They're Certainly Persistent...

Wow these guys can't get over it. Check out this photo.

Can't see it? Let's zoom in a little closer...



They "strongly oppose" the Population and Reproductive Health Management Policy. Why? Because it is deceptive? Because it endangers the lives of women and unborn children? How so? I'm willing to bet that the Church will say it promotes promiscuity and abortion. Never mind that the Church doesn't really have a good track record for treating women properly, but that's for another post.

Teaching people about reproductive health, and raising their awareness about sex is a good thing. It protects women (and men!) from disease and from unwanted pregnancy.

Does it promote promiscuity? Hardly. No one is telling the kids to go out and experiment with sex. In fact, informing them about it could possibly take away the element of curiosity, and therefore even minimize the chances. Besides, it's not like people won't try sex if they're kept ignorant about it.

Does it promote abortion? Of course not. In fact, it helps to avoid needing abortion. The more informed you are, the less chance of an unwanted pregnancy, the less need for abortion.

But as usual, the Magisterium.... I mean, the Church says, "evidence schmevidence!" They would rather put dogma and ideology over logic and reason.

Now if I was a conspiracy nut, I would say the Church is doing this on purpose, so they can keep the general populace poor and uneducated. As we all know, the main source of funds for the Church is from the masses. If the general populace were to be highly educated, God forbid that the clergy would actually have to WORK for a living. But I'm not a conspiracy nut so I wont say it. :)

Church Protests against Sex Education (or, "What Else Is New?")

The Catholic Church is at it again. In a protest against teaching sex education in public schools, here's what Cubao Bishop Ongtioco had to say:

"[It's] not good to teach adolescents about sex... it will perpetuate sex early... results may be abortion..."

Really? So, does ignorance about sex prevent them from having sex early? I think not. On the contrary, teaching them what sex is all about will actually help prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Then the results may be abortion? That's a slippery slope fallacy. The whole point of sex education is to AVOID unwanted pregnancies, unnecessary abortions and raise the quality of life of the average Filipino. The only other reason the protesters gave was that it "violates the beliefs of the Church". A stunningly brilliant argument, I must say.

But of course, we all know that unwanted pregnancies or abortion isn't what the Church is whining about. It's about SEX, period. The Catholic Church (and most other religions for that matter) have this love-hate relationship with sex. They hate sex, and if given the chance to cut it out of the reproductive process, they'd do it. But they also love it! Especially with little boys.

A little tip to the Church, why not clean up your ranks first, then whine about the sexual morality of other people?

Fortunately, the Quezon City Councilors had the balls to ignore the protesters and the Church, and passed the bill anyway.

"It's time for family planning, because this is really a poverty issue," said Councilor Joseph Juico.

Damn right Councilor Juico! I guess there is still some hope for our country yet.

Islam and (The Fairer) Sex

I have to say, no other mainstream religion is more misogynistic than Islam. Stoning two sisters just because they happened to be caught on videotape "with other men"? Doesn't matter that they weren't engaging in any sex. What's worse, the two women have already been punished for the "crime" of being seen with other men. 99 lashes to be exact. Now they're being tried again for the same "crime"?

Even worse, according to Islamic Law, being raped is also considered a crime. They say that it is the woman's fault for tempting men by their mere presence. What kind of sick and twisted reasoning is that?

When the Danish media published a cartoon Mohammed, Muslims all over the world went up in arms and rioted in the streets, claiming to be offended. But when crap like this happens, where are the apologists? Why don't they go out and protest? When 9/11 happened, Muslim communities around the world actually celebrated! Did we hear from the apologists? They certainly should feel insulted because these events make the "Religion of Peace" look REALLY bad.