As a Catholic school-raised girl turned agnostic, the development of how my religion relates to me and my peers in recent years has proven to be very interesting. The drastic shift from me anxiously typing “Amen,” under posts of threatening chain messages and pictures of Jesus next to the devil to quoting sacrilegious memes that could very well place me down in the lowest depths of hell is something worth looking into. And it’s not just me—countless individuals with similar backgrounds and upbringing as I did have had the same kind of development concerning their relationship to Christianity.
Let’s backtrack a bit to a few months prior, October 2023, when I came across a Facebook post saying, “Filipinos are suddenly becoming religious in preparation for Christmas”, in a joking, albeit unfortunately true-to-reality manner. As most are aware, the certified Filipino Catholic Christmas experience includes going to early morning novena masses—simbang gabi—for nine consecutive days before Christmas. This tradition is often thought to bring good luck and blessings, and from what I recently learned, make your deepest wishes come true. Whether that entails you passing the board exams or your upcoming final grades, or you finally getting a romantic partner in the coming season, all wishes count. I personally did not engage in this custom ever in my life but I vicariously live the yearly tradition through my friends and acquaintances who do participate.
A Filipino religious tradition I recently got to experience myself was this year’s Sinulog festival. I never celebrated it outside of my family back when I was seven. I was more than overjoyed when my friends invited me out to celebrate with them. Needless to say, the celebration consisted of… lots and lots of walking.
My legs were terribly sore the following day.
I didn’t get to experience the peak of the Sinulog festivities, but I can imagine it. From the little I was able to witness through pictures and videos, I imagine the joy a devout Filipino would feel as they sang the mass songs played exclusively during Sinulog to their heart’s content. The exuberance one would be basked in as they enjoy the colorful and decked-out parades, and the loud marching band jingles along with the vehicles’ beeps blaring the iconic prititit Sinulog motif. Lastly, the uncomfortable feeling of sardine-packed crowds smudging face paint (sometimes enamel paint) on your face or other places on your body you wished was just your imagination. Ugh. Not to end on a sour note though. Sinulog is an overall vibrant event meant to celebrate Christianity and many of its sentimental aspects.
But back to the aforementioned post—it really is jarring to see so many Filipinos, publicly self-proclaimed atheists and agnostics included, participate in religious activities when it can benefit them. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s more nuanced than it seems. Many of us have been raised to regard family and companionship with fellow Filipinos as a good thing—maybe even an essential-part-of-being-a-Filipino thing, and it’s this ingrained value that makes even the non-believers and semi-believers participate in these religious activities: it’s to bond with the people we love. It’s to enjoy their company and to make meaningful memories with them.
However, there’s the more taboo side of this development of Christianity in the modern, clout-chasing age of the Philippines: the sacrilegious memes.
Oh, the memes.
Without getting too deep into it, Filipinos, mostly the less devout ones, have come up with jokes and comedy around the country’s most predominant religion that are admittedly painfully funny. I mean, from nicknaming Jesus and putting him in modern situations, treating God as a chill, omniscient being, and… langit points? There are definitely jokes that can come off as offensive and out of line, but you have to admit, some of them are quite mirthful. This kind of humor is often only appreciated by peers my age and showing these kinds of jokes to an older audience can most likely end in a tortuous lecture about respect and faithfulness.
This development of Christianity in the modern era has its pros and cons, like many things. But I choose to believe that with the way it’s going, it’s heading towards a friendlier and gentler nature, a state where anyone and everyone can be themselves without the threat of a greater, unknown being punishing you for not perfectly following a strict itinerary of rules. I choose to place my faith in a kinder religion, one that accepts us all for our imperfections and well-natured humor, while upholding the values that make us good.
We’re all just human after all, and that’s okay.
