Eduardo Cansino
AS fast as the news of extra-judicial killing hits the front pages of our national daily newspapers, a vicious and spirited war of words erupts among well intentioned groups, entities and individuals, all giving their critique and analysis as to who is at fault. All of a sudden, the blame game kicks in and the hot war of words and exchange begins with the accuser spewing vicious accusations and the accused equally countering aggressively to defend its position. And so the war of words runs back and forth between various protagonists, and the finger pointing continues without letup among warring parties.
At the moment, the object of everyone’s wrath is the President’s relentless war to eliminate the drug scourge which has eaten its way into the core institutions of Philippine society (the “Big Cancer” as he calls it) and the seemingly brutal means of solving the drug menace. These has brought serious concern and condemnation from various sectors that the police are heavy handed in the administration of their police powers that go beyond the legal bounds of law. And also the subsequent arrival of vigilante groups and their involvement in extra-judicial killings!
Defenses shoot up fast and furious! Civil society proudly shouts to the world: “We decry this violence.” “You murderers!” “Stop it; such murderous acts have no place in today’s enlightened world; and so with core institutions joining the chorus: “Our policies and agendas never condone this sort of thing”. What can we glean from this smug statement? Simple in other words, “It’s someone else’s fault and not ours”! That’s their problem; they are the problem! We’re clean! Our group is not to blame! Think again, perhaps the finger points to all of us that we too are the problem. Why is this? We do this because we are afraid. When our social and political enemies spot any fault or any weakness; we’ll lose power and prestige as well as our just and righteous cause! And we don’t want that to happen, so we keep a brave front and declare that our side is right and everyone else is wrong! (by Mark Galli)
How about if we Filipinos, instead of trying to find fault in someone else’s hearts, we examine our own and in our self-examination, we found some reason, that we too, may have contributed to the violence now spreading like wildfire in our country? How? On the personal level, by our self-preserving attitude: “I won’t get involve and mess myself in such things! I don’t want to compromise my comfort and safety on such things.” And turning a blind eye to cases of injustice and corruption, we see around both in public and private institutions. This attitude is best expressed in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel “The Brothers Karamazov” the spiritual character; Elder Zosima expressed this truth in his messages to his fellow monks by saying: “We are not holier than those in the world because we have come here and shut ourselves within these wall, but, on the contrary, anyone who comes here, by the very fact that he has come, already knows himself to be worse than all those who are in the world, worse than all on earth.” Elder Zosima then pushes the idea further: “But when he knows that he is not only worse than all those in the world, but is also guilty before all people, on behalf of all and for all, for all human sins, the world’s and each person’s, Only then will the goal of our unity be achieved. For you must know, my dear one’s, that each of us is undoubtedly guilty on behalf of all and for all on earth, not only because of the common guilt of the world, but personally, each one of us, for all people and for each person on this earth.” The sin of one is the aggregate sins of everyone else! All of us are guilty! As the Apostle Paul says of himself: “I have come to believe that, I am the Chief of sinners.”
In other words, even as we speak and act for what we think is right and just, we recognize that in some sense we too are the problem, and that we are responsible to all people! We cannot think like we are not part of this, but because we are One nation – One race; we are neither innocent nor blameless, but a party to all these entanglements!
A blaming attitude eats up our character like cancer! However, by looking honestly at ourselves and repent, we will have peace and the freedom of giving others the benefit of a doubt.
Abraham Lincoln modeled this Christian virtue in a truly exceptional manner. Deeply imbued with humility, in his Second Inaugural Address, he refused to castigate and condemn either side for their role in the Civil War. That virtue, which leads to humility that Lincoln exemplifies, is the word, Repent. It is also the very first word of Jesus public ministry: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Repent or else we perish! Stop the game. Be honest... It starts with you!
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