The Legacy of Ignorantism Part 4

The natural phenomena are looked upon thru ignorance as manifestations of the divine wrath which would not have taken place if no one among humanity had not provoked them by their conduct. Saint Thomas Aquinas, who with reason is considered as the most scientific man of his period, believed firmly that the thunder, lightning, and the storms were punitive manifestations of G.o.d enraged against men. "From his fear of G.o.d, the saintly doctor had an unearthly fear of thunder and tempests, who as a reverent child feared to see wrath in the face of the Father, hoping only that those tempests were not provoked by his sins" (Milicia Angelica, Manila, 1907, p. 21).

The blind fear of Saint Thomas led him to conceive a blind justice of the divinity, because of his sins G.o.d released the tempests and gave lightning which naturally hurt and molested a great number of persons who suffered by reason of the sins of the saint. To the simple believer, when the wise saint thought and believed in that manner, there was no reason for rejecting the explanation, much less to suspect that to punish justly the sinners was not an act of justice nor of common sense.

Lack of Logic

Logical mentality cannot be developed when the absurd is fomented and cultivated, especially when it is presented under the false veneer of religion, when it is founded on a purely puerile and simple superst.i.tion.

In the life of Saint Vicente Ferrer, according to his novenas, the following miracles are referred to, and there is no doubt that he who believes in them cannot really cultivate the faculties of his intelligence.

In Valencia a servant of Count de Faura, who was born deaf and without tongue, was that way for many years, and adoring one day the miracle of Saint Vicente, was cured of his deafness, his tongue grew, and thenceforward spoke (p. 17).

A woman gave birth to a piece of meat (pedazo de carne) without a human aspect. It was offered to Saint Vicente giving a ma.s.s, and at the Epistle, it already had head; at the Gospel, it had arms; and at the Consecration, it had legs, and finally a beautiful child was evolved. The same happened with another woman of Toledo (p. 34).

In Lisbon there lived a woman well-known for being quite ugly and was the object of ridicule on the part of all who saw her. She went to San Vicente and one morning she became very fortunate and beautiful, from which the women of Lisbon became so devout to San Vicente that those in Valencia did not excel them (p. 27).

A merchant left once for a fair and meanwhile the wife committed an indiscretion (una fragilidad) for which she remained * * *. She came and appeared repentant to San Vicente and the same went to the road whereon the husband returned with some horses, and startled them by means of a cloak and thus dispersed them. Then the husband lost time to gather his horses so that when he returned to his house his wife had time to flee from him, thus saving herself from the consequences of her fault.

Thus with the greatest freedom an immoral and grotesque act is related in which the innocent husband is left out and takes no step to have just punishment meted, and the saint with his cloak commits a deviltry only fit for urchins of the brook.

It is said that San Ramon takes such a deep interest in the misfortunes and pains of his devotees, and is so extremely compa.s.sionate "that his images perspire thru the affliction of his devotees" (p. 12). "An image of the Saint perspired so copiously at one time that a devout woman suffered and the veil with which she covered herself was stained; and some handkerchiefs wet in his perspiration relieved headaches marvelously" (p. 21).

Saint Roque has the power of stopping the spread of epidemics. "His protection is what preserves us from plague and other sufferings or diseases, which, having their origin in the corruptions of the air, which should conserve our life, causes death" (p. 3).

The Height of Absurdity

Is it possible to invent or suppose greater absurdities than those here mentioned? Nevertheless, in order not to prolong this address, I shall only present a few of the cases which are cited in abundance in these little booklets (opusculos), distributed in great profusion among our people. What logic, what reasoning can we expect of minds nurtured with such absurdities, fed up with fakes of such puerile nature that one can hardly believe them to have been narrated by men of simple common sense?

The mattress where San Vicente died has become possessed of the virtue of making miracles; by merely lying on it on different occasions over 400 sick persons afflicted with various diseases became well (p. 32).

One time when San Antonio de Padua preached on the seash.o.r.e it happened "that the fishes to whom he preached came out of the water and heard him with all attention." No devotee ever doubts the coming out of fishes, nor does he interests himself in the solution of the physical, physiological, linguistic, and especially logical aspects of such an event, but the Novena to the Saint confirms it so (p. 20).

This lecture would be unduly prolonged if I were to mention all the absurdities that appear in the Novenas of which I have quite a collection, which const.i.tute a real array of doc.u.ments of positive usefulness for the history of the superst.i.tion which I have scarcely touched upon here. With what has been said there is enough to explain the origin of the immorality, the real cause of the predisposition to vice, the absence of a sense of responsibility, the natural explanation of what incomprehensible character formed of a mixture of sentiments which the missionaries have contributed to the Filipino, Indio, Spaniard, and Chinese, all influenced by the injurious spirit which pervades all that literature which is completely antagonical to reason. Such, and not the lay education, is responsible for this evil.

I am not here to formulate theories or to speak of a capricious hypothesis. Before an audience such as this which I have the honor to address, I need to weigh the value of my words and of my judgment. For this reason I have cited facts, repeating the exact words, not of the profane literature composed of the anonymous Corridos whose detrimental influence is well known, but the authentic texts of Novenas authorized by the ecclesiastical censors.h.i.+p for not containing anything contrary to sane morals, as it is said in the permits granted for their printing.

Nor have I thought for a moment of mixing religion in my criticism; nor is it in my power to vary the results or consequences that may result from the facts mentioned in the Novenas, which are the literature responsible for this state of puerile mentality, absolutely inadequate for an understanding of morals, composed of matter that paralyzes, rather than bring out, progress.

Morals is nothing but the triumph over one's self, thru which man does what he should and not what he wishes. In the immoral man there is no struggle between two tendencies, one against evil and the other against good. There is only the instinctive tendency; there is no rational control in opposition. What mastery over self does a man have who for the purpose of controlling his habit of dirty and obscene speech seeks the intervention of a saint? Lacking in will, dispossessed of any idea of struggle with himself, how can he triumph over himself? Slave to his own pa.s.sions it might have seemed that the only thing that might control him was the punishment in store in future life; but this fear does not preoccupy him in the least since at the same time that he is threatened with eternal fire he is told the manner of evading it without ceasing to do evil.

Immorality of the Novenas

These Novenas contain pernicious teachings for society whose moral foundation consists in the development of the individual qualities such as industry, fulfillment of duty, respect of law, struggle with one's own instincts and pa.s.sions which require above all else the mastery over one's self. Not only are these social obligations not taught nor mentioned but there is a real stimulus toward all that is bad, a.s.suring to the criminal, to the sinner, that he will be pardoned, that he will be free from punishment, that however badly he may act and however sinful he may be, without the least effort, with the greatest ease and naturalness, he will obtain what he wishes and will triumph on earth as well as in the other life.

On the other hand, the individual is terrorized by the influence of evil, always tending to push him on to the road of vice and ignominy; he is inspired with blind confidence by placing on his side a Guardian Angel who never leaves night and day, who supports him, who guides him "his (the Guardian Angel's) intervention being so useful that he modifies that which we asked of G.o.d when he knows that our pet.i.tions might bring us some spiritual or bodily ill."

What idea of justice can one conceive when he remembers the spectacle that was witnessed by that gentleman in the cemetery of Cuzco? Not only are Mary and Joseph presented as interceding with all energy for the salvation of the criminal for the mere reason that he invoked their names, but they remain unmoved and do nothing to soften the cruelty of Jesus Christ when He condemns to sudden death and eternal condemnation the two unfortunate sinful women. They did not invoke the name of Mary and Joseph who only seem to have pity on their clients and work with the same partiality of a Nacionalista or Democrata demagogue.

And what significance does a law have which does not admit nor prosecute polygamy when so many virgins are wives of Jesus who expect the other life in order that they may deliver themselves to Him as their husband? What about Mary, wife of the Father, of her own son, of Joseph, and Saint Domingo?

Mr. Ignacio Villamor in his report to the Committee on Infant mortality, written when he was Attorney-General, refers to various cases of murder of persons considered as bewitched and as such were sacrificed for being fanatics.

The lad of Trayguerra who a.s.sailed the ugly woman for mistaking her for the devil himself after hearing a sermon of San Vicente, is absolutely of the same nature as those possessed of the asuang referred to by Mr. Villamor.

And what shall be said of the protection of San Isidro invoked by the agriculturists? He gave an example of neglect of his duties as a farmer, because instead of plowing the land, doing the work for which he was paid by his master, he spent the day praying. Thru a miracle, an angel took hold of the plow, guided the bulls while the saint prayed and did not work. And right here in our midst, confident in San Isidro, the people of the field sleep, hoping that the angels shall do the work for them! How can you condemn laziness when the angels protect it? And how can you preach the doctrine of "earning bread by the sweat of your brow" when the labor that sweat presupposes is unnecessary?

Without connection whatsoever with the Bureau of Education of the Government of the Philippine Islands, I have spoken in the manner that I have just done, not to defend the lay schools of an unjust and unjustifiable accusation; not to attack any persons or any religious or political ideals, but to contribute to the eradication of one of the bases, one of the strongest causes of criminality, of corruption, of formation of individuals who are useless and detrimental to society: superst.i.tion. And, gentlemen, it is not a superst.i.tion that is only to be laughed at. Not by any means. It is a ridiculous and even absurd superst.i.tion, it is true, but it is a tragic and dangerous because it offers to the wicked, the criminal, the imbecile, the means of triumphing in life, of obtaining what they want, giving them the means of avoiding punishment, making fun here on earth of the justice of men, and securing from G.o.d the pardon from eternal condemnation thru the simple means of invoking the name of a saint, or thru the medium of a Latin word which, acting as a sort of open sesame opens wide to the devotee the gates of heaven.

The Lamentable Error of the Bishop of Cebu

The prelate who accused the public schools in the form above mentioned has committed a lamentable error. For my part, I can say that the accusations awakened in me a desire to investigate the causes of immorality and of the perversion of customs which the said prelate, and we with him, all regret. According to those who have studied the mentality of the majority of our people, it is evident that superst.i.tion is the enemy which we all have to combat and that is the cause of many of the moral errors which we observe. The regular friars as well as the secular clergy confess that the ma.s.s of the people still finds itself subject to the superst.i.tion inherited from our predecessors--the superst.i.tion which could be called genuinely Philippine, that which comes from the old belief in the nunu, in the asuang, the anito and all the spirits of the old idolatry preached before the implantation of Catholicism by the Spanish missionaries.

Failure of the Missionaries

According to their own confessions, these missionaries, after three centuries of preaching, have failed to eradicate those superst.i.tions incrustated in the conscience of the people. We must accept their declaration as a faithful recognition of the failure of their religious mission. I am not interested in, nor do I discuss, the religious point of view, but the importance of superst.i.tion in social life, its pernicious influence upon the evolution of morality. What undoubtedly results from the narratives contained in that literature which const.i.tuted the only reading of the people is the promotion of ignorance spreading in a very effective manner all the superst.i.tions aforementioned and adding to them a wealth of errors which unfortunately governs the mentality of the ma.s.s of the people.

Not only the so-called Indios the ones concerned; the sons of the Spaniards of pure blood or those mixed with Indios as well as the Chinese mestizos are also accused of these superst.i.tions. All these, all of us Filipinos, are included among the individuals infected with the leprosy of superst.i.tion fomented by the absurd miracles of the Novenas and it cannot be said that it is an evil particularly of the Filipino race but also the inhabitants of the Philippines in general.

In order that education be useful it has to form in the individual the sense of responsibility thru the free exercise of reason. The fulfillment of duty shall be its objective and in order to obtain this goal, it is highly necessary to develop the will in man with which he shall fight the animal instincts, the sentimental impulses, all that is contrary to the dictates of reason.

Logical mentality (mentalidad logica), to know what we should do and to enable us to plan out a just route that we should follow; will (voluntad) to enable us to exalt the dictates of reason above the impulses of our own desires: such is the object of lay education, the education in the so-called G.o.dless schools, here in the schools of the Government as in the college of Beata Imelda directed by the Dominican fathers under the norm of j.a.panese ideas translated in imperative laws, situated in Taihoku, capital of Formosa.

The reading of the so-called miracles of the type that I have before cited makes the impossible appear possible, thanks to mysterious influences which are easy to secure, not thru industry, but simply thru unworthy and low means and reproved by good morals such as humiliation, adulation, and propitiation. A benefit is not asked or expected thru some positive good that we do, thru fulfillment of duty out of which results a positive good which is a right; resort is had by means of favor, by gaining the benevolence of a saint, making him believe that he is liked, adored, and admired, seeking to exalt his vanity and, thru his mediation, gain the good will of G.o.d, not as a benefit conferred directly to him who asks, but in consideration of the merits of the mediator. Nothing can be imagined that is more immoral, more primitive, more contemptible. The celestial court turns out to be a court more corrupt than those of the autocrats condemned by history: the court of the Khans, the Sultans, the Bysantine Emperors, Mungols, Persians, Tartars, all the barbarians who have abused humanity and who have personified injustice and justified revolution and ma.s.sacres.

A society whose members expect everything thru favoritism does not know what emulation is; when an individual finds a means as simple as that offered in the Novenas to secure what he desires following the line of least resistance, does not resort to the exercise of any n.o.ble activity, and, consequently, cannot perfect his faculties nor use them; an individual who expects to attain the absurd and improbable cannot know the existence of immutable laws which rule the universe; the individual who expects to secure what he wants thru the medium of a celestial patron cannot conceive the G.o.d of Justice nor can he really be a useful member of society.

Favor, propitiation, exception, protection, grace, preference, predilection, are incompatible with what a G.o.d should be, with the Ideal of civilization, with the supreme aspiration of humanity which is Justice.

Disastrous Results

Those who believe in the absurd miracle (milagreria absurda), protector of the fools, accomplice of the lazy, of the gamblers, of thieves, of all who, thru its means, seek to secure what they desire--those are the criminals that fill our jails and who die in the gallows; those are the ones, who, armed with their anting-anting, talisman, rosary, scapulary, bones of saints, or shark's teeth, fight with the police, commit outrages, upset order, confident in their triumph because of the protection of their celestial pintakasi. Such is the product not of the schools without G.o.d but of G.o.d without schools, impossible and paradoxical, whose power manifests itself in capricious methods and in the exercise of prestidigitation. Those individuals are in truth the natural products of that superst.i.tion preached, diffused, and presented to the ignorance of people who have come to the point of fearing neither G.o.d nor devil and who know that the infernal punishment only is meted to him who does not wear a rosary around his neck or does not confide in a pintakasi, who guarantees eternal salvation because G.o.d does not permit that the wors.h.i.+per of one of His devotees be condemned.

What kind of citizen can an individual be in society who laughs at punishment using the easy means of a celestial lawyer. How can terrors of h.e.l.l infuse fear in him when he knows that thru the medium of a powerful lawyer, G.o.d finds himself obliged (forzado) to pardon him. And when a man knows the way of evading divine justice, it is clear that, in order for him to escape human justice, he will resort to appealing to the mercy of the judge, to evade compliance with the law, to the non-fulfillment of any duty, and to live only to enjoy his rights; he will resort, in dealing with human authorities, to the use of the same methods of propitiation, adulation, prevarication, humiliation, and deception which dominated the same G.o.d and triumphed over the power of the devil!