Despite my seemingly happy demeanor, too many things offend me. This is what comes from being an atheist feminist skeptic liberal living in the lovely Philippine Islands. How do I cope, you ask? By taking things in perspective, that’s how. And being charitable when judging people, appreciating them for who they are, and understanding their side of things.
It is in this vein that I wrote this post in the Filipino Freethinkers website. You’re welcome.
Philippine national hero Jose Rizal wrote to the women of Malolos once, expressing his admiration for their courage in standing up to authorities for their right to education. I’ve never read that letter — I suppose the nuns and priests running the Catholic schools I studied at would not have thought it A Good Thing for us to be something other than Maria Clara types — till I saw Red’s article today at the Filipino Freethinkers site which had the full text of Rizal’s letter.
An excerpt:
No longer does the Filipina stand with her head bowed nor does she spend her time on her knees, because she is quickened by hope in the future; no longer will the mother contribute to keeping her daughter in darkness and bring her up in contempt and moral annihilation…
“Just because we are a predominantly Catholic country doesn’t mean we can impose Catholic dogma on every Filipino. That is the job of the clergy and they can do as they please in the Church and its activities with their flock. But, in the halls of Congress, the Constitution is clear, – – there must be a separation of Church and State. If for the sake of argument, 99.9% of Filipinos were Catholic and every single one expressed a certain view, I would still be standing here today to fight for the rights of that 1 Filipino who is entitled to choices based on his religion and not the religion of the majority … because that is the mandate of our Constitution — that we make laws respecting the freedom of religion of all without the Church interfering with matters that should be left with the State.”
Last Tuesday was the first day of Carlos Celdran‘s trial. The charge? Apparently, he hurt some people’s feelings toward their imaginary friend — a crime in the Philippines. His trial is one of the highlights of the fight for the Reproductive Health Bill, which is encountering a ton of opposition from the Catholic Church and other Catholic organizations, even though the people themselves seem to be all for it. When Carlos entered that church in Ibarra garb, held up a sign saying “Damaso” and shouted to the priests to stop interfering with politics, it was because the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had been trying to use religion to influence the outcome of the RH Bill’s passing, such as making thinly veiled threats of excommunication towards the president of the country. [Read more: The Entropy Blog]
