Religious Pluralism
in Higher Education

with Cecile M. Genove

Next to love, a topic that is timeless as it is deep and engaging is religion. That the Philippines is noted for being the only Christian nation in the Far East is beside the point because over the years, the country has been rocked with issues and concerns emanating from, or resulting from, the instigations of the Church.

Thus, the theme of the fourth national conference of the Asian Christian Faculty Fellowship, which was held recently at the Trinity University of Asia (formerly Trinity College of Quezon City), was most timely and relevant – “Religious Pluralism and Higher Education in Asia.” Attended by educators from member-institutions in the Philippines, the discussions expanded to include comparative religion and psychology for Palestinian Muslims and Christians, a once-in-a-lifetime experience shared by Bro. Rolando R. Dizon, a cancer victor, who spent a year of teaching in Bethlehem University where, he said, the percentage of Muslims and Christians is 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

In the keynote address of Dr. Nirmala Jeyarah, program director of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, she warned against communalism (in-group versus others) that is spreading like a plague today, which is enough to send an SOS call to educators. Since religion is a double-edged sword, it could shape society for better or worse.

But, what is it that we do about our religion, if at all? Is religiosity synonymous with spirituality? Is religiosity a mere adherence to beliefs?

Dr. Jeyarah expounded that religiosity without spirituality is dangerous. Spirituality can exist without religion, though. However, a truly religious person has to be spiritual. Both are not static, but dynamic and if one practices both, then it has to involve the whole person. The pluralistic framework rejects the exclusivist and the secular. It favors cross-cultural exchange and interfaith dialogues, and recognizes differences, but differs politely with no hurts.

On the other hand, the experience of Bro. Dizon in Bethlehem was an eye-opener of sorts. He noted that poverty and unemployment were rampant among the Palestinians there, with 48 percent as the unemployment rate. The Palestinians are able to get by through foreign aid coming from non-governmental organizations abroad. While Bethlehem University was established in 1973, the student population is a hundred percent Palestinians, with no presence of Jews. In fact, according to Bro. Rolly, as he is fondly called, Bethlehem University is intended primarily for quality Christian education for the Palestinians. Females dominated the student population, coming from a cross=section of courses like nursing, education, business, and commerce.

While it is always a challenge to teach Muslims and Christians, it is also interesting to note that both share the same core values of mutual respect, acceptance, openness, and peaceful coexistence. As much as the Palestinians abhor the Israelis and the Jews, their family ties are very strong. While nepotism is not looked upon very kindly in the Philippines, especially in government service, nepotism to the Palestinians is an obligation.

In the pursuit of excellence among our Christian schools, no less than the president of the Trinity University of Asia, Dr. Josefina Sumaya, had interesting story to share. It is about her immediate predecessor’s first impression of the university during his first few months as president. He is not a member of any Christian church in the Philippines. He said that before his coming to TUA, he has read a lot about the institution. He was very observant and the day came when he asked Dr. Sumaya why he did not see or feel any mark that TUA is a Christian school. But, as a Christian institution, Trinity must remarkably be different from the non-Christian colleges and universities in the country. The Christian atmosphere must be in the attitude and behavior of the students, the faculty, and the staff.

Dr. Sumaya further shared that despite her engaging in projects that are illustrative and demonstrative of Christian distinctiveness, like her predecessor, she feels that the Christian essence has not been internalized by the students, even the faculty and staff. “We have been working hard to achieve Christian distinctiveness and yet, my feeling is there is something lacking, a vacuum, a gap. I wonder why,” muses Dr. Sumaya.

Later, she said she stumbled on the answer to her question through a book she was reading that provided: “Without the presence of a high-caliber, confident, critical, imaginative and articulate theology team, the distinctive nature of a church college can easily be lost. As this happens, inappropriate forms of secularization can be accommodated or become prominent. Religious perspectives and commitments need to be communicated and exposed to scrutiny if they are to be engaged with and if they are to earn credibility. It means that mere repetition of religious terminology or reproduction of religious practices is no true form of fidelity.” Changes in the intellectual, economic, technological, social, political, and cultural contexts force us to rethink what we mean by our Christian concepts and practices, how we perceive our priorities and the tools we should deploy in communicating our messages and the sources we should draw upon, Dr. Sumaya continued.

The challenge of enhancing Christian presence in the pluralistic context for our educational institutions was offered by the Rev. Dr. Maher Spurgeon, president of the ACFF Federation, as he offered three ways. These are: 1) through academic excellence, by developing ourselves and making our institutions excellent; 2) imparting values in young minds and shaping their character in the campus; and, 3) serving the needy society around us.

The conference ended with the election of new board members of ACFF Philippines, Inc. who will join the previous members. Those elected were: Fr. Carlos Mendez of TUA, Dr. Earl Jude Cleope of Silliman University, Dr. Pio Baconga of Pilgrim Christian College, and Paciano Ferrer of Adamson Univeristy.

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