Controversy and the church

The Da Vinci Code opened here on the weekend amidst strong public protests. Several church groups tried to ban the movie arguing that it presented the Catholic Church in a false and degrading light. Personally I can think of much better reasons to ban it, namely the appearance of Tom Hanks and the way that Dan Brown's book has dumbed down literature and history!

Whilst attempts at an injunction in the courts were unsuccessful, several big movie houses decided not to show the movie on their screens. For me the controversy was a yet another reminder of what a deeply Catholic society the Phillipines is... just one of many subtle signs of the strong hold the church has on this country. Here's a few more that I encounter on a daily basis:

1. The "In God we Trust" neon sign I can see from my apartment window.

2. "God bless" popping up at the end of emails and text messages. In the case of texts in order to keep it short it usually is "gud blis"!

3. Mass held everywhere...including malls. I guess it makes sense- if the church is trying to attract the masses and if the masses are attracted to the shops and airconditioning then the mall is a logical place?!

4. A lot of pregnant women -I have never seen so many women with baby bumps! Many bishops here continues to preach that using contraception is not christian. In fact in some areas (including Manila city) the church has pressurred the mayor to ban the sale of condoms. This means a lot of unplanned pregnancies. It also means it is pretty difficult to get any type of effective HIV/AIDS Education programs going... but that's another story.

5. Jeepneys with biblical and religious names: "Jesus", "Our mother Mary", "John Paul" and "God is Glory" to name a few I have seen.