Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Speak out: Religious freedom By C. N. Atienza
I’VE heard the stories. I’ve even seen the affidavits. But nothing prepared me when a parent attending an international school corporation meeting last month openly declared that “religion be thrown off the campus”!
The Australian was apparently supporting the school Board of Trustees’ position to disallow after-school Catechism next school year. The argument was: the school, being secular, should not favor any particular religion. While I agreed that being secular meant that no single religion should be favored, I also argued that being secular meant that the school should be open to all faiths.
An American parent (who incidentally happens to be Protestant) stood up and supported my position saying that Catechism has been in the school for over 30 years and should be allowed to stay. To which the man replied, “It’s probably time that religion is thrown off the campus”!
We’ve heard and read a lot about debates in the West on whether religion should be kept out of schools. But seeing the debate unfolding before my own eyes (and actually participating in it), I was jolted to the reality that Cebu, the bastion of Christianity in the Philippines, will have to address the growing influx of foreign beliefs as a result of Filipino inter-marriages across cultures and as we aspire to be a foreign investment destination, a tourism mecca and a retirement haven.
Indeed, religion is a very sensitive issue and open to debate. But, is it right to threaten a child with “being pulled out of the school team” if he or she praises Allah, or makes the sign of the cross before a game, all in defense of “secularism?” Does being “secular” mean that religion be “thrown off campus?” Or does it mean that all who are members of that school are allowed to practice their faith without fear of discrimination, or worse, persecution?
After sending my children to international schools in Indonesia, Japan, Brunei and now, Cebu, I support the latter definition. My children have learned to be tolerant of other faiths, without losing their own Catholic beliefs, and have close friends who believe in other faiths. They have imbibed an international outlook; more open to different cultures and ideas.
Rather than throwing religion out of schools, students, especially in an international school should be allowed to learn more about their faith, if they wish to do so. And, they should be RESPONSIBLY exposed to other faiths. I say, RESPONSIBLY, because religion should not be used to divide and alienate people. Our beloved Cebu, is by no means going to be immune from such attempts, unless we, as a community, allow this to happen.
