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 statement issued to the public by a senior officer of the Philippine Roman Catholic Church.
But see, the plot thickens (or the Church’s position turns even more moronic). We will note for the record that the Philippines’ top boxing champ of the moment, Manny Pacquiao observes a “customary thanksgiving Mass”, after every bout presumably. Well, maybe actually as the latest of these “thanksgiving” masses, which was held at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene [de Cacao] last Saturday (15th May), was reportedly billed “a Mass of thanksgiving for his victory over Sugar Shane Mosley last week.” Quite categorical that report is. Quite ironic too (another one of those that simply fly over vacuous heads).
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Firstly, I wonder if parish priest Msgr. Clemente Ignacio got Bishop Gutierrez’s memo about boxing being an “un-Christian” sport. Perhaps, too, Pacquiao hadn’t received it either considering that he was quick to describe the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill currently being debated in Philippine Congress as one that represents a “disobedience to God’s laws.”
Holy shot in the foot Batman!
Check the most recent legislation on “God’s laws”, champ, as it seems that you too are now in violation of it.
The on-going telenovela that is the plight of the RH Bill, the Philippines’ only hope for getting onto a clear path into the modern era, is certainly shaping into a seminal mind battle (intellectual on one side, primitivist on the other, hardly a meeting of minds, to be fair) that is progressively revealing the astoundingly inbred nature of how the nation’s Catholic honchos think. Indeed, that report on Pacquiao’s “thanksgiving Mass” in Quiapo was really about how that Church “service” had been turned into a “mini protest rally” against the RH Bill. It was, it seems, a pre-meditated intention to do so as man-priest Ignacio himself “criticized the RH bill and urged Pacquiao not to support it and stick to his stand opposing it in Congress” in his “homily.”
New lows are being plumbed everyday by the increasingly desperate and rabid Philippine Roman Catholic Church, folks.
Like a dog with a bone, the Catholic “bishops” simply will not let up as they are convinced that they are right and all else and everyone who is pro-RH Bill is wrong. It is a hardline cultish stance that is evident in the following response prompted by a call from Malacanang for sobriety the other day after a number of Catholic “prelates” descended into a very public temper tantrum of biblical proportions…
“The Church has been calm on the issue but they have provoked us,” said Arguelles over the Church-run Radio Veritas on Monday.
The prelate cited President Aquino’s warning to pro-life groups that tax boycotts and other forms of civil disobedience were seditious and could result in the filing of criminal charges against them.
“Will you be calm if you are held at gunpoint?” said Arguelles, reacting to calls of Malacañang for the Church to calm down amid the growing tension over the legislative measure that would espouse the use of artificial birth control methods among Filipino couples.
How does one argue with characters such as these?
Simple. You don’t.
To the religious, religion is simply a no-go-zone when it comes to intellectual inquiry and secular debate. Religious dogma is non-negotiable, a non-issue, and humanity’s first principle of first principles. The Alpha and the Omega of philosophical discourse. To the Catholic zealot, the words “thou shalt not question Catholic dogma” will most likely be found inscribed indelibly on the final elemental particle humanity is yet to discover long after the Large Hardon Hadron Collider is retired from service.
Yet think of what the world might look like today if no one had courageously stood up to the mighty and formerly fearsome Roman Catholic Church. We’d most likely still be in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition today. Indeed, King Philip II of Spain, God’s Inquisitor-in-Chief, after whom the Philippines is named will have been the Prophet himself. The man who wielded God’s sword to triumphantly secure his Word within the pointed minds of all wretched sentient creatures who roam His earthly domain.
That we could even think of such an appalling scenario with a chuckle today is something we owe to the triumph of the secular and scientific mind — a mind that is free from imprisonment by a belief system that refuses to subject itself to critical evaluation.
As the modern-day prophet John Lennon once sang (my boldface for emphasis)…
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for todayImagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peaceYou may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as oneImagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the worldYou may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
…with a nod from Yours Truly to the venerable Conrado de Quiros who in his Inquirer.net article “Imagine” gave a toast to international artist Lea Salonga’s timely rendition of this brilliantly timeless work of poetry.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
One bishop’s opinion does not represent all Catholics sentiments. Don’t generalize.
Of course. But then the character of a leader tends to reflect that of the people they lead.
Why not? The leadership of the Catholic Church has said, “This is what the proper Catholic position is.” Thus if you’re a proper Catholic, that is what your position is.
Ironic as it may sound, I can actually respect declared Catholics who faithfully stick to the Church position, however ludicrous I might personally think that position is. At least they’re consistent.
Trouble is, one robed man tells you boxing is bad and then another robed man exploits your celebrity (gained from boxing) to spread anti-Choice messages.
it’s all about donations anyway. Even Vatican is swayed when large sums pass over the altar “to be offered to God”.
How else did the Roman Catholic church allow the colonization and virtual murder of ethnic groups, pillaging of gold and natural resources during the Colonial times?
The roman catholic was so merciful that they gave eternal slumber to those who opposed them in the name of God, Glory and Gold. Yeah right.
If citizens of societies grasp the message of what John Lennon inscribed in the song IMAGINE, life will be better for most of us and for future generations.
“Remove all artificial boundaries that separates people” – Jacque Fresco
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/pacman-jinkee-contradict-other-contraceptives-170107678.html
Pacman may be against the RH bill, but he seems to be getting it on alot with his wife, Jinkee on contraceptives. How can you be against something you frequently use?
…Pacquiao may be a boxing champ, but in the arena of politics he’s just another chump…Hypocrite
It’s not “Hardon Collider” but Hadron Collider. LOL!
Lol!!! Let me correct that in a minute… 😀
Hadron Collider is a high energy particle accelerator…it is located in a research facility in Switzerland. It is producing anti-matter…for possible fuel…or as an alternative source of energy. If you combine anti-matter, with matter…there will be explosion. The present problem, faced by Physicist, is: how do they contain the explosion, and convert it to energy, like the internal combustion engine of your car…
This is where modern Physicist are working now…But, I’m more attuned to the Element 156, a synthetic element produced cheaply, as an alternative source of fuel-energy…
I hope, I answered your inquisitiveness…Science is more exciting than useless politics…
ahahahah, good old Hardon.
Rep. PacMan is coming across to me as a dumb jock, or puppet, one or the other, who says one thing whilst his wife as the advantage of affording and having the availability of the pill. He lacks intellectual credibility.
The Catholic Church is a relic, a bunch of old men who mutter one thing about chastity and abstinence out of one side of their mouths whilst chasing choir boys and promulgating civil disobedience out of the other. If ever a church took the low road, the Philippine Catholic Church has found one lower.
I heard that Pacman’s wife is prettier now more than ever due to plastic surgery…hmmm…what does that say about their spirituality? 😉
Since she got prettier, they probably do more boom boom in the room room. I’m pretty sure the wife doesn’t want anymore pain associated with child birth.
What they do in their own bedroom is not our business just like what others do in their own bedrooms is none of their business.
“What they do in their own bedroom is not our business just like what others do in their own bedrooms is none of their business.”
Zing! Your carving knife is sharp tonight. I agree. Let the Church teach and kindly stay out of my bedroom and my wife’s medicine cabinet.
You are lucky you have a bedroom and your wife has a medicine cabinet. Most squatters don’t even have those. About 10,000 Filipinos live among the dead in a graveyard in Manila but are able to find a way to multiply.
He IS a dumb but rich jock!
Maybe he just needs to focus on what he does best — boxing. Thing with champion boxers like Pacquiao is that they have an entire entourage of handlers to do his thinking for him. His thought faculties as a pro athlete have been drilled and drilled and drilled for years to focus on winning boxing matches. If he really wants to be a politician, he needs to have a serious think of how he might want to re-structure his life around it.
John Lennon’s song seems prophetic…Religion has caused us: wars; tortures; murders; inquisitions; suicide bombings; invasions; religious persecutions; etc…it is very hard to realign the thinking of people, who are fanatical of their dogmas and religions…they will die and kill for what they believe…Look at the Islamic Radical Fundamentalists…they produce: jihadists, suicide bombers, etc…like their Christian Fundamentalists also that produced: Knight Templars; Crusaders; Inquisitors-Torturers, Stake Burning Criminals, etc…
Pacquiao belief in offering Mass, after beating the Hell out of his Boxing opponent, is his business. He has gotten rich, from his Boxing Craft. Anyway, he is contributing to the Roman Catholic Church…So, don’t complain, Priest…
Now many people died in the name of religion? What about science? How many people died in the name of science? Atomic Bomb which killed millions of people, MKULTRA where the CIA used live subjects in the name of science, tracing back the history of how western medicine was made it’s clearly shown millions of people died in the name of science. You say many people died in the name of religion? Well even more so in science. Without values, your science is nothing but an idea created out of your mind just like saying that “God†is only in our minds.
Deaths in science are more about war, conquest and new methods to kill.
Deaths in religion on the other hand is illogical and senseless. Oh c’mon!
Witch-hunting? Crusades? Jihad? Religious cults doing mass suicides for a comet?
Oh yeah, so it justifies the case then?
I do think Science and Religion can work together(and it did more times than not). In reality what makes it NOT TO WORK TOGETHER are FALSE religions and at times WORLD-VIEW BASED Science.(not the empirical and objective type)
Japan initiated a war; on the belief, that Emperor Hirohito, was a living God…The Japanese Imperialists; believed they will never lose a war, because their Living God is commanding them to fight wars…
Science opens the minds of people…It has done more good than religions…We advanced in our civilization, thru advances in Science and Technology.
I am not against Religion…I am a practicing Christian/FreeThinker…Religion is good for our Spiritual Development…it is also a tool to know and reach our Divine Source. However, if you use religion; as a means to the leader’s end. Then, this is where the problem starts. You produce: religious con people, who steals money from their followers; you produce followers, who follow their leaders, like sheeps; you have suicide bombers; people killing and hating other people, because they are non-believers; etc…
let me correct a little, they followed the Emperor because he IS the Emperor, his commands are what you have to follow and as a country with samurai culture it is dishonorable not to follow your superior. Anyway, they attacked because they were provoked by America by embargoing, Which caused Japan’s resources to get scarce. Most americans are against the idea of them joining the war in Europe so they made a move to force Japan to attack. Funny that they also forced Japan to open for trade. just a little fun fact!
Emperor Hirohito of Japan was looked upon his people as a “Living God”. This was one of the conditions, required by the Allies in the unconditional surrender of Japan: to remove his “Divine Ruler” status. Yet, they allowed him to remain in his throne. The allies were concerned that Japan will turn communist. Please consult your World War II Pacific War History Books, written by good authors…When Emperor Hirohito announced to his people, Japan’s unconditional surrender. It was the first time the Japanese people heard his voice…
I always did believe that Manny Pacquiao has no right to become a politician. Not only that he does not have the time to do his official duties because he is still accepting boxing offers, he is also someone who does not have an independent stand on any important issues. He is easily swayed by other people (remember the golden boy debacle and the illigitimate child).
Let him stand by his beliefs. Let the good bishop stick to his conviction.Everybody has the right and the option to say his piece. I subscribe to the Magisterium of the Church. But I will not base my stand on the RH on that. I am more inclined to believe on the non-safety of the contraceptive instruments, the ease and uncontrolled availment of them, the use of taxpayers’ money without representation and the redundant provisions of many laws on the subject. I believe these are more valid temporal issues which need temporal explanations.
Well said but this RH law issue is a “national issue” and sometimes the opinions of these “influential” people does have an effect on how the masses(in whole or in part) look upon it. I do understand your point and I do hope that we people use our brains to look on an issue and not to be too much influenced by mere opinions.
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