Christianity dominates Filipino culture according to the document. 80% of Filipinos are Catholic and Christianity influences many aspects of life. It is prominent in media, education through values education and religious groups in schools, and laws often reflect Christian values like prohibitions against killing and adultery. As part of a counterculture, the document argues for de-establishing close-mindedness rather than Christianity itself in order to better understand and respect minority religions like Islam to avoid conflicts over feeling heard and create a more positive relationship between religious groups.

1. AGUSTIN, JOHN CHRISTIAN, M.
BCOM0523
Essay 4: Culture & Power
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1. Choose a dominant culture (culture as in ritual, tradition, value, etc.) or a group of people who
you think dominate a certain culture. It is better if you have a first-hand or second-hand
experience.
The dominant culture that I choose is how Filipinos value religion, most especially
Christianity. Christianity is a religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred
scripture and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies (Merriam-Webster).
According to the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA), in October 2010, they reported that 80.6%
of the Filipino population were Catholics. Since Catholics own 80% of the people, we can see
how their beliefs and practices dominate the country.
From my own experience as a Christian, I value religion, and I consider it a primary aspect
of my life. It always serves as a guide in everything that I do. The teachings and culture that I
gained as a Christian are always living in my mind and heart. So, while doing this activity, I reflect
a lot on this topic. I saw its domination in our country and how it serves as an essential thing to
be considered in making decisions or anything. Christianity also affects different fields that
somehow we are included in.
2. Examine how that culture became dominant or mainstream.
The culture became dominant in the country because it is visible in all the fields and
aspects of life. There are a lot of areas that we can saw how Christianity exists in that field. First
is its dominance over communication; media in the Philippines is very open on airing shows,
mass, and events related to Christianity. One example is the holy week special aired by the
different TV stations; they aired movies that show values, family, or something that showed a
Christian's character. They also aired the story of Jesus, "The Bible," to help people understand
the life encountered by Jesus to save our sins. There are many shows that media gives slot on
the contents related to Christianity like "Super Book" that provides children with knowledge about
the bible in a creative way. Another example is their live telecast or broadcast in Catholic events
like the "Traslacion of the Black Nazareth," festivals, and Sunday mass. They keep people
updated and aired the happenings in the event. In this case, we can see how Christianity dominant
the communication field compared to the Philippines' other religions.
The second one is its dominance over educational institutions or education. Christianity
also dominates education; one of the simple examples of it is the values education; this subject
also revolves around teachings of Jesus. The schools also allow Catechists to teach students
words of God, and this happens mostly in elementary schools. In high school, there is a lot of
youth group that comes from different Christian churches that encourage and invites students to
be part of them, and they also teach words of God. Another example is a simple prayer in the
class; teachers and students prayed in the Catholic way with or without a cross sign. Many events
are primarily Christian-centered events like the mass before graduation, enlightenment sessions,
and more. Schools also one of the institutions that the culture of Christianity is dominant.

2. AGUSTIN, JOHN CHRISTIAN, M.
BCOM0523
Essay 4: Culture & Power
Lastly, the dominance of the culture Christianity over the law. As we know, there is still a
division between the state and church in our country. But, this division doesn't stop the culture
and values of Christianity from dominating the law. As a democratic country, we have a lot of rules
that reflect on the Ten Commandments. One example of this is the "Thou shall not kill" and "Thou
shall not commit adultery," our country has many laws about killings and adultery. Most of the
rules in our country reflect on the values and practices that Christianity culture has, even
sometimes there are laws made by the authorities that disagree with the church. All in all, I say
that Christianity's dominance over the law is evident because most of it revolves around goodness
and badness or such things.
Generally, we can see how Christianity culture dominates the country in all aspects. This
religion serves as the primary basis of most of the things that Filipino does, how our country's
citizens value what they learn in the Bible and practiced it daily. There are many fields that
Christianity's culture, and values are evident. In this case, I conclude that the culture of Christianity
is mainstream in the Philippines.
3. Now, write as if you are part of the counterculture and try to de-establish that culture and how
de-establishing it would give way for the better.
Christianity faced more significant challenges when it encountered Islam or its followers,
which are the Muslims. Both religions' beliefs are very contradicting; the values and practices are
very different from each other. According to Philippine Statistics Authority, in 2015, 5.57% of our
country's population is Muslims. As we can see in the PSA statistics, the Christian population has
a huge community compared to the Muslims, as Muslims count only as 4% of the Christianity
population. It is not impossible why Christian culture dominates the country more. Still, if I am to
be part of a counterculture or the Muslims, I would not de-establish in a way that I will remove and
cancel Christian culture. Still, I would try my best to speak up for just treatment and de-establish
the close-minded people in religions. We have some stereotyping regarding Muslims, and I would
like to admit that I was one of the people before. Most Muslims are inadequate and do illegal
things, but we don't understand their purpose and goal. Muslim people want to be heard and be
honest, and it is hard for them to be heard easily because a large population of the Philippines is
Christians who have different cultures. This conflict of being listened to is the root of terrorism and
may create more extensive problems. I believe the essential thing that most Christian people
should learn is understanding and enough knowledge in Islam and religion in the country or the
world. De-establishing the culture of being close-minded in terms of religion and staying on for
what we believe in would give way to a better relationship, people, and especially the country. We
should not base on the number of people who believe in a particular religion, but we should
understand and respect it.
“The rise & fall of Christianity in the Philippines”