March 21st, 2008 at 3:20 am (General, International Politics, Religion)
Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden has issued a warning that there will be a “reckoning” as a reaction to the publication of cartoons featuring Mohammad on a Danish newspaper.
March 1st, 2008 at 12:47 am (General, National Politics, Religion)
May 19th, 2006 at 8:31 am (General, National Politics, Media, Religion)
There is a very clear bias in this country.
When a Dutch newspaper intentionally, explicitly, directly and undeniably insulted our Muslim countrymen, the government did nothing to protest. I do not remember even one government official speaking out against it.
But now that the movie “Da Vinci Code” is out, several politicians and government officials have protested against the movie’s showing. The MTRCB even went as far as giving it an R-18 rating even though there was nothing explicitly objectionable in the movie. And the City of Manila has banned it from being shown in their city. They say that the movie insults Christians. Maybe it does but only those Christians who are narrow-minded and whose faith is weak.
Those who oppose to the movie’s theme, in my opinion, are only those whose faith is misguided and not based on knowledge and understanding. If their faith is strong, then a movie can certainly not change anything. In theology class, I was taught that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine. A theory that he had a wife and a child is not contrary to that. A real Christian would not be so easily threatened by it. Real faith may be shakened by the movie’s story. But rather than oppose to it or shun it, it should embrace it, investigate it and dig deeper. After all, the foundation for any faith, in my opinion, should be the truth and nothing else.
Beyond and above all those theories, myths and faith, Da Vinci Code is nothing but a work of fiction. No more, no less. It’s up to the reader or viewer to interpret it. And the state, the government, has certainly no right to censor or ban it. It might be well within the limits of the MTRCB’s powers to rate it as R-18, but I think they have been misguided by the controversy surrounding the movie.
There has certainly been much hullabaloo regarding the movie. But there hasn’t been much, if any regarding the insulting Dutch cartoons. Compared to the cartoons, the movie, I think is inconsequential. It is a work of fiction. Meanwhile, the Dutch cartoons were a political and religious attack. Is it because opposing the movie gives much more media mileage? Or is it because our government simply cares more about Christians more than Muslims?
April 17th, 2006 at 6:57 pm (General, National Politics, Religion)
Last Easter Sunday, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted the death sentence of more than 1,200 inmates. Their victims and the families of the victims were outraged. The inmates rejoiced.
I am outraged. It was an unfair and irrational decision.
On the one hand, I am against the death penalty. I believe that the penal system should be based on reform rather than punishment. Even criminals deserve a second chance.
However, the Philippine legislature has deemed it necessary to impose the death penalty for heinous crimes. And the legislation still seems to believe so. And I believe that it is the legislature’s job alone to abolish the death penalty.
Although Arroyo did not legally and technically abolish the death penalty, she effectively did. And it is unfair. It is unfair for the victims and their families who pinned their hopes on the death penalty. It is unfair to those yet seeking justice.
And yes, I do think that she did commute the death sentences to earn brownie points from the Catholic Church and other sectors.
If Arroyo does believe that the death penalty has no place in our society then she should have pursued a legislative agenda to abolish it.
February 20th, 2006 at 4:35 am (General, International Politics, Media, Religion)
Much uproar, violence and debate has been caused by the publication of 12 cartoon depictions of Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
I have seen the cartoons and I must say I totally empathize with the cries of protest.
First, Muhammad is a sacred and very much revered prophet of the Muslims. And part of their reverence is their condemnation of idolatry including the visual depiction of Muhammad and Allah. Christians might see this as an extreme form of reverence but to the Muslims it is what they believe in. And it should be respected. If Muhammad’s followers themselves are prohibited from visually depicting him, we should respect that no ifs, no buts.
