EDITORIAL: "The irrelevant Church"

**ghosthunter** · May 16th, 2011 06:33 PM

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/s...011%2Fmay%2F13

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The irrelevant Church[/SIZE]

BY their arrogance, narrow-mindedness and vicious opposition to the reproductive health bill, Catholic bishops are quickly making the Church irrelevant to all thinking Filipinos, including those who count themselves as members of its flock.

Rather than address the social and economic problems brought about by unrestrained population growth, especially among the poor, the bishops and their lay supporters simply deny the fact that with more and more mouths to feed and limited resources, each Filipino must get by with less.

Against strong empirical evidence from United Nations studies, they continue to dispute any correlation between population growth and economic development.

Even their accusation that the bill encourages abortion cannot be supported by the facts. The bill, in fact, specifically forbids abortion.

In essence, the bill says couples must have a free choice in deciding which family planning methods to use. It also says children should receive age-appropriate *** education in school.

But the Church does not want us to have that choice, and opposes the scientific approach to *** that schools would take. For the last 12 years, the Church has fought bitterly to keep that choice from us, defeating the bill with political blackmail in every succeeding Congress.

In the Church’s view, ignorance is truly bliss.

Who needs facts when one can whip up religious hysteria built on Church dogma? Why discuss the issue intelligently, when it is much easier to use slogans that can be reduced into car stickers? Why look at the fine points when you can paint with a broad brush?

Where logic has failed them, the clerics have launched ad hominem attacks on all who would support the bill. The targets include not only the authors of the bill, who have been called evil and immoral, but also President Benigno Aquino III, whose support for the bill has so far been less than complete.

Yet, the mere act of seeking a middle ground in the debate has earned Mr. Aquino the ire of Church officials who have called him insincere and a bad Catholic.

On Wednesday, the vice chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said the Church would wage “total war” against the bill, one day after his group pulled out of the talks with the Palace, the second time it has done so.

Unfortunately for the bishops, nobody really paid them much attention. It was just so much more static.

One public opinion survey after another shows that Filipino Catholics —even the “good” ones—do not see eye-to-eye with the Church when it comes to *** and family planning.

The debate on the bill resumes in the House this week, but in this issue, there can be no meeting of the minds because one side refuses to use theirs. For our lawmakers, it’s time to end decades of backwardness and ignorance encouraged by the Church and pass the reproductive health bill.

**desert fox** · May 16th, 2011 06:36 PM

Wag na kasi makialam ang simbahan..isa yang mahalagang rason kaya di umaasenso ang bansa natin...

pakikialam ng simbahan...

yung Pari ng Quiapo church, ginamit pa si Pacman sa kampanya nila against RH bill.

**Tifosi** · May 17th, 2011 01:01 PM

Here we go again, wala na akong nakikitang pagkakaiba between the Catholic Church and Taliban, with their calls for 'all out war'/jihad.

Dun sa simbahan sa village namin, may mga tarps pa na nakalagay na 'No to RH Bill...obey God's will'; which makes me think what exactly is God's will? Will God come down from the heavens if the RH bill is passed? Where exactly in the bill does it say that it includes abortion?

I just hope for the sake of this country a middle ground can be reached.

**roninblade** · May 17th, 2011 02:17 PM

I just hope for the sake of this country a middle ground can be reached.

there is no middle ground with crazy, religious people.

**CoDer** · May 17th, 2011 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by Tifosi

Here we go again, wala na akong nakikitang pagkakaiba between the Catholic Church and Taliban, with their calls for 'all out war'/jihad.

Dun sa simbahan sa village namin, may mga tarps pa na nakalagay na 'No to RH Bill...obey God's will'; which makes me think what exactly is God's will? Will God come down from the heavens if the RH bill is passed? Where exactly in the bill does it say that it includes abortion?

I just hope for the sake of this country a middle ground can be reached.

Walang middle ground middle ground. Sunogin na lang yang mga simbahang yan.

Joke lang.

**desert fox** · May 17th, 2011 10:35 PM

Sana lang gawin batas ang pagpapataw ng kaukulang buwis sa simbahan at sa lahat ng mga mang-gagawa dito...

ang lalaki ng kinikita ng mga yan....mga eskwelahan nila, tingnan nyo, sobrang tataas ng matrikula.

mga serbisyong pangkatoliko like binyag,kasal etc...me bayad yan mga yan...pero nagbubuwis ba sila?
:samurai:

**myk384** · May 18th, 2011 11:09 AM

Diba may separation of the church and the state pero di nasusunod?? Ano ba ito...

**badsekktor** · May 18th, 2011 12:09 PM

mukhang "full force" na ang laban ng RCC against RH bill.... I do suggest sa mga miyembro ng RCC na pro RH to discontinue any monetary donation or support na binibigay ninyo sa simbahan.....