The RH Bill and the Gospel Today: Do you also want to leave?

Endorsement of the RH Bill by ADMU professors still reverberates in the news today. A fellow Ateneo alumni defended such act simply as a reflection of the academic exercise in Jesuit education. He said, we consider all sides of the story.

I can certainly relate with everything he said. I have vivid memories of classroom discussions in my days under Jesuit instruction that drew from each one of us what we were thinking, rather than what we were perceiving, without necessarily being constrained by any perspective. Opposing opinions were welcome because it was part of refining our understanding of the subject and the lines that mark the difference between Church teaching and what the world teaches.

In a sense, academic freedom applies to the present debates about the RH Bill. But in a bigger sense, it does not. Let me tell you why.

Did the Catholic Church "Suddenly" Embrace Condoms?

Pope Benedict XVI said something about condoms that has been taken totally out of context in many articles, including the column from esteemed William Esposo in Philippine Star today.

The 1st sentence of his 3rd paragraph says,

"... Pope Benedict XVI had reversed the position of the Catholic Church on the use of condoms and said that condom use is allowed if it is to protect life?" ("Beware the God of the Old Testament", As I Wreck This Chair, The Philippine Star, Aug 19, 2012)

First of all, the Pope's statement was made SPECIFICALLY in the context of AIDS and it was a personal remark, not a statement made ex-Cathedra. Certainly, it did not mean that the Catholic Church is employing the use of condoms in its work against AIDS. Neither did it mean that the Catholic Church is now endorsing the use of condoms for everything else.

That is clear to everyone except to those who want to use the Pope's statement to grab the remotest moral justification for their stance on the RH Bill.

The RH Bill: Aren't we shooting ourselves in the Foot?

The debates about the RH Bill in the Philippines do not sound nice. Just look at the web pages and the posts in social media. Catholics have even pitted themselves against Catholics. That stumps me right there. If opposing sides in the debate become a few notches more passionate about their positions, the picture won't be pretty. I believe God Himself won't allow it.

Anti-RH Rally Amidst Rains. Image from Inquirer.net

I'm clearly with the position of the Catholic bishops and priests about the RH Bill. The moral, ethical and scientific aspects of this bill have been debated left and right.

But let me just share with you my own thoughts about the matter.