One of the many annoying things the church, and even politicians, like to do when they are being defensive is quote the bible. Whether it’s because they feel guilty or they need to advertise the “Word of God”, they never fail to quote the exact same thing over and over again.
This is something that the church does especially when the argument strays to the topic of Reproductive Health Bill in the Philippines. It is always about how “God” commanded us to go fort and multiply and that we are obliged to follow an old book written by who-knows. The controversy here is whether we should still apply millennium-old teachings. We have grown to the point where discovery is prevalent and the excuse of using god as an explanation no longer applies. So is it really loyalty that binds us to our faith or is it simply ignorance and greed?
We examine the favorite Bible verse of the anti-RH Bill advocates. I refer to Genesis 1:28 which reads as follows: “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” I caught at least two Roman Catholic (RC) bishops citing the verse to bolster their anti-RH Bill position and perhaps to make it look like God is on their side on the controversy. In quoting the verse in the context of the RH Bill, these clergymen are merely exposing their inability to properly understand that particular verse. Either that or they are knowingly twisting the Word of God to suit their purposes which is even worse.
As far as this country is concerned, the answer to the question whether or not that particular divine command still holds can be found in the later part of Genesis 1:28 which, remarkably, the RC clergy leave out when they cite the verse: “fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” This has already been accomplished in this country. The earth and the wildlife in this country have already been subdued for quite some time. Consider the denuded mountains, the dry or dead rivers, the numerous species of flora and fauna which have already become extinct and are becoming extinct due to the improvident activities and sheer number of Filipinos. Our resources could hardly sustain the present population, so how much more when all the babies the RC clergy and their blind followers want to be born join us?
Maybe it is impossible to fully let go of such an old religion because it has been incorporated in our culture for such a long time and irrationality will always take over when we are overwhelmed by life but I believe that is possible to actually make some changes in our beliefs. True, such a thing may be difficult and almost impossible but what a better world this would be if we all based our beliefs in rationality instead of religion.
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