Cat and Marie

Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by Pepe in Oplan Pepe

I began to write on my views of the Catholic Church and my own experiences with religion, when it hit me that I had in my possession a story much more powerful. That of a lady named Marie, a spunky woman I am proud to call my maternal grandmother.

Marie was an undeniable charmer — a looker with great legs, almond eyes, and for many years, an 18-inch-waist. She was well known for her high cheekbones, smoky voice and her ability to say and act what she felt, whether you liked it or not. A trait, many say, she inherited from her equally strong-willed father. Being an only child, Marie was the sparkle of her dad’s world and as much as he tried to instill his views on her, even from a young age his bright progeny spoke her own mind and knew exactly what she stood for.

Her disappointment in the Catholic Church stemmed from an incident done to her beloved father while she was just a child. Growing up in Baguio in the 1950’s, her parents were living in a mining camp while she was an “interna” at various Catholic schools. Due to her frail health and upon the family doctor’s recommendation, my great-grandfather enrolled her in the Episcopalian school Brent, because it had better food and medical care.

My great-grandfather was a practicing Catholic, so his decision to put his only child in the American missionary run school was one of necessity rather than desire. Sadly, the Belgian Bishop of Baguio didn’t feel the same way and announced in front of the whole congregation during a Sunday mass at the Baguio Cathedral that my proud and religious Lolo and his wife were to be denied the Sacraments for placing their child in an institution that would soil her mind with false doctrines.

For many years, my great grandfather, hurt and proud, shunned the Catholic faith. He only began going to Mass again, albeit grudgingly, when he had to “set an example” for his grandchildren.

Some time before Marie got married, the same bishop attempted to warmly hug her in front of her extremely religious soon-to-be mother in law and fiancé. Remembering the pain this robed man caused her father, she pushed him and his rosary far away from her chest, gave him an icy look, and to the shock of her soon-to-be in-laws, walked the other way.

One thing Marie firmly believed throughout her life was the right for women to lead their lives anyway they pleased. A phrase I often heard her say to the girls in our family while growing up was, “Don’t ever be a doormat.” She believed women had just as much entitlement as men to feel empowered, to make decisions that would lead them to reach their own dreams and live their personal passions. Being a prodigious reader, I clearly remember her insisting when I was 13 that I read the Jean M. Auel classic, The Clan of the Cave Bear, because she felt the book’s heroine, Ayla, was a far better example of a woman who we could proudly call the mother of the human race. Unlike, in her own half-joking words, “that ninny Eve.”

Throughout most of her life, Marie was a strong advocate of contraception as a choice and viewed it as a way for women to lead lives away from the trapdoor of deprivation in a third world country. While doing charity work with the women of Davao for over almost 20 years, she and her mother were actively involved in a foundation that offered birth control pills, ligations, or vasectomies to any family with three or more children. The local church tried its hardest to fight her private cause. They pleaded, argued, and gave her their cold shoulder. But there was nothing they could say or do that would make her change her mind. She felt that all women deserved this alternative and there was no way in hell the church was going to rob them of it. Through the years, countless women thanked my grandmother for her help. Because of her refusal to bend to the church’s rules, their families were happy, their children well fed and educated, and their lives thriving and nourished.

I will never forget a conversation I had with her at the age of 17 over an afternoon merienda. I had come straight from school to see her while she was visiting from Cebu. As the humid Makati air danced around us, we caught up with each other’s recent lives. “So your mom tells me you have a boyfriend now,” she said rather matter-of-factly. “Yes, I do.” I replied while piercing my cubed pieces of sweet Cebu mango with a fork. She nodded, took a puff from her slim cigarette, exhaled, and said in the same no-nonsense voice, “Are you on the pill?” This was in a nutshell my grandmother, practical and no bullshit. Growing up, I always knew the women of my family were far from the naïve matrons of bygone years who thought that their little fragile flowers would remain virgins till their wedding day. My cousins and I were taught early on to be healthy, responsible, and be with partners who valued and loved us. And because of this upbringing, we have never felt guilt or shame from love. A message I have every intention of passing on to my own children.

Marie left us on April of 2008. Though her spirit wanted to keep fighting, a destructive cancer finally weakened her body till we all accepted it was time to say goodbye. I know beyond a doubt that if she were still with us she would be fully behind the passing of the RH Bill. She may not have been a practicing Catholic, but she certainly had her own version of faith, an ideology stronger than that of a religious institution designed by men. Belief in a God who doesn’t want to see women trapped in a life of hardship and poverty, a life where hearts are chronically plagued with pain and worry as to how to provide for their families.

The Philippine Catholic Church keeps claiming that the RH Bill is a destructive force in the celebration of life. To this I ask, how? Through the Bill, women will be able to follow their dreams, couples can raise families when they can afford to have them, and children will have a better chance to grow up with food on their tables and books to read from school. Isn’t living a quality life the best way to celebrate it? A life where there is enough for everyone, thus becoming a bigger number than the sum of its parts so that it churns love like butter till it’s uncontainable and spread onto the community surrounding it. That is one of the bigger lessons Marie taught me and one that I wanted to share with all you. That a life worth living is one where you can design your path, believe and speak what you know in your heart to be true, not what a religious sect says to be fact, and live your days on earth with quality and fulfillment. If we can all learn a little from her on this, then I think she would be pleased.

How the CBCP turned our Congressmen into Cowards

Posted on 09. Nov, 2009 by Filipino Freethinker in Oplan Pepe

“The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”

- Article 2, section 6 of the Philippine Constitution

“There must be no separation between God and Man. Without these conditions, the (RH) Bill if enacted into law will separate our nation from Almighty God.”

- CBCP President Angel Lagdameo

Almost two years ago, Speaker Prospero Nograles proposed a study that could prevent the CBCP from making cowards of our Congressmen.

The study could reveal that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has no right to scare politicians with threats to campaign against them, and that the religious organization will lose tax-exempt status if it continues to do so.

As the elections draw near, the results of the study become more relevant. Sadly, it’s because of the timing that the study remains a proposal. As an online reporter for CBCP said, “Politicians tend to be wary of going against Church teachings for fear of losing votes.”

So as long as our politicians are afraid of some priests, the study will not happen. The CBCP will continue to meddle in politics, and our politicians will continue to let them. For instance, three groups will decide the fate of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill: Pro-RH politicians, anti-RH politicians, and anti-RH priests.

By now it should be clear that the CBCP is a critical part of this political debate. They have campaigned against pro-RH politicians, asked them to resign, and even tried to do their job for them, pushing for their own version of the bill. They are doing everything in their power to order politicians to their side and threaten those who don’t obey.

And it’s working. Our politicians are scared. Even our Secretary of Defense is “very afraid.” Before the RH debates resume, pro-RH politicians will try to get the blessings of some bishops. I believe the Church’s favor is a major factor most politicians consider before even hinting that they support the RH bill.

On the other hand, the CBCP is not afraid of our politicians. They wield the Catholic bloc vote (which is a myth, by the way) that got them enough political clout to be invited to a Senate hearing. And when they weren’t pleased with what they heard, they walked out, in disrespect to the privilege they’d been given.

Such political meddling is what motivated Speaker Nograles to propose the removal of their tax exempt status. But the CBCP simply shrugged off the threat. A CBCP spokesman further said that removing their tax-exempt status would require a change in the Constitution. I presume it is out of fear that Nograles later clarified that he was not proposing to remove it, only to study what the Constitution really says about the issue.

So what’s actually written in the Constitution? First, let’s look at how the CBCP understands it.

Should religious leaders choose candidates for their flock? According to Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, “that should be left to the wisdom and conscience of the mature Christian voter.” That answer might have contributed to his losing the CBCP presidency. Because where the CBCP is concerned, it’s the wrong answer.

In 1998, the CBCP released Catechism on the Church and Politics. Here are some excerpts:

What does “separation of Church and State” mean?

Separation of Church and State is strictly defined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution to refer to two points: (1) that no religion may be established as the official religion of the State; and (2) that the State may not favor one religion over others. At the same time, the State shall forever allow the free exercise and enjoyment of religion and shall not require any religious test for the exercise of civil or political rights…

To be noted is the fact that nowhere does the Constitution prohibit Clergy and Religious from partisan politics. What prohibits them from active involvement in partisan politics is the Church’s own laws and traditional wisdom.

Is there any case when the Bishops can authoritatively order the lay faithful to vote for one particular and concrete option?

Yes, there is, and the case would certainly be extraordinary. This happens when a political option is clearly the only one demanded by the Gospel… In this case the Church may authoritatively demand the faithful, even under pain of sin, to vote against this particular candidate…

- Catechism on the Church and Politics Part 2

This tells us two things about how the CBCP understands secularism. First, that they can be involved in partisan politics. Second, that they should be involved and order their flock to vote for or against candidates in cases where it is “demanded by the Gospel.”

One such case is the RH Bill, as emphasized by CBCP President Angel Lagdameo:

Even as we recognize the right of the government to enact laws, we also reiterate that there must be no separation between God and Man. Without these conditions, the (Reproductive Health) Bill if enacted into law will separate our nation from Almighty God.

Now it becomes clear why the CBCP has been so active in politics, especially in opposing the RH Bill. They believe it is their divine obligation and constitutional right.

But in their understanding of the separation of church and state, they don’t see the full picture. What does our Constitution actually say?

“The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”

- Article 2, section 6 of the Philippine Constitution

“No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.”

- Article 3, section 5 of the Philippine Constitution

“No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied, paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system of religion, or of any priest, preacher, minister, other religious teacher, or dignitary as such…”

- Article 6, section 29 of the Philippine Constitution

I think they read only this much, but even here they only see half the picture. Secularism means more than the state not interfering with church. It works both ways. The church must not interfere with the state. Religious organizations must not be involved in partisan politics. They totally missed this point even when our Constitution makes it absolutely clear:

“One-half of the seats allocated to the party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from … sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.”

- Art. 6, section 5(2) of the Philippine Constitution

“Religious denominations and sects shall not be registered (as a political party, organization or coalition, by the Comelec)”

- Art. 9, C, section 2(5) of the Philippine Constitution

The last item makes it clear that religious organizations cannot register as political organizations. This is because religious organizations, unlike political ones, receive tax privileges:

“Charitable institutions, churches and personages or convents appurtenant thereto, mosques, non-profit cemeteries, and all lands, buildings, and improvements, actually, directly, and exclusively used for religious, charitable, or educational purposes shall be exempt from taxation.”

- Art. 6, section 28(3) of the Philippine Constitution

This is repeated in the Corporation Code…

Non-stock corporations may be formed or organized for charitable, religious, educational, professional, cultural, fraternal, literary, scientific, social, civic service, or similar purposes, like trade, industry, agricultural and like chambers, or any combination thereof…

- Batas Pambansa Blg. 68 Title 11 Section 88

Any corporation sole may purchase and hold real estate and personal property for its church, charitable, benevolent or educational purposes, and may receive bequests or gifts for such purposes.

- Batas Pambansa Blg. 68 Title 11 Section 113

…and in the National Internal Revenue Code:

The following organizations shall not be taxed under this Title in respect to income received by them as such:

(E) Nonstock corporation or association organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, athletic, or cultural purposes, or for the rehabilitation of veterans, no part of its net income or asset shall belong to or inures to the benefit of any member, organizer, officer or any specific person;

- Republic Act 8424 Chapter 4, Section 30 E

Note that these 3 documents emphasize that religious organizations, who receive tax-exempt status, should be “organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, athletic, or cultural purposes, or for the rehabilitation of veterans.”

Partisan politics is not an authorized purpose. So once a religious group starts politicking, it no longer qualifies for tax exemption, and should be stripped of its tax privileges.

The CBCP’s involvement in politics should put their tax exempt status into question. Which is what Speaker Nograles did in February 2008:

Speaker Nograles said that in the US, tax exempt privileges being accorded to religious organizations, charitable institutions and non-profit organizations has some preconditions under its Internal Revenue Code (Section 501) and among which is the prohibition for any organization or institution which availed of tax privileges from “conducting lobbying activities and in participating and intervening, directly or indirectly, in political campaigns.”

Let me remind you that our Constitution, Corporation Code, and Tax Code do have the same preconditions. But in our case, what’s mentioned is what a religious organization can do. It only says what cannot be done implicitly (by its not being mentioned).

But the US, whose constitution and secularism are the basis of our own, explicitly states what a religious organization cannot do:

All IRC section 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches and religious organizations, are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office…

Religious leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official church functions.

Religious leaders who speak or write in their individual capacity are encouraged to clearly indicate that their comments are personal and not intended to represent the views of the organization.

- IRS Tax Guide For Churches And Religious Organizations

They also elaborate on how churches can avoid politicking when it invites candidates to speak, holds public forums, and releases voter guides. But in every case, they make it very clear that the mere indication that a church supports or opposes a certain candidate is grounds for removal of tax privileges.

Now let’s review:

Does the CBCP support or oppose certain candidates? Do their religious leaders ”clearly indicate that their comments are personal and not intended to represent the views of the organization”?

“If you know of a congressman or senator who voted in favor of the Reproductive Health Bill, my request is not to vote for them in the next elections.” .
- Bishop Arturo Bastes over Radio Veritas

(Cardinal Vidal) is now considering whether Aquino should be included in the Church’s list of politicians who should not be voted.

- Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal

Castro also said the Church’s family and life ministry with its affiliate groups nationwide might resort to bloc voting in the 2010 elections to ensure the defeat of “anti-life” politicians.

- Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life

As you can see, CBCP’s politicking has gone beyond mere indication into blatant intervention. These are only three of the many similar cases you can find on their website alone.

What about the thousands of violations that go unchecked when priests give sermons about who Catholics should vote? The pulpits and church buildings, like the website and Radyo Veritas, are tax-exempt properties that should not be used for political, taxable purposes.

The CBCP has to decide what to use their resources for. Either they use it exclusively for religious purposes, or occasionally for political intervention. They can’t have it both ways.

In any case, our lawmakers must require CBCP to stop politicking or lose their tax-exempt status. What’s taking them so long to do this? Maybe they’re not sure whether there are violations in the first place. Or perhaps they just don’t understand what separation of church and state really means. If they did, speaker Nograles wouldn’t think that the issue needed to be studied.

In that case, why don’t they do the study already? I imagine it won’t take much effort. I got all this from a few hours of research online. With their experts, research teams, and related cases in other secular countries around the world (even the cases in the US are more than enough), they have all the resources they need.

More importantly, it’s their responsibility. If there’s the slightest chance that our Constitution is being violated, then our politicians should not put off the study any longer.

Unless, of course, our Congressmen are paralyzed by fear. I’m afraid no Church-fearing candidate would want to follow through and risk losing the Catholic vote. But our Congressmen must not forget. As public servants, it’s not the Church, not the bishops, not even the Catholics they should be afraid of. It’s the Filipino citizens — regardless of religion — that our representatives should respect.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by Rome Jorge in Oplan Pepe

“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Lord Acton famously said. This holds true for religious institutions, which in the Philippines hold too much political clout and are much too profitable for their own good.

• Require financial transparency and mandatory public auditing on all religious institutions.
• Create and support affordable secular alternatives in quality education.
• Outlaw both religious and scholastic discrimination in employment. Meritocracy demands that we be judged for our work and not for the religion we profess or the school our parents could afford.
• All educational institutions—private or public—must be prevented from discriminating against children of single mothers and others with non-conventional lifestyles.
• Anti-sexual discrimination laws must be implemented in all institutions without exception—including religious organizations. Women must be allowed to rise to all ranks open to men.
• Members of policy-making and cultural bodies such as the MTRCB must be qualified by their artistic and academic credentials. Being a religious leader does not make a person more morally upright than anyone else.
• Any institution that is not democratically and financially accountable to the people should not have a say in a free and democratic society.

Christmas and Contraception

Posted on 27. Oct, 2009 by Rome Jorge in Oplan Pepe

As we celebrate the birth of a Man immaculately conceived this Christmastime, know what conception truly is.

American and British laws define the beginning pregnancy and the conception of human life not at fertilization—when sperm and egg fuse to form an embryo—but at implantation—when an embryo adheres to the wall of the mother’s uterus. Implantation occurs about a week after fertilization.
Doctors, bioethicists and law experts define implantation as the beginning of human life for several reasons:

• The ability to create embryos in vitro (such as in test tube baby fertilized outside the womb) has proven that fertilization does not automatically result in pregnancy. Only after implantation does an embryo’s existence have an effect on the mother’s body. It is only upon implantation that a fetus receives oxygen and nutrients from the mother to grow into a human being. It is at this point when the fetus cannot survive except within the woman’s body. Any rights granted to it must come at the expense of the pregnant woman. Note that to be pregnant—which is to be implanted—means risking one’s life for nine months to bear a new one.
• Majority of fertilized eggs do not go on to become infants. With unprotected sex, many embryos are formed yet never undergo implantation. If fertilization were to be defined as the conception of life, then countless souls have been killed without knowledge or intent.
• After fertilization and implantation, an embryo can segment to become identical twins—separate and distinct individuals who, despite their similarities, develop their own personalities, experiences and decisions and possess their own unique DNA, fingerprints, etc. If segmentation defines the start of an individual with an indivisible soul, then an embryo prior to the stage of possible segmentation cannot be defined as an individual.

However, religious conservatives continue to believe that “ensoulment”—the creation of a soul within a human being after which its destruction would be tantamount to mortal sin—begins at fertilization. Because of this, they argue, certain contraceptives such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and “morning-after pills” that prevent conception even a few days after unprotected sex are abortifacients—substances that induce abortions.

IUDs and morning-after pills work by preventing both fertilization and implantation. Preventing implantation is abortion, so argues religious conservatives.
However, doctors, scientists and legal experts in many countries define the beginning pregnancy and the conception of human life at implantation, hence the classification of IUDs and morning-after pills as contraceptives and not abortifacients under British and American laws.

Tellingly, religious conservatives opposed to the Reproductive Health Act pending in Congress not only oppose IUDs and morning-after pills but also contraceptives that only prevent fertilization and not implantation. They oppose condoms—the only contraceptive device that protects sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS as well as accidental pregnancies. They also are against sex education and knowledge empowerment of young adults. Their definition of conception is but one of many arguments against reproductive health, responsible parenthood and gender empowerment.
This Christmas Season, know more about conception and know more about your reproductive health rights.

To know more about reproductive health, visit http://reproductivehealth.com.ph.

Hector

Posted on 25. Oct, 2009 by Pepe in Oplan Pepe

My wife and I are using contraceptives and it is a mutual decision not to have children. For now.

Does the use of contraceptives condemn us to the fires of hell? I don’t know.

Does this make us immoral? NO.

Does this make us un-Catholic? Yes, if a word like that exists.

On not having kids, it’s easy for people to judge and make conclusions. I would always get reactions like “It’s just a phase.” to “Wait until you get your own kid.” and I would just nod, smile, and be polite in telling them that we’re still enjoying our time together.

On the use of contraceptives, the truth is:
1. It’s because we enjoy and value our own sense of freedom. I see pictures in Facebook of friends with their kids. I salute them. Parents have an honorable and difficult task in raising their children to become productive citizens. It’s a sacred thing BUT there are those people who equate having kids and raising them well as THE ultimate goal in life. My wife and I don’t share that view.

I believe that all of us have a different calling. Being a parent is just one of them. There are more.

2. We have practical reasons. Times are harder and I don’t see myself as a parent but more of an uncle. I love my nephew and niece. They are my “children” and I am one with my brother and sister-in-law in making sure that they would do something good for humanity. I can play with them but when they start throwing tantrums, I can easily get their parents to take over. Anytime, I can say NO to them without feeling a tinge of guilt.

But I made a promise that I will be their drinking buddy when they reach 12.

3. We’re 90 million and counting. I leave the others to excel in populating my Philippines. Not adding more Pinoys on my part is by choice. If I do have kids, I want them to go to the best schools, receive basic services from a government that serves THEIR interest, and I want them to know and love their country.

Subalit sa kalagayan ng ating bansa ngayon, hindi ko nakikita ang mga magiging anak o mga kaapo-apuhan ko na mabuhay sa ganitong sitwasyon.

Hindi pa handa ang Pilipinas na kumalinga sa mga Pinoy o Pinay na magmumula sa aming mag-asawa. Napakarami na natin.

PERO ayoko ring magsalita ng tapos sapagkat tao lang ako. Kung sakaling maisipan namin na magkaroon ng pamilya at medyo delikado na para sa asawa ko baka mag-ampon na lang kami. There are a lot of unwanted babies and if we can help in raising one well, it is our contribution to society and to our country.

Now to answer the questions:
1. How do you feel now about your religion? Compare this to how you felt about it as you were growing up and vs. what you were taught.

I don’t go to church anymore and I don’t know if there is a heaven or hell but I do believe in karma. I believe in a God that wants us to do good for humanity. I believe in this moving force that drives people to achieve what they want out of life. I don’t believe in a vengeful or jealous God who’s out to punish us or make us feel guilty for being human.

I now live under five rules: Be your own best friend. Live your passion. Do good to your kapwa. Don’t steal. Don’t kill.

Now that I don’t subscribe to the beliefs of the Catholic Church and no longer live under its rules, I have decided to stop hearing mass.

But there are things that I just can’t let go of. I consider myself a cultural Christian (if there is such a label then I’m happy to be one). I love Christmas, the gifts, long vacations especially during the Holy Week, old Filipino churches especially the Morong and Dauis churches, and I love singing “Lead me Lord” in videoke and listening to the chorale.

I don’t speak for everybody so I’m just guessing that some of us had a point in our lives when we wanted to lead holy lives by becoming priests or nuns. I was an altar boy when I was little. In my days in elementary and high school, I got high grades in Religion. There was also a time that I was a Bible Quiz champion having been raised in a Catholic middle-class family and watching Flying House and Superbook. At that age, I was also looking at a stack of porn that I accidentally unearthed but that’s another story.

I still pray but no longer to a God inside those magnificent structures but to a God that is everywhere; a God who is not trapped in dogma and used by selfish men to get rich or elected or both.

2. What brought about your new view of the church or its priests? Did you feel any guilt over your decision?

I’m more particular on the Church or any religious group’s involvement in Philippine politics and Rizal’s views on the friars as the roadblock to progress. I’m troubled over the fact that the Iglesia ni Cristo is using block voting and condemning people who want to think for themselves. I’m also troubled by Brother Mike Velarde and his (untaxed) millions of pesos and his millions of followers who have voting rights as well.

I’m also troubled by elected officials like former Mayor Lito Atienza (yes, MayniLA during his term) who have obstructed reproductive health programs in his city that could help the poor.

Oh, I’m also bothered that there are plenty of Caucasians in heaven while there are only two Filipinos there considering that we’re the largest Christian nation in Asia. There sure are racists in the Vatican

I don’t feel guilty about my views because priests are human and as human beings, there are some who enjoy wielding power and influence over people. It’s easy to enslave people with ideas than with physical force.

3. What do you think about the Church’s meddling in state issues such as the Reproductive Health Bill and the Magna Carta of Women?

The ironic thing about the Church is that they’re thinking that they’re helping or saving society by opposing and even muddling the RH Bill issue. They’re making sure that the only choice that WE have are the ones that THEY present. They claim to have the answers to almost everything.

The Church is for progress and happiness and you get all these in heaven. They say it with absolute CERTAINTY.

Women are on the receiving end of a bad deal when it comes to the Catholic Church. They cannot be ordained as priests and cannot decide on what is good for their body. Make no mistake, I am against abortion but I want women to have access to contraceptives. Those are two different things.

Women have to be subservient to men as written in the Scriptures and this is even enunciated in wedding vows.

My wife made it a point to take out that part in our wedding.

4. Anything else you might want to add about your insights on church, religion and the meddling modern day Padre Damasos in our midst?

One of the reasons that Rizal got shot was because of his progressive ideas and his attacks on the friars for confining his fellow Filipinos in superstition and ignorance. The two novels showed that friars can be damn wrong (He was vicious in the Noli) and these leaving these men of the cloth no longer untouchable.

Rizal believes in God and in man’s conscience in determining what is right and wrong and especially on education to free his people from suffering and ignorance.

Education is the key to be truly free. The Reproductive Health Bill is one of the ways to get to that point. We need to have choices available to us now and we need to make them without guilt or fear.

Oras na para gamitin ang utak dahil bigay ito ng Maykapal. Sobra na tayo sa puso katulad ng paboritong kong sports commentator na si Chino Trinidad tuwing nagco-cover ng laban ni Pacquiao

Maraming salamat sa pagbasa.

HECTOR
-30-

Ian Baltazar

Posted on 24. Oct, 2009 by Ian Figueroa Baltazar in Oplan Pepe

I was told I was “baptized” as an Aglipayan in my birthplace in Antique (my mother’s province), and was again “baptized” in a Roman Catholic ritual when my father moved us back to his hometown in La Union. My mother converted and became a devout Catholic and was an active officer in our local parish council. Though my father refuses to go to church, he never misses a Sunday weekly mass broadcasted on t.v. and often prays alone in private.

Long afflicted with polio since I was two years old, I never recovered the use of my two legs while my left arm was partly paralyzed. I went through school in a wheelchair with an aide to assist me.

It was during high school (I studied in a Catholic school) when I started asking questions about the flaws in the dogma of the Catholic Church. I was disgusted at how our religion class teacher had forced us to attend mass every Sunday and gave us demerits whenever we failed to. All students were required to make a personal weekly Sunday mass attendance card to be checked on Mondays by our religion class teacher and dreaded the moment when one was asked to stand and explain the reason why one failed to attend the mass. It was hellish and medieval – a rehash of the Inquisition. I found it absurd as one was miserably mocked and drowned with guilt from the theological chastising by the teacher. Later, I realized how this method of exacting blind obedience and faith could lead to losing one’s self-esteem and self-respect when some students eventually decided to lie about going to mass. They feared more the humiliation they would face from our Catholic Taliban teacher than from the punishment they would face in hell.

In the Catholic school where I attended, it has this tradition of herding students en masse to attend the sacrament of confession in the church where the parish priest would be waiting for every student inside the confessional booth. This ritual lasted the whole day depending on the quantity and severity of the “sins” the students confessed. It was really farcical since some students had to invent sins just to have something to confess of or else risked being castigated and bullied by the trigger-happy priest who loved to shoot his gun at the ceiling of his bedroom in the parish “convento” whenever he got drunk.

Among the doctrines of the Catholic Church I found ludicrous was its fanatical devotion to the “Virgin Mary” – Jesus’ mother. We were systematically indoctrinated on this dogma, taught to pray the rosary several times a day (novenas) and celebrated the whole month of October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. The Church spends and lavishes so much time, resource and attention on the “Virgin Mary” making Catholics unwittingly unaware that they’re already worshipping her at par with God! Also, on October of each year, we were asked by the parish priest and our school to donate, solicit and raise money for Catholic missionaries – they call this Mission Month. They issued and distributed specially printed and marked envelopes to every student and gave us quotas or amounts to raise for donation. Students who were able to raise and surpass their quotas were given special privileges like bonus grades, quiz exemptions and school breaks. It was turned into a mad competition where it went as far as sponsoring cookouts where every class of students contributed money for capital, took turns cooking and selling food or snacks within the school to raise “mission money.” Interestingly, even the capital was also later given away for donation. Some students skipped meals in school to save their allowance for their “mission contributions” thinking and believing it was their little way of sacrificing and offering something to God and the “Virgin Mary.” Of course, others do it for their self-serving obsession to win the competition. Others stole or lied from their parents to obtain money. The not-so-well-off students felt guilty they couldn’t give much and often marginalized by rich and zealous students who constantly showed off with their huge donations.

I have read the bible at an earlier age but was puzzled in our high school religion class or catechism when our teacher introduced us to the Old Testament then decided not to go far beyond Leviticus. She skipped chapters, cherry-picking verses while bombarding us a plethora of undecipherable Catholic doctrines. Later on, she gave more importance to the New Testament focusing on the gospels. My inquisitive mind wandered and started to ask questions secretly out of fear of being mocked and rejected by my classmates and teacher. Reading the bible left me disturbing thoughts. I was shocked to read a God so malevolent, sadistic, vengeful, misogynistic, genocidal and egomaniac. Honestly, for a time I used to justify my own vindictive and violent temperament arguing God had his own violent episodes too.

When I read Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in our Filipino Literature class, my rational mind was awakened. I started to doubt. Then I craved for more references and books on the history of the Church and other religions. I also sought the books Rizal and his fellow freethinkers read and wrote during their time. I was obsessed dissecting the Noli even read it several times to draw off every secular and anti-cleric ideas Rizal had written about. I read his other essays then managed to get my hands on the writings and ideas of Del Pilar, Lopez-Jaena, etc. I got interested with Voltaire, Diderot, d’Holbach, Hume, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, George Eliot and Robert Green Ingersoll… I became agnostic.

At the age of 17, I entered politics and convinced my parents to allow me to run for public office which they had very strong objections to due to my condition. In the end, I got my way and was first elected in the Sangguniang Kabataan or youth council. A few years later, I got elected for nine straight years as municipal councilor. During this time I never stopped seeking answers to my questions. I was angry and upset at the cycle of collusion between Catholic clerics and politicians in the forming of public policies on both local and top levels of our government. Secularism in our constitution is only a watermark that our government continues to ignore. The Filipino people are flanked on both sides by a pair of hungry wolves ready to tear them apart – on one side is the ever-arrogant, backward, sexually-repressive, hypocritical and profiteering Catholic Church while on the other is a government that formulates vague and deceptive policies to hide its plunderous, corrupt and inept condition.

In a country so steeped in religion and superstition, coming out in the open and declaring one’s self an atheist is not only suicidal but foolhardiness. Sometime ago, when I decided to finally discard the yoke of religion and took the path to atheism and secular humanism, it was sweet and victorious. I took it as an ultimate expression of freedom over ignorance and fear about our natural world and the universe as commonly espoused in the prejudices and superstitions of religion. It may sound utopian but I dream the day when all people become rational beings and understand and tolerate one another then someday there will be a world free from religion, bigotry, racism and conflict.

I enjoin all Filipino freethinkers to come out and renew the intellectual movement as we spread the light of reason among our people long groping in the dark. This is a challenge for us who live in a country and a world dominated by theists.

Frank III Manuel

Posted on 23. Oct, 2009 by Frank III Augustine Manuel in Oplan Pepe

I was raised a Catholic, and as a child, religion was all about loving my neighbors, singing songs, reciting the prayers and believing in Jesus, so while I was young it was all nice. Later on it became a set of rules I was supposed to abide by — don’t lie, don’t kill, don’t steal — and it made sense still, so it was okay. But then as I grew older it became about sin, about how I was born sinful and how certain sins meant that I was scheduled for an eternity in hell, and the only way out of it was to talk to a priest and eat some wafer. Loving my neighbors had taken a back seat to getting into heaven, but still I bought it anyway. For a while.

And then I attended one too many Masses with burning incense and fragrant oils and flashy ceremonies with billowing robes and funny hats and large jeweled crosses and TV cameras, with people convulsing in the aisles and women mumbling unintelligibly with their hands raised. It was at this point that I grew up, the church became ridiculous, the Bible became just another story book, and I decided religion was not for me.

The Catholic Church is like a hospital gone wrong. It tells everyone they’re sick, and that the only cure lies with someone from an old story book. You can be the healthiest person in the world and still they insist you’re ill and don’t know it, and they shove their medication down your throat every chance they get. Some of them actually believe they’re doing you good, trying to save you. Some of them just don’t want hell-bound sinners contaminating their flock.

Fact is, the Catholic Church thinks you’re stupid.

It thinks you don’t know what’s good for you, and that you need them to point you towards the way, the truth and the light. If you think you don’t need them you’re obviously lost, and if they’re not trying to save you, they make sure you know you’re going to burn in hell.

And now the Church is getting its grubby hands all over our politics.

As I see it, the RH Bill aims to inform citizens of scientifically proven (and legal) methods of family planning and women’s health care, and to make these available to anyone who asks for them. Personally I’ve never found anything wrong with information and accessibility, as they neither change my moral convictions nor force me to go against them, but I can understand why the Church would be opposed to educating their flock. Education, after all, leads to informed choice, informed choice leads to an exercise of free will, and free will, when it doesn’t coincide with the Church’s teachings, leads to the dark side. So the Church wants to keep you uneducated.

The Catholic Church thinks you’re stupid, and it wants you to stay that way.

Instead of preaching to its flock to choose according to what they consider moral and good, the Church would rather keep Filipinos ignorant to the family planning options already available. Instead of trusting that Catholics live consistently with the Church’s teachings on hormonal contraceptives, the Church would rather meddle with politics to keep them inaccessible. The Catholic Church does not trust its flock.

If you’re Catholic, the Church thinks you’re a hypocrite.

–

The Church’s opposition to the Magna Carta for Women is something I consider more troubling. Here is a law empowering women, protecting them from discrimination and bias, and the Church opposes it because it goes against the “natural calling of women.” I find it terribly disturbing that the Church would allow single mothers to be denied education and forced to stay home, under-educated and unemployed, all for the sake of gender roles. The misogyny is sickening.

The RH Bill and the Magna Carta for Women are all about Education and Freedom — education about reproductive health and freedom of women — and the Catholic Church opposes both. The comparison to Padre Damaso is strikingly appropriate: the Church is keeping Filipinos ignorant and women subjugated. It is 1886 all over again, and the Church is abusing its power over Filipinos. What do you do?

You speak out.

On Planet Church

Posted on 23. Oct, 2009 by Rome Jorge in Oplan Pepe

The Church is out of this world.

On Planet Church, land is limitless and natural resources are infinite, so population growth is never a problem. People there don’t create pollution and cost nothing to feed.
After all, more people mean more offerings and donations as well as more churchgoers and clergymen. A population growth rate that outpaces economic growth ensures more poor people. And it’s the poor that give the most.

There’s a reason why people in advanced, prosperous and democratic countries people hardly go to church. They know something we don’t. More Filipinos forced to work overseas because of local economic conditions also mean more churchgoers the world over.

On Planet Church, people only have sex when they need to procreate—like animals that only rut during mating season. Making love out of tenderness, passion or pleasure is unheard off. This most basic act, responsible for our existence, is still a source of shame and guilt. Abstinence and rhythm method are practical and foolproof. And on their planet, priests are truly celibate and no sacristans are molested.

In their world, consenting adults don’t mind supposedly celibate people meddling in their sex lives. And parents are okay with people who supposedly took a vow poverty charging exorbitant tuition fees for education.

Any other institution that forbids women from holding the same offices as men or discourages the children of single mothers from entering its schools would be charged with sexual discrimination. But on Planet Church, time stands still and the same norms that applied during Spanish Inquisition—when the Philippines was Christianized—still applies.

Any other institution with a massive network of properties and assets would be taxed properly, especially in these difficult times. And any other institution that collected money from its members weekly would be held accountable—literally—with public audits. But that’s too far out for these guys.

Cathy Quiogue

Posted on 22. Oct, 2009 by Cathy Quiogue in Oplan Pepe

Hello!

I know I am in the minority here but I feel the need to stand up for my faith, too. Hope you have room for dissenting views as well.

1. I have grown to love and appreciate the Catholic faith even more now that I am an adult. The more I learn about its history and its tenets, the more I treasure my faith.

2. Priests are only men, human beings, so they can make mistakes. I have been sickened by the scandal of the pedophile priests especially in the US but they are distinct from the faith itself. Jesus Christ is the eternal High Priest and Mediator between God and Man and will remain the model of the priest.

I do not and will never based my faith on the actions of the priests alone.

3. As I have said, the Church is not meddling in state affairs when it speaks out against the RH bill because this concerns a moral decision. It would be highly remiss of her to be silent when she should be helping her flock in forming good consciences to help them make good decisions.

Should the Church be silent when the government steals from the public? Just as she can’t be silent in the moral aspects of political life, she can’t also be silent in matters where conscience and morality matter.

4. History has kindly judged Cardinal Sin who needled and criticized the Marcos dictatorship constantly and he was instrumental in bringing us our freedom. Was he wrong to have “meddled” in our politics back then?

In fact, the media has criticized the CBCP for their silence on GMA’s corruption and has even gone as far as saying that the Church has lost her moral ascendancy because of her silence. So it seems a damn-if-you-do-and-damn-if-you-don’t proposition for the Church.

Many people are still looking to the Church for moral guidance, so it behooves her to do her duty by being faithful to her role and commission here on earth.

Thank you very much and I wish you all well.

Keats Ronquillo

Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by Powghee in Oplan Pepe

I was a Catholic, not a just a pews type of Catholic, I was an altar boy and memorized the mass.

Even at 1st grade I was confused at the logic of why I needed to go to confession for the forgiveness of sins. If it was to God that I sinned then it is from him I ask forgiveness.

And the whole “go to the mother” politics of Marian doctrine was really weird to me. Even as a Catholic I found the pantheon of saints superfluous as I believed in a personal God.

This is what brought me over to becoming a Protestant.

Sure there are egoists and megalomaniac personalities in our side of the fence but every member is encouraged to read our own bibles, study it ourselves and make it personal. Truth lay in a personal relationship and scholarly study of God’s word.

That decentralization made me a whole lot freer.

The Church (i.e. the Catholic Church) has been meddling too much in state affairs. They presume too much that the Philippines is Catholic, and as such would like to control the Philippines like, as so aptly pointed out by this site, we were still in the time of Padre Damaso.

There is no Biblical precept that supports their stand on contraception. The oft quoted story of Onan is presented in the wrong context. His punishment was not due to the withdrawal of his semen, but due to his selfishness not to fulfill his brotherly duty of continuing his brother’s family.

To further justify their stand they accuse all other forms of contraception to be abortifacient. Not even to discuss masturbation, if they believe that the spilling of semen is sinful then every adolescent whose experienced nocturnal emissions is guilty of genocide.

Which is more economical: a pack of condoms to prevent pregnancy or a supply of formula to feed that baby?

While, as they are religious leaders, they have every prerogative to spiritually blackmail, and brainwash their constituents, everyone else outside their religion IS NOT fair game. Turn every Catholic woman to Maria Clara for all I care, but non-Catholics should be exempt from this.

I live in a province which I say is more Catholic than Filipino — Bohol. Every 3pm and 6pm the 3 o’clock habit and the Angelus never fails to play in every radio station and every mall on this little island. Time stands still and all services stop when prayer begins and non-Catholics who ignore the call to prayer are seen with very dirty looks as if you are a spawn of Satan himself.

But in flag ceremonies no one cares to stop and respect the flag.

I am not Atheist or Agnostic but I wish for a secular state, if only one can be free to practice or not practice his religion.

There is a separation of Church and state to be respected and our nation is not a diocese. They should realize that.