INC

            Isang mainit at mapitagang  pagpupugay pa rin sa mga kasapi ng INC sa taonan ninyong pagdiriwang ng inyong kaganapang malayong malayo na ang  narating mulang naisakatuparan ang inyong panananpalataya noong 1914.

Kahit huli na at hindi ninyo kasapi ngunit bilang Kristiano ay nais ko pa ring kayong batiin sa pamamagitan ng kolumn na ito. Kapayapaan mga kapatid sa inyong patuloy na paglalakbay!

It’s simply true that if the fruit is the gauge for success then your church has it. The numbers you have mustered in and out the country is simply amazing.  Maybe God’s way too of recognizing all your efforts in spreading His Word never mind unpopular, redundant  and noisy.

I saw them coming to Malitbog last year. They  came in by truckloads mostly students, children and number of adults. As usual they went around house-to-house and in offices distributing their leaflets – Nasayod ka ba kun nganong . . . #1. And as you open the brochure writes their biting criticism against the Catholics in some of  its dogma on icons, priests remaining celebate, ban on eating meat on Holy Week and days of obligation, Mary as Mediatrix and even communion. Incredibly, there they go again employing familiar antics when all they issue they raised except for their belief that the elder Manalo was the latest of God’s messenger has all been answered by the Church. But there they are anyway holding on their usual strategy saturating area where they pray they could gain adherents and converts. No problem for as long as they recognized religious freedom not ramming down into their throats belief concocted out of wooden literalism.

 I’m not sure if those students read, studied, reflect on and check whatever printed  there in the flyer. If they do probably they would have fulfilled the favor with reservation unless they just do it by sheer blind compliance. But I’m sure they did only they don’t give damn  reflecting on the message they’re driving across  never mind mechanically fulfilling the routinely task of the distribution or better  sparking  the ire of their Big Brother Manalo from Central Office who would readily castigate them at will the way done to their errant preachers. If  these students go for religious freedom and preserve for last, I just  foresee that they would see daylight and beauty of the gospel. But where ex-communication dangling like Damocles’blade on their head is ready to be dropped anytime when desired, is explainable that these innocent students can not afford to protest let alone sacrifice their borrowed belief in their quest for spiritual nourishment. The leaflet is printed in Cebuano and published by INC Central office in New Era, Quezon City. And that explains how despite being too explainable leaflet, they can’t just let it go instead give them around more on fishing expedition.

Many have already experienced that getting away from clutches of the past and coercive power of the Church.  There’s the doctor and his family, once an INC pillar  who attended the death of  elder Manalo, and went back to Catholic Church burnt out by redundant smorgasbord infallible church beliefs. Lately of course was Charice Pepengco and her brother baptized in Catholic fold although theirs were more of convenience as her mother was a baptized Catholic separated from her INC husband.  It’s been the antics of this  church as far as I can remember to proselytize gullible people capitalizing on their wooden literalism interpretation of the Catholic teaching.  And to some extent, they  successfully pulled off members from other  faiths to their fold.

A member once confided that a bank counting cans of coins from tithe collection could take a day counting all the money coming from different local.  And the religious coffers continued to be full to the brim. Collecting them all together that’s huge money. Maybe they should voluntarily subject them to government tax. Or why not translate their effective collection habit to BIR.  Literally, that’s where the INC draw its strength.  And you can just see anywhere where their collection go - beautiful uniform churches everywhere.

Here’s the contrasting feature then of the Church, ramming down religious beliefs on their members bleeding them with tithe but returning them anyway the compliment.  But don’t rock the boat baby.  They’re maybe considered quasi-Christians and that their organization is best appreciated if studied as cooperative according to church historian Peter Gowing, but definitely, it is sending strong message to each one.  Hard grip through fear among its members help. Maligayang Bati pa rin sa inyo!