No choice?

Batas Mauricio

IF there seems to be no one among the candidates running for President in 2016 who has the capability to turn around the country towards honest-to-goodness and no-nonsense governance, inclusive economic growth, and true political stability, we will have no one else to blame except ourselves.

Good or bad leaders are merely the reflection of good or bad constituents. If the constituents are good–meaning, they are God-fearing and God-loving–political and governmental leaders will have no other option but to become good likewise, becoming God-fearing and God-loving, too.

If the constituents are bad–having no fear and no love of God, doing things for their own selfish interests and those of their families’–their political leaders will also turn out to be bad and greedy, abusive and corrupt.

In fact, it has already been recorded somewhere that a sinful and rebellious people will be afflicted not only with defeat and failures, with debilitating diseases and ailments and unbearable natural and even man-made calamities, with foreigners sapping their country’s wealth, but, listen to this, also with leaders who are themselves rebels and partners with thieves.

The prediction was that, a nation whose people do not recognize nor thank God, and who are mired in sin and evil deeds and who have forsaken the Lord, incapable of dispensing justice or unwilling to do what is right, will experience the full wrath of God, as well as the curses He had promised to those who no longer listen to Him and who no longer obey His commands.

One of these curses are leaders who love bribes and chase after gifts, and who do not defend the cause of the fatherless or of widows, and who have no desire or willingness to rescue their people from the corruption among those who govern, whether from the administration or the opposition.

The only way, therefore, to enable God-fearing and God-loving leaders to be he ones to lead the Philippines is for Filipinos to make a turn-around themselves, and jointly strive to lead a truly righteous and spiritually-guided life, anchored on a sustained reading of His Word, the Bible, and daily obedience to His commands, until these spiritual exercises shall have become a habit in their lives.

There must be a deliberate and conscious effort on the part of all Christian churches, sects, organizations and groupings, to impart biblical principles to their members through a regular Bible study on top of the Bible readings during masses, or praise and worship services, and to set up a mechanism by which spiritual growth could be measured in terms of everyday behavior.

It is not going to be easy doing this, for man is naturally sinful and rebellious and forgetful of God. There are also going to be a lot of obstacles, even from among the churches themselves, especially among those who do not allow their members to read the Bible. But this is no reason not to try, for if we fail, there is literally hell to pay for all of us.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com