Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 1

Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context

Michael J. Fast

University of the Philippines

2013-78255

Author Note

This paper is submitted to Dr. Stewart Young in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

PS 219 MZ2 Philippine Society and Culture, 2nd Semester 2016-17, Mondays 5-8PM, on March

6, 2017.
Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 2

Introduction. Defining religion in the Philippine context. What theories of religion fit

the Philippine context and how do those theories inform Filipino men? How do Filipino men

apply the concept of maka-Diyos to themselves, and how does this help construct their masculine

spiritualities (identities)? The problem statement therefore is: How do Filipino men apply the

concept of maka- Diyos to themselves, and how does this help construct or convert their

masculine spiritual identities? This study will look at three aspects of the study of religion,

namely Religion in General Terms, Religion in Asian Terms, and Religion in Filipino Terms.

It will also look at theories of masculinity: namely, Masculinity in General, Masculinity in Asia,

and Masculinity in the Philippines.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays by MM Bakhtin (M. Holquist,

ed.; C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.).

Mikhail Bakhtin was an early 20th-century Russian literary theorist whose ideas have

been influential in the social sciences. His dialogic consists of the interrelated concepts of

utterance, dialogue, and heteroglossia and is useful for our study.

Utterance. The first aspect of dialogic is utterance, the word Bakhtin uses for text. It

occupies a particular definite position in a given sphere of communication (Bakhtin,

1984, p. 91). Utterances in a single dialogue do not stand alone. Rather, they remain in

community since each utterance carries with it echoes and reverberations of all the

previous times it was used and anticipations of the times it will be used in the future.

Every utterance contains two perspectives: It is addressed to someone and it is expecting

an answer. It is through this addressivity and answerability that meaning is constructed

(Bakhtin, 1986, p. 68).

Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 3

Dialogue. The second aspect of dialogic is dialogue. Dialogue is more that simply two

people in conversation, who choose their words from the dictionary, but rather an

interaction between speakers and utterances. For Bakhtin the word .... exists in other

people's mouths, in other people's contexts, serving other people's intentions; it is from

there that one must take the word, and make it one's own (Bakhtin 1981, p.293-294).

Bakhtin talks of monologic and dialogic. Monologue pretends to be the ultimate word. It

closes down the represented world and represented persons (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 292). It is

the voice of the dictator that suppresses the voice of the peasant. Dialogue, on the other

hand, is when those in power and the other share the same power in the conversation,

when both voices are heard. The single adequate form for verbally expressing authentic

human existence is the open-ended dialogue (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 293).

Truth is not born nor is it to be found inside the head of an individual person, it is born

between people collectively searching for truth, in the process of their dialogic

interaction (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 110).

Heteroglossia/Polyphonic voices. The third aspect of dialogic is heteroglossia. Within

each society there are competing voices just as within each conversation there are

competing voices. These voices dont combine together to create the truth. Rather they

each are the truth. The interaction of the voices allows the various truths to evolve. This

web of voices and meanings can only result in momentary conclusions. Nothing

conclusive has yet taken place in the world, the ultimate word of the world and about the

world has not yet been spoken, the world is open and free, everything is still in the future
Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 4

and will always be in the future (Bakhtin, 1984, p. 166). Bakhtin is a part of the

theoretical framework for this study.

Durkheim, E. (1915). The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, trans. JW Swain.

Religion Defined: a religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred

things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden beliefs and practices which unite

into one single moral community called a Church,6 all those who adhere to them

(Durkheim, [1912] 1995, p. 44)

Geertz, C. (1993). Religion as a cultural system. In C. Geertz. The interpretation of cultures:

selected essays. London: Fontana Press.

Geertz attempted an anthropological approach and defined religions as (1) a system of

symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and

motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4)

clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and

motivations seem uniquely realistic. (Geertz, 1985, p. 90).

Keyes, C. F., Hardacre, H., & Kendall, L. (1994). Contested visions of community in East

and Southeast Asia. Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of

East and Southeast Asia, 1-16.

The article is divided into five sections and serves as the introduction to an edited volume

that is the result of a conference sponsored by the Social Science Research Council and

American Council of Learned Societies Joint Committees on Southeast Asia, on Korea,

and on Japan. The book refers to two areas of interest for this study, namely defining

religion in Asian terms and endemic religion.

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Indeed, in most Asian cultures prior to the modern period, there was no indigenous

terminology corresponding to ideas of religion held by Christians or Jews. Complex

predispositions about the nature of religion the primacy of texts; creeds pledging

allegiance to a single deity, all originating in the theologically unadorned varieties of

Protestantism were brought to Asian by missionaries in the nineteenth century. When

these predispositions came to inform official discourse on religion, they were often used

to devalue other aspects of religious life such as festival, ritual, and communal

observances precisely those aspects that were at the heart of popular religious life in

East and Southeast Asia. And as Western notions about religion were incorporated into

law and custom, they also came to exercise a great influence on popular religious life in

Asia as well (5).

Endemic Religion is ... a kind of minimal religious practice that absolutely every

Japanese participates in to some degree & which helps bind the Japanese together (10).

... endemic religion is also a postmodern phenomenon self-consciously acknowledged as

tradition (10).

Endemic religion derives its authority from its practice, which generates 'tradition' as an

ongoing process (10).

representatives of the state may manipulate its rich associations to bolster national

identity. At the same time the diffuse authority of endemic religion can be invoked by a

variety of different interests & used to generate new meanings, including ones that run

counter to those promoted by the state (11).

Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 6

Rep. Act No. 8491. (1998). Retrieved from

http://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/2/4626

Commonly known as the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, this Republic Act

includes the Pledge of Allegiance to the Philippine Flag. This pledge includes the use

of the world maka-Diyos as one of the key words describing the Filipino: Ako ay

Filipino. Buong katapatang nanunumpa sa watawat ng Pilipinas at sa bansang kanyang

sinasagisag, na may dangal, katarungan, at kalayaan, na pinakikilos ng sambayanang

Maka-Diyos, Makatao, Makakalikasan, at Makabansa.

Exec. Order No. 343. (1996). Retrieved from

http://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/5/44416

Adopting the Panunumpa Ng Katapatan Sa Watawat (Pledge to the Philippine Flag) as

the official pledge of allegiance for all Filipinos. It describes the values that every

freedom-loving and nationalistic Filipino ought to possess. One of these values is

maka-Diyos.

Bulatao, J. C. Split-Level Christianity. In Phenomena and Their Interpretation:

Landmark Essays, 1957-1989. Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992: 22-31.

A discussion of issues faced by Roman Catholic priests when trying to evaluate the

impact of their mission in the Philippines. Defines split-level Christianity as the

conviction of the fitness of each of two objectively inconsistent thought-and-behaviour

systems. Furthermore, according to Bulatao, ... the inconsistency is either not perceived

at all or is pushed into the rear portions of consciousness; coupled with these two initial

concepts is the need to keep the authority figure (i.e. priest or pastor) at a distance.
Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 7

Perhaps this is because it is the authority figure that brings the inconsistency to the

fore. Many others, including members of Protestant mission organizations, have taken on

this concept.

Hornedo, Florentino H. The Favor of the Gods: Essays in Filipino Religious Thought and

Behavior. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2001.

Based on research conducted in Central and Northern Luzon as well as Sulu and Tawi-

Tawi this series of papers addresses Philippine religious culture and consciousness,

inculturation, views of nature, indigenous religions, and how Filipinos talk to and about

God.

Horton, R. (1960). A definition of religion, and its uses. Journal of the Anthropological

Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 90:2, pp. 201-226.

Horton (1960), rejecting such definitions as those of Durkheim and Geertz, defines

religion in a simpler, more flexible manner as an extension of the field of peoples social

relationships beyond the confines of purely human society (Horton, 1960, p. 211). This

definition is adequate in defining the tremendously varied nature of religion as including

relationships between others and relationships with the other world.

Maggay, M. P. (2013). A religion of guilt encounters a religion of power: Missiological

implications and consequences. In Maggay, M. P. (Ed.). The gospel in culture:

Contextualization through Asian eyes. Manila: OMF Literature Inc.

Maggay also lists a series of unique aspects of Filipino religion. Among her insights, we

see the Filipino tendency toward wholism as opposed to dualism, harmony as opposed to

a sacred-secular divide, community as opposed to individuality, orality as opposed to

Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 8

linearity, seeing the importance of images or objects of power as opposed to only

concepts, and the timeless present as opposed to a straight timeline (Maggay, 2003, pp.

45-55). Maggay also talks about the Filipino assumption that anyone speaking for god.

Be he priest, pastor, medium or babaylan, is assumed to be a man or woman of power

(Maggay, 2013, p. 41).

Rafael, Vicente L. Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in

Tagalog Society Under Early Spanish Rule. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila

University Press, 1988.

One of the most successful books written by a Filipino. An interesting discussion on the

interplay between translation, conversion, and conquest. Shows lots of examples of early

Tagalog Religious Consciousness and how Tagalogs were able to apply their own

indigenous ideas to the message the Spanish brought.

Rubio, R. J., & Green, R. J. (2011). Filipino men's roles and their correlates development

of the Filipino adherence to masculinity expectations Scale. Culture, Society and

Masculinities, 3(2), 77.

The purpose of this article is three-fold, namely 1. to develop a new instrument that

takes into account indigenous & non-Western conceptions of masculinity in the

Philippines (78); 2. delved into Filipino mens conformity behavior regarding

masculinity ideologies; and 3.the study explored existing relationships between

conformity to male gender role norms & psychological health. The goal of the new scale

is to aid future researchers & clinicians in understanding emic (that is, culture-specific)

constructs of masculinity & how these impact psychological problems.

Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 9

The article outlines the 7 dimension of Filipino masculinity as follows:

1.Responsibility Having a sense of accountability with regards ones life as manifested

in being hardworking, planning for the future, & maintaining task commitments.

2.Family Orientedness Inclination to get married & provide adequately for & protect

ones family. This includes a desire to support ones extended family

3.Respectful Deference to Spouse, Women, & the Elderly Tendency to hold ones wife

in high regard & view them as equals in a relationship; & maintaining chivalry towards

women & the elderly.

4.Integrity Propensity for being honest, trustworthy, & ethically grounded.

5.Intelligence & Academic Achievement Affinity for school-related achievement, &

other dimensions of intelligence such as creativity & resourcefulness.

6.Strength Being tough in physique & in the expression of ideas & emotions.

7.Sense of Community Tendency to protect & help the community.

Walls, Andrew F. The Ephesian Moment. In The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian

History: Studies in the Transmission and Appropriation of Faith. Maryknoll: Orbis

Books, 2002, 72-81.

The history of salvation is not completed in any of its exemplary figures, even the

greatest of them. Their story cannot be made complete without those who follow them

(sequentially). Walls shows that rather than cultural differences being the excuse to create

more than one Christian community, Ephesians 2:22 teaches that there must be one

Christian community, albeit a diverse one. There is unity within the diversity. Believers

from the different communities are different bricks being used for the construction of a
Annotated Bibliography for Defining religion in the Philippine context 10

single building a temple where One God would live. Each Christian lifestyle,

representing a culture converted to Christ, expressed something that the whole body

needed. There are two dangers. One lies in an instinctive desire to protect our own

version of Christian faith, or even to seek to establish it as the standard, normative one.

The other, and perhaps the more seductive in the present condition of Western

Christianity, is the postmodern option: to decide that each of the expressions and versions

in equally valid and authentic, and that we are therefore each at a liberty to enjoy our own

in isolation from all the others. Neither of these approaches is the Ephesian way. Walls

ideas are currently a major part of my proposed conceptual framework.

Walls, Andrew F. Converts or Proselytes? The Crisis over Conversion in the Early

Church. International Bulletin Of Missionary Research, Vol. 28, No. 1, (2004): 2-6.

Concepts of conversion and proselytization. Shows how the two are different and how

that while the goal of Christian mission should be conversion what ends up happening in

many cases is proselytization. Converts adapt their own culture to reflect a new encounter

with God. Proselytes adopt some one elses encounter with God as their own. Walls

ideas are currently a major part of my proposed conceptual framework.