NOW it can be told. And it needed Senator Lito Lapid who is supposed to be not known for his speaking prowess to get this data. The budget for the implementation of RH for the year 2012 alone is—hold your breath—P13.7B!
According to experts, that figure is even higher than the individual budgets of the departments of energy, finance, foreign affairs, justice, labor, science, tourism and trade. It’s even bigger than those proposed for the Office of the President and Congress, and the entire Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
OMG! What a waste of tax money that would be! What distorted sense of priority! And to think that the RH Bill does not even pass the preliminary smell test of morality, and the fact that many of its provisions are redundant since they are already covered in many other laws of the land!
We cannot help but suspect there’s something serious that is hidden under the beautiful features with which the RH is marketed to the public. We have to look more closely at this initiative now forcefully pushed by women senators with radical feminist agendas.
We already know that US Secretary Hillary Clinton admitted that RH by definition includes abortion. So even if our version does not include abortion yet, we can suspect that it would just be a matter of time before this evil gets legalized under RH. In fact, there are now many people in the country openly voicing their support for abortion.
We also know from some declassified document that the US has been eyeing the Philippines for quite sometime now for birth control. It’s part of the geo-political game that the US is playing.
That’s why our Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is suspicious about the RH Bill as being not so much for reproductive health as a tool to effect birth and population control.
And under the current American leadership, there is also a strong lobby for RH not only in the US but also all over the world. In the US alone, part of the Obamacare program forces everyone to get medical insurance that includes paying for sterilization, contraception and even abortion—all against Catholic moral teaching.
This has led American bishops to call this Obamacare provision as an “unprecedented attack on religious liberty.” It is forcing Catholics to support something that is against their religion. It is not anymore tolerating people to do what they like, even if it is against religion. It is forcing them to support what is against their religion.
The current American scene seems to be drifting toward creating a welfare state, with the government taking a bigger role in people’s lives, clearly going against the social principles of common good, solidarity and subsidiarity. It is not only spoiling people. It is forcing people to get spoiled.
And to think that the American political leaders pride themselves of being the first promoters of democracy and religious freedom and teach other countries to follow them! They have to be clear about these in their own country first.
The Philippines would be in a funny situation if it would just blindly follow the American model of RH. That is why, we need to closely monitor the proceedings of the proposed legalization of the RH Bill. This issue has gone beyond the field of group advocacy. It has become a concern for all of us.
I would suggest that the true picture of the RH Bill be shown, discussed and, if need be, debated upon in schools, parishes, offices and even in families. We have to be warned about a subtle but persistent campaign to change the concept of morality itself and to recast the social principles that should govern our national life.
We are now entering a stage of world history where the issues that we need to resolve are not anymore strictly social, economic or political in nature. They now have a fundamentally moral character and they call for a fundamentally moral resolution.
We need to stop and reverse this slippery slope to a deeper secularized world culture that tackles human affairs from a restrictive frame of economics and politics alone, and ignoring the most basic aspect of religion and our inner beliefs.
I must say that we have been had for a long time by this questionable kind of culture that tends to separate reason from faith, science from religion, our human affairs from God. The state is made to conflict with the Church.
While there is distinction, there is also inherent connection between them!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
‘There be dragons’
NOW in the rounds of premiere showings—in Cebu, it will be on October 16 at the Ayala Theatre—the movie depicts the story of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, with some fiction to highlight and encapsulate the Christian message that while nothing much can be done toward the past, a lot can still be done in the future.
It’s a drama of hope and redemption extracted from a deep morass of skepticism, hatred, envy and many other forms of human weakness. Director Roland Joffe, who also wrote the script, managed to weave an absorbing story with a happy ending that’s won at a great and painful price.
‘There be dragons’ ably reflects the drama of our life, of our history. The film starts with images of a primitive mapamundi where only the then-discovered lands could be sketched, and the outlying areas--the unknown world--are designated as the dark place of the dragons.
The image can refer to the unknown and mysterious parts of our life which events and circumstances can unravel to us, and can provoke different reactions depending on where we anchor our heart and mind on.
If one is led by faith, then the darkness of life cannot fully erase its guiding light. But if one is simply led by his own reasoning, and worse, by his own emotions and passions, then life can only take us to unavoidable perdition.
No matter how bright and clever one might be, without God, he can never grasp the true meaning and essence of life.
In fact, what is likely to happen is to use one’s powers to destroy himself. And this can be done through a complicated process that is guided by brilliant but deceiving and false lights produced by those powers.
The movie plays out this phenomenon very well. Two friends who were very close to each other in childhood started to take different paths as they grew and encountered more or less similar events and circumstances.
The differences later became big and seemingly irreconcilable. But St. Josemaria persisted in his faith that flowered in charity in its most mature of stage of compassion and forgiveness. That faith and charity would eventually win back his friend who took a different route.
The story of St. Josemaria reminds us that it is only with God that we can somehow assume a comprehensive view and understanding of life, in spite of the riddles and mysteries, the strange twists and turns embedded in it.
God shares this knowledge by giving us faith that has to be lived in hope and in charity. The mysteries of faith can somehow be fathomed, even if they cannot be expressed in words, when they are pursued with hope and charity, with goodness of heart no matter how awkward and imperfect that charity and goodness may be.
Charity, the ultimate law and guiding light of our life, the full blossoming of our faith, is what can conquer all--our doubts, fear, cynicism, hatred, resentment, etc. St. Paul precisely affirmed it when he said: “Charity bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never fails…” (1 Cor 13,7-8)
But, alas, this is a truth that I’m afraid is still unknown by many of us. It’s still in the outlying areas designated for ‘dragons’ in our life. That is why, the movie somehow also reminds us that we need to wage serious and constant battle against our weakness and the temptations around.
Again this is something to be encouraged in all of us. Interior struggle is an integral part of our life here in this world, which is a life of discovery, of trial, of making the ultimate choice of whether we are for God or for ourselves alone.
In this lifetime struggle, which we try to do with naturalness, we should do all we can to win. All is fair in love and in war, though we have to understand that we can wage effective war only in a moral way. Let’s remember that we are ranged against powerful ‘dragons.’
We need to identify our spiritual enemies at the moment—our laziness, lust, greed, lack of faith, etc.--then craft an adequate strategy, then off we go, doing those spiritual combats that are necessary in this life.
For as long as we are willing to stretch our faith into charity, and our charity into its real source and power which is God’s love as revealed, lived and taught to us by Christ, then all will be ok. Victory is assured!
It’s a drama of hope and redemption extracted from a deep morass of skepticism, hatred, envy and many other forms of human weakness. Director Roland Joffe, who also wrote the script, managed to weave an absorbing story with a happy ending that’s won at a great and painful price.
‘There be dragons’ ably reflects the drama of our life, of our history. The film starts with images of a primitive mapamundi where only the then-discovered lands could be sketched, and the outlying areas--the unknown world--are designated as the dark place of the dragons.
The image can refer to the unknown and mysterious parts of our life which events and circumstances can unravel to us, and can provoke different reactions depending on where we anchor our heart and mind on.
If one is led by faith, then the darkness of life cannot fully erase its guiding light. But if one is simply led by his own reasoning, and worse, by his own emotions and passions, then life can only take us to unavoidable perdition.
No matter how bright and clever one might be, without God, he can never grasp the true meaning and essence of life.
In fact, what is likely to happen is to use one’s powers to destroy himself. And this can be done through a complicated process that is guided by brilliant but deceiving and false lights produced by those powers.
The movie plays out this phenomenon very well. Two friends who were very close to each other in childhood started to take different paths as they grew and encountered more or less similar events and circumstances.
The differences later became big and seemingly irreconcilable. But St. Josemaria persisted in his faith that flowered in charity in its most mature of stage of compassion and forgiveness. That faith and charity would eventually win back his friend who took a different route.
The story of St. Josemaria reminds us that it is only with God that we can somehow assume a comprehensive view and understanding of life, in spite of the riddles and mysteries, the strange twists and turns embedded in it.
God shares this knowledge by giving us faith that has to be lived in hope and in charity. The mysteries of faith can somehow be fathomed, even if they cannot be expressed in words, when they are pursued with hope and charity, with goodness of heart no matter how awkward and imperfect that charity and goodness may be.
Charity, the ultimate law and guiding light of our life, the full blossoming of our faith, is what can conquer all--our doubts, fear, cynicism, hatred, resentment, etc. St. Paul precisely affirmed it when he said: “Charity bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never fails…” (1 Cor 13,7-8)
But, alas, this is a truth that I’m afraid is still unknown by many of us. It’s still in the outlying areas designated for ‘dragons’ in our life. That is why, the movie somehow also reminds us that we need to wage serious and constant battle against our weakness and the temptations around.
Again this is something to be encouraged in all of us. Interior struggle is an integral part of our life here in this world, which is a life of discovery, of trial, of making the ultimate choice of whether we are for God or for ourselves alone.
In this lifetime struggle, which we try to do with naturalness, we should do all we can to win. All is fair in love and in war, though we have to understand that we can wage effective war only in a moral way. Let’s remember that we are ranged against powerful ‘dragons.’
We need to identify our spiritual enemies at the moment—our laziness, lust, greed, lack of faith, etc.--then craft an adequate strategy, then off we go, doing those spiritual combats that are necessary in this life.
For as long as we are willing to stretch our faith into charity, and our charity into its real source and power which is God’s love as revealed, lived and taught to us by Christ, then all will be ok. Victory is assured!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Silence in communication
I WAS at first amused, then turned serious, when I learned that the theme of next year’s World Communications Day is Silence and Word, Path of Evangelization. Pope Benedict suggests that those in the communications business observe silence also.
I immediately thought of the tongue-loose radio commentators whose daily views on issues and events must have come under such pressure that we would be lucky if we could get an inch of substance from a mile of words they say on the airwaves.
There is so much shallowness, inanities, bias and outright commercialism that it’s a surprise the environment is not yet that polluted. When they run out of ideas, which is often, they take refuge in poking fun at personalities, if not resort to risqué jokes and double entendre statements.
Their behaviour many times reminds me of what St. Paul once said: “Guard against foul talk. Let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners...” (Eph 4, 29)
Then in the newspapers, mostly in the provinces where they don’t have much resources, you can see public opinion contributors straining to the extreme to make something of real value to the people.
What we often see are flimsy arguments, ungrounded speculations and theories, and cheap rhetorical tricks. And yes, a lot of indiscriminate ads that often contradict the values they flaunt they are upholding and defending.
But even in very rich and sophisticated media outfits in the local and international scenes, you can also easily detect a lot of hype and hard-sell, their passion and ideological leanings often overwhelming the facts and the requirements of fairness.
In this field, they confuse complicated thinking with mature or sober reasoning. They can cite a lot of statistics and references, they can build up formidable syllogisms, but they often fall into bitter zeal, and the debate becomes more confrontational and conflictive than constructive.
Here I just wish to remit an excerpt of the official Vatican statement about this matter that gives us an idea of the rationale behind the theme. I find it worth reflecting on.
“Silence,” it says, “is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today, but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration.
“Silence, precisely because it favors habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which it a key factor that can serve the new evangelization.”
That latter reference to the “new evangelization” simply refers to the fact that in the Christian paradigm, all words, all our communications, our reasoning, discussions, debates, exchanges of opinions, etc., no matter how immersed in mundane issues, should in the end serve the purpose of evangelization which is a constant concern of the Church and, in fact, of everyone in the world.
Obviously, our problem is that practically everyone in the mainstream media, let alone, our local and world leaders, is still ignorant of the vital connection between our use of words in their different forms and ways and their ultimate relation to religion.
We are still wallowing in a secularized mentality where our attitude toward the use of words is almost completely devoid of its innate religious dimension and purpose. While indeed there is autonomy of the use of words in our mundane business, such autonomy does not cut them from their religious and sacred character and purpose.
What we need is some radical change of mind and attitude. And from there, let’s hope we can develop appropriate ways of using words that respect both their autonomous mundane character and their ultimate religious and sacred purpose.
We are still far from this ideal if we have to consider how our usual leaders and those in the media use words. It’s not going to be an easy process, especially if those expected to lead the re-education of the people lack both credibility and expertise.
But I’m afraid we just have to take up this task as soon as possible, no matter how awkward it is going to be especially at the beginning. The Pope’s idea that we give silence its due attention in our communications simply has its undeniable and indispensable value.
Let’s hope that some leaders, in the Church, civil society and government, take up the challenge!
I immediately thought of the tongue-loose radio commentators whose daily views on issues and events must have come under such pressure that we would be lucky if we could get an inch of substance from a mile of words they say on the airwaves.
There is so much shallowness, inanities, bias and outright commercialism that it’s a surprise the environment is not yet that polluted. When they run out of ideas, which is often, they take refuge in poking fun at personalities, if not resort to risqué jokes and double entendre statements.
Their behaviour many times reminds me of what St. Paul once said: “Guard against foul talk. Let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners...” (Eph 4, 29)
Then in the newspapers, mostly in the provinces where they don’t have much resources, you can see public opinion contributors straining to the extreme to make something of real value to the people.
What we often see are flimsy arguments, ungrounded speculations and theories, and cheap rhetorical tricks. And yes, a lot of indiscriminate ads that often contradict the values they flaunt they are upholding and defending.
But even in very rich and sophisticated media outfits in the local and international scenes, you can also easily detect a lot of hype and hard-sell, their passion and ideological leanings often overwhelming the facts and the requirements of fairness.
In this field, they confuse complicated thinking with mature or sober reasoning. They can cite a lot of statistics and references, they can build up formidable syllogisms, but they often fall into bitter zeal, and the debate becomes more confrontational and conflictive than constructive.
Here I just wish to remit an excerpt of the official Vatican statement about this matter that gives us an idea of the rationale behind the theme. I find it worth reflecting on.
“Silence,” it says, “is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today, but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration.
“Silence, precisely because it favors habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which it a key factor that can serve the new evangelization.”
That latter reference to the “new evangelization” simply refers to the fact that in the Christian paradigm, all words, all our communications, our reasoning, discussions, debates, exchanges of opinions, etc., no matter how immersed in mundane issues, should in the end serve the purpose of evangelization which is a constant concern of the Church and, in fact, of everyone in the world.
Obviously, our problem is that practically everyone in the mainstream media, let alone, our local and world leaders, is still ignorant of the vital connection between our use of words in their different forms and ways and their ultimate relation to religion.
We are still wallowing in a secularized mentality where our attitude toward the use of words is almost completely devoid of its innate religious dimension and purpose. While indeed there is autonomy of the use of words in our mundane business, such autonomy does not cut them from their religious and sacred character and purpose.
What we need is some radical change of mind and attitude. And from there, let’s hope we can develop appropriate ways of using words that respect both their autonomous mundane character and their ultimate religious and sacred purpose.
We are still far from this ideal if we have to consider how our usual leaders and those in the media use words. It’s not going to be an easy process, especially if those expected to lead the re-education of the people lack both credibility and expertise.
But I’m afraid we just have to take up this task as soon as possible, no matter how awkward it is going to be especially at the beginning. The Pope’s idea that we give silence its due attention in our communications simply has its undeniable and indispensable value.
Let’s hope that some leaders, in the Church, civil society and government, take up the challenge!
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