RELIGION AND

PREVAILING IDEOLOGIES
DEFINITIONS
RELIGIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
LAWS
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
INFLUENCES OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES

Reported by: DOMINGO, Therese Margaurite M.

FLCD 211 Monday Class
WHAT IS RELIGION?

“Religion is the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in

their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation
to whatever they may consider the divine.”

- William James,The Varieties of Religious Experience

WHAT IS RELIGION?

“A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to scared

things – things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which
unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who
adhere to them.”
“Religion is the self-validation of a society by means of myth and
ritual.”

- Emile Durkeim,The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

WHAT IS RELIGION?

“A religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish a powerful,

persuasive, and long-lasting moods and motivation… by formulating
conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these
conceptions with an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations
seem uniquely realistic.”

- Clifford Geertz, Religion as a Cultural System

 WHAT IS RELIGION?

“A religion has at least three essential elements: (1) mythic, philosophical, or

theological cosmology defining the structures and limits of the world and forming
the basic ways how things are and what they mean, (2) ritual – a finite set of
repeatable and symbolizable actions that epitomize things a tradition take to be
crucial to defining the normative human place in the cosmos, and (3) practical
procedures for fundamental transformation aimed to relate personas harmoniously
to a path of spiritual perfection.”

- Robert Cummings Neville,The Religious Dimensions of Confucianism

 RELIGIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Religions Catholic 82.9% (Roman Catholic
80.9%, Aglipayan 2%),
Muslim 5%
Evangelical 2.8%
Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%
other Christian 4.5%
other 1.8%
unspecified 0.6%
none 0.1%
(2000 census)
https://www.indexmundi.com/philippines/demographics_profile.html
PHILIPPINE LAW ON RELIGION

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares: The separation of Church and State shall be
inviolable. (Article II, Section 6), and, No law shall be made respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.The free exercise and enjoyment of religious
profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious
test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights. (Article III, Section 5)

The 1987 Philippine Constitution

BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Philippines had a form of belief called animistic belief before the

Spaniards came.
• Believed that they are governed by anitos – spirits of nature and ancestors
• Supreme being was called Bathala
• Homage are in the form of dances, chants, and harvest offerings
supervised by a Babaylan – priest, doctor and political adviser represented by
a community woman who aged in wisdom
Delgado, 2004, Influences of Christianity to Filipino Culture
 BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

After the Spaniards came:

• Connected with the Filipinos through the religion of Christianity
• Christianity sprouted and gathered followers around the nation
• Other religions such as Islam, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Buddhism, etc. also
started to sprout due to the Filipinos innate search for spiritual
enlightenment

Delgado, 2004, Influences of Christianity to Filipino Culture

INFLUENCES OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES AND
THE FILIPINO FAMILY
Religion showed influences in the following aspects of Filipinos
lives:
1. Literature and Drama
• Religious books (Bible, Quran, other spiritual manuals
• Movies, TV Shows, Plays showing religious ideas,
representations, and situations
INFLUENCES OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES AND
THE FILIPINO FAMILY
2. Architecture and Sculpture
• Churches, Mosques, Chapels, Temples
• Symbolisms of designs and materials
• Sculptures (EDSA Shrine), paintings, photography
INFLUENCES OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES AND
THE FILIPINO FAMILY
3. Music and Dance
• Songs, chants, hymns
• Festival dance
• 4. Society (Filipinos)
• Routines/ Practices – going to church, praying, offering, fasting, etc.
• Values Formation – brought about by the beliefs of certain
religious groups
Delgado, 2004, Influences of Christianity to Filipino Culture
INFLUENCES OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES AND
THE FILIPINO FAMILY
• Laws and education
• Traditions – weddings, birthdays, holidays, burial ceremonies, etc.
5. Family
• Child-rearing – discipline, religion as a tool to educate children
• Family’s foundation is on the virtues, ways, practices of the religious
group they belong to
Delgado, 2004, Influences of Christianity to Filipino Culture
 CAN WE TAKE AWAY RELIGION IN ONE’S LIFE?

“Religion is not going away any time soon,

and science will not destroy it.”
- Peter Harrison, author of The Territories of Science and Religion (2015)
HOW DOES YOUR RELIGION INFLUENCE/ AFFECT
YOUR FAMILY?
 REFERENCES

Delgado, K. 2004. Influences of Christianity to Filipino Culture

Hunt, C.L., Quisumbing, L.R., et al. (1987). Sociology in the Philippines.

Vivar,T.,Viloria E., Quiray, R., et al. (1999).World History

De La O, Rodden. 2006. Does Religion Distract the Poor?: Stanford, CA

Cannell, Fenella. 1999. Power and Intimacy in The Christian Philippines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Che Man, WK. 1990. Muslim Separatism: The Moros of Southern Philippines and the Malays of Southern Thailand.
Singapore: Oxford University Press

Delph. 2005. Church @ Community: Florida, USA