Dealing with the ‘righteous’

WAY BACK in my college days in Manila, I would often go to Plaza Miranda to hear eager “debaters” argue over religious beliefs. I still remember that one pitting an Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) follower against an Aglipayan. It was only at the end of their heated exchanges of barbs that they agreed on only one fact: Felix Manalo and Gregorio Aglipay – founders of INC and Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), respectively – were “right in abandoning Roman Catholicism.”

Since then, I have always enjoyed listening to religious fanatics, but never to the point of being swayed, preferring to think for myself. As a religious “mestizo” born to an Adventist father and an Aglipayan mother, I had learned from them that the way to harmony is to refrain from arguing about God and religion.  If I must, I do it in writing and leave it to the reader to accept or reject my views.

Early in September this year, a Roman Catholic friend suggested that I write about Mama Mary, whose birthday is celebrated every September 8. Rather than say “no,” I simply said, “Sorry, I am not a Catholic.” Had I debunked the birthday date, I might have turned a friend into an enemy.

To quote inspirational author Dale Carnegie, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” Simply put, what’s right to one person is wrong to another.

There was a time when I boarded an airplane and found somebody else seated in my assigned seat. I knew he was the wrong person there but I opted to sit on the next seat with his assigned number.

At a grocery store, while I was falling in line at the senior citizens’ lane, an old woman suddenly walked over from behind and beat me to the cashier. She must have found me too young to occupy the same lane.

In both the airplane and grocery scenes, I could have protested, “Hey, you’ve done me wrong!”

I could have hollered, “If you were in my place, would you be pleased?”

On hindsight, I realized I had done right in ignoring, in effect forgiving, their wrongness. In a way, their wrong acts were beneficial in stretching my patience. Since I am hypertensive, keeping cool all the time is the best medicine.

However, had I quarreled with them to show they were wrong and I was right, I could have been no different from lower forms of animals fighting each other instinctively.

We all have heard of men languishing in jail for killing another man after arguing over trivial traffic altercation.

As in the game of basketball, the broader game of life is ideally played by obedience to rules and regulations. Unfortunately, these are often bent to suit the prevailing norms. In theology, for instance, Christianity believes in monotheism but with diverse interpretations. And so one group interprets monotheism as praying to only one God; the other group prays to “One in three persons.”  A third group merely “venerates” Mama Mary and Church-canonized saints in answer to charges of idolatry.

Millions of Germans hailed Adolf Hitler for killing six million Jews as the “right” way to propagate Nazism.

Sixteen million Filipinos voted for President Duterte, thinking he would solve the illegal drug problem, which has ironically worsened despite extra-judicial killings.

In the words of the Dalai Lama, “People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.”

Only gravity and other “laws of nature” are right all the time.  We all fall down, never “up.”

We also fall, not rise, in love. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)