Humanism is Philippines' next Political Virtue

There is a growing community of non-believers in the catholicized Philippines, and only time will tell their potential to forward secularism as a political entity.  

CO-EXIST WITH THEISTS? Red Tani, President of Filipino Freethinkers, on Humanists and conservative religious blocs

Atheists and Humanists around Asia converged in Manila to discuss about the status of the non-religious minority in the region. They also highlighted the socio-civic activities and political actions that Humanist organizations have undertaken.

Over the past weekend, the Humanist Alliance of the Philippines, International (HAPI) hosted the 2017 Asian Humanism Conference at the Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, Manila.

Delegates from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Nepal, and Taiwan attended this year's conference to exemplify the importance of separating the Church and State in policymaking.

Faith in Numbers

There are at least 100.98 million Filipinos as of 2015, and 74.2 million Filipinos are Catholic based on the Philippine Statistics Authority's 2010 data. At least 73,248 Filipinos did not identify themselves with any religion.

HUMANISM FOR YOUTH. Liberty Dedicatoria "aka Mama Jhing," Bantay Bata's representative in HAPI, on why Humanism is important to children

Though statistical data for non-theists is not cited, the Filipino Freethinkers, HAPI, and the Philippine Atheists and Agnostic Society (PAtAS) have a combined 105,789 followers in social media. This estimated number does not include "closeted" Atheists and Agnostics, and Secular Humanists. (READ: On being godless and good: Irreligious Pinoys speak out)

Don Paez, Chief Finance Officer of HAPI, cited a Philippine Daily Inquirer report which compared atheistic countries and strongly religious nations.

He argued that mass attendance is declining as people are exasperated from endless homilies that dictate what they should or should not do.

"People are tired of being told how to think, when they can think for themselves. And how and when to have sex when they can have sex for themselves; ironic, that the people who talk about sex are not allowed to have sex. The people who talk about how to manage a family are not allowed to have families themselves," Paez said in his lecture.

In Social Weather Stations' (SWS) survey on religious attendance for the first quarter of 2017, 48% of adult Filipinos go to church every week while 90% of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members attend mass weekly.

Compared to 95% of INC members who believe that religion is very important, only 77% of the Roman Catholic population is coherent in their faith.

According to The National Filipino Catholic Youth Study 2014, 89.5% of the 2,110 respondents said that religion is very important, but only 38.5% affirmed their religiosity. 

Respondents across the Philippines agreed that the Church should not be involved in political issues.

Humanism is not anti-religion

According to Paez, "Humanism isn't about atheism, not about theism. It's about simply being human, and being human starts with being humane."

POLITICAL MESSAGE. Don Paez on how Humanist values can counter populism

In his topic "Building a more Secular Humanist Nation,"  Paez emphasized that secularism should not seek to suppress others from expressing their own religious worldview if it does not violate laws or civil rights.

"It (humanism) grants access to the minimum requirements for all the world views to flourish within their respective territories, while at the same time providing safeguards against each other from encroaching into others' territory," said Paez.

He argued that anti-theist sentiment lacks the positive qualities needed to gain support in the long term. Anti-theist sentiments, he said, serve to vent out the frustrations of repressed atheists.

"Others may argue that non-theism is something to be proud of because certain non-theists are outstanding members of society. Highly distinguished scientists, civic spokespeople, statesmen. However, this would be no different from religious people who try to justify their religion or belief based on how many Nobel prize-winning members they have," he said.

For Paez, Humanism places man at the front and the center of reality instead of God. It is a creed "for ordinary men and women to seek life and [a] joyous existence."

"The training in science and logic will also sharpen students' minds to detect fact from fiction; something which is very important today. And become better at expressing themselves more efficiently. As a bonus we'll be able to determine what is alternative fact from what is true fact."

Offending the religious

"We are the only registered society in Singapore for the non religious. And this is a big deal because they really like regulations back home," Shamima Rafi said in jest.

POLITICAL RECOGNITION. Shamima Rafi, Vice President of Humanist Society in Singapore, on representation of Humanists in the government

Rafi criticized the vagueness of Singapore's laws particularly the Sedition Act, the Internal Security Act, and Section 298A of their Penal Code. These three laws criminalized actions that hurt religious feelings.

"Usually, the sedition act is to protect against people who try to undermine the government. But in Singapore, we've added on to it. It also criminalizes actions that create ill-will and hostility between races or classes," she said.

Section 298A (b) of Singapore's Penal Code states that, "Whoever commits any act which he knows is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious or racial groups and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquility, shall be punished..." 

Rafi confides that this section is frequently invoked.

Why politics?

On the other hand, delegates agreed when Atty. Jesus Falcis III said that it's about time for Humanists to organize politically.

The LGBT, feminist, and social progressive groups can be used as constituents by a humanist party since they have a captive audience and a target market. 

"If you don't organize politically, then all we can do is also just talk (...) and all we have is just saliva. We can discuss and criticize and make ourselves feel good that we are not as easily fooled as other voters or we're not gonna succumb to the dystopia. That is just all talk," said Falcis on the second day of the conference.

"What would Humanists sell? Of course it cannot just all be the highfalutin, abstract values, or human right[s], or secularism," he added.

The human rights lawyer expounded that Humanists must criticize the class structure, wherein the fundamental enemy of democracy and humanism is poverty.

The success of President Duterte and the Catholic Church, he argued, relied on poor information consumption. Impoverished people do not have time and the same attention span to spot fake news, and philosophize and critique their living conditions.

According to Falcis, universal basic income is one issue that humanists can campaign on.

"The only point of a universal basic income is to guarantee that you won't be desperate. You won't have to give up your rights or compromise your rights with your employer. Or if you are a domestic worker or a prostitute, you'll desperately accept any job at any working condition," he said.

This was published on Rappler X.

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