Schism and the Ethics of Christian Strategy in the Philippines

The Boundary Indefinite: Schism and the Ethics of Christian Strategy in the Philippines by Scotty Mc Loughlin A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Webb Keane, Chair Assistant Professor Deirdre L. de la Cruz Professor Judith T. Irvine Professor Andrew J. Shryock Acknowledgements My thanks first of all, to those people in the Philippines, who helped me in big ways and small, who welcomed me and cared for me, pushing me to pay attention to things in my research that otherwise I would have missed. Nobody ever asked me to not use their name, but I have avoided where possible, for issues of privacy, the use of actual names. To Ofelia Estoya Aguilar, Angelito Quinones, Mikaela Venturina and her father, and Bobby, and to everyone involved in the churches that allowed me to work closely with them, and who opened up their lives to me in a way that I could only hope to one day do in return, I owe my deepest thanks. To Eunice, Joma, Kitty, Karl, and Kairos, and to Ninang, my eternal thanks for taking me in as a family member, and treating me with such kindness. And to Miguel Elausa, who tutored me in Tagalog, and subsequently became my closest friend and ally in Mindoro. This research would not have been possible without him. To the pastors and priests, the lay leaders, court clerks, and church administrators who helped, I am forever grateful. The Flores Family at the Bethany Evangelical Missionary Church, Labangan in Occ. Mindoro were true friends, as were Silverio Importante, Teresita Benoza and her husband, Melvin Domingo, Evedel Calay, Victorino Ruedes, Gloria, Kenneth and Bel Pangilinan, and everyone at the United Methodist Church in Occ. Mindoro. To people at the United Methodist Church headquarters, and the Philippine Bible Society in Manila, I am thankful for the time and access to their daily ii lives. I am immensely thankful to the translators and support staff in Calapan for sharing their work with me, in particular Kermit and Raquel Titrud, Keith and Grace McCune, Derek Daniels, John and Paula Richards at the OMF, Natalie Dietrich, Beth, and Maan Dela Roca. To Letty Pagkalinawan, who first taught me Filipino at the University of Michigan, and to everyone at SEASSI at the University of Wisconsin Madison, who aided me in my language studies. I also am forever thankful to Mary Jane, Mary Grace and Ninang Gumaod, Maan Villahermosa Reyes and her family, Shai Anne Tamares and her mother, Ric Festin, Marl Ramirez, Norman Novio, Rodolfo Acebes, Raul Pertierra, Zenaido Solano Augustino and Pastor Augustino and everyone at the CORD Foundation. I am deeply thankful and appreciative to my committee members, Webb Keane, Judith T. Irvine, Andrew Shryock, and Deirdre de la Cruz. They have all contributed to my thinking in different ways, and have shown intellectual insight and honesty, and indeed patience, throughout my years as doctoral student at the University of Michigan. Stuart Kirsch, Michael Lempert and Bruce Mannheim, have all contributed to this project in one way or other. Matt Hull has been hugely kind and supportive of my work, and particularly helpful in my growing interests in religious corporations. Earlier versions of this work have been presented at American Anthropological Association’s Annual Meetings, Harvard Divinity School, the Michicagoan Graduate Conference, and University of Michigan graduate conferences. I am immensely grateful for all feedback I have received. The Linglab and Ethnolab workshops in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan have proven to be precious resources and the beginnings of many conversations. A special note of thanks to Greg Urban, Richard Parmentier, and Courtney Handman for their input to different manifestations of a number of iii chapters in this dissertation. An Institute of Philippine Culture workshop at Ateneo de Manila University was incredibly useful in helping me form the thread of my thinking in many chapters here. My thanks to all involved. And my appreciation also to everyone at the Center for International Studies at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. And to Occidental Mindoro State College, and all the teachers there, my sincere thanks for their assistance in my research. My fellow graduate students over the years have been indispensable friends and peers. A special note of thanks to Nick Emlin, Chip Zuckerman, Stuart Strange, and Gabi Koch for engaging in conversations about my work in which I took up more space than any conversationalist ever should. Parts of this dissertation were funded by the Department of Anthropology and the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan. A special note of thanks to Craig Colligan, for his friendship and smarts, and to Perry Sherouse who has been a dear friend and officemate, and who has suffered through many readings of many chapters in this dissertation. And to Jamie Saris, Steve Coleman, and Gavin MacArthur, who mentored me at Maynooth as an undergraduate, and who showed me how intellectually exciting anthropology can be. It must surely go without saying, but nevertheless, my deepest thanks and love to my brother, Tristan, my mother, Dolores, and my father, John. And to my cat, Luningning, who I had to leave behind in Mindoro, but who is likely happier now than when I took care of her. Finally, a note on the spelling of my name: there are many spellings, and for structural and bureaucratic reasons, the name on this dissertation is not the spelling I normally use, Scott MacLochlainn. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………....ii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….... vi Abstract………………………………………………………………..………………….....vii Chapter 1 Believing in Churches: Christian Plurality and the Sacredness of Institutions...1 Chapter 2 Logistical Dreams: Non-Christians and Boundaries Indefinite………………...28 Chapter 3 The Tacit Christian………………………………………………………………...72 Chapter 4 Schism and the Religious Corporation…………………………………………....115 Chapter 5 Bible Translation, the “Generic,” and the Search for Pure Language……….....160 Chapter 6 Ecclesia Pura…………………………………………………………………….…189 Epilogue………………………………………………………………………………….....223 Works Cited……………………………………………………………..........................…228 v List of Figures Figure 1.1. Maps of Mindoro……………………………………………………........…18 Figure 2.1 Cover of Catholic Mangyan Mission catechism, from 1953………….…...53 Figure 2.2 Partially obscured administrative layout of the Catholic Church’s missionary work among Mangyan groups in 1989 (Mangyan Heritage Center)………………………………………………………………………..60 Figure 2.3 Three Mangyan performers dressed in Franciscan Missionary of Mary (FMM) habits help the Mangyan rise from their torment, April 2012…………………………………………………….………………..……68 Figure 3.1. Pastor Sazon standing in front of the JIL Church in Kulaman..…..…….84 Figure 3.2. A Catholic woman attends JIL service………………………………....….99 Figure 3.3. Block Rosary in Kulaman………………………………………………….108 Figure 5.1. Translation notes, between Annie and Cora……………..………………..172 Figure 6.1 One of the pictures from Listen to God, used by JW missionaries during Bible studies…….……………....…...………………………………202 Figure 6.2 Page from a set of teaching aids used by Jehovah’s Witnesses conducting deaf Bible studies …...…………………….………………...…204 vi Abstract This dissertation examines the ethical uncertainties and strategies of distinction that arise from a growing denominational pluralism of Christianity in the Philippines. It is based on research primarily conducted in Occidental Mindoro in the Philippines. Through an ethnographic and archival study of the material and linguistic practices at the heart of Christian organization, the dissertation argues that the institutional and bureaucratic forms of the Christian church become the ground upon which Christian affiliation is semiotically contested. Although famously Catholic, the Philippines has experienced a proliferation of diverse and globally affiliated Christian denominations in the last two decades. This has produced new controversy over what it means to be Christian. In an increasingly fractious and competitive context, Christians in the Philippines are faced with the challenge of having to translate and justify their Christian identity across institutional and denominational lines. The dissertation emphasizes the centrality of the practices through which Christian groups seek to competitively distinguish themselves, while simultaneously maintaining a moral commitment to a shared sense of Christian community. The dissertation’s chapters are broken down into five specific and different engagements that Christian groups in Occidental Mindoro have with one another in their response to denominational pluralism, ranging from Bible translation, the legal ramifications of a church schism, to the missionary strategies and responses of competing churches. The dissertation examines a number of Christian denominations, including Catholic, Born Again Evangelical, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Jehovah’s Witness. Each chapter examines the logistics and strategies that are at once central to the success of a church, and yet for the most part, occur out of sight of most congregants. These chapters are organized around four analytical themes: 1) how a growing Christian pluralism has produced a collective emphasis on the nature of church organization, 2) the Christian engagement with the ethical dilemmas of competitive strategies

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