By MARY ANN MANJA BAYANG
www.nordis.net

There’s an environment of hullabaloos with the controversial RH Bill that is now under consideration by Congress. In the middle of this hubbub, emerged the never ending debate on separation of the Church and the State. When the Church comes out to criticize and make a stand on social, political and economic issues, does it violate the principle of separation of Church and State?

The “separation principle” is embodied in Article II, Section 6 of our Constitution that says “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.” In this relation, “No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.” (Article III. Section 5, Constitution)

If one has to review the moral and political bases for the separation principle, one will know when it can be said that this inviolable separation is violated. This principle basically prevents any State from curtailing or interfering with the people’s right to the free exercise and enjoyment of their religious beliefs, as long as the individual civil and political rights of each person is not transgressed by the exercise and enjoyment of such religion. On the other hand, the Church cannot use the State machinery to advance or impose its beliefs and aspirations. The Church cannot, for example, use Congress to pass laws or use the President to implement programs to favor its doctrines.

But like any other citizen, the Church enjoys the freedom of expression and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. When the Church stands strong in its opposition against the RH Bill, I do not see this as anything different from when other citizens go out into the streets and denounce the US military exercises in the country. But if the State kowtows to the demands of the Church because it is the Church, then the State violates the separation principle. The State cannot have a profiling attitude against people who exercise their freedom of expression, be it the Church, the militants, the Muslims, the downtrodden, the disabled, the minorities or the rich. They maybe “dissenters” but in this world of supposed democracy, anyone can freely exercise his right without fear of persecution. The fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in our own Bill of Rights and also espoused by international laws, apply to everyone without discrimination, and without regard to one’s own religion, beliefs, race, gender or status. The State should not also be bigoted in its treatment of “dissenters” by improperly using the separation principle against the Church, or labelling the rest as terrorists or enemies of the State. # nordis.net

By KATHLEEN T. OKUBO
www.nordis.net

Recent communications with a good old friend has given me relevant insights from Japan after the three recent calamities that has outranked any disaster that has hit any one country in this 21st century. I have a brother who lives along the same shoreline hit by the tsunami, cousins around Sendai, near the epicenter of that strong earthquake, cousins and an old aunt in Hiroshima, friends and acquaintances in the Kansai area, Kanto region, Okinawa, and Hokkaido. I remembered and prayed they be safe and strong.

I continue to pretend it is comforting that I do not know anyone in Fukushima for I dread the picture of the disaster area from my readings on the extent of devastation and effect of the Chernobyl accident, the US dropped H bombs in the Japan. Fukushima, where because of the earthquake and tsunami one nuclear power plant located there was damaged and leaked radioactive elements into the world atmosphere making it today’s worst nuclear disaster of its kind.

The initial news of that March 11 earthquake, measuring almost a 9 on the Richter scale, and the subsequent tsunami, hit me that fateful day, and all I could say was, “huh!???” followed by that sharp pain in the chest as the traumatic experience of the 1990 earthquake here broke loose in my psyche. This deeply buried emotional wound, surfaced and seemed to have triggered a panic to search and get every single news or information about everyone I knew and remember was in Japan. I did not know what to do and in no financial capacity or otherwise to actually do something to help or raise donations as several Filipino institutions do in times of calamities here. I stuck to the internet – computer screen for hours that day as all the news sites kept on showing that same and only video clip as if it was the only area devastated.

Eventually, my hunger for information about relatives, friends and acquaintances in Japan slowly settled and relaxed as I got answers but the need to know more about their situation there has not waned. Especially under the circumstances where victims have to rebuild their lives and rehabilitate infrastructures to continue life as the people there know. Compared to other societies, it has been a noted given that the people of Japan are proud of their traditions and are very hard working. United and bound by a thread of common cultural and traditional discipline as a people; and as a nation economically highly industrialized.

In a report of the Japanese worker’s union it says; “the monstrous tsunami which hit the Pacific coasts of Tohoku and northern Kanto region… the toll of the dead and the missing was as many as 30,000.” The report also described as “hundreds of thousands of houses, facilities, factories, public utilities were broken down or lost, with grave damage on infrastructures of water, power, gas, communication , ports, and transport. In some areas the whole cities were totally destroyed the city offices were washed away to the sea.”

Despite all the assurances given thru media, the Fukushima nuclear plant damage and radioactive leak was described at a most dangerous Level 7, has not been completely controlled in time that it continues to worry the country. a country that has not completely forgotten what a nuclear disaster is, being the victim of two atomic bomb drops in the 2nd world war. The effects of radioactive exposure can linger for generations slowly damaging the health and life of all kinds of living things. It pollutes vast areas it permeates into the soil, river, sea, air, ecology, and may affect the neighboring countries or overseas. I was beginning to say to myself, How could these Japanese be so quiet and so spartan about such widespread devastation and hardship? And,

The same union report said that “the people near the nuke plants were ordered to leave and evacuate. The radiation leak has devastated agriculture, livestock, fishery, industry, and robbed people of their livelihood in the region.”

The labor union report also said; “Faced with the monster calamity, workers, farmers, fishermen, residents has raise their voices to survive (resolved to overcome). The Japanese labor movement has been under great trial and challenge. Working class shall carry forward their consistent struggle to win their demands on one hand, and render full support to the suffering people, farmers, fishermen to address their demands and rise up to fight and survive, on the other. Workers unite with them and fight together. Currently, we Japanese militant labor unions/people’s organizations are doing our best … with all our might.”

On the nuclear plant leak, the experience gained from this emergency brought into light the realities of a nuclear crisis that the workers movement in Japan has geared up their participation in the global anti nuke campaign.

They have joined hands with the international anti nuke movement, Japanese citizen groups, non government organizations and student organizations.

They said; “The accident of Fukushima nuke power plant was caused by the erroneous energy policy which has been violently pushed forward by the conspiracy of electric power monopolies, business circles, and the (Japanese) government. Presently, Japan hosts 54 nuke plants which provide 30 % of total power, and plans to build 14 more plants.

All of them are located on the coast of underpopulated areas against the fact that Japan suffers from frequent quakes and tsunami.

However, the government and its conspirators have concealed the danger of nuke plants from the public and promote the construction as ‘state policy’ in an attempt to secure monopoly profit and to prepare for the Japanese atomic armament. In the construction they resort to bribery and police violence to oppress the people’s voices and mobilize pro-government specialists who scatter false propaganda, like ‘nuke plants are absolutely safe,’ and ‘nuke power is low-cost and clean energy.’

In the face of the grave nuke accident, they failed to stop the expansion of atrocity because of their priority on nuke plant maintenance.

In addition they control the nuke plant information to pretend that the accident is not serious, failing to caution on health and to instruct timely evacuation of the residents, force workers without appropriate medical check in the seriously polluted nuke plant, release the nuke pollution in the air and ocean, thus giving damage to global ecology.

And even today, they say the scale of the natural disaster is ‘out of their expectation’ to evade their responsibility, and insist to maintain nuke plants. They further plan to export the plants to Asian countries. We vehemently condemn their position.

We must force them to take the responsibility for what they did. We demand the government to disclose all the information, and stop the operation and terminate the plants immediately, thus drastically change the nuke power-centered energy policy.

In pursuit of it, lots of citizen groups, people’s organizations, labor unions, student groups are waging protest against the power corporations, and launching anti-nuke demonstration on the streets.”

May we, Filipinos, also learn from their experience and never allow the return of the Bataan nuclear plant or any nuclear plant for that matter, built in our country.

A small city like Baguio has not found, until today, a life friendly way of disposing its garbage, how much more for nuclear waste from a nuclear plant.

Plastic takes 65 years to degrade, radioactive waste takes several human lives and lifetimes to disappear from the earth’s surface. Ban nuclear plants! # nordis.net

By REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows… So then, you also must always be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.” — Matthew 24:36, 44

Judgment Day

While writing this reflection the world is supposed to have already come to an end. A group of conservative evangelical Christians based in California, USA, scheduled May 21, 2011 as the end of the world or as Judgment Day. This is not the first time that a person or group of persons scheduled the end of the world. Sometime in the early 1980’s, a religious group called Ako in Silang, Cavite, also scheduled the end of the world. But of course, it did not happen as expected.

Then, sometime in October 1994, a group of Koreans also declared the end of the world, but again it did not happen. Year 2000 came, and again there was an expectation that the world will finally come to an end with the so-called “millennium bug.” But again, it did not happen as expected.

Apocalypticism

How do we understand this expectation about the end of the world? This doctrinal belief concerning the end times is called Apocalypticism. It comes from the word Apocalypse, which is translated as revelation- the revelation to the believers of what is supposed to have been hidden or concealed from the authorities about the end times.

Apocalypticism can also be understood as a form of literary material that was developed during a period of crisis, usually persecutions of believers. This form of writing was quite popular from 200 BCE to 200 CE. In a period of about 400 years, this form of literary material was used as an instrument of communication among believers.

The use of symbols, visions, pseudonyms and passwords characterizes the nature of apocalypticism. Hence, it is quite vulnerable to various forms of interpretation or theological speculations.

Interpreting apocalyptic writings

There are at least three ways to interpret the apocalyptic writings. First is the futuristic approach, wherein all the events that would happen in the end times, like the coming of the Lord, the end of the world, etc. will happen still in the future. Second is the continuous historical approach, wherein the events prophesied in the Bible are being fulfilled at the present time. Obviously the California-based evangelical group that scheduled May 21, 2011 as end of the world follows this approach.

But there is still another approach called the contemporary historical approach, wherein the events of the end times are understood in the light of the situation of believers when the apocalyptic material was written. For instance, the Book of Revelations was written when Christians were persecuted under Emperor Domitian of the Roman Empire. And so, when the book talks about the “end of the world,” this should be interpreted to mean the end of the empire or more specifically the end of the forces of evil that dominates the empire. This would be realized with God’s intervention.

God’s own time

We live today in a world wherein the forces of evil dominate our lives. This kind of world should come to an end. It can come to an end not by simply scheduling it, but by actively participating in the efforts of putting an end to it, and pave the way for the coming of a new world – a world characterized by genuine justice and peace.

The end of the old world and the coming of a new world are open-ended. Only the Father knows. For it is dependent upon God’s call and our response to that call. Thus, Jesus said to his disciples. “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows…So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him” (Matthew 24:36,44). # nordis.net