Category: Religion

RH Bill debate: PacMAN not KO’d by LagMAN but beaten on points

May 19, 2011May 19, 2011 benign0 11 Comments

Unfortunately, the much-promoted “debate” between boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman — billed “PacMAN vs LagMAN” — aired on ABS-CBN’s Harapan (literally “face-off”) was inaccessible from Australia. But it does not really take a genius to imagine how such a spectacle might have transpired. Blogger Joe America in a recent comment…

Culture, Development, Education, Media, Religion

Philippine-style religion equals Philippine-style poverty

May 18, 2011May 18, 2011 benign0 13 Comments

Over at ProPinoy.net, blogger Doy Santos presents a comprehensive statistical picture of religious fervor in the Philippines. According to Santos’s figures the Philippines counts itself among the Top Ten countries with populations that have the highest rated “confidence in their church”. This Top Ten is predominantly Islamic. Tanzania is reckoned to be 50-50 Christian/Islamic and,…

Culture, Development, Religion, Society

Manny Pacquiao violates God’s Laws while preaching against Philippine Reproductive Health

May 17, 2011May 17, 2011 benign0 29 Comments

A short time ago, I recall how the sport of boxing was described by no less than Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel, South Cotabato in the Philippines as “un-Christian” and that when one boxes with a person he may as well be “boxing the Holy Spirit.” Bizarre as this analogy may be, that is a…

Development, Religion

Will Filipino voters reward politicians who support the Reproductive Health Bill?

May 16, 2011 benign0 5 Comments

We are seeing interesting times today as it seems like roles have been reversed for the first time in the last several decades. The Philippine Roman Catholic Church descended into a very public tantrum following hints from President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III that calls for a boycott on paying taxes made by some Church officials…

Culture, Development, Politics, Religion

Philippine Reproductive Health: a circus turning into a soap opera

May 15, 2011May 16, 2011 benign0 12 Comments

Everyone loves a drama and everyone loves the martyr in said drama. That is if by “everyone” we mean Filipinos — a people renowned for their addiction to the telenovelas and teleserye that proliferate in mainstream media. As such it is not surprising that our “noble” men-in-robes now play the victim card in the on-going…

Development, Religion

The Church’s flaccid ‘all-out war’ against Philippine Reproductive Health

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011 benign0 5 Comments

The Church of nowadays is doing what it does best, pointing a finger at the “Infidel” and launching a crusade against it. In this case the Infidel is President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his MalacaÃ±ang and the “crusade” is a step up of its “all-out war” against the Reproductive Health Bill currently being pushed…

Culture, Development, Religion, Society

Should the US share photos of a dead Osama Bin Laden with the public?

May 5, 2011May 5, 2011 benign0 12 Comments

On the 11th September 2001 Americans lost 5,000 of their civilian compatriots and saw symbols of their way of life come crashing down. The need to hold up (at best) evidence of or (at worst) a trophy signifying triumph over an enemy that they’ve been hunting down for almost ten years is not only understandable….

Civics, Crime, Government, Religion, Society

The funny way Filipinos talk about sex

April 30, 2011October 5, 2015 benign0 5 Comments

Do Filipinos like talking about sex? Answering that question is a journey in itself, and the journey begins with a concept I coined a while back — the Filipino’s tradition-religion complex. The tradition-religion complex represents a narrow framework in which a person finds moral clarity. In the case of the Filipino, it encompasses a small…

Culture, Education, Lifestyle, Religion, Society