IN OUR broken times, we do question if there is a God. Wars. Crisis. Disasters. Broken hearts. Homelessness. Endo. Even getting caught as a tambay can make you question is there a God that cares.
But if Lodi Digong starts cursing God and calls the Church stupid for believing that God allowed sin in this world and make saints out of apostles, do we think this is right?
People will see this as blasphemy, or even craziness for mocking the faith of the millions of Filipinos.
But Digong has always been ranting against the Church, its people. He exposed a priest for being secretly married. He cursed the Pope for causing traffic in Manila. He said he was molested by a Jesuit priest when he was young.
That’s why he hates pedophile priests. He wanted an Australian nun to be deported. He smeared a murdered priest saying this priest had an affair (which he said without proof).
So this builds his case to make the Catholic Church his target of incessant rants on his speeches where it’s more fillers and rants than substantive agenda.
I can only muse myself, if God decides to answer back at Digong, it could be in two ways, or two forms.
God could come like Morgan Freeman, beautiful smart-alecky black in dashing white. Like Bruce Almighty, Digong tries to test God, tries to flash his middle finger but finds his middle finger gone. God says you’ve smitten me many times, but he gives him a gift instead. It is the gift of being able to hear every Filipino’s prayers, and the ability to answer them. So what would Digong Almighty do, hearing millions of prayers whispered to his ear?
Does he have time to curse or rant? Does he realize being a president is not like God who gets loads of prayers, whims and requests? Or God could come like Alanis Morissette, like in the movie Dogma.
God is a woman, actually God is something else.
Digong comes to him like Jay, cursing F-bombs over what happened in this bloodied state of things. Alanis the God doesn’t say a word, just hushes him, smiles and kisses him, leaving Digong on the ground. When asked why we live like this, Alanis the God just smiles, squishes the nose and runs off home to the Church.
I think Dogma is just the movie that answers why there are people like Digong who question the Christian faith and its relevance to our problems.
His cursing and mockery is just like Loki who fools around with faith.
Amidst this questioning, God is mysteriously silent. In the final scene, angel Metatron said God can be child-like. Our theology and Bible class reminds us that the eyes of the innocent lead us to find faith and love.
Let's be quiet then in wonder as God will kiss the non-believers to shut them up, or scream their heads off.