Catholic hypocrisy

This comes from the same editorial from my previous post but is a different point so I wanted its own post.  The editorial states that

"The Church, in its understanding, is guarding persons with homosexual inclinations from “unjust discrimination” and from a lifestyle rife with psychological harm and a host of sexually-transmitted diseases; a lifestyle which wrecks families and marriages, and which, if followed unrepentantly, entails the forfeiture of eternal life."

They discriminate against gays because the gay lifestyle wrecks families and marriages.  Yet the catholic mass media award gave a lifetime achievement award to Ramon Revilla a self confessed Lothario who has sired an unknown number of children with an unknown number of women.  If the catholic church was really serious about this supposed campaign against lifestyles that wreck families and marriages, they would have shunned Ramon Revilla and everybody from Philippine showbiz who behaves like he does.  But they don't, they give them awards.

Catholic church is for equality, unless you're gay 2

From the wow can they think like this department comes another excuse from the catholic church on why they should be able to continue to discriminate against people they don't like.

No. 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

In other words, the church accepts gays with respect, compassion and sensitivity in their catechism, in real life they treat gays us less than human who does not deserve the same rights as everybody else.

look, even if we accept their premise, that gayness is a disorder,  why should they not treat gay people equally as everybody else?  Being blind, deaf, or or any other physical incapacity is also a disorder,  and the catholic church agrees that they should be treated equally.

There is no logical reason for the church position on gay people,  the only real reason is their interpretation of a book that tells them to treat gays as less than human.

Catholic church is for equality, unless you're gay

or a woman.  

CBCP wants anti-discrimination bill cleansed of provisions on gay rights

"Ronald Reyes, a lawyer of the CBCP, said they had no qualms about the bill before but became concerned when the bill was amended and “sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity” were included.

“It’s opening the door for same sex marriages, which our country doesn’t allow,” Reyes told reporters."

 Which is a stupid thing to say, since if you are correct and this bill allows gay marriage, then you're argument that the country does not allow gay marriage is moot.

And of course Atty. Imbong, has to speak up too

"Another CBCP lawyer Jo Imbong said the LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender) should not be considered the same as the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor."

Because of course gays are not people like the elderly, the handicapped and the poor.  What about elderly, handicapped or poor gays?  Would people be allowed to discriminate against them too?  But no,  for Atty Imbong, people should be allowed to discriminate against gays because

"“These people are disadvantaged not by their own choice. But the third sex, they choose this. How can you give protection to a choice like that?” Imbong said."

Which of course would mean that Atty. Imbong is pushing for the removal of religion from among those protected by the bill since people also choose their own religion.  Right?  Right Atty. Imbong?  But in the end, Atty. Imbong goes to the heart of their objection to the bill.  It's because the Catholic church want to discriminate against people they don't like.

"The bill would hinder the Church from teaching what it believed to be right or wrong, Imbong said."

It's fun pointing out the hypocrisy of the CBCP,  but as I tried to research more on this subject,  I found out some disturbing news. 

1. I can't find a copy of the bill, the closes one is the one filed by Sen. Legarda without the amendments approved by the Senate that are being objected to by the CBCP.
2. But in her sponsorship speech in the Senate, Sen. Legards had this example as a punishable act under the bill.
   

   "To give teeth to this measure, a person who is found guilty--for instance, of the act of a media personality using the name of an ethnic group in a joke for a television program--shall serve between nine months and twelve years in prison, and/or will be obliged to pay between Php100,000 to Php500,000."

   This is patently an anti freedom of expression law.  I can understand prohibiting discrimination when it comes to employment opportunities, but jokes?
3. Also from the sponsorship speech is this little gem.
   

   "We must strive to transform our society into an open-minded and sensitive community where no child is subjected to name-calling because of his distinct looks;"

   WTF,  how do you even think you can do this?
   

Maybe it's just Loren Legarda,  maybe the Supreme Court will strike down this patently anti-speech provision in the law if it ever comes to pass.  But as it is, I have this suspicion that this bill, if it becomes law, will only be used by religious bigots like Atty. Imbong to crackdown on the critics of the catholic church.

Priests wanted

Do you want to be a celibate purveyor of Medieval authoritarianism, superstition, and misogyny?

There’s an app for that

"The Catholic Church in Ireland is going high-tech in a bid to reverse a dramatic decline in the number of priests.

An establishment viewed as a bastion of tradition is turning to a new app to encourage more "applications." The app, says the church, is "designed to promote vocations to the priesthood.""

via Dispatches from the Culture Wars

Putang Ama

Pano nila ni justify sa sarili nila ang ginagawa nila?  Pera o relihiyon?

"Up to 300,000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over a period of five decades, a new investigation reveals.

The children were trafficked by a secret network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns in a widespread practice that began during General Franco’s dictatorship and continued until the early Nineties. "

Kung ano anong scandal ang lumalabas na ginawa ng simbahang katolliko sa mga bansa na malaki ang impluwensiya nila.  Di ko alam kung matutuwa ako o matatakot na wala pang lumalabas na balita tungkol sa Pilipinas.

How will the Catholic church react?

`Blasphemous’ art vandalized

An unidentified couple smashed a penis-motif wooden ashtray glued onto the poster and tried but failed to set fire to the entire collage, said Karen Flores, visual arts department chief of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

One of the vandals then gave a lecture on morality to the lone guard assigned to the exhibit and other visitors before the couple casually walked out of the government building, Flores told Agence France-Presse."

Magbasa ka naman

Ilan pang mga katoliko na nagpo protesta sa exhibit ng CCP ang nagtanong 

"It was created by law and funded by our taxes for the purpose of awakening the consciousness of our people to our cultural heritage," Imbong said.

"Is it our cultural heritage to mock and insult religious personages and icons? Is it aesthetic to vandalize a venerated representation of objects of worship and reverence? Is vulgarity and blasphemy a Filipino value? What Filipino pride can emerge for such works? Is this our national identity? And CCP promotes it?" she asked.

Manang, basahin niyo po itong mga gawaing ito:  Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo, Dasalan at Tuksuhan, Fray Botod, tapos saka mo itanong ulit yang mga tanong mo.

Pushing his Luck

Oblivious

The Philippine Star reports that Bishops are calling for a boycott of an exhibit that the Bishops think is sacrilegious. The exhibit, s where, "some of the works featured phallic images and condoms juxtaposed with religious icons", is being held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Bishop Deogracias Iniguez calls for a boycott because, the artists "“...should be very sensitive and respectful to the people…they should respect the religion of others,”.   Which tells of a lack of self awareness from a member of a church who actively opposes a bill, that would provide contraceptive options to Filipinos whose religions allow their use.  A religion that actively opposes a bill, that will allow people whose belief does not forbid them, to divorce.

Maybe the good Bishop should heed his call and respect the religion of others.  The Bishops can call on their flock to not use contraceptives and to not divorce,  they should respect the religion of others who wants to.

Another Bishop

Former Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who previously served as CBCP president, said he saw a video of the “sick” exhibit.

“The ones who did those things are sick. They are not only sick, what they did was also sickening. No one in his right mind with the proper values system would even think of doing such a thing. I wonder if those who did those desecration would allow me to do those things to them… Meaning to say, to put those items on their faces and bodies and to desecrate them with all those items, like a used condom,” Cruz said.

He seem to have not noticed that no actual person's face and/or body was used in the making of the exhibited item.  It is the Bishop who is threatening to do the things he thinks are disgusting to live human beings.

I don't think anybody within the Catholic hierarchy ever challenges this bishops when they voice their ideas,  they seem so oblivious to the contradictions within their own pronouncements.

Chutzpah

Ang kapal naman ng mukha ng mga obispong katoliko,  kamakalawa lang ay humihingi sila ng paumanhin sa ginawa nila.  Ngayon naman sila na ang gustong makakuha na paumanhin.  Para bagang hindi nangayari yung panghihingi at pagtanggap nila ng milyung pera galing kay Presidente Arroyo at sa PCSO.  Para bagang dahil sa sabi ng Senado ay wala silang ginawang ilegal ay wala na silang nagawang imoral.

Kapal

Catholic Exceptionalism 3

Catholicism in the Philippines is so entrenched in our culture that catholics seem to think that what is good for catholicism is good for the country. I wrote 2 previous posts on how this kind of thinking is hurting non catholics by restricting freedoms to what is allowable from the perspective of catholicism.

Now we have Manoling Morato not seeing anything wrong with giving millions of pesos to catholic clergy and institutions for helping the poor.  I won't go into the question of whether the gifts awarded were actually used to serve the poor, but look at this post from TheNashman which mirrors my reaction, but go straight to what I think is the more important matter.

Will Mr. Manoling Morato not see anything wrong if the Philippine government gives vehicles to the Iglesia ni Cristo?  or to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?  What about Buddhists?  or Muslims? If yes,  why did they not give any to them?

Mr. Morato is blinded by his catholicism to think that giving to catholics is normal,  this is precisely the reason why our constitution gives Filipinos freedom of conscience, and restricts the government from favoring any one religion. Because if it doesn't catholics and catholicism will be favored among all others, and that can lead to tyranny, to the way the Philippines was ruled during the time of Rizal when every catholic priest was a law unto themselves,  which, judging from how some bishops got to acquiring their vehicle from the government, some still seem to think so.

Catholic Exceptionalism 2

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about this guy who argued that the RH bill pending in Congress is "meddling of the State in matters of faith and morals, interference of the State in affairs of the family—the domestic church", nevermind that, even if the RH bill is passed into law, all Catholic's will still be free to follow their conscience and not use any contraceptive.

But just 2 days ago a catholic bishop was asking government to stop ceremonial marriages performed by a church in Baguio. According the the Philippine Daily Inquirer

 "a Catholic prelate called on the government, on Sunday, to take action against same-sex marriages happening in the country as such matrimonies violated the law."

Nevermind that the marriages were ceremonial and not recognized by government,  nevermind that the ceremonies were performed not by catholic priests.  The bishop wants to meddle in matters of faith and morals of other people.

It seems that catholics can not bear it if their dogma is criticized but is able and willing to criticize others for their moral choices, even if that choice does not harm anybody else.

Catholic Exceptionalism

Jason Baguia wrote this screed titled Freedom in the time of practical atheism which is so full of stupidity I don't even know how to begin debunking it.  He begins by defining freedom which he defines as self determination and then enumerates the civil liberties we enjoy today as Filipinos which are "speech, of the press, of expression, of abode, to private property and others".

Then he goes off tangent with the crazy.

"Yet these same freedoms give us room to point out the many ways we are not yet free.

Many of us are still in the grip of poverty. A lot of politicians are still addicted to power and wealth. They perpetuate a culture of corruption and power plays that put ordinary people at a disadvantage. Cultural icons still adopt without qualms what is trendy yet harmful—like immodesty, rebelliousness and nihilism—in the West. Youngsters break through the fences of home only to get holed up in the labyrinth of the Internet.

These situations persist because many of us easily forget or take for granted that most valuable of all freedoms, a freedom that the priest Zechariah, father of Saint John the Baptist, sang of the day he named his son: The freedom to worship God “without fear, holy and righteous in his sight, all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:74-75)

The belittling of the freedom of religion has taken many forms but is seen today in the contraceptive promotion and divorce bills pending in Congress.

For all their talk about the separation of the Church and State, it’s ironic how few libertarians are standing up and exposing these bills for what they are: meddling of the State in matters of faith and morals, interference of the State in affairs of the family—the domestic church.

I will never be able to understand what is so democratic and healthful about promoting artificial means of contraception. Research shows that the use of condoms does not erase the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Countries where condoms are freely distributed actually end up with a higher number of HIV-AIDS patients."

What he is saying is that if the Philippines does not adopt the dogma of the catholic church, then there is no freedom.  How self absorbed is he that he cannot even conceive of the fact that not all Filipinos are catholic?  That not all of us want to follow catholic faith?  That precisely imposing catholic dogma on the rest of Filipinos who does not want to follow them makes us less free.

To him freedom of religion is freedom to impose his religion on all of us,  and he has the gall to invoke the memory of Dr. Jose Rizal.  The Dr. Jose Rizal who was executed by the catholic church as a heretic for going against catholic dogma.

Freedom, he keeps using that word,  I don't think it means what he think it means.