persuade voters to put into office those it deems consistent with its teachings on contraception and other related issues. I was amazed when their classification for corruption was “…it is a temporal, second level problem “, secondary to its “pro-life issues.” No wonder the Catholic Vote Philippines and the CBCP ended up endorsing corrupt politicians, and all because they voted “no”to the RH bill. What kind of classification is this that bestows legitimacy on corrupt officials? Prior to the recent elections, I coined the slogan “Di Baleng Corrupt, Basta Kakampi ng Bishop” to highlight the inappropriateness of the Team Buhay/Patay campaign of the hierarchy. Sadly and tearfully, it has become so true. Just to make it clear, the Catholic church does not teach evil or wrongdoing. But there could be weaknesses in some of its concepts and catechisms. I want to ask you: Is Catholicism effective enough in forming consciences to help build a society that is resistant to corruption? If other societies (though mostly non-Catholic) can do it, why can’t we? Is Catholicism the stumbling block to building a corruption-resistant culture?
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 10:54:54 +0000
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