Despite the lion’s share that Roman Catholicism has in the population of the country, I would still like to think that there are lot of people who see the value of having a secular government and society wherein policies and laws are debated and passed based on their merits rather than the blessing of some overbearing institution. I have a lot of friends who are men and women of faith but still find the arrogant and often brash posturing of church leaders in issues like reproductive health and education to be deplorable and downright tasteless.
Religion is an important thing to a lot of people and as long as the practice of such is done to nobody’s detriment, then individuals should learn to respect individual differences and live with the consequences of being a part of a highly diversified world. Unfortunately, like in any other scenario wherein one group holds a seemingly overwhelming virtual majority, that group can be quite deliberate in exercising their right to influence how things are run. It is one thing to lobby for what your religion supposedly holds as its basic tenets but going to the extreme end of blackmailing those who support something that goes against the teachings of one’s church just sets us back into a time when the merits of the case were a mere background to the personalities, prevailing dogma and ruling hegemony of that time.
As voters, we are bombarded with reminders to set aside personality politics and look at the issues in black and white. Non-government organizations, well-meaning social mobilizers and other people who care for the country try to inspire people into being independent when making decisions, but for some reason, a lot still yield to the church and expect the institution to do the thinking for them. It is a sad reality that a lot of Filipinos continue to be devoid of the ability to think out side of the box and think critically of certain concepts that could in fact mold their opinions into more inclusive and comprehensive ones.
Just like people who consider themselves Roman Catholics or Christians, those who value secularism come in a gradient of different temperaments and dedication. There are some who are wildly militant who will be willing to do everything to put the church down into its knees. While their tactics may seem very effective in capturing public attention and of course, getting the ire of the most conservative religious people in the country, it does little as far as the long-term goals of the secular movement is concerned.
A secular Philippines will only be possible when everyone realizes that all people are different and are free to choose and practice what they believe as long as they do in away that doesn’t infringe on other people’s rights. It seems like common sense, but to this day, discrimination happens at all possible levels – may it be on the basis of race, religion or philosophy, sexual orientation and political ideology. There is an alarming movement among Catholics and Christians who continue to act as if they own the world and it is in fact their responsibility to convert everyone into their fold. This arrogant and disrespectful behavior is hardly ever criticized and checked, yet the slightest criticism against religion would draw the ire of a lot of people – even atheists who choose to sit in a corner and do nothing about changing the status quo.
I lack the ability to faithfully believe that there is a million out of almost eighty million Filipinos who are looking forward to the day when the Catholic hegemony would learn that their religion is not an extension of the government and that people who don’t subscribe to their creed would not be denied of the benefits of legislation that their institution continue to block, but we have to start somewhere. Those who seek this goal is highly fragmented in terms of location and philosophy and I can safely assume that their methods for achieving change are varied. As a famous atheist once said, trying to herd Atheists, Agnostics, Freethinkers, Deists and Religious people who believe in genuine Secular Humanism is similar to trying to herd cats – each one is its own entity and their fiery passion and intellectual sophistication can easily cause any attempts at organizing them into a group. It is an uphill climb – but it has to start somewhere. Our apathy can only take us so far.
If you believe in the value for fighting for these ideals, please join us at Filipino Free Thinkers. No one claims to know what the best way to go about things would be. Share your insights and we would all take it from there. Peace.
Benj Espina
Press Secretary, Filipino Voices
Author, Atheista
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Atheista:Jefferson argued for what he called a “wall of separation” between church and state,as a means of protecting individual liberty in religious belief & practice,guarding the state against sectarian strife, & defending organized religion against the state’s undue influence.
More power ,GOD bless you!
ps.Go Miami HEAT!
EQ
The Philippine constitution does have a "separation" clause. Which is merely cosmetic to make us seem more free and democratic that we actually are.
Hehe. Favorite part:
"…willing to do everything to put the church down into its knees. "
pam, you're here…
this is a good article. but still as you had been free to voice out your view, so am I. I would like to react as well as to disagree to some points presented.
First I would like to state some facts about me:
-I am a believer
-and I am a Christian, a Roman Catholic youth
These would show that there is a bias in me, but still all of us have our own biases. We all believe on something and that our beliefs are our biases. we can't be as critical as being neutral or else we are to be considered indifferent.
I know that you, being a med student and at the same time have written something about RHB, have known and have read the whole contents of the said Bill.
This is my view. The Roman Catholic Church, as it hinders the bill not just defend their dogma. It not just protect itself from attacks to their belief.
The Bill contains sections that permits the use of contraceptives in the form of pills and others. And that it supposes that it does not permit abortion. This statement was not literally stated in the Bill but this is what it implies.
Being a med student yourself you know how these contraceptives work. Some of them such as the pills effects by giving the body certain hormones to thicken the walls of the the uterus of the woman to avoid implants of a fertilized egg thus the fertilized egg now has no place to go. And the fertilized egg would now go out of the womb. And the Baby is KILLED.
I would not exemplify and explain the other forms of contraception and their effects- both the 'good' and the bad. I wish other readers to read further about contraception, how they effect the effects, how they benefit, and how they put humanity in danger.
I have attended a symposium about the RHB and a gynecologist explained how contaceptives work. She said that they produce bad effects with hypertension as the most common. There are also hormone imbalances because you add up hormones to the female while she already has the hormones. etc.
If this bill, as the name, Reproductive 'HEALTH' bill, implies, promotes health, why are there bad effects?
And that if their authors says that the bill does not permit abortion, isn't how these contraceptives work, be considered abortion?
The Church, as I have said does not defend only its morals and dogma but also the same moral ethics I think you adhere to. Would you consider 'killing' a person a grave misconduct? Isn't it injustice? Does killing promote secularism? If the answer is yes, it is injustice… no, it does not, then giving way to RHB is opposed to secularism. It is opposed to the betterment of the society.
Killing a baby is like killing an adult. I believe in that. Considering that a child is unwanted, because a couple has already 6, 7, or 10 children is unjust. Killing that unwanted baby, which is considered as a problem, more unjust. Doesn't that baby have the same rights as we grown up people? Doesn't that baby deserve the same security as we experience? Doesn't he have the RIGHT to LIVE which is the right we also practice?
Another thing which catches my attention is that this Bill would be executed using the millions of pesos from our dear tax payers. But still majority of our tax payers are opposed to the Bill, and the tax they pay would be spent on a policy they do not deserve.
This BILL is a VERY SELFISH act! We consider population as a hindrance. We consider another HUMAN as a problem to another HUMAN'S development, progress and wealth. It not far from genocide.
p.s.
there is only one thing which all of us wanted. and this want is the reason for the existence of ideologies and philosophies. we wanted to be heard. we wanted to be free. we wanted to have a place in the society and be valued by the society.
This can be achieved through UNITY. if people of same beliefs goes together they do not UNITE. How many they would be, even all the people of the world possessing the same ideology possess a chunk of the earth and go together, the do not show UNITY. It is mere ISOLATION.
I believe that UNITY can be practiced only by people who are DIFFERENT, not INDIFFERENT. We are united despite our differences.
Therefore we should find our common ground.
Now I offer you an inter-faith, inter-belief dialogue. I want to befriend you and everybody. I respect your views. I respect your person. I respect you as a HUMAN. I have listened to you and to your view; please do listen to mine.
Thank you! I hope we have some more dialogues about life and the society. I would continue reading your posts. they are good!
First of all, for a medical student like you, asserting that contraceptions "kill babies" is very dumb. Second, choosing contraceptions and abortion is an individual right of a woman and the church nor the government does not have the right to interfere on this. You know why the Philippines is one of the poorest countries in the world? It is because of people like you. People like you who believe that "contraception" and "abortion" is murder. Don't you think that letting the "baby" live in an impoverish world where people can barely make ends meet is not selfish? People who let childern live in a life of destitition are the real murderers and the worse things is they prolong the suffering. Prohibition of contraceptions and abortion have contributed to the country's overpopulation which is the major cause of widespread poverty among the poor Filipino majority which makes up 70% of the Philippine population. Wouldn't it be more human to spare the "baby" or the sperm from a world of poverty, depravation and a life of servitude? and by the way, OVERPOPULATION IS A HINDRANCE!!! It enables the competition of already scarce resources and unforunately these resources are being monopolised by the rich and multinational companies and excacerbated by government corruption. The sad reality is 70% of the Philippine population does not have direct acces to such resources and consequently placing themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to suffer for it. Starvation, malnutrition, sickness, diseases, poor health, poor education, crime, prostitution, slavery: these are the issues that the Philippines is facing right now and needs to be addressed by ALL Filipinos. We should stop observing the dogmatic structures of organised religions because such relgions are a MAJOR hindrance to our progress.
P.S.
I think you have misconstrued the words genocide and somehow you try to synonimize it with reproductive rights. I would advise you to do more research on this instead of just blurting out words that you do not fully understand the meaning of.
this is a good article. but still as you had been free to voice out your view, so am I. I would like to react as well as to disagree to some points presented.
First I would like to state some facts about me:
-I am a believer
-and I am a Christian, a Roman Catholic youth
These would show that there is a bias in me, but still all of us have our own biases. We all believe on something and that our beliefs are our biases. we can’t be as critical as being neutral or else we are to be considered indifferent.
I know that you, being a med student and at the same time have written something about RHB, have known and have read the whole contents of the said Bill.
This is my view. The Roman Catholic Church, as it hinders the bill not just defend their dogma. It not just protect itself from attacks to their belief.
The Bill contains sections that permits the use of contraceptives in the form of pills and others. And that it supposes that it does not permit abortion. This statement was not literally stated in the Bill but this is what it implies.
Being a med student yourself you know how these contraceptives work. Some of them such as the pills effects by giving the body certain hormones to thicken the walls of the the uterus of the woman to avoid implants of a fertilized egg thus the fertilized egg now has no place to go. And the fertilized egg would now go out of the womb. And the Baby is KILLED.
I would not exemplify and explain the other forms of contraception and their effects- both the ‘good’ and the bad. I wish other readers to read further about contraception, how they effect the effects, how they benefit, and how they put humanity in danger.
I have attended a symposium about the RHB and a gynecologist explained how contaceptives work. She said that they produce bad effects with hypertension as the most common. There are also hormone imbalances because you add up hormones to the female while she already has the hormones. etc.
If this bill, as the name, Reproductive ‘HEALTH’ bill, implies, promotes health, why are there bad effects?
And that if their authors says that the bill does not permit abortion, isn’t how these contraceptives work, be considered abortion?
The Church, as I have said does not defend only its morals and dogma but also the same moral ethics I think you adhere to. Would you consider ‘killing’ a person a grave misconduct? Isn’t it injustice? Does killing promote secularism? If the answer is yes, it is injustice… no, it does not, then giving way to RHB is opposed to secularism. It is opposed to the betterment of the society.
Killing a baby is like killing an adult. I believe in that. Considering that a child is unwanted, because a couple has already 6, 7, or 10 children is unjust. Killing that unwanted baby, which is considered as a problem, more unjust. Doesn’t that baby have the same rights as we grown up people? Doesn’t that baby deserve the same security as we experience? Doesn’t he have the RIGHT to LIVE which is the right we also practice?
Another thing which catches my attention is that this Bill would be executed using the millions of pesos from our dear tax payers. But still majority of our tax payers are opposed to the Bill, and the tax they pay would be spent on a policy they do not deserve.
This BILL is a VERY SELFISH act! We consider population as a hindrance. We consider another HUMAN as a problem to another HUMAN’S development, progress and wealth. It not far from genocide.
p.s.
there is only one thing which all of us wanted. and this want is the reason for the existence of ideologies and philosophies. we wanted to be heard. we wanted to be free. we wanted to have a place in the society and be valued by the society.
This can be achieved through UNITY. if people of same beliefs goes together they do not UNITE. How many they would be, even all the people of the world possessing the same ideology possess a chunk of the earth and go together, the do not show UNITY. It is mere ISOLATION.
I believe that UNITY can be practiced only by people who are DIFFERENT, not INDIFFERENT. We are united despite our differences.
Therefore we should find our common ground.
Now I offer you an inter-faith, inter-belief dialogue. I want to befriend you and everybody. I respect your views. I respect your person. I respect you as a HUMAN. I have listened to you and to your view; please do listen to mine.
Thank you! I hope we have some more dialogues about life and the society. I would continue reading your posts. they are good!
Sancho,
I respect what you said. And we are both theists. In that regard, we both share the opinion that this bill is inherently wrong. However, I think that, had the Church actually stressed on the points you just stated, more people would have understood where they are coming from.
I've heard a couple of arguments along the lines of "Using condoms is a mortal sin". These types of arguments are obviously flawed and would appeal only to the religious fanatic and/or the unreasonable followers. And I earnestly hope that the Church refrain from using such conjectures. Ofcourse I'm basing my prejudices on what I've heard and been told at my local Church, wherein a weekly RH-bill bashing has been the norm.
I think the Church should use better arguments than that. Lest they appear unreasonably demagogic.
@The Apologist
)
"Lest they appear unreasonably demagogic."
That's a basic quality of most religions. The church has no better arguments than "our god* forbids it." If it had any good arguments they'd be arguing in congress instead of threatening to excommunicate congressmen for not falling in line.
*Actually, it's just their interpretation of what god supposedly said.
@Sancho
Is a sperm a baby?
missing points,
There are better arguments. And it would be better for the Church to dwell on those. Namely: The adverse effects of abortifacients, the propagation of a 'pregnancy as a disease' mentality, the mandatory sex education of grade 5 students, the misappropriation of taxpayers money, etc etc. That was essentially the point I was driving at.
I am not an atheist but I believe in a Philippines that is free from cultural or religious hegemony. In a free-thinking Philippines!
If you'll let me, I have a prayer for you:
"Grey-eyed Goddess, wise one and warrior, artisan and philosopher, help us to cultivate wisdom, reason, and purity. Remind us that ignorance is inexcusable and a stagnant mind is an abomination. Remind us to learn new things whenever possible and to never fear new knowledge. And to philosophise, yes that is good. We would rather die as wrinkled wise men rather than beautiful idiots. Khaire Athene."
In Greece it gets worse, we need to ask permission from the church first before we conduct our rituals — rituals that were going on in Greece hundreds of years before Christ.