.:A Leakage Is Plugging A Hole:.
Lest we lose ourselves in unsavoury jokes about our dear president’s chest, maybe we should pay more attention to the fact that a report of interest has recently come out.
Behold, a full presentation on the Electoral Fraud. I think if people checked this out and analyzed it more than they analyzed the presidential bikini pictures, then maybe we can verify the veracity of this presentation, and once and for all decry the clear lack of moral ascendancy this country’s leadership has had since 2004, or arguably even earlier than that.
I look back at my younger years when I wished to disprove the notion that Ateneans are apathetic with a sheepish grin. I regret having been at EDSA 2.
From all the scandals that has beset this country, to the clear-cut PR spin that is being employed in practically every single correspondence of the government, to the fact that the so-called spokespersons for the president don’t even know if their boss had a boob job or not, 2010 cannot come soon enough. Let’s get this god-forsaken term over with, and find someone else to screw us over.
Or maybe, just maybe, we’d finally see a good candidate arise from the muck known as Philippine politics. I know there are plenty of luminaries in their ranks, yet why is it that more often than not, their names are not the ones being floated about when election time draws near?
As I mutter a prayer for our former president Corazon Aquino and her health woes, I wonder if this is really the kind of Filipino her late husband wanted to die for.
Perhaps, with what I, and other like-minded people can do, we could indeed prove ourselves worthy of Ninoy’s ultimate sacrifice.
.:Why I Believe Reproductive Health And Gay Marriage Should Be Looked Into:.
This country does not sport an official religion. Statistics does not an official religion make. The Constitution enshrines many things, but to say that it is inherently Christian or Catholic is patently hasty, and should be looked at more closely.
As the times change, we hear more and more people lamenting how “the good ol’ values” are being thrown away in favour of tolerance and secularism. Why? What was ever “good” about intolerance and fundamentalism? Did we not fight wars over intolerance? Was intolerance not the key motivation for the countless genocides we’ve experienced over the course of our history? And do you think that just because we uphold pretenses of being a religious country, we become paragons of morality? Are you high, or have you ignored the many times our leaders have used God as an excuse for what they have done, such as when a certain president changed her mind about not running for president in 2004?
As a citizen of this country, I wholeheartedly support the Reproductive Health bill, and in line with progressive thinking and a belief in giving everyone a fair shake, I also support eventual legislation in favour of gay marriage. This afternoon, I was watching a particular video that just really tickled me pink, and I’d like to share it with you:
I smell a load of bullcrap, and I am beyond happy to see Stephen Colbert address this. While I’d like to go at length on this topic, I’ll just put it this way... allowing gay people to be who they are does not turn you gay. And if it did, I don’t see what’s wrong with being gay. You can point to the Bible all you want, but I believe in a God who would not deliberately create someone as “evil”, as we have already proven that homosexuality is natural, not merely a lifestyle choice. I never chose to be straight. I always was. Don’t assume gay people had the luxury to choose they were gay.
Because quite sadly, with the way they’re being oppressed in this day and age, some of them certainly would rather be straight if it were merely a matter of choice.
Let’s save this discussion for another day, though, and focus on what is currently on our plate: the fact that the government has a pending law known as the “Reproductive Health Bill”, and we have lobby groups who are reacting instinctively against the law, outright condemning it on mere principle.
Why is that, you ask? Because it will promote promiscuity, they say. Because it will contribute to moral degradation, they say. Because it will undermine the value of marriage, since hey, if the government educates us about sex and contraception, everyone’s gonna want to have sex now.
When I was a high school student and we actually had sex education, there were fewer things I found UNsexier than having one of our not-so-attractive female teachers talk about sex clinically, stifling her embarrassment as hormone-crazy students hooted over words like “smegma” and “vagina”. I don’t know about you, but that experience has assured me I’d stay straight-edge by choice for quite a long while, simply because knowing about sex made me realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
I can tell you right now that if I didn’t know what I knew thanks to sex education, I wouldn’t have the same point of view, and would want to find out more about it as soon as possible – firsthand.
But don’t take anecdotal evidence on its own. Simply understand how knowledge is indeed power, and educating the youth on the responsibility involved in sexual intercourse will go a long way to making sure that they don’t just treat it like a game.
Personally, I have nothing against people who can’t keep it in their pants. What I do have something against are people who can’t deal with the consequences afterwards. Sex education is one of the best ways to alleviate that problem, because I hate to break it to ya, guys, but no matter how much religious pressure you exert on kids, if they wanna get it on, they will get it on. Now, you can either let them drive the car full speed and just say their prayers at the moment of impact, or you can give them a seatbelt.
That’s where contraceptives come in.
Now, for the record, I do not approve of abortion. I believe that while the woman does have a choice, it should be a choice to use contraceptives, rather than to kill a kid who’s too young to have a say on the matter. I draw the line at that, but anything prior to that is fair game in my eyes.
For people to insinuate that contraceptives contribute to moral degeneracy because it makes sex become merely an instrument for pleasure, they should look a little more closely at the Bible they’re thumping on. Maybe they should read this book closer because it sure as Hades sounds like sex is fun and exciting there.
Now, sure, I understand if people don’t like the notion of fornication, and would want to preserve the sanctity of sex only after marriage, but hey, you know what? That doesn’t make sex dirty. It just makes it more special. We’ve moved beyond Greek dualism of body and soul at least two millennia ago. Can we stop calling sex “dirty” and “sinful”? Isn’t it responsible for new life, and can we not agree, coming from a pro-life perspective that any life is good and sacred? So why is something “sacred” springing forth from something “sinful”? It makes no sense whatsoever, kids!
Fornication will happen with or without the RH bill in effect. There is no logical connection between knowing you can use contraception and suddenly wanting to fornicate. This is shaky logic at best, and clearly does not follow. What the RH bill offers, though, is a chance to keep the population at bay, and while we can keep on insisting overpopulation is not an issue, it’s fairly obvious it is. Ever notice how the poorer the couples are, the more kids they most likely have?
Whether it be about population control, or about preventing sexually transmitted diseases, there simply is no reason other than sheer selfishness and close-mindedness for the RH bill to be rejected. As our country keeps on plunging to economic lows, more and more people find out firsthand that there is a woeful lack of information and (ahem) dissemination going on when it comes to know-how about sexuality. Would it not be a good idea to let people know what’s at stake before they jam it in? Would it not be prudent to give them an informed choice, rather than rely merely on hearsay and old wives’ tales.
It’s high time we realized that the more we adhere to our so-called “good ol’ values”, the less likely we’d ever see this country get anywhere, as we bury ourselves knee-deep in ignorance, intolerance, and arbitrariness. To say that contraceptives are wrong because it undermines the life-giving power of the sexual encounter is akin to telling infertile couples that they shouldn’t ever have sexual encounters. It has always been a biological affair, and it’s time to dispel its mystique, and instead make it what it is: a monumental responsibility, and one that, in a progressive world with a country refusing to change with the times, is becoming more and more trivialized, ironically.
The RH bill has to come to pass. Everyone covered by it needs to know that there is a choice and they should be free to make such a choice, and be equally equipped to deal with the consequences of their choices. To deny the RH bill is to deny these people that opportunity to make a choice when the time is right. Whether it’s a teenager who needs to understand ramifications of sexual relations, or married couples who have had five kids too many, the RH bill is not there to impose immorality, but to prevent irresponsibility.
Let’s not allow knee-jerk reactionism to cloud our judgment. From one Catholic to a Church I am a part of, are we not a church for the poor? Is it not the case that the RH bill will benefit, more than anyone else, the very same poor that our leaders vow to help and to empower?
Because quite sadly, with the way they’re being oppressed in this day and age, some of them certainly would rather be straight if it were merely a matter of choice.
Let’s save this discussion for another day, though, and focus on what is currently on our plate: the fact that the government has a pending law known as the “Reproductive Health Bill”, and we have lobby groups who are reacting instinctively against the law, outright condemning it on mere principle.
Why is that, you ask? Because it will promote promiscuity, they say. Because it will contribute to moral degradation, they say. Because it will undermine the value of marriage, since hey, if the government educates us about sex and contraception, everyone’s gonna want to have sex now.
When I was a high school student and we actually had sex education, there were fewer things I found UNsexier than having one of our not-so-attractive female teachers talk about sex clinically, stifling her embarrassment as hormone-crazy students hooted over words like “smegma” and “vagina”. I don’t know about you, but that experience has assured me I’d stay straight-edge by choice for quite a long while, simply because knowing about sex made me realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
I can tell you right now that if I didn’t know what I knew thanks to sex education, I wouldn’t have the same point of view, and would want to find out more about it as soon as possible – firsthand.
But don’t take anecdotal evidence on its own. Simply understand how knowledge is indeed power, and educating the youth on the responsibility involved in sexual intercourse will go a long way to making sure that they don’t just treat it like a game.
Personally, I have nothing against people who can’t keep it in their pants. What I do have something against are people who can’t deal with the consequences afterwards. Sex education is one of the best ways to alleviate that problem, because I hate to break it to ya, guys, but no matter how much religious pressure you exert on kids, if they wanna get it on, they will get it on. Now, you can either let them drive the car full speed and just say their prayers at the moment of impact, or you can give them a seatbelt.
That’s where contraceptives come in.
Now, for the record, I do not approve of abortion. I believe that while the woman does have a choice, it should be a choice to use contraceptives, rather than to kill a kid who’s too young to have a say on the matter. I draw the line at that, but anything prior to that is fair game in my eyes.
For people to insinuate that contraceptives contribute to moral degeneracy because it makes sex become merely an instrument for pleasure, they should look a little more closely at the Bible they’re thumping on. Maybe they should read this book closer because it sure as Hades sounds like sex is fun and exciting there.
Now, sure, I understand if people don’t like the notion of fornication, and would want to preserve the sanctity of sex only after marriage, but hey, you know what? That doesn’t make sex dirty. It just makes it more special. We’ve moved beyond Greek dualism of body and soul at least two millennia ago. Can we stop calling sex “dirty” and “sinful”? Isn’t it responsible for new life, and can we not agree, coming from a pro-life perspective that any life is good and sacred? So why is something “sacred” springing forth from something “sinful”? It makes no sense whatsoever, kids!
Fornication will happen with or without the RH bill in effect. There is no logical connection between knowing you can use contraception and suddenly wanting to fornicate. This is shaky logic at best, and clearly does not follow. What the RH bill offers, though, is a chance to keep the population at bay, and while we can keep on insisting overpopulation is not an issue, it’s fairly obvious it is. Ever notice how the poorer the couples are, the more kids they most likely have?
Whether it be about population control, or about preventing sexually transmitted diseases, there simply is no reason other than sheer selfishness and close-mindedness for the RH bill to be rejected. As our country keeps on plunging to economic lows, more and more people find out firsthand that there is a woeful lack of information and (ahem) dissemination going on when it comes to know-how about sexuality. Would it not be a good idea to let people know what’s at stake before they jam it in? Would it not be prudent to give them an informed choice, rather than rely merely on hearsay and old wives’ tales.
It’s high time we realized that the more we adhere to our so-called “good ol’ values”, the less likely we’d ever see this country get anywhere, as we bury ourselves knee-deep in ignorance, intolerance, and arbitrariness. To say that contraceptives are wrong because it undermines the life-giving power of the sexual encounter is akin to telling infertile couples that they shouldn’t ever have sexual encounters. It has always been a biological affair, and it’s time to dispel its mystique, and instead make it what it is: a monumental responsibility, and one that, in a progressive world with a country refusing to change with the times, is becoming more and more trivialized, ironically.
The RH bill has to come to pass. Everyone covered by it needs to know that there is a choice and they should be free to make such a choice, and be equally equipped to deal with the consequences of their choices. To deny the RH bill is to deny these people that opportunity to make a choice when the time is right. Whether it’s a teenager who needs to understand ramifications of sexual relations, or married couples who have had five kids too many, the RH bill is not there to impose immorality, but to prevent irresponsibility.
Let’s not allow knee-jerk reactionism to cloud our judgment. From one Catholic to a Church I am a part of, are we not a church for the poor? Is it not the case that the RH bill will benefit, more than anyone else, the very same poor that our leaders vow to help and to empower?
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