I never thought I’d be writing something like this about an MCR fan community, especially with the upcoming concert in the Philippines. But after witnessing what happened in the MCRmy Philippines Main Chat, I honestly felt disgusted enough to leave.
For context, some members of the chat were making jokes and mocking a particular religious group in the Philippines, Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC). Regardless of what anyone thinks about that religion, the way some people were treating its members was unnecessarily disrespectful.
What made the situation even more disappointing was what happened when someone finally spoke up.
An INC member, who was also an MCR fan, sent a thoughtful message explaining that people can have different beliefs without mocking one another. The message wasn’t demanding that everyone agree with the religion. It wasn’t an attempt to convert anyone. It was simply asking for basic respect.
The message also pointed out something worth reflecting on: the irony of celebrating a band whose music resonates so deeply with people who have experienced judgment, rejection, and being misunderstood, while making other fans feel unwelcome because of their beliefs.
And how did some members respond?
With laugh reactions, mockery, and further attacks.
Imagine someone expressing that they’re uncomfortable with their religion being ridiculed, only for other fans to turn that very request for respect into another joke.
That’s what bothered me the most.
This isn’t about whether INC is right or wrong. This isn’t about defending religious institutions from criticism, either. People are absolutely entitled to question religious teachings, disagree with doctrines, and express their opinions.
But there’s a difference between criticizing a belief system and deliberately humiliating someone because they belong to it.
And I think that distinction matters.
MCR’s music has meant so much to people who have felt like outsiders. Songs like Teenagers, Famous Last Words, and Welcome to the Black Parade have resonated with generations of fans dealing with judgment, alienation, and the struggle to stand up for themselves.
Of course, listening to MCR doesn’t automatically make someone a good person. And being a fan doesn’t mean everyone has to share the same values or opinions.
But isn’t it disappointing when a community built around music that means so much to misunderstood people ends up making some of its own members feel exactly that way?
What made me leave wasn’t simply that people had different opinions about religion. It was the apparent lack of empathy, the casual cruelty, and the way an attempt to have a respectful conversation became entertainment for others.
I’m not saying every Filipino MCR fan behaves this way. There are plenty of wonderful fans in the Philippines, and I don’t want the behavior of certain chat members to represent an entire fandom.
But what happened in that particular community left a terrible impression.
We’re finally getting to experience MCR in the Philippines, something so many fans have waited years for. This should be an exciting time for everyone.
Instead, some fans are being made to feel unwelcome before the concert has even happened.
And that’s genuinely sad.
You can memorize every lyric about being misunderstood, but if you find joy in making someone else feel like an outsider, perhaps you’ve missed something meaningful in the music.
One particular message from that conversation has stayed with me, especially its closing thought about how someone can memorize the lyrics of songs about being misunderstood while failing to recognize when they’re making others feel like outsiders.
It’s unfortunate that some of the people responding seemed to miss the point entirely. Instead of considering what was being said, they chose mockery and ridicule.
And perhaps that’s the saddest irony of all: the message wasn’t asking anyone to change their beliefs. It was simply asking them not to make others feel ashamed of theirs.
Something that should have been so easy to understand somehow became another reason to laugh at someone.
I left the chat because I no longer wanted to be part of that environment.
I’m curious how other MCR fans around the world feel about this. Have you experienced similar behavior in your local fan communities?
Because I genuinely believe we can disagree about religion, culture, and personal beliefs without turning those differences into opportunities to humiliate one another.
At the end of the day, being an MCR fan doesn’t mean we have to think alike, believe alike, or live alike. But if we can stand together in a crowd singing about being misunderstood, surely we can learn to stop making each other feel that way.
