Philippine Atheists

Somebody told me this story about a mother who gave birth a hospital at MCU in Caloocan where her baby was delivered. The mother just had her 8th (or 9th) baby and that she just had tubal ligation as recommended to her by the doctor and to which the mother had gladly accepted the procedure. The mother didn’t really want that many babies but didn’t know what her options were until told by the doctor. (I say kudos to that doctor!) The mother was in her early 30s so we can say that at the pace she was delivering souls into this world, she could still deliver four or five more babies if not sterilized. The mother was ignorant about her choices. Also, tubal ligation is a safe procedure and is very effective.

The consolidated reproductive health and population bill (substitute bill to HB 4110 now filed in the current 14th congress) mandates some basic things to be in place, a structure, a program and an assured budget allocation towards promoting choice on reproductive health, for informing our women about their choices and providing the necessary and non-discriminatory access to these choices. This the government cannot do now because it’s not automatic and the Church leaders are opposing these programs each time the national government attempts to put something in place. Only if we have people like Juan Flavier running DOH can get things done even partially effectively and only while it lasts. The Church leaders don’t speak for the belief of its flock but they are the most influential with some bishops even threatening denial of communion (an absurd threat in this time and age except when made to a sagrado Katoliko types) to the lawmakers who support the bill. It’s a relief that we no longer live in the times of Rizal where the church and state is one and the same and where opposing the church/state can lead to a speedy mock trial and an execution.

The Catholic leaders just like many among us are ignorant about many things specially on issues on population. This ignorance is a product of our low-quality educational system which is in turn is a part of our low-quality-educated society. Unfortunately, again the Catholic Church plays a big part in this collective ignorance since there are many “high-quality” private schools run by religious institutions in the country that is short-changing our future by faithfully educating the people with religious BS but at the same time selectively teaching biological sciences to produce a population with collective ignorance of Charles Darwin’s contribution to the sciences. One cannot appreciate the real danger of the world with limited resources on the brink of collapse because the gradual manner that it is happening is hardly noticeable on a day to day basis. What’s worse is ignorance of the accelerating pace of this environmental collapse due to the damage caused by unsustainable population growth helped brought about by irrational policies. This reproductive health bill is one of the things that should help us stem the tide of population growth if enough mothers can be informed of their choices and be able to avail of these choices. Even with a steady population growth with sustainable development has environmental consequences in the form of rising demand on the limited resources the planet could offer.

One major objection by the moralist crusaders about the bill is that it will encourage promiscuity. Hello? They are really in the Dark Ages. They cannot stop what is already there. Many people are already having sex before and outside of marriage and with multiple partners. They no longer need encouragement. In fact, presumably many priests and bishops have presumably had sex at one time or anotheer so I don’t subscribe to the insinuation that they lack the experience on this matter. But if two consenting adults have sex and if all parties involved consented, what possible business do the priests and bishops have in it? Another objection is that the bill will legalize abortion. The latest bill is even more explicit in stating that it will not. Another objection is because of they say, “we don’t own our body”. That is of course a complete religious bullshit.

Catholics should be free to think and come to the conclusion by themselves. The church leaders are just as ignorant and fallible about many things and so don’t have the authority on truth. If history will be the basis, the Catholic hierarchy has even a very poor record on this regard, specially where science is concerned. (For example, the Catholic church has not yet fully acknowledged evolution as true.) The thinking that priests and bishops and popes and pastors know best is a sure ticket to being misled, hopefully without getting your money. This include the truth on reproductive health and population issues that should be debated freely and without coercion (e.g., no threat of any kind like from organized religion) based on empirical facts.

Finally, the non-Catholics should be able to avail of their medical choices without the Catholics refusing them.

They did it again. And I’m angry.

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Excerpt of an article in Inquirer:

“For an official of the Roman Catholic Church, the commission of a homosexual act is the real issue behind the rectal surgery in Cebu City that exploded into a scandal on YouTube.

Msgr. Achilles Dakay, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu, Wednesday said the doctors and nurses who had made fun of an anesthetized male patient in the operation room of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and uploaded a video of the surgery on YouTube should not be blamed solely for the scandal.

“We are asking everyone not to forget or to bypass the main issue: the wrong act of a guy with another man,” Dakay said in an interview over the Church-run Radio Veritas. “People are not talking about what happened before the operation—the homosexual act that was done very badly.”

(by Margaux Ortiz, Philippine Daily Inquirer. First posted 04:48:00 04/24/2008)

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First of all, let’s state the obvious: the Catholic Church is ignorant, backwards, arrogant, bigoted, delusional, and false.

The “commission of a homosexual act” is NOT the issue behind the scandal. For this dumb priest to even say that it is, means he’s just not paying attention. Senile much?

His assertion that the doctors and nurses who made fun of the operation, captured a video of the operation, and humiliated the patient on the internet, should not be blamed makes clear the bigotry and distorted values of the Catholic Church.

They are quite accepting of people who ridicule the different, tolerant of oppression as long as it is directed toward people with other values, and praising of those who do evil, immoral, and unconscionable acts as long as they wear God’s cross.

We must not believe the Church when they preach compassion for the sick for the simple reason that IT IS NOT TRUE. They don’t believe that, they may think they believe that but in their hearts they will condemn the next AIDS patient they see, maybe for homosexuality or for having sex at all.

If the Catholic Church believes what it believes and continues to spew their disgusting opinions in our society, then it is a lie when they say they value the dignity of peoples. What they value are their bigotry, hatred, and this scripture from the medieval period they use to back up their bigotry and hatred with.

By the way, these are the names of the people who are involved in the “canister scandal”, count the Monsignor as one of these despicable creatures.

Dr. Philips Leo Arias
Dr. Angelo Alinawagan
Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo
Nursing Attendant Rosemarie Villareal
Nurse Carmiña Sapio

and Msgr. Achilles Dakay

Posted by JJGarcia in Pinoy atheists.

Last Sunday evening, I chanced upon this lady selling religious merchandise just outside the Akabane Catholic Church in north Tokyo. I decided to hang out here after coming from work and for thirty minutes I watched her sell magic Catholic stuffs like rosaries, statuettes, and banners. She said that the rosaries were blessed at Baclaran Church and that they bring all kinds of luck - mas gaganda ang guhit ng palad mo - according to one of her sales pitch. The bracelet even had a proper method of removing from the wrist by slowly sliding it instead of stretching it. But I thought, maybe it’s because if you stretch it, it may snap due to poor quality in both material and craftsmanship as usually is the case. Listening to her gives an impression of how Pinoys combine elements of traditional native superstition and pseudo-science with the cult that is Catholicism. And judging from the attention and appreciation by the buyers, gives the impression that the masa is also so well into it. For example, she said the beads of the rosary have powers which is not much different from magic crystals while saying the statuettes improve the lines of your palm combines elements of palmistry with Catholic garbage. Believe it or not, they sell like cupcakes! That’s how gullible our church-going kababayans here are.

In an opinion titled Theological Clarity about the Catholic Church ‘clarifying’ the concept of Limbo, the Inquirer wrote:

The fact that Filipino Catholics have eagerly made the ITC document an agenda for absorbed conversation should indicate that they not only have potential for theological sophistication, but also have the commitment and devotion to active Christian humanism.

Now ‘potential for theological sophistication’ is a funny phrase. The devoted Pinoy Catholics don’t just have potential for theological sophistication, they are achievers. Trailblazers even. But seriously, why can’t the Catholic Church just admit it and call the concept of limbo what it really is - bullshit?

The Commission on Elections or COMELEC is reportedly banning campaigning on Christendom’s Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. I think the separation of church and state principle ought to be tested in the legal system if we are to understand its intent, to let the courts interpret it for everyone alike - Christian or not. With the current state of affairs, I’d be surprised if the framers of the constitution understood it as well or they were merely suggesting these things they have written in the constitution of the republic. Only few of them have expressed opinion on the matter though an opinion is still much better than no opinion at all. About the election rule in question, the COMELEC official said the ban is “religion-blind.” Who does he think he is fooling? It has Christianity written all over it in big bold red letters! It is very much religion aware and religion-advancing short of establishing Christianity as official religion of the state. Quoting the article, “he said Muslim candidates and all areas where Islam was the only or dominant religion were also covered by the prohibition” which of course implies that there are only two religions in the Philippines. While Thursday and Friday are already official public holidays of religious nature, the government getting out of its way to ban activities of public nature so as not to “offend” the sensibilities of the majority Catholic populace during the holdiays already made for them is, IMO, too much. The least it could do is observe the days as if they are regular days. The government, or the COMELEC in this matter, should be there to promote the public good and not to promote the Catholic public good. Otherwise, let’s just call the COMELEC, CACOMELEC or Catholic Commission on Elections so everybody understands.

The Pope quoted Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II Paleologos, back in the 14th century as saying “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find thing only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” The place that this statement was made was amazingly insensitive because this place in Germany is where there are thousands of Moslem “Guest Workers” who have been subject to ill treatment by local Fascist thugs. The Pope therefore will have fueled this racism.

Was this uttered as a slip of the tongue? Hardly in fact the Pope has form on this because just a few months before he was elected, he spoke out against Muslim Turkey joining the E.U. because he argued “Christian Europe must be defended.” The Popes credentials as anti Islam must now be well established within the Moslems world irrespective of any apologies he may make.

If the Pope really wanted dialogue with Islam leaders as he professes, he could have balanced his remarks with mention of one of his predecessors, Urban II who first summoned a Christian Jihad against Islam. He could have also drawn attention to the born-again Christians who have been at the forefront of support for the invasion of Iraq, the invasion and occupation of Palestinian land by Israel, the threat of the use of nuclear weapons against Iran and the whole “Reorganization” of the Middle East in which many thousand of Muslims have lost their lives.

If the Pope had bothered to read the bible, which it seems the Roman Catholic Church rarely recommends, he would be cognizant of the passage written there to the effect; “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

As far as my opinion goes I quote Shakespeare’s “A Plague on both Their Houses” but the hypocrisy and double standards shown in the Pope’s words make me want to vomit!

Doug Adam
Philippines

IDEOLOGIES are not bad in themselves. They are often heroic and ambitious attempts to make a kind of worldview of things, even explaining them “scientifically” and extensively. In a way, they are an unavoidable stage in man’s effort to develop.

Going beyond the merely philosophical and theoretical, ideologies enter into the practical world of action, with programs, strategies and a network of agencies to carry out their ends. They convert doctrine into action.

As such, they can be useful. They can serve legitimate purposes. They can do a lot of good. Today, you cannot be unaware of them, as they are a BIG part of our lives, influencing us in most ways. We need to be wary. Continue Reading »

As if to insult the intelligence of all Pinoys, some Catholic bishops, Catholic groups and individuals are campaigning that the movie The Vinci Code be banned from being shown in the Philippines. The Tom Hanks’ starrer, based on a widely popular book, a work of fiction, by Dan Brown is due to be shown in local theaters starting May 18th. If we are to listen to its adversaries for the reasons why, we are given some pretty amusing reasons, some bordering on idiocy and ignorance. For example, Secretary Ermita who is yet to read the book (I haven’t read the book myself) said the story-line is blasphemous. Yes, a word still in vogue in our country in this time and age when it should have been obsoleted by the spirit of The Enlightenment. But if we are to take INQ7.net’s news story as gospel truth, Secretary Ermita used to be a member of the board of censors during the martial law era, so it is to be understood. According to the Malaya newspaper report on the same item, Secretary Ermita who know so well that DVC is a work of fiction, also said

“the film aims to confuse believers and plant seeds of doubt among those whose faith has no deep mooring.”

This is patently false since the film’s aim is simply financial profit, not to sow confusion among the believers. If Secretary Ermita should ban groups that sow confusion among those whose Catholic faith has no deep mooring, he should start banning the TV and radio programs of ADD and INC. Never mind that part of this Catholic faith is believing that a small piece of tasteless wafer can turn into the Body of Christ (warning : long article on Catholic Encyclopedia about absolute nonsense) after a few grunts from the officiating priest. If you can believe that, you can believe anything including the DVC story-line, hook line and sinker. But the tragedy of this, however absurd it may turn out to be if they will have their way, which I doubt they will anyway (thank goodness to reason) is that a few Catholics are trying to dictate based on the flimsiest of reasons what should be watched, or in this case, not watched, by the whole nation as if they speak for everybody including the non-Catholics and the nominal Catholics who cannot tell the difference between eucharist and eucalyptus but instead have undying faith in Tom Hanks. In this sense, their actions are an affront to the artistic freedom and free speech of the filmmaker, and the right of each citizen to choose which movies he/she will or will not see.