In a speech last week, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attacked God. The tough-talking, often cursing president mentioned the story of creation in the Bible’s book of Genesis. He questioned why God would create Adam and Eve and then tempt them in the Garden of Eden with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said, “Who is this stupid God. This son of bitch is really stupid.” He also castigated the Christian doctrine of “original sin,” calling it a “very stupid proposition.” Maybe Duterte is the stupid one, since he didn’t exhibit any better vocabulary than to use the word “stupid” so much.
The Philippines is over 80 percent Roman Catholic. Duterte has been attacking the Church as well. He claims it is hypocritical and that many of its priests have affairs with women. Of course, we all know of the Church’s scandalous problem all over the world about priests being guilty of acts of pedophilia.
Catholic Archbishop Villegas replied humbly to the president’s comments, “We pray for his healing and for God’s forgiveness on him, but we must rebuke his errors.”
The Philippine Council for Evangelicals represents 30,000 churches in the nation. It responded to Duterte’s remarks by saying he should “refrain from issuing insulting statements against the Christian faith. History teaches us that religious intolerance can lead to animosity and violent conflict.”
The New York Times also reported, “Mr. Duterte has joked more than once that he intended to start a new religion with himself as the leader, the sole purpose of which would be to create happiness.”
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