Church Should Back Off In R.H. Bill Controversy

                Lately, the Reproductive Health Bill controversy continues to heat up as more and more different ethical issues about different arguments that are connected to the R.H. Bill surfaces. Lately, even issues about same sex marriage are being brought up once again. Not only that, even issues about couples marrying in an unusual and unorthodox fashion is being attacked just for wanting a different form of wedding.

                The only reason why most of these issues are so complicated and so controversial is because of the persistent clinging of the church to old and obsolete traditions. They keep imposing their rule into this country; believing that they govern it. They also believe that they are the only religion in this country or at least they are the ones who are on top. The problem here is that they are not the only religion in this country. Our multi-cultural country is so diverse that I don’t think that the church should have that much of a say when it comes to the R.H. Bill.

Actually, just last April, It was all over the internet and press release and news programs announcing it that Iglesia ni Cristo or INC has expressed their congregation’s full support for the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill alongside with the Philippine president’s (Noynoy Aquino’s) stand. In fact, Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo said the bill needs to be passed as it is the “moral imperative” of every parent to guide their children and make sure they have food, shelter, clothing, and proper education.

Obviously, the Catholic Church has no right to counter the decision of Iglesia ni Cristo. Neither does Iglesia ni Cristo have the right to counter the decision of the Catholic Church. My point here in this argument is that the Catholic Church is not the only one who is a part of this decision and they should stop being so dominating about it.

It would actually be much simpler if this decision was simply made through the vote of each and every individual in this country instead of letting different organizations choose a side regarding the topic. That is because most of the decisions made by organizations are based on the choice of usually one individual, namely, the leader. Most of the time, decisions made by churches or any large organizations result in the group think because of the decision of the leader and the culture of the organization that it actually fails in the recognition of the values of each individual.

Undermining the decision of each individual and making organizations make the decisions for the individuals actually undermines the entire purpose of the Reproductive Health Bill because the R.H. Bill, in essence, is a choice given to each individual on how to live his/her life. I guess that even a democratic country isn’t really democratic because in the end, it’s not the people who owns the final say about this argument; it’s actually the organizations who hold the final decision in these controversies.