Get Real, Folks

The Reproductive Health (RH) Bill seeks to offer all Filipino parents several alternatives for them to plan their family. The Bill does not mandate any one alternative; in fact, the family has the freedom to not even plan their family. The Bill also mandates that sex education be offered to all Filipinos, but gives the parents the right to choose whether to allow their children to take these classes or not. I feel that is the beauty of the RH Bill; that it is all-inclusive, and it offers Filipinos information/knowledge and the freedom of choice.

So I really cannot understand why the Church and their ilk are adamant on blocking the passage of the Bill. The Church is opposed to the use of certain family planning methods that are not acceptable as per their teachings; these include the use of condoms, pills, IUD and everything else aside from the natural method. The Church is also against the government spending for sex education; they feel that only Catholic parents have the right to give the proper sex education to their Catholic children.

Just because Catholics make up the majority of Filipinos, it does not mean that the Church has the right to impose their standards on other Filipinos who are not Catholic or Christian. So why do they insist on bending the Bill so that it fits only their world-view?

Dear bishops, why do you insist that we view sex the way you view it? You guys are not even supposed to engage in sex. But despite that, a number of you still do. Oh c’mon fathers, don’t be shy, you know that a lot of you play around, whether straight or gay. Just because you guys can’t enjoy sex (unless it’s on the sly) doesn’t mean you should punish the rest of your flock by coating sex with so much guilt. What’s so scary about sex anyway?

Besides, dear bishops, you guys should know that your so-called faithful have not exactly been behaving the way you’ve taught them. You know how much your faithful stray; hey, they confess their sins to you, right? (And I bet you’ve only heard half of it.) And maybe that’s why you want to be strict with the law, so that your faithful are forced to obey. But dear bishops, despite your commandments and your homilies and your threats of Hell and eternal damnation, we still hear of straying husbands and unfaithful wives and--more and more--pedophile priests who prey on helpless boys. If you guys cannot discipline your faithful or yourselves, then how dare you force to tweak the RH Bill as a way to make up for your failures?

The RH Bill is a concrete response to real problems. Your arguments are based on morals and loft ideals that honestly are broken time and again by your so-called faithful. Get your heads off that cloud and plant your feet firmly on the ground, fathers. It’s time to wake up and smell reality.

(Then again, religion has always promised a “pie in the sky, by and by.” Sigh. Then may I request that you guys just stand back and get out of the f**king way.)