UCCP COUNCIL OF BISHOPS

PRESS STATEMENT 

28 September 2020

 

UCCP LEADERS INDIGNANT OVER COMPLAINT FILED AT THE DAVAO CITY

PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE

 

“This harassment on the Church by the military establishment and the government itself must stop!” An emphatic statement coming from UCCP General Secretary, Bishop Melzar Labuntog upon knowing on mass media, from PTV and from internet news portal Davao Today that several UCCP national leaders both past and present were named in the formal complaint at the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office. 

 

“The complainants have the face of indigenous people or Lumads, but they have been under the influence of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), and this is an instigation of the National Task Force to End Localized Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)” explained Bishop Hamuel Tequis, the Davao City based UCCP Bishop.

 

Reliable mass media sources disclosed that, on September 15, some Manobo tribesmen filed complaints before the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office against several church leaders of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Haran and other individuals they tagged as members of the New People’s Army. 

 

Several of the forty eight (48) persons charge are UCCP leaders and members, others were not fully identified for violations of Republic Act No. 9208, as amended by Republic Act No. 10364, or the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act (RA 9208), and Republic Act No. 7610 (RA 7610) or the “Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act”, and Republic Act No. 9851 (RA 9851) or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity. [1]

 

Furthermore, the alleged violations of the laws herein mentioned are trumped-up accusations on the UCCP and the Lumad leaders sheltered in UCCP Haran, as government solutions to the several years of hiatus in the negotiations of return of the Lumads to their ancestral domain in Talaingod, Davao Del Norte. This complaint comes in a series of legal build up to crush the organized resistance of the Lumads to the NCIP’s conditions of their return which do not conform to their agreement stipulating that they should return to the ancestral land and not in a resettlement area, the land they left behind few years ago escaping for their survival because of intense militarization of their communities.

 

The Council of Bishops recalled the many instances when President Rodrigo Duterte, then Mayor of Davao City in 2016 have personally assured the Church that he will, within his power, judiciously support the unhampered return of the Lumads in Haran, to their ancestral land. 

 

The forced evacuation of the indigenous peoples was not solely a phenomenon in Davao Del Norte, but a reality as well in Agusan del Sur, Misamis Occidental and in Northern Luzon. These have been going on because the peace talks and peace process between NDFP and the GRP has been stalled accompanied by attendant problems and concerns of social justice within their tribal communities and the larger society, the Council of Bishops stressed.

 

Rev. Daniel Palicte, Conference Minister of Southern Mindanao District Conference believes that this is a campaign to smear the reputation of the Church that has been providing refuge for numerous Lumad families in its Haran Compound in Davao City for more than five years already. But he declared that UCCP Church leaders are unfettered in their resolute commitment to do God’s compassionate mission for and among the indigenous people in Mindanao and the entire country. 

 

Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza, former UCCP General Secretary and National Council of Churches in the Philippines incumbent General Secretary commented that the charges hurled at the Church leaders are persecutory measures from the government agencies that are supposedly working out probable and sustainable solutions to the needs of the indigenous people or Lumads for their safe return to their ancestral land. Instead of working out solutions, these agencies have never stopped harassing the Church and recently permitted paramilitary elements to forcibly and violently entered Haran rampaging Lumads’ sleeping quarters and classrooms and looted their food supplies and cash. They have also red-tagged our church leaders like Bishop Hamuel Tequis and others. 

 

Interestingly, NTF-ELCAC has no scruple in filing their complaints in the prosecutor’s office because it got huge budget for 2019.  The Philippine News Agency, which stated that around P20.150 billion of the budget will be used this year for cleared villages, while the remaining P16.288 billion will be appropriated next year for development projects. [2] It is disconcerting to know that the hard earned taxes of the people are used against the very interest of the people instead of serving them. Congress itself has cast doubts on the use of the huge budget of NTF-ELCAC.

The UCCP Church leaders suspect that this persecution of the church is intended to stop the church from it sprophetic witness in the midst of intensifying authoritarian regime in the country even in the midst of the pandemic. Political dissent is being suppressed as the tyrannical nature of the government is revealed in the passing of the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020, the increasing number of extrajudicially killed especially human rights workers and advocates, peace negotiators, peasant and labor leaders.

 

Finally, the UCCP leaders and the Council of Bishops demand that this complaint be immediately quashed by Davao Prosecutor’s Office. They also expressed their readiness to dialogue to settle the differences with the government agencies and the military establishment. There are weightier matters that must be addressed by the government than persecuting and harassing the Church and the Lumads, the very people that government agencies have pledge to serve. +

THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS

28 September 2020

---

[1]  http://davaotoday.com/main/human-rights/haran-displaced-manobos-slam-ntf-elcac-for-trumped-up-charges/

 

[2]  https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1327217/zarate-asks-coa-to-audit-multibillion-budget-of-ntf-elcac#ixzz6YtrTbWYk

 UCCP COUNCIL 0F BISHOPS

REAFFIRMING OUR COMMITMENT TO

SERVE THE DOWNTRODDEN AND THE LEAST PRIVILEGED

 

(A Pastoral Statement of the UCCP Council of Bishops on Haran’s Case)

‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25: 40 NKJV) is a constant reminder that keeps the United Church of Christ in the Philippines dynamic and actively engaged in the ministry for the least privileged and disadvantaged sectors of our society. 

 

The recent filing of a criminal case by certain Ata-Manobo individuals against a number of our members, local church leaders and church workers including fellow bishops is a sad reflection of high-handedness and hostile attitude of the powers that be towards the Church. Said filing of case is apparently stirred by the military and Atty. Marlon Bosantog, head of the legal affairs office of National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP).  

 

We take this case as part of a grand design to shame and smear the integrity not only of those accused individuals but of the whole United Church of Christ in the Philippines for its staunch advocacies for the protection of Lumads’ rights and indigenous people and for our active engagement in peace and justice ministries. 

 

Over the past year or so, the UCCP and some of our members and leaders had been among those red tagged by the military. In fact, one of our former Conference Ministers in the Bicol Region had been arrested and detained on the basis of a trumped-up charge filed by the military. In plain sight, therefore, the case filed by Ata-Manobo in Davao City Prosecutor’s Office is just another act of harassment and intimidation.

 

We recall that in a dialogue with no less than the newly proclaimed president then, held in Malacanang in 2016, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, assured us that he will do his best to bring the Lumads back to their own homes. UCCP did not invite nor encourage the Lumads to come to UCCP-Haran. The Lumads actually came to Haran seeking for refuge as a result of militarization in their places. As a church, the UCCP cannot but accommodate them in gesture of support and solidarity.

 

In 2016, then Davao City Vice-Mayor Paolo Duterte personally came to Haran and offered the Lumads free vehicles that would bring them back to their homes, but the Lumads refused the offer. The same was done in 2020 by Gov. Edwin Jubahib of Davao Del Norte but also to no avail. Clearly, the UCCP did not prevent the Lumads from going back to their homes neither did we oblige any of them to remain in Haran. It was solely their decision to remain under the refuge of Haran. 

 

As a Church of Jesus Christ, we remain true to our commitment as declared in February 1990: “the United Church of Christ in the Philippines through its Council of Bishops and the Executive Committee in session on February 21-23, 1990 declares as sanctuaries and zones of peace all its church buildings, parsonages and lands, hospitals and schools, and other church-owned institutions and their premises. As sanctuaries, these places and premises are open to all people, regardless of color and creed, sex and status, and of political and religious affiliation, at all times, in all circumstances of need. We welcome those needing sanctuary to use these places for protection, study, reflection, retreat, prayers and meditation, or simply for rest and quiet.”

 

Let it be made very clear that the UCCP is ready to face the accusers in court to prove the innocence and guiltlessness of our members and church workers who are among the respondents. All the allegations in the case are unfounded and tall tales that are too incredible to be true.

 

As leaders of the Church, we abhor such act of falsehood even as we also call on the accusers and those behind their action to stop besmirching our church, our members and church workers. As the Prophet Isaiah puts it, in Isaiah 5:18: “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope…”

 

We also call on al UCCP faithful to join us in sober prayers and support for our fellow UCCP members who are drawn into this quagmire of trickery and sham. Let us continue to be ONE in living out our shared calling as God’s ambassadors of peace, justice and love! “With Christ on our side, even the gates of hell will not prevail over us!” (Matthew 16: 18).+

 

UCCP COUNCIL OF BISHOPS

28 September 2020

UCCP Council of Bishops

Statement on Red-tagging of Bishop Hamuel G. Tequis, 

Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza, Rev. Irma Balaba, et al.

 

 WHOEVER MAKES A PRACTICE OF SINNING IS OF THE DEVIL . . .

The  COUNCIL OF BISHOPS of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines strongly abhors the most recent spiteful tagging of our fellow Bishop and Council of Bishops member, Bishop Hamuel G. Tequis of UCCP-Southeast Mindanao Jurisdictional Area (SEMJA) as a CPP member as contained in a propaganda poster posted near the building of Sta. Ana Catholic Church in Davao City, seen early morning, August 13, 2020 by concerned witnesses. Copies of the same poster are placed in electrical poles near the same area in Davao City. 

 

In the same vein, recently, Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza, UCCP Bishop Emeritus and incumbent general secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCCP) has been maliciously red tagged as communist by the Facebook troll page “Timek ti Cagayan for speaking up against the Anti-Terrorism Law. Similarly, on July 24, Rev. Irma Balaba, UCCP church worker of United Metropolis Conference was tagged as surrendered member of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). Without consent, her picture was posted on the Facebook page of the Southern Luzon Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

 

This persecution of the Church does not exempt the laity members such as Karlo Manano, son of Rev. Isaias Manano, Sr. retired pastor of Oriental Mindoro Conference, who was implicated as member of the CPP-NPA. There are several others and some were served warrant of arrest and have been jailed for trump-up criminal charges hurled on them, on which the Church through the Council of Bishops has spoken on their defense in assertion of prophetic witness. 

 

This is obviously a handiwork of those who aim at besmirching the reputation and integrity of peace and justice advocates as well as those in the religious sector who are engaged in the work of peacemaking and human rights. Acts like this warrant our stoutest denunciation as it denigrates our faith conviction and tramples on our fundamental right to express our Christian calling of serving the least of our people.

 

We call on those responsible to STOP HARASSING OUR PROPHETS! STOP SPREADING LIES AGAINST RIGHTS DEFENDERS!

 

Words of caution from the Bible as declared in 1 John 3: 8 ESV,

 

“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

 

UCCP COUNCIL OF BISHOPS

August 13, 2020

Muted and alienated

Frank J. Hernando

May 20, 2020

Muted and alienated

Musings and remorse in the season of pandemic

(First published online at Silliman University Divinity School Skepse)

 

Scripture Texts: Psalm 143

1  Hear my prayer, O Lord;

    give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;

    answer me in your righteousness.

2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant,

    for no one living is righteous before you.

3 For the enemy has pursued me,

    crushing my life to the ground,

    making me sit in darkness like those long dead.

4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;

    my heart within me is appalled.

5 I remember the days of old,

    I think about all your deeds,

    I meditate on the works of your hands.

6 I stretch out my hands to you;

    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.Selah

7 Answer me quickly, O Lord;

    my spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me,

    or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

    for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

    for to you I lift up my soul.

9 Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;

    I have fled to you for refuge.[a]

1Teach me to do your will,

    for you are my God.

Let your good spirit lead me

    on a level path.

11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.

    In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.

12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,

    and destroy all my adversaries,

    for I am your servant.

 

Meditation

 

Muted and alienated ...

 

I'm having a kind of ambivalence 

If not confusion, or worse recalcitrance---

what to feel and more importantly 

what to expect in the coming weeks and months 

working in the National Capital Region (NCR). 

 

I felt like I have been muted, 

unable to be physically present in meetings and conferences 

to deliver sermons or presentations. 

All my invitations in the annual sessions cancelled.

I felt like I have been immobilized, 

unable to go farther away from the national office 

or from Project 6. 

My world got smaller everyday due to restrictions 

imposed by the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) 

in Luzon and then the entire country.

 

Anxiety driven and threats of death ...

 

The pandemic has instilled the fear of infection. 

The moment one is infected, 

one has already received his death certificate 

where written COVID-19 as cause of death. 

The declaration of the Enhance Community Quarantine 

or lock down was not well thought of by the government, 

It was drastic, compulsive, militarist.

 

What was in their minds?

The easy way to do a lock down 

is to do it military style of quarantine. 

It is cheaper to lock down people 

in their homes and communities, 

instead of launching mass virus testing programs. 

 

South Korea imposed mass testing program, although not perfect at all,

by establishing drive-in testing sites 

at the entrances and exits 

of highways and expressways

Swabbing everyone who enters and exits key cities and towns.

Here, armed military personnel checked on 

Quarantine pass, IDs and cargoes of trucks.

 

Employment and wages lost ...

 

Millions of people have to stop working, 

the pandemic revealed the ugly consequences 

of the nation's class society. 

The metropolis was in a standstill. 

The nearby public school has no more children playing, 

or chanting their songs and rhymes, 

 

No longer can be heard the noisy Lambada music from the jeepney 

leaving the compound to have its pasada to Quiapo and Pier

The jeepneys have been parked here since the first day of ECQ 

drivers are either stranded in location 

or gone to their homes, and just like us, locked down.

EDSA has been decongested of vehicles 

and the noisy deafening beep sounds of impatient motorists gone,

And there was silence, at times eerie. 

 

Quarantined ...

 

Means staying indoors for most of my waking hours,

Occasionally, going to the talipapa to get fresh meat 

and fish supply has become a routine for the last nine weeks

Going to the grocery store in big malls 

means taking your whole afternoon 

as you slowly move forward in the long cue of customers

Just to get a pack of ground coffee, fruits, 

and other basic supplies good for a week

 

Hoarding of groceries was a common scene 

in grocery stores of shopping malls

practiced by those who have the money, 

Too little or nothing at all for those with less in life

Cooking for yourself, eating alone, singing alone, praying alone

Listening to daily morning and evening newscast,

Newscasts give the head count of infected, deaths, recoveries

Complaints of poor citizens waiting for food relief packs, 

social amelioration fund, DOLE unemployment support 

was hard to access and come by.

 

Rights violated, hopes dimmed ...

 

People losing control of their economic life, 

those asserting their right to economic support 

were jailed, killed, penalized

Those who like to stay outdoors were called 'pasaway' and punished, 

as if their right place is indoors all their lives 

Those who resist the quarantine were ordered shot or jailed

Government judges were alerted to issue warrant of arrests

For those who violate quarantine protocols

Why would Bayanihan for Healing as One Act seemed iron fisted?

The people have further been abused and their rights doubly violated.

"We will not die of COVID-19

But surely we will die of hunger, patay sa gutom,"

People in distress murmured.

 

Domicile becomes hallowed spaces ...

 

Working from home--

Means not leaving your familiar domestic spaces,

Your dining table is also your desk,

Plastic chairs have practically replaced 

the cushioned executive swivel chair

You don't have to walk several meters away to refill your coffee cup

It is just literally within your reach,

But be careful not to spill your hot coffee on your laptop computer.

Ah very tempting, when brain fatigue occurs,

The comfy bed is just few steps away.

 

You received requests from workmates, 

answered emails, write project proposals,

and all that are necessary for the invisible office to run.

The absence of face-to-face meetings 

Makes my mind and heart crave for very personal interaction

It might be good to read messages and emails

Or sit in teleconferencing in Zoom or FB messenger

No personal and cultural nuances exposed.

 

So there are people who likes to impose on others their prerogatives,

Compulsions disclosed, repulsions kept.

I hope that someday, somehow, what has been coined as "new normal"

Will restore our humanity, our human touch, sensitivity,

Intimacy and empathy as God's people.

 

Praying for God's strength ...

 

Dear God strengthen my heart and empower my will,

My spirit is weakening, my resilience is diminishing, 

Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning 

for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go, 

for to you I lift up my soul. Amen. +

 

STATEMENT CONDEMNING THE ARREST OF REV. DAN SAN ANDRES SR.

“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. (Mark 13:9).

 Rev. Dan San Andres Sr., as a servant of the Lord Jesus, is a good, honest, hardworking, and courageous defender of human rights. He is assigned as a Church Worker at UCCP Sipocot, Camarines Sur. His teachings and actions are in accordance with the UCCP’s Statement of Faith, Declaration of Principles, and in fulfillment of its laws, such as the protection of human rights.

 He firmly believes that protecting and upholding human rights is an imperative based on the UCCP’s Declaration of Principles in Article II, Section 11. Section 11. In accordance with the biblical understanding that all persons are created in the image of God, the Church affirms and upholds the inviolability of the rights of persons as reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other agreements on human rights, the international covenants on economic, social and cultural rights and on civil and political rights, the 1984 Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and those that relate specifically to refugees, women, youth, children, minority groups and other persons who cannot safeguard their own rights. 

 Therefore, the ministry of Rev. Dan San Andres Sr., as a servant-leader, in defense of human rights is in line with the UCCP’s belief and teachings. His flocks are not only members of the UCCP, but like Jesus the Good Shepherd, he has other flocks to take care of, including people suffering from oppression and human rights violations (John 10:16). Rev. San Andres served as Conference Minister of the North Bicol Conference during Bishop Eliezer M. Pascua’s incumbency as Bishop assigned to South Luzon Jurisdictional Area. Currently, he is the Chairperson of the Christian Witness and Service Committee of the Conference. One of the mandates of the committee he is currently leading is to protect and uphold human rights. 

 As Bishops of the Church, we condemn the accusation hurled on Rev. Dan San Andres Sr. and Jenelyn Nagrampa, who were both allegedly accomplices of the ambush that happened on May 13, 2018, and resulted to the killings of two members of Philippine Army. This accusation are pure lies and fabrication. Rev. Dan San Andres Sr. and Jenelyn Nagrampa were issued a subpoena last October 2019. Through their lawyers and witnesses, these allegations were answered and refuted in December 2019. According to the members of UCCP Sipocot, Camarines Sur, last May 13, 2018, when the alleged ambush took place, Rev. Dan San Andres was physically present in the Church leading the Sunday worship service and they were celebrating Mother’s Day. It is contrary to the Philippine Army’s statement that he was among the alleged NPAs who ambushed the soldiers at that same time and day. Fabricated cases like these only show that LIES are the foundation of the system of oppression and injustice. 

This experience has been happening in our nation over and over again since the dark days of MARTIAL LAW. It seems to be the pattern of the social system –to silenced the truth, those who tell the truth, and those who stand for truth. Therefore, we, members of the Council of Bishops of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) demand for the immediate release of Rev. Dan San Andres Sr. and Jenelyn Nagrampa. We call on the government to stop the persecution of the Church. 

 THE UCCP COUNCIL OF BISHOPS 

July 10, 2020 

 Bishop Melzar D. Labuntog General Secretary Bishop Joseph G. Agpaoa North Luzon Jurisdictional Area Bishop Emergencio D. Padillo Middle Luzon Jurisdictional Area Bishop Joel E. Tendero South Luzon Jurisdictional Area Bishop Jerome C. Baris East Visayas Jurisdictional Area Bishop Feliciana P. Tenchavez West Visayas Jurisdictional Area Bishop Ligaya F. San Francisco Northwest Mindanao Jurisdictional Area Bishop Hamuel G. Tequis Southeast Mindanao Jurisdictional Area 

 Bishops Emeritus: Bishop Arturo R. Asi Bishop Jezer E. Bertoldo Bishop Isaias L. Bingtan Bishop Erme R. Camba Bishop Ebenezer C. Camino Bishop Constante D. Claro Bishop Gabriel A. Garol Bishop Hilario M. Gomez, Jr. Bishop Marino I. Inong Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza Bishop Roel P. Mendoza Bishop Jaime R. Moriles Bishop Eliezer M. Pascua Bishop Dulce Pia-Rose Bishop Elorde M. Sambat Bishop Anacleto G. Serafica Bishop Jessie S. Suarez Bishop Rizalino Q. Taganas Bishop Modesto D. Villasanta 

 Link: https://www.uccpchurch.com/condemning-the-arrest-of-rev-san-andres/?

fbclid=IwAR1aWZwL08yISDkO1oAAMcoN7-szi4C9tDq32P33PKOKW3AOZzxNUazp2XM  

One final act of love and the end of all human sacrifices --Good Friday

March 30, 2018
By Frank J. Hernando

Scripture Text: John 18:1 - 19:42

1. It is Good Friday. Commemorating the death of Jesus on the cross should not be called good at all. It should rather be called Violent Friday, if not Martyrdom Day! In many countries where the Lenten Season and the Holy Week have red letter days such as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, people would rather spend time with family and spending leisurely time on the beach because of the simmering heat of the dry season rather than stay put, spend the days in self-introspection and spiritual retreats reflecting on the meaning of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have solemn religious commemoration been eroded with the need to escape from work places and from the pressures of daily life?

2. Good Friday has been claimed to be good for humanity because Jesus Christ, the Son of God was offered by God as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. Theological articulation of God’s offer of salvation to humanity through a human sacrifice is a once and for all a sacrifice that replaces the scapegoat at the altar of sacrifice. In Christian theology there is what we call ‘soteriology’ or principles and understanding of salvation. It focuses on God’s saving act through the Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for propitiation of the sin of the world or of humanity.

3. Our Judeo Christian theology or understanding of salvation goes back to the Old Testament books, especially the Book of Exodus which is considered the watershed of God’s purposive acts of salvation from concrete social oppression of the Hebrew people in the land of Egypt and searching, journeying and settling in the land of promise where a nation of mix tribal origins forged their unity through a socio-religious covenant. God’s initiative for salvation of God’s people was articulated by Moses and the succeeding leaders, like the judges, kings, prophets, and later through Jesus Christ.

4. The suggested Good Friday texts for this year is from the Gospel of John. In the pericope we can read the sequence of events from the eve of the Passover Feast when Jesus and his disciples had supper and where Jesus disclosed Judas betrayal. From my reading of the narrative the sequence of the events on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday:

Sequence of events:
The arrest at the Garden, Judas identified Jesus to the Roman soldiers
Peter’s use of sword to defend Jesus
Jesus brought before Annas, then to Caiaphas, the high priest
At Pilate’s court, flogging on Jesus, the crown of thorns and the purple rob
Peter’s 3 times denial of association with Jesus
Pilate and judgment by public outcry/trial
Pilate found no fault in Jesus, he was initially asked, ‘Are you king of the Jews?’
Pilate was scared about the public trial, asking questions, “what is truth?” and “where are you from?”
The verdict of the crucifixion, Jesus suffering on the cross
Last words of Jesus on the cross, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ The two other last words were, ‘I am thirst’ and ‘It is finished.’
The last rites for a dead body and burial of Jesus

5. The focus of Good Friday events in the Gospel narratives is atonement. In atonement God initiates the means for the propitiation of sins of humanity. It also discloses the victimization of an innocent scapegoat who should bear the sins and its blood provides the remission of sins. The theological understanding of atonement and victimization from anthropological perspective has been articulated by Rene Girard and his associates.The following paragraphs were culled from an article Atonement and Mimetic Theory:

The biblical and Christian power of understanding phenomena of victimization comes to light in the modern meaning of certain expressions such as “scapegoat.” A “scapegoat” is initially the victim in the Israelite ritual that was celebrated during a great ceremony of atonement (Lev. 16:21). The ritual consisted of driving into the wilderness a goat on which all the sins of Israel had been laid. The high priest placed his hands on the head of the goat, and this act was supposed to transfer onto the animal everything likely to poison relations between members of the community. The effectiveness of the ritual was the idea that the sins were expelled with the goat and then the community was rid of them.

b) This ritual of expulsion is similar to that of the pharmakos in Greece, but it is much less sinister because the victim is never a human being. When an animal is chosen, the injustice seems less, or even nonexistent. This is no doubt why the scapegoat ritual doesn’t move us to the same repugnance as the “miraculous” stoning instigated by Apollonius of Tyana [described in ch. 4]. But the principle of transference is no less exactly the same. In a distant period when the ritual was effective as ritual, the transfer of the community’s transgressions onto the goat must have been facilitated by the bad reputation of this animal, by its nauseating odor and its aggressive sexual drive.

c) In the primitive and archaic world there are rituals of expulsion everywhere, and they give us the impression of enormous cynicism combined with a childish naivete. In the case of the scapegoat the process of substitution is so transparent that we understand it at first glance. It is this comprehension that the modern usage of “scapegoat” expresses; in other words, it is a spontaneous interpretation of the relationship between the ancient Jewish ritual and transferences of hostility in our world today. These latter are no longer part of religious ritual, but they always exist, usually in an attenuated form.

d) The people participating in rituals did not understand these phenomena as we do, but they observed their reconciling results and appreciated them so much, as we have seen, that they attempted to reproduce them without feeling shame. This was the case because the operation of transferring sins from community to victim seemed to occur from beyond, without their own real participation. The modern understanding of “scapegoats” is simply part and parcel of the continually expanding knowledge of the mimetic/imitative contagion that governs events of victimization. The Gospels and the entire Bible nourished our ancestors for so long that our heritage enables us to comprehend these phenomena and condemn them.

e) “But never,” you will tell me, “does the New Testament resort to the term ‘scapegoat’ to designate Jesus as the innocent victim of an escalation of mimetic/imitative contagion.” You are right, no doubt, but it does use an expression equal and even superior to “scapegoat,” and this is lamb of God. It eliminates the negative attributes and unsympathetic connotations of the goat. Thereby it better corresponds to the idea of an innocent victim sacrificed unjustly. Jesus applies another expression to himself that is extremely revealing. It is drawn from Psalm 118: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” This verse tells not only of the expulsion of the single victim but of the later reversal that turns the expelled victim into the keystone of the entire community. (pp. 154-156)

f) The point to which Girard is leading is that the Lamb of God is taking away from us this sin of the world. Scapegoating is becoming increasingly difficult. He writes: Because of Jewish and Christian influence scapegoat phenomena no longer occur in our time except in a shameful, furtive, and clandestine manner. We haven’t given up having scapegoats, but our belief in them is 90 percent spoiled. The phenomenon appears so morally base to us, so reprehensible, that when we catch ourselves “letting off steam” against someone innocent, we are ashamed of ourselves.

g) It is easier than in the past to observe collective transferences upon a scapegoat because they are no longer sanctioned and concealed by religion. And yet it is still difficult because the individuals addicted to them do everything they can to conceal their scapegoating from themselves, and as a general rule they succeed. Today as in the past, to have a scapegoat is to believe one doesn’t have any.

6. As Christians we are concerned about the our personal and social life and that concern springs from our faith that because God in Jesus Christ forgiven our sins through the death of Jesus on the cross, our neighbors near or far should as well accept this sacrifice Jesus did for the remission of their personal sins. Perhaps your personal belief in the atoning power of God’s love in Jesus death on the cross enables you to live a life of love and compassion. But this faith of ours should not only be a personal possession to keep. Isn’t that true that Jesus’ mission was in the first place social and secondly personal?

7. In the context of forces labor and marriage migration, millions of Filipinos, not less than ten million scattered in many countries in the globe, or 5,800 individuals leave the country every day, have opted to seek jobs outside of the country. Many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) did not live long to see the fruits of their labor because they came home in a box due to unfortunate experiences of abuse and consequent violent deaths. Thousands, at least 4,000 suspected street-level drug addicts were killed in the course of conducting the anti-drug war of the Duterte government in less than 2 years. Many indigenous people were killed for defending their ancestral lands.

8. All these are the transferences of scapegoating in the Philippines. Christians should recognize this, because the lives of the scapegoats are ours and those who benefit from our people’s blood, sweat and tears are those who concentrated more power and wealth in their hands and families. May Good Friday’s meaning enlighten us and God’s love in Jesus Christ save our society and the world. Amen.

Saturday night reflection

Fourteen (14) degrees Celsius today was cool. Given that it is a Saturday a good number of people went out to the parks and spending time with family and friends. I was on my bike after a week of standing by as winter temps came back for  a week or so. Today I was looking for signs of Spring and there were very few flowering plants that are budding. Very hopeful signs indeed. But nature in Gyeonggi Forest Park is predominantly dry, golden brown and trees are still bare. As the Passion Sunday comes tomorrow and the Holy Week approaches it is good to reflect on the meaning of the passion and death of Jesus. +