Will Liberty Die with Thunderous Applause?

This coming Tuesday, August 7, 2012, the Philippines will possibly see the coming of progress or the triumph of ignorance via the senate vote on the controversial RH Bill. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's either you've been living in a very very deep cave with nothing to watch but horrible reruns of that kid in ABS-CBN where he supposedly talks with Jesus or you're from another country. That show was such a shallow piece of garbage and such a cliche wherein writers were obviously lazy when they pitched the script. Ok, I'm going off topic, so I'll reserve this topic and how it is detrimental to our society for the future.

I pass for quality television in the Philippines.

If you want to refresh yourself with what the RH Bill is, here's a link to Wikipedia you lazy bum. So before we delve into the moral and practical issues of the bill, we must first ask ourselves, "Why is there even a need for the bill?" 

Most of the arguments you'll hear from the pro side would be the alarming size of the country's population and the lack of proper sexual education. Furthermore, the Philippines is the country in South East Asia with the highest number of teen pregnancies.

On the other side of the story, there is the Church. . . whose arguments are: the bill promotes abortion, providing contraceptives will not solve the problem of poverty, it is immoral, natural family planning can be implemented, and most shockingly by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP): it will kill the agriculture industry. So what other arguments are there other than the ethical questions that surmise the bill? Are there even any ethical questions with regards to the bill or are the ethical questions reserved for the actions that the CBCP has committed? Or the whole institution for the matter? 

Firstly, there is a big mistake on the part of the Church when they claimed that the RH Bill promotes abortion. Abortion defined as removing a live fetus from a female body, not the technical crap Church leaders say that using condoms are abortions in itself because it prevents life. (I'll get to that in a while. Please bear with me.) Nowhere in the bill does it state that abortion is promoted. In fact, abortion is still illegal. (Just press CTRL+F then type abortion from that Wikipedia link I gave you earlier.) So there, not a single line where it says abortion is legal. If you take a closer look, it says there that the bill would care for post-abortion complications. This means that those who had an abortion would be given proper treatment and perhaps saving their lives. But no, the Church sees women who had an abortion as something vile and wish to deny women the choice and not to mention, proper healthcare. Since they continue to rally for the bill, it just shows that they could care less for the women suffering from post-abortion complications. (Not to mention cause heavy traffic.) Unfortunately, the Church continues to spread this mistake as accused by one senator. But don't just take his word for it, I encourage you to go to mass and hear what the priest has to say. 

So can condoms really help in preventing poverty? This statement is a fallacy. Condoms are not meant to alleviate poverty, its main purpose is to provide safe sex, whether from pregnancy or diseases. Ok, that might have sounded wrong. I don't mean to put pregnancy in the same level as a disease, but many of today's youths engage in premarital sex, such that kids who get pregnant have no means to provide for their future children and that would undoubtedly affect their future. The rate of teenage pregnancy in the country is a testament to that fact. The real question should be, can condoms prevent unwanted birth? You betcha and not to mention, by providing condoms and preventing unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortions can be lessened and thus reduce the number of abortion cases. 

The number one enemy of the Church.

But the Church will argue that the use of contraceptives is immoral and my statement "unwanted birth" is against life. Though my statement and beliefs contradict the institution, I honestly believe that the Church is a hypocrite when it comes to unwanted pregnancies. If 80% of the country is Catholic, and the Church highly regards their followers and really do impart the teachings of Jesus, why is teenage pregnancy prevalent in the country? If these people, who claim to have the highest moral authority in the country, say that premarital sex is a sin and their followers are truly faithful, why does teenage pregnancy still occur? Do we blame the media or the government? I blame the lack of sexual education. 

I wish they taught this in sex-ed.

The RH Bill aims to provide proper sexual education for the masses. However, the Church fears it might further promote premarital sex and other unholy and bestial desires. So they insist that the parents be the ones to teach their children about chastity and the other important lessons in sex-ed. But realistically speaking, what are the odds these parents know what they are doing? Is it responsible parenting to have their children frolic in the roads and act like it was Wonderland? (Not to mention if you hit their kid, you get to be the irresponsible one.) Just the other day I saw a mother teach her kid to litter; she told the kid to throw away their trash on the street while riding a jeepney. So if they can't even teach their kids road safety and hazards as well as proper etiquette, not to mention proper waste disposal, how can you expect them to properly teach something so complicated as sex? And as stated in the Constitution, the State must ensure the safety of its citizens, even from their own stupidity.

Parents of the year.

With sexual education, comes the use of contraceptives. As far as I know, condoms have been around ever since I was born. So why are condoms or contraceptives still an issue with the bill? It's not supposed to be an issue. Aside from the use of condoms being immoral for the Church, the underlying issue is what kind of sexual education the children will be receiving? A fair point, but we have to be practical in its approach. There is no guarantee that parents will properly teach their children about sex. But if sexual education came from the schools, then there is at least some hope that children will be aware of the repercussions of premarital sex. Although, I have to admit, the government must be careful on how this should be implemented. This may be one of the most complicated aspects of the bill, so it's really up to the government to make us hope it will do this right. 

Alas, what of natural family planning? Believe it or not, I have nothing against natural family planning. However, can't natural family planning work alongside the RH Bill? I can understand why the Church prefers such a method since it's "all natural" like the hippies they are. Be that as it may, the end goal is the same. But let's get one thing straight, I strongly disagree that natural family planning should be the only option for the citizens of this country as advocated by the Church. Firstly, as a person, I would like to have a list of my options and be freely able to choose. (Sex is good. I can't understand why Church leaders are frustrated. It's not like they can't have se. . . I'm gonna keep quiet now.) Secondly, unlike the close-mindedness that surrounds the Church, natural family planning is NOT THE ONLY METHOD. The RH Bill essentially does not force an individual to follow certain practices, but presents them with the choice, an informed choice. If the Church really believes it has done its best to educate their followers, why are they so afraid of something such as this? Why do they insist on preventing the people from learning the other possibilities outside its teachings? That is why I have come to believe that the Church is a selfish institution.

 I feel that the Church's debate on the RH Bill is no longer about the people, but about the Church's own selfish intent. Ever since Spanish rule, the Church has seized power over the people. Now, the only difference is that instead of Spaniards controlling the Church, it is our fellow Filipinos who have taken the seat for Church tyranny. The recent events prove that Church leaders here are no different than corrupt government officials. Even worse, they do not have any sense of accountability; they do not have to answer to anyone but "god". What's twisted about all of this is that they justify everything as the will of a "higher power" and a lot of people are easily convinced that this is the answer to everything. And that my friend, is what's truly scary: an army of indoctrinated and brainwashed individuals easily amassed by a few people acting in the name of God.

Why should we listen to people we did not elect? God didn't choose those people to become priests or Church leaders; they themselves did. They shouldn't have any power over us, and yet, most of us allow them to. If we let the Church continue to dictate how the state should act, what stops them from imposing laws that would benefit only them? This country does not only belong to them, but to everyone.

I am not a Christian anymore, and that makes me part of the minority. And I fear that if the Church continues its actions and the RH Bill does get canned, there is no hope left for this country. So my friends, I ask you this. Will liberty die with thunderous applause?

\

 Notice the similarity of Darth Sidious and the Pope.

I just had to put this. 

Because Everything Shitty Promotes Satan

The other night I was just minding my own business, catching up on some reading I have for college when I heard my little sister sobbing as she went upstairs at our home. Naturally, as a brother, I asked her what was she crying about. (Actually, I asked her because I wanted to gossip and I was bored, but being a brother sounds nicer) Anyway, she told me all about the religious nuts in their high school.

But before I proceed with the story, (and maybe a life lesson if that's your thing), let me give you a background on my sister. If I were to describe her, I would say her heart's bigger than her brain. I don't mean to undermine her intelligence, but I do believe that even though she's 17, she still has that kind appearance any innocent and decent child would have. However, though having a kind demeanor, she's still grounded and down to earth, and perhaps more mature than any of the kids in her high school. She studies at a "prestigious" and "decent" Catholic Chinese all-girls school in San Juan, Greenhills. (I hope that gives you enough information).

Anyway, back to topic. In that oh so respectable school lies the monsters (religious fundamentalists/nut jobs whose families have the money and influence to. . . more on that later) of tomorrow. You see, there's this mandatory retreat students in this high school go to. I'm not gonna name the retreat in the name of privacy. (It would give more information about the school. Which might get me sued or something. Getting sued sucks ass). One of the prerequisites or traditions of this retreat is have some student who has gone through the retreat, be a sponsor to another: pay for some of the snacks given to the sponsored, and the most important task, distribute palancas (a sort of feel-good letter whose purpose is to make you love God and your family more, be thankful and shit to everything. It's given to people who wants to say something to the sponsored) to a minimum of, I kid you not, 300 people.

Since my sister's class was the last to go through the retreat in the previous school year, they were offered to sponsor the next batch. Being a good person, and not to mention she wanted to try it just once, she volunteered. And in a span of two weeks, my sister was tasked to produce the said palancas.

Now, here's the god awful part. On the day they had to submit everything needed, her best friend approached her. She asked my sister bluntly, "Why were you disrespectful to the retreat?" (Those aren't the exact words but you get my point). Confused, my sister asked what she meant. It turns out, the students who were organizing the retreat weren't happy at the fact that my sister hand-wrote the template for her sponsoree's palanca. She went on to tell my sister that her whole batch hates her for her sloppy work; they wanted it printed. And for that great act of disrespect to everything the retreat stood for (love, Jesus, family, friends, having a shit-load of nice palancas, buying an iPad) my sister has ruined her sponsoree's chance for happiness. They now believe that the sponsoree will turn to the dark side and make love to Satan all because my sister didn't print the palancas.

I feel you bro.

Oh my god, I'm so disappointed at my sister. Having no printer just because we can't afford one is not an excuse to not have the palancas printed. She could have had someone else print it right? Having someone else be burdened to print the 300 palancas while they're also doing their shit is no excuse and not fucking embarrassing. But hey, what about those printing shops? She must have had the time. After all, we live so far away from her school it literally drains her just to get home and she gets home so early, like on average, 7pm at night. As for the weekends, it's no excuse to not have it printed since there's no printing shops nearby and no one to take her anywhere. It does not make sense why she had to write it by hand. After all, writing at least 300 letters by hand is easy and meaningless; it was disrespectful because she barely had to work for it even though she barely had the resources unlike the others who were able to print their palancas and whose only problems were waiting for the next iPhone.

Now, I know my sister may have made something shitty, but doesn't hard work still count? I mean, I feel it's more meaningful to have toiled over something than go over it the easy way. The way these kids singled out my sister over something so small bugs the crap out of me. There are kids who could be so shallow when it comes to these things, but then again, it's high school. (Fuck that, it's just a piece of paper that was written with a pen, albeit shitty. Jeez.)

It's actually disappointing to see that this highly regarded retreat is nothing more than a joke. If I'm not mistaken, the ideals of this retreat was to acquire a new sense of love and understanding for Jesus, family and friends. But if these kids who went through the retreat base their lessons on receiving a nice set of these so called palancas, then the retreat is a fucking failure. (That's a bold statement I know and I maybe generalizing here, but my numerous experiences with the students at this school further validate my point).

The essence of this tradition has been reduced into nothing more than who gets the best and most number of palancas. The more you have, the more popular you are. The better you have, the more wonderful your experience is. Because everything in the retreat revolves on that piece of paper, and if it's shit, well you won't learn anything.

Didn't Jesus advocate detachment from material possessions? Wasn't he who said that "let he without sin, cast the first stone"? Well, in my sister's case, let she with the nice palanca smite the shitty ones. I hope these kids choke on something. (I'm still bitter about not having a printer).

Mind you, these kids, aren't your average rich kids. These kids come from rich and influential families across the Philippines. They come from families who own big businesses and chances have it, these kids are politically affiliated. These brats, who belittled and cast my sister aside, will probably be the leaders of tomorrow. Won't you feel accepted? So the moral of the story goes like this: print your letters or you worship the devil.

Did I mention to buy an iPad as well?