It's All About Sex!

LET'S GO TO the main contentious, yet often side-stepped, issue on the Reproductive Health/ Responsible Parenthood Bill…. SEX.

       Really now, behind the discourse that spans the length of arguments  – from theology, science, human rights, governance, morals, to what have you -- the RH bill is really about sex…  plain and simple SEX.  And two camps are separated by the great divide – those who believe that sex should be and can  be treated responsibly, and those who believe that people will often act irresponsibly when it comes to sex and we can’t do anything about it, thus the need for this law to guide us in moderating its negative consequences on our lives.

       I hate dipping my fingers into the current debate as my arguments would just be as open-ended as the rest.  But obligations set by faith and church require that I take a stand, and not just fence-sit.   I take a stand to proclaim that beyond who I am and what others may perceive me to be, I am foremost a Christian, a Catholic, and my immense love for my God is the reason I follow His teachings and stand by Him. 

       How I dread the day when I have to face my God and be asked:  You say that you are my follower, but what have you done in my name?  And I would stare at Him, dumbfounded as to how difficult can an answer be to such a simple question.  Slowly, a profound sadness and loneliness would envelop me because deep within I know the real answer.

        I am totally against the RH/PH Bill for the most basic and simplest reason that it wants us to accept, nay instill into our heart and mind, that we humans are not capable of being responsible when it comes to sex.  That we are simply too weak when we hear the call of the flesh.  That we are no better than animals when the heat of passion, or is it lust, becomes unbearable.  Arguably, I don’t see a marked difference between dogs in heat doing it in the streets, and a couple not married to each other doing it in some sleazy motel.

       To some extent, we are even being portrayed as worse than some animals that can be more responsible when it comes to sex and having sexual partners.  I feel quite sorry comparing animals to humans because animals can behave more humanly than most humans will ever do in their lifetime.  For one, pets are easily forgiving of their masters’ transgressions.  They have such poor memories, indeed to better forgive.  Pigs will defecate at the same corner of their pen, far from where they’d eat, while I know of people who’d muck-rake and mud-sling for their own interests with nary a bother where the stench flies.

      God, having created us in His own image, wants us to come to terms with who and what we really are.  He wants us to rise above what we have come to see and accept of ourselves, not just mere mortals, but His creation, His children, a cut high above the rest.  He wants us be more respectful of ourselves for that.  And since He looks at us that way, He wants us to realize that we do not need a law that will tell us to the contrary, that “since you cannot control your weakness in succumbing to the ways of animals, then this is what you ought to do.”   God does not give us a choice to act like animals, nor does He want us to choose whether to act like humans.  Rather, God requires us to act like humans – of His likeness – because that is who we are.

       I fully agree with statistics that 11 women, everyday and in our country, die due to childbirth-related reasons.  I agree that poverty lurks in every corner of our country.  I agree that domestic violence does happen.  I agree that teen pregnancies do occur.  I agree that having too many children does compound  the poor’s continuing drudgery.  I agree that promiscuity seems to be the norm nowadays, thanks but no thanks to Western culture that has been forced down our throats by media and showbiz culture.

       But do these reasons really justify the passage of the RH/RP Bill into law?

       I believe government can have the capacity to provide proper health services so that childbirth-related deaths, as well as all other deaths due to other cases, are lessened, if not prevented altogether.  I believe that a more aggressive campaign to bring the benefits of our economic programs down to the poorest of the poor will address poverty.  I believe that ensuring effective implementation of laws that address violence against women and children will prevent cases of domestic abuses from escalating.  I believe that empowerment through jobs and just wages will ease the poor’s load.  I believe that the unbridled influx of Western culture that project pre-marital and extra-marital sex as normal behavior in this modern day and age must be contained.  Tell me of any provision in the RH/RP Bill, and I’ll tell you of a government policy, program, project, or an activity that already addresses it.  Hence, do we really require an encompassing law for all these which, if viewed in a larger perspective, pricks our sensibilities and undermines our integrity as a people of faith?

       And finally, and most importantly, I believe that we have the capacity to revisit our views about responsible sex, especially in the context in which it should only be allowed – in marriage.   And this is where our church should come in.  It should gather all its forces and resources, review and revise its advocacies and strategies, launch full-scale evangelism, promote natural family planning as aggressively as the private sector would its pro-choice campaigns, and be clear on its position on relevant crucial social issues that impact the least of our brethren if only for the flock to realize that the church indeed means business.

       It is not just social, political, economic, cultural, or moral debate that's going on, it is a spiritual battle happening before us; hence the need for our resoluteness to stand firm by the side of God.

       Scrap the RH/RP Bill Now!