Falling to demagoguery
The world is now awash with demagogues. It looks like we have an infestation. Whether we look at the fields of politics, business, the sciences, sports and entertainment, culture, etc., we can readily find dishonest and corrupt leaders, false prophets and lying teachers.
It actually should be no surprise. Since time immemorial, and even during the time of Christ, demagogues proliferated. Our human condition, if not grounded on God, is vulnerable to it. We can´t help it. Our world can easily produce the necessary elements and factors. And we can never run out of potential materials.
These demagogues have great capacity to read people´s mind, and know how to adapt their behavior and speech to what people want to see and hear. This, of course, regardless of whether their words and ideas conform to God´s laws or not. They do things quite independently of God, and often even hostile to God.
Of all these demagogues, I am not worried so much by those who identify themselves as atheists, agnostics and free thinkers. We have freedom, and we just have to learn how to cope with some of its not-so-good consequences. If the lines of conflict are clearly drawn, then things are a lot easier to handle.
Just the same, these can already create a lot of mess. Consider a very rich billionaire. His investments and fund movements can spell prosperity or doom to a country and even to a region. His open support for abortion, euthanasia and same-sex union certainly causes severe headache to those who believe in following the moral law as taught by Christ and the Church.
Or a president of a leading country in the world with patent agnostic tendencies in spite of official affirmations of being a Christian, who is now reshaping the country along the lines of a socialistic ideology. Any coincidence with God´s law is just that, coincidence. He for sure is creating a monstrosity.
Many people are now waking up from a spell that mesmerized them during the campaign season. They were sweet-talked into believing he was going to be a transformational president, the messianic agent of change, and not just an effective executive.
Still, the problem with this kind of demagogues is not that big. It´s when we have to deal with those who say they are God-believers or Christ-followers but who actually go against God that things become very tricky. And these men and women can so master their demagogic rhetoric and craft that they can effectively take a lot people for a ride.
This is what St. Paul said of them: ¨For such false apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming into the apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.¨ (2 Cor 11,14-15)
We need to sharpen our spirit of discernment. St. John in his first letter warned us: ¨Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world...¨ (4,1)
In our country, we have politicians who at least by name are Christians, but in practice are not. They do not know how to be consistent with their faith in their official functions. Many are confused doctrinally and can even go to the extent of doing things directly against God´s commandments.
Thus, the practices of corruption, kickbacks and briberies, cheating and performing and delivering things below specifications, etc., not only have proliferated, but have become SOP (standard operating procedures).
But these are of less importance compared to attitudes and practices that go directly against God and against the inner man. I´m referring to officials’ views and even campaigns related to sexual morality.
Right now, for example, there is a massive campaign spearheaded by the Department of Health to promote condoms. How this little piece of rubber or plastic, of dubious practical benefit, has become the centrepiece in the fight against AIDS and the so-called over-population problem is beyond me.
It´s quite clear that the campaign is part of a worldwide network driven by powerful ideological and economic groups. To this campaign many of our leaders, especially those in the media, simply take at best an attitude of indifference.
¨It´s not against any law of the land, so let it be,¨ more or less captures their attitude. They don´t care about the moral implications. This is precisely what a demagogic frame of mind is. It´s a leadership detached from God, as if all authority on earth did not come from him but are just of their own making.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@gmail.com)
