Saturday, March 01, 2008 Editorial: Criticizing CBCP's stand
Critics of President Arroyo have, as ex-pected, lambasted the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for refusing to join calls for her resignation.
This is the danger of reducing the current political imbroglio into purely black (evil) and white (good): the protagonists’ mindset no longer accepts shades in between.
The operating dictum is, “if you are not with us then you must be against us.”
Had the setup not been polarized, the CBCP’s decision would have been viewed in perspective, like putting it in the context of the Church hierarchy’s conservative bent.
Even under the Marcos dictatorship, years passed before the CBCP would openly speak against state abuse while Jaime Cardinal Sin was initially for critical collaboration.
Impetus
The CBCP’s stance must have hurt even more because of the failure of militants, civil society groups and the political opposition to gather the “critical mass” for a revolt.
CBCP telling Arroyo to resign would have given impetus to the anti-Arroyo fight.
Imagine how big yesterday’s interfaith rally would have been had CBCP backed it with a pastoral letter targeting the President and asking the faithful to join protest actions.
Over-reliance
But even without CBCP’s help, one should note the obvious: that the ranks of Arroyo critics have already been filled by some bishops and many priests and nuns.
The interfaith rally, for example, would not have been realized without them.
Which in turn begs the question on why those working for Arroyo’s ouster are now overly relying on religious groups, the clergy and religion to advance their cause.
Theories
On this, observers can come up with a theory or two.
One, that the credibility of leaders of the political opposition, civil society groups and militants has so dipped they need the religious to make their motives believable.
Two, that their critique of the Arroyo government and the issues they are hurling against the President can only become compelling when given a religious slant.
Either way, the righteousness of the struggle is put to a test.
