being catholic

living in the American South, i cannot escape the palpable influence of the evangelical imprint in the society. while florida has established itself apart from the Deep South despite its inescapable geography, the basic elements that constitute a southern state are still present. most ominous among these is the christian evangelical fervor of the vast majority of its people. christian fellowship groups abound in its every major and even minor roads attesting to the religious movement's impact on the floridians's religious experience. not as conservative as the other southern states such as alabama, mississippi, tenessee, the carolinas and georgia, florida is a so-called battleground state among the conservative right and the liberal left. the political make-up and social orientation of its people is more diverse and complex than the above-mentioned states probably because of its sheer physical size and proportion of its immigrant population. also, its advanced economy compared with what is known as the Deep South creates dynamics in the state that jive more with northeastern states, hence the more liberal social and political leanings. on its own, florida is the world's 15th largest economy.

and yet florida is still a bastion of the conservative evangelical movement. in philippine parlance, evangelicals are the so-called "born-again" christians. they are set-apart from the catholic faith and mainstream protestant churches in that they are more fundamentalist on issues relative to the scriptures. they are also loosely organized with no central authority like the vatican for the catholics and the parishes and dioceses of the mainstream protestant churches. inspite of their loose organization as a clearly distinguished faith, evangelicals are perhaps the most powerful religious force in america. they occupy a special place in the republican party as one of its strongest constituencies. the ideological congruence of evangelicals with conservative republicans have for years been the main driving force in the party's resurgence particularly during the bush years. himself an evangelical, george w bush has pushed extremist pro-life policies during his term. his stubborn stand against federal funding for stem cell research has been a lightning rod issue for either sides of this social divide.

on the other hand, the catholic church is still the single largest christian denomination in america. in a country where faith is one of the bases for policy and party platform, this creates a special meaning for religion and faith in general. while churches in "christian europe" are now being converted into discoteques and restaurants for the simple lack of parishioners, america still swears by the tenets of the christian faith. in all shapes and forms. it is almost a requirement for anyone running for public office especially the presidency to be seen and photographed strolling out of sunday service holding hands with his or her spouse and their children. this validates his or her adherence to family values and most importantly, to his faith. the catholic church, continuously on the rise as well because of the massive influx of predominantly catholic poles, italians and irish immigrants at the turn of the century as well as the recent wave of hispanics and filipinos, was given a tremendous boost. today, catholics comprise a good thirty percent or more of the population.

while catholics have historically not voted as a bloc in the united states, they have always leaned towards the Democratic side since immigrants seem to view this party as more friendly towards their welfare and immigration in general. but as the maturation of the catholic population in the country progressed and they became more integrated into the mainstream of american society, other issues came into play in recent years. the most important of these is abortion.

and here is where the congruence of america's major faiths happened. abortion rights has for decades been one of the main indicators of the american's social ideology. pro-life versus pro-choice has never been more evident in the aftermath of roe v wade. because the advocacy against any form of abortion has defined the american catholic church, it has found itself in a holy alliance with the evangelicals on this most important of social issues. slowly, the republican party has made inroads in the catholic population especially if one is to gauge the pronouncements of the church hierarchy on the debate. for a time, some catholic bishops wanted to deny catholic politicians their communion if they espouse a pro-choice stance. evangelicals on the other hand have consistently used its veto power in the republican party to screen its candidates based on their pro-life credentials.

although i no longer consider myself a religious catholic in the sense that i do not share many if not most of my church's dogma, i still associate myself with this group for demographic purposes. besides, i was born, raised and educated in what is perhaps one of the most catholic institutions in the world. in a country where one's character is more or less defined by the presence of absence of organized religion in his or her life, my being catholic softens my otherwise very liberal leanings. this aspect of life may seem not important in an overwhelmingly catholic country like the philippines, but in christian america, people's perceptions may change based on these factors. unlike in the philippines where one's politics is simply defined by WHO you vote for rather that WHAT you stand for, where you hang out every sunday says a lot about what you are. in other words, liberal vs conservative is an ever present fact of life in america. it is therefore not an exclusive debate among politicians, it is something that ordinary americans associate with.

this makes one's being catholic more important. living in florida with the abundance of evangelicals in my workplace, in our neighborhood and in the media makes one more conscious of his faith, or the lack of it. in my case, i am in constant evaluation of where they are in unity with catholics on social issues. i am in constant awe of the strength of this commonality between the two faiths that i even begin to wonder how they are so distant and even at odds in other parts of the world like the philippines. perhaps their common pro-life battle against the party of what they call godless liberals facilitated this ease of co-habitation. or their common stand against same-sex unions provided the added force to an already powerful Religious Right coalition.

for these scenarios i described above, living in florida as a nominal catholic becomes more interesting. but also alarming. seeing a number of filipino catholics drift politically to the Right abandoning a long relationship with the Democrats is quite disturbing. but no one can blame them especially when the republicans continue to fan the flames of their pro-life agenda as a tool to energize their base. it has been very effective in the past and will continue to be successful as long as christian america remains true to its faith.

but for those whose lives are not dictated by the pulpit, or those whose values are not limited by their own creed, this can be very troubling. troubling because it threatens his or her own liberties when religious beliefs are imposed upon everyone. and most troubling because faith should set people free, not hold them hostage to policies inspired by other people's faith.