Christianity is the greatest legacy of the Spaniards to the Filipinos. Amidst all the maltreatment, there are still some good things that sprouted after a century (120 years to be exact). Well, they’ve seated in power for 333 years; that is quite a long time, say three to five generations. Had they been generous, there could have been so much our ancestors have learned. The Filipinos, however picked up a lot about religion, though mostly still putting our ancestors at the bottom of the order – the bottom of the dreaded pyramid; labeling them “INDIO” (idiots). That is totally harsh. They came to our land like they own it and lived like kings manipulating puppets. They didn’t even want our ancestors to learn their language, they didn’t want them to understand simply because they had dug an endless pit of ulterior motives. I’d say they were successful in all their scheming as they’ve seated in control for over three centuries. The way they taught our ancestors the practices of our religion may have contributed so much on the false impressions of the Filipinos about penance and indulgence; through which the latter were manipulated. Nevertheless, that was a long time ago; a time for greed and power; a time when religion was merely a front. Now that things have grown into clear-cut crystals, there still remain smudges of misinterpretations. Say for instance, the alarming propagation of chain messages especially those that imply penance and indulgence in a bribing manner.
This movement has already started even before the internet era. As for me, there is nothing wrong with passing on messages; such is very much essential in this fast-paced world. For so long as the sole intent of such is purely for the well-being of every recipient and whoever may have come across it unintentionally. However, when it is used to appeal to the emotions and spirituality of the receiver, not to mention superstitions; this is where it gets really twisted. The Filipinos had been fed with misconstructions about Christianity, our faith in particular; More so now in the internet era when messages are easily spread out.
PUNISHMENT? There are some religion related messages which at first tells the reader the magnificence, righteousness and the glory of God then, as a concluding line it says pass on to 50 friends. Then the most shocking part is when it now says, “do not break the chain if you do not want misfortunes to befall on you”. Whaaattt!!!!???? I mean, who are you? I am certain this is NOT what the church teaches; I understand it urges us to spread the word of God with the fullness of our heart, not because we are frightened of the punishment that might befall on us. We have a loving God who gave us free will therefore such is a very much distorted notion.
BLESSINGS? Now this one is interesting! You’re browsing through the social media then this feel-good message comes strolling your news feed; or better yet, a personal message from a friend, an acquaintance or so. Here goes the brief but promising message: “Re-post if you believe in God! In 22 minutes, He will give a blessing in disguise!” There is so much confidence oozing from the originator of this message. Imagine there is really a specific number of minutes as to when such providence shall befall on you. Well, that’s what makes it compelling.
This is positive gratification but such is still a lie. Let’s face it, whether you re-posted the message or not, you would always receive a blessing because you followed God’s commandments and not because you have made a re-post from an anonymous seer. You have received a blessing because of your ability to recognize God’s work in every encounter. That is very important; that is the very blessing – to have eyes and the heart to see. When there is a lack of faith, that is when we need a marker to recognize the blessings all around us.
A blessing is what we decide to see. With an optimistic disposition, blessings are bountiful. SO WHY DON’T WE START SPREADING THE GOODNESS OF OUR SALVATION WITHOUT CONDITIONS?
I agree with this article, its very eye-opening i hate that people just send those chains to make their selves look religious a holy type of person that make people think that they don’t have sins. Im not a religious person but i respect my God i don’t think he will like this i mean it’s just a message don’t tell me God made that people are just exploiting God for likes and i felt bad for those people who just send those chains because they got scared of those punishments.
My honest thoughts!
I believe that José Rizal's letter truly impacted me, his words are so deep it's fascinating. If I have to be honest I heard about him once as a Philippine hero and that's it but I never thought about his work and what kind of person he was, After reading his letter for his parents I was obsessed! I kept reading it over and over again because of his words, his sentences everything about it just deeply attached to me. I love his way of showing his appreciation for his country despite the limited ways of showing because of the Spaniards in power, but now everything has changed and there's alot of ways you can show! He's willing to expose himself to the Spaniards for his country and even die for his country, I would be a coward to do that but he's willing to do EVERYTHING for his country which is something I admire! I was stunned to see Spaniards going into our country just to control us like some pawns. It's like going into some else's house and say "Hey! Work for us you lowly idiot." Is something i would throw my hands at, ouch! that's harsh of you, but it was a time where there's alot of desire for power and now everything has changed and I'm very glad.
Yes it is true that Christianity is the tha Spaniards legacy to us Filipinos. Almost all of the Filipinos are Christian. We learned a lot about religion from them and up to now some of it is still being practiced. After what our ancestors has done for them they still treat them lowly. I believe that Dr. Jose Rizal and some Filipinos at the time are hunger for reform in government. That we Filipinos should be treated equally and it must be Filipinos should be the one governing our own country and not by any other race who just came here to colonize. Jose Rizal was true to his belief and wants to save Filipinos and all coming generations from Spaniards cruelty.
Your discussion tackled the legacy of the Spanish colonization in the Philippines and its impact on the Filipinos' religious beliefs (hooray!!!). You mentioned that Christianity (I'm atheist :D) was a good thing that sprouted from the colonizers' mistreatment, but it also contributed to the false impressions of penance and indulgence among Filipinos. You also noted the alarming propagation of chain messages that appeal to emotions and superstitions, which can twist the teachings of the church. You emphasized the importance of recognizing blessings without conditions and spreading the goodness of salvation.
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