Institutional Memory

The Catholic Church is well known for its ban on many things in the name of Religion and Dogma. The history of the Church is well known, including its many crusades against things that go against policy. On one hand, such hand is what has made the Church one of the most successful organizations in the world. This country though has been under the influence of the church for centuries. Our religious beliefs anchored upon heavy history and theories that sometimes diverging from the Vatican's. And our religious conservatism often get in the way of rational thought.

Take for instance this furor on the Da Vinci Code. Many have voiced their opinion, like Executive Secretary Ermita, to the young. What is all the hoopla about? It is a fictional work--- it isn't (pardon the pun) gospel truth. Often times some members of the Church feel they must control every facet of a Catholic's life, have we stopped to think that maybe we were missing the point? The Church, our parents, the state--- they all basically instill in each person the capacity to be good people, and being excellent providers, convey to us the ability to disern what is true and what isn't. And isn't that what democracy is all about--- the freedom to do just about anything (within in reason of course), to voice an opinion, to raise ideas, to challenge, poke, prod, and in health, constructive engagement?

Fr. Orbos wrote this in his Sunday column: "These days, there is a lot of talk about the movie “The Da Vinci Code.” There have been, and there will always be gusts of strong wind that will shake our basic faith. Jesus reminds us today to remain in Him, and stay with Him. Let not life’s storms separate us from the love of God. Jesus’ instruction is clear: stay with me, no matter what, and come what may."

That is perhaps the best answer to all of this, "question". if everyone has done their job right--- and everyone meaning every juan, maria, the Church, government and parents and ourselves learned to dissern, to think for ourselves, you would know that Da Vinci Code has no timebomb set to explode. it is fiction, an entertaining escape and if one's faith is easily shattered by this, we must ask the question, did we ever had one in the first place? Read the book, watch the movie and find out for yourself--- and I have and there is nothing in it that has shattered my faith.

While certainly there are new archeological finds happening each day--- and it is a facinating thing to discover our origins and where things where many centuries ago such as the Gospel of Judas or Mary Magdalene. In Lento and Resurrection, I wrote this:

"Perhaps it is apt that a significant archeological find has recently gone mainstream--- the discovery of the Gospel of Judas has found itself in the news for example. Hero or traditional villain, does it matter for Catholics? To me it doesn't change the most important part of being Catholic--- that someone two thousand years ago took a bullet for me and people everywhere and since then. Neither does a fictional work like the Da Vinci Code wreak havoc with faith. Da Vinci Code is simply just a good story to read or entertaining to watch (the movie version) especially when one is stuck on a plane or airport for hours on end as any frequent traveler would attest to. The novel of course gave significant attention to such Gnostic document like the Gospel of Mary Magdalene (text here). And the Early Church, shrouded in mystery, a great number lost simply with the passage of time like the dead sea scrolls has become sexy.

What we can gleam from such documents is that like all organizations, the Catholic Church was shaped by the circumstances of their time in history as much as their leaders and political issues of their day as our time to day does. It doesn't shatter any dogmatic teaching of the Church, for example, just makes history richer and our understanding deeper.

Of course, we often dismiss arguments of local "sects" who quote line for line the Bible and throw them at each other like mud. The Bible of course is a bestseller that goes back to the Early Church and must be taken within its proper historical and religious context. Of course it doesn't stop us from figuring out how literary description of an act could have happened, like Jesus walking on water. The latter doesn't dilute the importance of the Bible nor the Church's teachings."

Like everything we must put it all in the proper context of their time and learn to quiet our prejudices and our desire to paint it all in our modern light. And certainly, we must also remember that when such things do come out, it is interesting to read it and grasp it at the same time understand the limits of such comprehension, after all not everyone is an expert in every field. Scholarly Catholic work, like medicine, or the law or engineering and all disciplines for that matter have their own nuisances we ought to let experts do their analysis and within the confines of our own meager dissernment weigh and consider their implications in our lives. after all it is just as easy to have lies and statistics.

While we are on the topic of history, of lies and statistics, is it too much to hope that people realize that we are at this moment particularly because as the saying goes, "We stand on the shoulder of giants"? The truth of institutional memory resonates across disciplines, industries, cultures and greatest testimony of this is human civilization itself. It is institutional memory that hasn't taken deep roots in our nation and it is of paramount importance we get there, and believe it or not, it is perhaps why we remain an Infant Nation. This "failure" is seen in many things we do, when a previous administration does a good thing and succeeding ones don't follow through, shame really.

So it is quite important we read and listen to The Thinking Soldier--- as much as we do the recent Supreme Court decisions, particularly on 1017 and the thinking of our justices behind their decision, which offers insight into our recent history.

Last week saw many new things happening in the Cha-Cha train like this post from the PCIJ blog that warned against federalism. Many readers of this blog are well familiar with my stance on a Federal Republic--- I strongly believe that through it, you can emancipate people in the far flung regions and because of such freedom they will have the capacity to become better people, better citizens by giving them the means to do so.

Also in however spin one puts it, there are people who do grow hungry and many of them young people. While we debate about Da Vinci Code, or the Cha-Cha train, drinking our US$2 coffee or eat food at our favorite restaurant, we worked hard to pay for, it is a good thing to know that the Senate isn't the stupid place it has been of late and does some work like this bill on the Food Donation Act. It is one bill that must become Law and become part of our Institutional Memory fitting our Catholic Nation.