Tumbled up

Rep. Emmeline Aglipay of party list Diwa was quoted by a feminist columnist of a national daily declaring in Congress “Let reason  guide our faith” during the debate in her support for the RH bill. The statement looks smart enough but I think the young lady has her principle tumbled up, upside down.

We should let “our faith guide our reason” not the other way around. Reason can be faulty and in fact there is no need for faith if we just make reason our guide. Faith is beyond reason, in fact faith is defined as “unquestioning belief” and a “complete reliance, trust, confidence” on a person or thing or thought.” It is belief in what we cannot see and understand, as faith in God or the after-life and what kind of life awaits us if we believe that we have life after death.

Faith is beyond reason and those who try to find reason in everything will never have faith even in their parents or their husbands. In fact our very existence and sanity demands faith in something otherwise everything is suspicious and we become psychotic or paranoid.

Msgr. Eduardo Gumboc gave me a book, “Rediscovering Catholicism” by Matthew Kelly (2020) and there is a passage which is appropriate for the mentality of Rep. Aglipay and her kind who want reason to guide their lives. This passage says “Action without prayer is useless.” Prayer is founded on faith because it admits the existence of the Divine to which we submit our wills. Those who think that our faith must be guided by reason rather than the other way around cannot be truly persons of faith.

This mentality of reason guiding faith is the fundamental defect of the RH proponents because they think that they can segregate human life from the Giver of life and thus they think they can tinker with human life as they reason about the supremacy of population control, health care, AIDS, sexual liberties, freedom to choose without the corresponding responsibility, short cuts and fast food religion.

Now I need not wonder about the adamant attitude of the likes of Rep. Janet Garin to receive Holy Communion despite their actions that defy the doctrine of the Church she declares she belongs to. She wants to get the benefits of the Church, like showing to a crowd her religiosity but does not comply with her obligation and discipline as member of the Church. The faith of the RH proponents is dictated by, and subordinate to their reason. Is this not a kind of hypocrisy? 

Take the attempt to mislead by this feminist. She said there is a provision for conscientious objector to the RH bill. Indeed there is, but let us examine this provision. While one cannot be compelled to perform say, abortion for a woman wanting it, the proposed law mandates that the objector must direct the woman to another person who will perform the abortion, otherwise the objector gets penalized just the same for not doing the abortion. So what freedom for conscientious objector are they talking about?

The feminist also say, if one does not want to perform what is contrary to his or her conscience, he or she should not be there serving the public. Can you beat this reasoning? It is like the common plaint, “if you do not like your rice half-cooked, then cook the rice yourself.” This mentality puts the health workers in a bind – violate your conscience or get out – and they call this freedom of conscience. This also takes the form of religious discrimination. As one street smart said “if these women do not like to be raped they should be men.” That statement, of course, is sexist but there is a perception that women, by dressing in scanty clothes and short-shorts, also invite attention and a suspicion among men that these women are out for a ride. So, following her logic, women should dress properly to be treated properly.

The right to choose is basic in freedom but that choice must be reasonable and does not violate what is natural and right. If we remember last Sunday’s gospel God gave the first man and woman the freedom to choose but He also provided a parameter for the exercise of choice and when they made a wrong choice because they fell into the temptation of Satan and ate the forbidden fruit, by selecting that which was prohibited then they have to suffer the consequence of that bad choice. We are free to choose, but faith and reason combined must guide our choice of what is right.*

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