"Tayo na lang po ang bansa sa buong mundo na lumalaban
pa sa pagpapatupad ng batas na ito."
This was the statement uttered by our parish priest two Sundays in a row. I cannot help but feel the guilt inside as he continues to insinuate that supporting the bill no longer makes us Christians for God. He then talks on to say that those in favor of the bill are spawns of the devil himself and that if we support it, it means that the devil has gotten to us. His arguments basically make is seem that the RH bill is one for destroying the humanity of the Filipino people. He goes on to ask of us parishioners for our support to fight against the approval of the bill with the given statements above. My argument to him then is, instead of making us feel guilty of choosing to support the bill by blinding our conscience, why not let the parish goers see for themselves what is in the bill and let them, us, make the choice whether or not we would like to support it?
It gives me heartache to think that even today as we speak of ourselves as a free nation, such power for objectification is still in control through the Church. Don't get me wrong, I am a Catholic. I just think that a manner of gaining followers leads me to think that perhaps it is this that is, as our priest would like to call it, "a spawn of the devil". Why? Because it is blind leadership on his behalf. He goes on to state that the bill is very harmful but does not give enough justifications as to why it is harmful. Targeting the conscience of the people to support the bill, in my opinion is one of the reasons why many have stopped going to church. It is not because they have stopped believing in God or what, but it seems that it is because it is their Church itself that has made them to believe that they can no longer believe in their God.
Why would the Church go to the extent of exercising their power? In my take, I see a Church that is not purely of Catholic in nature but is more of political. From what history our country has, it is the Spanish Church that has dominated the people's living thus their culture of subordination and their beliefs. More often than not, they were made to believe that going against the Catholic Church would bring them to their doom. From what I see today, this method is still being employed by the Church. And from what I have just experienced a few weeks now, it feels more like the Church is trying to keep their stronghold influence over the people as a means of keeping their existence. It has been, since then, in the culture of the Filipino to be submissive to bigger powers that it appears to be impossible to overcome them. In the case of the Church, it appears that they are merely subordinating the minds of their followers to "try to retain their identity" in this country. Why? I believe that the answer lies in the history of the Philippines.
The fear of God is imbibed within us Catholics by nature. It is the fear that God would punish us if we do an act that is against his commandments of love. I then direct this question to the parish priest of ours and to all other priests with similar approaches, why then will you not allow this bill to be approved if it's main purpose is to help the people be able to support their lives? Is that not more of a show of love for your countrymen? Or if letting them go about with the activity of sex without the choice of protection is a better show of it then I suppose I have the concept of love for others all wrong.
Such a voluntary subordination on the part of most Filipinos stems way back into what has been said as part of history. But given the lapse in time, shouldn't we have been able to overcome it already? It is a sad thought because it feels like the people I would like to be proud of are being easily drawn into following with blindfolds on. I then make this suggestion to all Filipinos who have yet to make their personal stance on the RH Bill. Ignore the opinion of the Catholic Church. Ignore the opinion of the government. Ignore the opinion of your family and friends. Ignore the opinion of your school. Most especially ignore the opinion of others unknown to you. But make this your stance, do not ignore your own. Educate yourself. Never make decisions based on other's analyses or take only. Sure, take theirs into consideration as well, but make your own informed decision on it.
Personally I cannot give my full stance on the bill because I have not yet fully read it, but if it does offer the choice of better health and higher possibility of development for the betterment of the people of this country, then why not?
If you want to make the informed choice over following blindly, click the link below and read up. If you choose to follow others, I respect you for making your decision on your own. If you make a choice based on nothing, then I dare you to challenge your choice.
Read up and make your own choice.
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