I believe in what Mahar Mangahas is saying. I still believe that God exists, but I also believe that we exist in a democracy where ideas must be allowed to live or die, we just wont have that if the rules are different against Islamic Fundamentalist, Christian Fundamentalist and all the the other types of Fundamentalist. If this is how it is supposed to be lets just redistribute the world between all these groups and see who dies because of collective stupidity,overpopulation, selective belief in science and infighting .
Some have commented that Celdran deserves his punishment because what he did was offensive—that certain places are special and thus should be immune to an individual’s demonstration of his politics. A church, some argue, is not the place where politics should happen. Never mind that it too is very much a public space. (Which, seeing that it’s not taxed, is indirectly subsidized by the government.)
The thing is, what makes a church special? Because we believe it is? Because it was consecrated? Sanctified?
The truth is it’s just a pile of cement which has become special because people just say it’s so. Dangerously, the idea that this space is special has given its occupants more armor against criticism. The Church has shown it is willing to engage in public demonstrations against government—in fact, that’s part of its threat to oppose reproductive health bills—but apparently, for a citizen to show displeasure in a creative manner at a church is forbidden because it just isn’t done.
This is foolish. No edifice should be allowed to isolate and protect people, notably leaders, religious or not, from the very criticism that we deserve and have the right to deliver. Various pulpits across the country have been used as platforms against government, individuals and philosophies present in society. The difference is we are vulnerable to the Church wherever we might state our issues against them, as they are allowed to entreat their followers to harass officials at the gates and shout down public meetings from the rafters. Yet they are the privileged who can retreat to their sacred spaces and continue to deliver the worst of the their messages with relative impunity.
via {caffeine_sparks}: “On Carlos Celdran’s Arrest” by Mahar Abrera Mangahas.