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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (20623)	8/4/2001 9:37:39 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Don't take that 83% figure too literally: Catholicism is regarded as an inherited trait here, and anyone born into a nominally Catholic family is considered, for statistical purposes at least, a Catholic for life. I would place the number of churchgoing believers at under 50%. Polls show that large majorities of Philippine Catholics support, for example, the provision of free or cheap contraceptives through Government clinics, one indication that the Catholic population is willing to break with the Catholic dogma where their own interests are concerned. The last two Philippine Presidents were elected over strenuous objection from the Catholic hierarchy. This is why the level of behind-the-scenes skullduggery, always considerable, has been increasing of late: the Church sees its hold on the nominally Catholic masses slipping badly; the only way they can avoid a consequent loss of power is to keep items off the agenda completely or to resort to wild distortion of issues or ad hominem attacks on the sponsors of initiatives they oppose. It's a complicated situation, in which little is as it seems at first glance. To understand it you would have to understand Philippine politics, which is not easy in its own right. If you really want to read something about either topic, look up www.pcij.org; they published a study some time back dealing specifically with Philippine subservience to the Church where women's issues are concerned. They also have a rather extensive selection dealing with Philippine politics in general. I find one thing amusing: if I accused any other player in Philippine politics, including the US Government, of bribery, manipulation, or blackmail, you would accept the accusation at face value and assume that it was true. Not an unreasonable assumption: you know very well that these are the standard modus operandi of politics in the developing world, and you know that I have devoted quite extensive study to the politics of this country. But when the accused institution is (gasp) a church, suddenly the allegation becomes incredible, and righteous indignation and demands for proof immediately follow. Do you honestly believe that power corrupts religious figures any less thoroughly than it corrupts anyone else?