Undoubtedly, the speed with which we experience the changes of this world always in continuous progress. The society that we have today has seen the ideas that shape us as beings in openness and constant transformation pass quickly; however, there are proposals that come to us to suggest we modify our way of living, of expressing ourselves and even of expressing what we believe, but that perhaps we should analyze with more balance and depth to touch realities that are part of the feeling of the people.
I mention this because news has reached me of a draft sentence that proposes to prohibit the placement of nativity scenes or any other symbol that mentions a religious conviction.
Certainly we live in a secular state and the consequences that derive from this are obviously the distancing of creeds and religions, but there are traditions and customs that despite being linked to spiritual realities are carriers of universal values, they are transmitters of kindness and ideas that uplift the human spirit.
In the Catholic information weekly “Desde la fe”, the Mexican bishops “made it clear that the secular state cannot be understood as the absence, the false neutrality of religion.”
Undoubtedly the use of freedom is respectable when choosing what one believes, however, one cannot prevent or prohibit what one conscientiously decides is good for one’s life and spirituality.
The manger and many other signs of devotion that are present in our society today are the clearest manifestation that man is by nature religious and that behind each image is the aspiration to embody and make the mysticism they contain a reality.
Therefore, in harmony with the bishops, I think it prudent to express that “religious beliefs in the world, always present, have concrete manifestations that cannot be denied. Belief is not an idea, but an option, a way of life, which is becoming a culture”.
The public display of religious objects and signs is not a danger or a violation of the dignity of non-believers, nor is it a threat or discriminatory act, but rather it is simply the demonstration of what every man carries within him: the aspiration for the significance.
In this way, today it is up to us to make a serious and impartial reflection regarding this point where the spiritual seeks to be exiled from public life, it concerns us to defend what elevates us to think and makes us share the highest moral values in everyday life. .
I look forward to the discernment that the first chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation will make regarding this lawsuit, to be evaluated with the spirit of seeking the common good and the best for all citizens in order to promote reforms that are positive and unite us in what is truly essential.
Parish priest of Santa Rosa de Lima. padrerolandocastillo@icloud.com