“God” Messages Driving In Manila
These messages are seen quite frequently when one is in a vehicle in Manila. Huge billboards, and on jeepneys and cars. They reflect an aspect of the character of a large sector of the population. To a westerner like myself they seem absurd, naive, ludicrous, and a bit hard to believe that anyone could take them seriously. I expect the majority of people viewing them on this website will have a similar reaction. It’s worth adding that so far no religious zealot has interfered with my own person. However I do resent any activity where religious types spill their ideologies out in a public way.
The building I live in has a statue of a sitting Buddha in the entrance hall. I was rather pleased to see it there, instead of a Jesus or Mary figure. However around the third week of October suddenly Buddha was pushed off of his base and replaced by a manger scene. During the week to 10 days it took to assemble the manger statues, lighting and trappings, Buddha was covered up by cardboard packing material (probably from the manger scene). It sent a message of being somewhat less than respectful. Now at least the area has been cleaned up and Buddha is facing the manger set-up.
