The Philippine RH Bill

[Fidei]

To sum it all up, the Philippine RH bill implements the unlimited access to methods and information concerning birth control to address the growing population of the country. The Catholic Church in the Philippines however is an opponent of this law.

I spoke with a friend who is pro-RH bill who says, “rather than protesting against it, the church should instead teach its members to abstain from what is morally wrong to prevent widespread immorality”.

I may sound hypocritical, but i see my friend’s point. Instead of protesting against this bill, the church should counter this bill within her members and give them the moral principles to prepare them if ever they fall into temptation.

What are you’re thoughts on this? are the Bishops of the Philippines overly being activists?
any biblical advice would go a long way.

 

[mencle]

I am a Filipino and a roman catholic!
THIS IS A BIG ISSUE IN OUR COUNTRY! I know that philippine goverment is pro on this bill!!! I went to church early in the morning for mass then the homily of the priest is concerning about the RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD BILL(rh bill)first he talked about the reasons of the goverment why this bill should approve!these are the two thing that bind in my mind from his homily!

1.controlling the population-he said that ‘there is no problem in the population because God
can feed the hunger by his power…HE IS POWERFUL
2.morality-he said if this bill will approve the filipino people will have a low moral because
sexual act is concerned on this bill,and then he gave an example "if you have a son or daughter and this bill is approve how do you know if she’s pregnant or having a sexual activity to somebody if she/he used contraceptives and he/she will only thirst in the flesh because of this bill’ …WHERE IS THE MORALITY

 

[Wowbagger]

I may sound hypocritical, but i see my friend’s point. Instead of protesting against this bill, the church should counter this bill within her members and give them the moral principles to prepare them if ever they fall into temptation.

What are you’re thoughts on this? are the Bishops of the Philippines overly being activists?
any biblical advice would go a long way.

It is the responsibility of the Church to do both. Christ demands that the members of the Church instill within themselves moral principles and fortitude so that they do not do evil, even if even laws help them. Christ also demands that the members of the Church seek to create a good society, a “city of God,” in which the laws of the society reflect the laws of human nature. This bill will injure a great many people both inside and outside the Church; the Church is called to love all its neighbors, and so it cannot, in good conscience, remain silent and allow that evil to befall so many people.

 

[honestquestions]

It is the responsibility of the Church to do both. Christ demands that the members of the Church instill within themselves moral principles and fortitude so that they do not do evil, even if even laws help them. Christ also demands that the members of the Church seek to create a good society, a “city of God,” in which the laws of the society reflect the laws of human nature. This bill will injure a great many people both inside and outside the Church; the Church is called to love all its neighbors, and so it cannot, in good conscience, remain silent and allow that evil to befall so many people.

Millions have died in Africa when they could not use condoms. I’m not entire sure of what Catholics believe in regards to contraception…? I mean, what you can only have sex three times in your life which might product your wanted max of three children, and that’s it?

 

[ConstantineTG]

To sum it all up, the Philippine RH bill implements the unlimited access to methods and information concerning birth control to address the growing population of the country. The Catholic Church in the Philippines however is an opponent of this law.

I spoke with a friend who is pro-RH bill who says, “rather than protesting against it, the church should instead teach its members to abstain from what is morally wrong to prevent widespread immorality”.

I may sound hypocritical, but i see my friend’s point. Instead of protesting against this bill, the church should counter this bill within her members and give them the moral principles to prepare them if ever they fall into temptation.

What are you’re thoughts on this? are the Bishops of the Philippines overly being activists?
any biblical advice would go a long way.

Why does it have to be either/or? Can’t it be both? The Church is already saying that contraception is wrong. Of course the pharmaceutical companies can easily outspend the Church and convince people to buy their products. For example here in Canada there’s constant radio and TV and print and web ads by Trojan promoting the “pleasure of sex” and the use of their condoms. Of course they don’t really care about anyone else, they just want to sell condoms. Can the Church realistically match such an ad campaign? They can do so from the pulpit but what about those who do not go to church? The only message they will get are from the phrama industry.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Millions have died in Africa when they could not use condoms. I’m not entire sure of what Catholics believe in regards to contraception…? I mean, what you can only have sex three times in your life which might product your wanted max of three children, and that’s it?

Are condoms really proven to stop AIDS? The failure rates for condoms are based on successful conceptions when using condoms. Given that women are only fertile about 2-5 days in any given month, any other time a condom breaks it would not have been deemed a failure because conception still wouldn’t have taken place. But AIDS doesn’t care about time of month, once fluids are exchanged, AIDS is given as well.

Can you tell my why in the US it is estimated that 40% of the teenage-adult population has genital herpes? If condoms are so successful in preventing diseases, why is there still a spread of this disease?

 

[honestquestions]

Can you tell my why in the US it is estimated that 40% of the teenage-adult population has genital herpes? If condoms are so successful in preventing diseases, why is there still a spread of this disease?

Please quote that source.

"Of the 12 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that occur each year, 3 million (or 25 percent) are among teenagers. About 13 percent of youth ages 13 to 19 contract an STD each year." (bhg.com/health-family/parenting-skills/teen-challenges/stds-teens-a-reality-check/ 13% is for all STDs. Herpes by itself is lower.

"Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). It causes herpes sores in the genital area and is transmitted through vaginal, oral, or anal sex, especially from unprotected sex when infected skin touches the vaginal, oral, or anal area. Condoms offer the best protection against other STDs and STIs as well. The herpes virus does not pass through latex condoms."

You seem to be unfamiliar with using a condom…

"Breakage is not the primary cause of condom failure; in fact, many studies say that the breakage rate for condoms is 2% at most. The main problem instead is how consistently and correctly people use condoms. Most unwanted pregnancies stemming from condom failure are due to people either not using condoms every single time and/or not using them correctly."

“Claims that latex condoms allow HIV to pass through are unfounded. The pores of latex condoms are too small to allow HIV to pass through. Condoms have been shown to be effective barriers not only to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but also to herpes simplex, CMV, hepatitis B, chlamydia and gonorrhea.”

 

[thistle]

Most of the Government and Opposition politicians who are proponents of the Bill are Catholic and are known. The Church should publicly declare them excommunicated.

 

[Willy_Jose]

The opposition of the Catholic Church (yes, that’s what the Philippine bishops stand for) is not just about the Catholic Faith. Many pro-Rh bill accuse us of “imposing” our Catholic beliefs by opposing the bill. Not so.The bill also coerces in that it forces cooperation in evil by mandating forced referrals. It mandates secular sex education in all schools, Catholic or otherwise. It penalizes free speech. It penalizes Catholic religious expression. It violates the Phil constitutional guarantee of “protection of the unborn from the moment of conception”. Any conscientious citizen should rightfully oppose this fascist bill, Catholic or otherwise.

 

[smithm29]

Millions have died in Africa when they could not use condoms. I’m not entire sure of what Catholics believe in regards to contraception…? I mean, what you can only have sex three times in your life which might product your wanted max of three children, and that’s it?

Millions have died in Africa because they had promiscuous sex. If you have sex with one person and one person only, then you are not likely to die of AIDS or any other STD. The teaching of the Church related to sex and artificial birth control is easily accessible to anyone who actually wants to learn it.

Related to the OP, I will pray for the Filipino bishops today at mass. Their courage in the face of popular opinion on birth control is encouraging.