i can’t believe they’re threatening him with excommunication. the constitution provides the president a single term of six years, so that she will be able to get the job done without fear of offending any single group of constituency because she can’t be elected again anyway (and the framers of the constitution mistakenly thought that once a person becomes president, she will no longer seek elective office because you can’t go any higher). but the church has gotten around this by threatening to damn the current president’s soul. hello, welcome to the 17th century!!
“… the friars control all the fundamental forces of society in the Philippines. They control the educational system, for they own the University of Santo Tomás, and are the local inspectors of every primary school. They control the minds of the people because in a dominantly Catholic country, the parish rectors can utilize the pulpit and confessionals to publicly or secretly influence the people.” –M.H. del Pilar
Written more than a century ago by one of the Ilustrados. I say “Never Again”.
The American occupation/colonial period gave us public education and democracy, but they never completely got the point of “separation of Church and State” across. :T
President Aquino, if you feel like caving in, just remember the CBCP endorsed JC delos Reyes in the last election precisely for his anti-RH stand, and how many votes did he get? These are the same bishops who turned a blind eye to GMA’s corrupt government, who did not raise a howl over extra-judicial killings because, among other reasons, she cynically supported them on the RH issue. The people are with you on this issue. I would like to see them make good on their threat to excommunicate you. If they do, they’ll have to excommunicate millions of Filipinos as well.
But while I hate the Church’s ancient stance/ punishment, I fear the consequences of giving pills and other artificial forms of birth control to the people.
Consider these: Italy and most of Europe have an almost zero birth rate. Scandinavian and other European nations, Canada, New Zealand and Australia have less and less people to populate their vast countries that they’re resorting to importing foreign nationals (immigration). Abortion and other forms of killing babies are legal in these places, BTW.
Now, even Russia is in the red.
Only the Muslims around the world are producing more babies. Even in Quebec (province in Canada), the French-Canadians are being given bonus to have babies.
I attended a forum on divorce yesterday in UP. It was sponsored by Gabriala Women’s Party List and in the panel were Rep. Ilagan, Atty. Ursua and Prof. Sarah Raymundo of UP. Someone asked them what the biggest hurdle is, and the unanimous answers were our macho lawmakers and the church lobby. I stood up and suggested that we turn our backs to the Catholic church. Very cold reception. I mean, come on, they demonized and devalued our women, decided to be moral arbiters for family planning and various issues on rights to privacy, and their record on harboring pedophiles clearly disqualifies them from insisting that they be the paragon of virtues.
After that, a sociologist friend told me that Filipinos are afraid to leave the Catholic church primarily because they think they will be disqualified from attending fiestas and celebrating Christmas. I left the Church when I was 20. I still enjoy my fiesta ham and leche flan.
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September 30th, 2010 at 23:58
i can’t believe they’re threatening him with excommunication. the constitution provides the president a single term of six years, so that she will be able to get the job done without fear of offending any single group of constituency because she can’t be elected again anyway (and the framers of the constitution mistakenly thought that once a person becomes president, she will no longer seek elective office because you can’t go any higher). but the church has gotten around this by threatening to damn the current president’s soul. hello, welcome to the 17th century!!
October 1st, 2010 at 00:52
Damaso
October 1st, 2010 at 01:22
“… the friars control all the fundamental forces of society in the Philippines. They control the educational system, for they own the University of Santo Tomás, and are the local inspectors of every primary school. They control the minds of the people because in a dominantly Catholic country, the parish rectors can utilize the pulpit and confessionals to publicly or secretly influence the people.” –M.H. del Pilar
Written more than a century ago by one of the Ilustrados. I say “Never Again”.
BTW Bravo! Sr. Celdran!
October 1st, 2010 at 13:13
Geez, what happened to “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolate”?
Surprise doesn’t seem to work, so they’ve settled for just fear.
October 1st, 2010 at 14:51
The American occupation/colonial period gave us public education and democracy, but they never completely got the point of “separation of Church and State” across. :T
October 1st, 2010 at 15:39
President Aquino, if you feel like caving in, just remember the CBCP endorsed JC delos Reyes in the last election precisely for his anti-RH stand, and how many votes did he get? These are the same bishops who turned a blind eye to GMA’s corrupt government, who did not raise a howl over extra-judicial killings because, among other reasons, she cynically supported them on the RH issue. The people are with you on this issue. I would like to see them make good on their threat to excommunicate you. If they do, they’ll have to excommunicate millions of Filipinos as well.
October 1st, 2010 at 15:57
He should.
October 2nd, 2010 at 08:40
Excommunication? What a joke.
But while I hate the Church’s ancient stance/ punishment, I fear the consequences of giving pills and other artificial forms of birth control to the people.
Consider these: Italy and most of Europe have an almost zero birth rate. Scandinavian and other European nations, Canada, New Zealand and Australia have less and less people to populate their vast countries that they’re resorting to importing foreign nationals (immigration). Abortion and other forms of killing babies are legal in these places, BTW.
Now, even Russia is in the red.
Only the Muslims around the world are producing more babies. Even in Quebec (province in Canada), the French-Canadians are being given bonus to have babies.
October 2nd, 2010 at 09:55
I attended a forum on divorce yesterday in UP. It was sponsored by Gabriala Women’s Party List and in the panel were Rep. Ilagan, Atty. Ursua and Prof. Sarah Raymundo of UP. Someone asked them what the biggest hurdle is, and the unanimous answers were our macho lawmakers and the church lobby. I stood up and suggested that we turn our backs to the Catholic church. Very cold reception. I mean, come on, they demonized and devalued our women, decided to be moral arbiters for family planning and various issues on rights to privacy, and their record on harboring pedophiles clearly disqualifies them from insisting that they be the paragon of virtues.
After that, a sociologist friend told me that Filipinos are afraid to leave the Catholic church primarily because they think they will be disqualified from attending fiestas and celebrating Christmas. I left the Church when I was 20. I still enjoy my fiesta ham and leche flan.
October 2nd, 2010 at 22:36
PDI after getting the story wrong: “The word was lost in the transcription … bishop clearly said ‘it is NOT’ a proximate possibility.”