It's a few days into the new year, and we're still getting used to writing 2014 instead of 2013. But let me suggest some new year's resolution for us Catholics, that we may grow 'in wisdom and stature' just like the child Jesus. May we light this new year with the light of Christ, to illumine the path in these days of darkness. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." (Mt. 5:16) 1. I will go to the Holy Mass and participate more devoutly. This means I will ask everyone in my family to wear their Sunday Best for Sunday Mass. This means I will pay more attention to the homily, and let the priest know if his homily was good. This means I will discipline my younger children bear the rigors of silence, listening, and prayer - and not give them my iPad to play whenever they get bored. This means I will be more conscious of the real presence of the Lord in Holy Communion, and lining up for it in a prayer-like attitude.
Someone did not get the memo on proper attire for Mass.
2. I will go to confession more often. This means I take time out to reflect on the wrong I have done and the good I have failed to do more often.
3. I will take time to nourish my soul with spiritual reading, like the Bible for starters. The Lives of the Saints, too. The Imitation of Christ. There are lots of spiritual books written by brilliant Catholic writers out there, and I will prefer them over wishy-washy self-help books from protestants and new agers.
Rome Sweet Home, written by former protestants Scott and Kimberly Hahn, is a must read for all Catholics,
4. I will use my common sense and not believe everything I see or hear on the internet, like that time when the Pope supposedly called for a Third Vatican Council, or that time when he allegedly abolished sin. It's one thing to have stupid articles in the internet, it's another to get swayed by them and believe in them.
Yeah, right.
5. I will expand my knowledge about the Catholic faith by attending seminars, fora, formation talks, retreats, and recollections that are being offered to us.
A seminar on the mass media and sex education offered by Pro-Life Philippines
6. I will sanctify my Facebook by posting articles, comments, statuses, videos, and pictures that lead my fellow Catholics closer to God, and bring them to a deeper understanding of our faith.
7. I will defend sanctity of life in all its stages, marriage between one man and one woman, and the family as the foundation of our society. I will educate myself about the latest trends on the culture of death that threatens to destroy these three things we value, and will actively participate in their defense, whether through prayer, online posts and tweets, taking to the streets, or some other acceptable form of protest.
8. I will take time to study at least basic apologetics and on how to answer Catholic FAQs, like "do Catholics worship images?' or "Do Catholics worship Mary?" and the like.
9. I will do a better job teaching the faith to my children. They will learn the love of God from my own personal relationship with Jesus, and the love of neighbor through the love I have for my spouse.
Don Bosco teaching young boys catechism, as well as their craft for their work.
10. I will go against the grain and run counter to the TV and selfie culture that we have as a society, and will teach my children to enjoy their childhood the old-fashioned way - through play, interaction, and fun learning experiences.
The usual excuse for allowing the government to distribute contraceptives is for the "quality of life" of women, especially the poor. It always has to be for the poor; it's either they won't admit that they also want to benefit from free contraceptives paid for by our taxes, or they're intellectually dishonest (or foolish) to think that contraceptives would really help the poor. I don't know about you, but I have yet to see someone become a millionaire from drinking all those pills.
We're so poor our mommies need pills! - said no poor, hungry kid, ever
So aside from the fact that contraception for the poor does not alleviate poverty, what harm does it do? Isn't this a personal decision that should be made by the woman?
There is a difference between letting women decided for themselves whether they want contraceptives or not, and crafting a law that "offers freedom" to women who want to use contraceptives (as if women were barred from using contraception prior to the RH law).
When women take contraceptives to delay the rearing of children, they form a habit of contraception, and a mentality of not wanting children. Their actions become their habits, and the collective habits of a society whose women practice contraception will lead to a contraceptive culture, and a significant drop in the total fertility rates. Simply put it, any demographer worth his salt knows that a society needs an average of 2.1 babies per woman in order to have a sustainable population. Anything below 2.1 and the population goes down as well. Imagine losing your people to some unknown plague that does kills not immediately, but persists from generation after generation.
Do we really want to follow their example?
Of course, one could always make the excuse that these countries are steeped in progress by this time because of the same birth control program that is being handed to us through the RH law. That excuse is itself problematic, first of all because we don't really know whether the drop in population, as manifested by the drop in their society's total fertility rate, or TFR, did cause their progress or not. Second, would anyone really do anything for progress' sake, solving their economic and social problems by creating more problems? One can argue that we should let progress take its course, and worry about that problem later. I don't know about that, since no country has ever gone from below 2.1 and recovered their population without resorting to immigrants. The country is then slowly choked to death, its people slowly eroding away, replaced by immigrants.
But I am getting ahead of myself. What problems do we create when we fail to create enough children, so to speak? Simplistically speaking, a drop in birth rates will cause dire consequences, especially affecting the workforce and social security, for starters. The video below will expound this further.
Of course, there are other explanations as to why the birth rates and total fertility rates are plummeting down. The documentary "Demographic Winter" offers some answers as to why births are down:
Women working - Simply put it: if both daddy and mommy are working, they both get tired. No energy for baby-making at night after work.
Prosperity - studies show that as countries and individuals become prosperous, they tend to desire less children
The Sexual Revolution - ingrained in men and women the contraceptive mentality. It was no coincidence that the emergence of the pill in 1960 ushered in the sexual revolution.
The Divorce Revolution - if women can't count on their partners being there for them next month, let alone next year, let alone forever - women will naturally not want to have children with their spouse. The risk of divorce decreases the couple's chances of having another child.
Inaccurate Assumptions - like overpopulation causing poverty, and lesser children equating to poverty.
In this postmodern world, it is easy to think that birth control is vogue; sire several children and you will be the target of jokes like "ang sipag ni kumpare ah!" or "konti na lang, may basketball team ka na" Of course, we know that the use of contraceptives is not in any way modern; contraception was used in the past by our ancestors as well. This site tells us how old contraception is.
"The Greeks used Silphium, known commonly as giant fennel. Its pungent sap was good in cough syrups and gave food a rich, distinctive taste. These plants were also known to have contraceptive and abortifacient properties. The plant was honored on a four-drachma Cyrenian coin showing a seated woman touching the plant with one hand while pointing to her genitals with the other hand. The demand for the plant was so great that by the third or fourth centuries, Silphium was extinct. Related plants survived, but were less effective.
The ancient Egyptians also practiced birth control. A medical document from 1500 BC lists substances that it claims 'stops pregnancy.' According to the papyrus, unspecified amounts of acacia gum, dates, and an unidentified plant were mixed with plant fiber and honey and formed into a pessary (vaginal suppository). Modern researchers have found acacias to be spermicidal."
The RH law's existence hangs in the balance, until after the oral arguments on July 9. But with or without the RH law, we will always have to contend with the contraceptive culture, a culture where men, and most crucially, women, don't want babies for all the wrong reasons. And because of this, regardless of what happens after the Supreme Court decides on the fate of RH, we have to continue educating people, especially our youth, to welcome all new life as a blessing, and that we should uphold and protect human life.
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