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(This space will be reserved for literary contributions from readers. The PUNCH encourages readers to write and email to us their thoughts about their impressions and ideas about life in and outside of Pangasinan, whether social or economic or cultural. No politics, please. Thank you. – Publisher).

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Separation of State and Religion
By Yoli Tucay

In writing this piece, I almost feel like I’m burning my ticket to heaven for sure. This trepidation is plain parochial school training at its best. Pictures of nuns banging their fists against blackboards, priests behind veiled windows commiserating with the powers of thee on how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys will it take to absolve my weekly sins, and lest I forget that rapid fire of Peace Be With Yous I belted out last week are hanging over my head. I also want to preface this response to last week’s Viewpoints article with a disclaimer that I am NOT an expert on the subject of religion, just an average Jane muddling through life … with the following opinions.

Separation of church and state: To what extent is it justifiable to use religion as a basis for political decisions on public policy? Many believe that such use results in violation of the constitution, yet many also believe that to exclude religion is another way of discriminating against the believers. Who is right? An easy way out would be to say that both perspectives are right… however, I will have to side with the former.

The most fundamental reason being is that there is no one single “religious perspective” in this world of ours. The government cannot take every religious perspective into consideration because there are just too many out there. I wish there is a commonality of goodness, unity, brotherhood, and love among all these religions, but I cannot say this for certain. I question anyone who can. To single out one religion is simply wrong. This would be discrimination, which cannot be tolerated by any democratic society.

Let’s look at some recent news on capital punishment, gambling, war, poverty – what are the religious beliefs out there? There are tens, if not hundreds of ideologies floating around. Granted that Philippines is 90 percent or higher Christians, is it fair to leave the other ten percent out in the cold? Throw in the non-believers and we could end up in the ice age. (I’ve always wondered about these non-believers, are they really out there? I’ve known and have at one point rebelled to being agnostic, but a true atheist?)

I’m skirting around my other issue… Catholicism. The more widespread the belief, the more stronghold it has on public policy. The more vocal its leaders, the more prominent its role is on the government. Again I ask, is this fair? I believe that my beliefs are based on “private truths”, relying mostly on divine revelation/intervention. Do I dare shove this down others’ throats? This is my private conviction, which cannot be claimed as creating obligations for others. Wisdom, experience, and the little understanding I have on humankind dictate that I respect other’s opinions and beliefs.

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