ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the local diversity of organized nonreligion in the Philippines by focusing on two recently established groups, the Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society (PATAS) and the Filipino Freethinkers (FF), and their relation with the Catholic Church. The latter’s dominant position in Philippine society and its influence on politics is illustrated by a discussion of the decade-long public debate on reproductive health (RH) policies and FF and PATAS members’ criticism of it. Based on empirical analysis and ethnographic description, this chapter captures the multi-dimensional, contested, and shifting religion-relatedness of both organizations, their collective nonreligiosity. Thereby it illustrates the usefulness of the relational approach towards nonreligion and constitutes the necessary basis for a broader comparative perspective on nonreligious organizations and phenomena.
