I Really Would Like To Ask The INC Rallyists These 5 Simple Questions

1. What makes you think that you are exempt from Philippine laws? Are you so special that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can't lay a finger on you? It's strange that you are out there in the streets shouting for justice. Justice for what? For whom? You are not being persecuted. Your leadership is merely being investigated for illegal detention. Why don't you put yourself in the shoes of Isaias Samson Jr. just for a moment. Can you imagine if you complain about illegal detention and the state turns its back on you? You would feel like the state is abandoning you. This country has laws that the state has to enforce on everyone - Catholics, members of Iglesia Ni Cristo, Muslims, atheists, Buddhists, etc.

2. Are you sure you know what the phrase "separation of church and state" really means? It doesn't mean "immunity from prosecution". It doesn't mean you can do things that are deemed illegal and expect the state to just sit on a couch and do nothing. The people who are holding the "separation of state and church" placards - they either don't know what the phrase means or they are being intentionally ignorant. Whichever is the case, it's not good. Whoever made those placards needs to sit down and reevaluate his choice of words.

3. Do you ever wonder what your god thinks of what you are doing? Do you picture him up there smiling and clapping his hands? Do you picture him giving you a thumbs up? Do you think he agrees with the physical harm being done to some people? A cameraman from a television station was attacked by protesters near the EDSA Shrine. And while he was being mauled, the crowd around him were chanting "biased, biased". Is this what self-proclaimed God-fearing people do? He was just a cameraman.

4. Do you ever consider the inconvenience that you are causing innocent people? There are people who are not able to get to work on time or fetch their kids at school because of the traffic deadlocks. There are people who get stuck in the streets for hours at a time. These innocent bystanders have to go through all these inconveniences for what? Just so the INC can show how powerful they are? Just so the INC can show how immense their numbers are? Just so the INC can show that they are a group that can raise hell if criticized or investigated?

5. What do you want? Seriously, what do you want? Because as far as I can tell, you are blatantly and shamelessly asking for a privilege. What is a privilege? It's "a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people." I'm really concerned how you could not see the hypocrisy in this. You are calling for a "separation of church and state", yet there you are flooding the streets and demanding that the state award your church a special privilege. This is a complete opposite of the concept of "separation of church and state".

Image credit: Lyn Rillon of the Philippine Daily Inquirer