Reading the Bible inside a Jeepney: Celebrating Colonized Peoples' capacity to beat swords into ploughshares, to transform weapons of mass destruction into instruments of mass celebration, mortar shells into church bells, teargas canisters to flower pots, rifle barrels into flutes... U.S. Military Army Jeeps into Filipino Public Utility Jeepneys.
Thursday, December 28, 2017
NEVER AGAIN!
It is time we took another road. Over and over again we take the same road. We never learn. We imagine that doing the same thing will change the outcome. It never has. It never will.
The Empire strikes back. Always. In the case of the Magi, innocent children were massacred. And innocent children will continue to die as long as we try to save Baby Jesus from Herod. We should stop. He is not a baby anymore. He also does not need saving. The Magi did that already.
The Empire always strikes back. There are more Herods today. They are purveyors of war. Last year alone 1.7 trillion dollars were spent on the arms industry. Over half a trillion in the illegal drug trade. The War on Terror and the War on Drugs have left a trail of suffering and death on the innocent.
Thus, you and I need to be wiser. We need to be Magi-er. We need to be more sensitive to the warnings in our shared dreams. We need to know when to beat swords into plowshares. And when not to. We need to take other roads.
And we need to do all these to make sure that the massacre of innocent children does not happen again. Anywhere. Ever.
["Scene of the Massacre of the Innocents," Leon Cogniet, 1824]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
THE SONG OF MARY
Mary's Magnificat is probably one of the most powerful prophetic passages in the New Testament. This young woman's God scatters the ...
-
Filipinos and their Jeepneys (An Essay in Honor of Valerio Nofuente) “The western mind is so used to having everything planned ...
-
Last words are important to many of us. Famous last words include Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” and Antonio Luna’s “P---- Ina!” My late ...
-
Mula sa mga Igorot ng Cordillera hanggang sa mga Lumad sa Mindanao, hitik ang ating kasaysayan at kolektibong karanasan sa mga taong nag-ala...
No comments:
Post a Comment