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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| American Tragedies
By Antonio C. Abaya Written April 22, 2007 For the Standard Today, April 24 issue Even before he and his family left their native South Korea to migrate to the US in 1992, at the age of 8, Cho Seung-hui was already a problem child. According to his grand-aunt who was interviewed on CNN, �that idiot� did not talk to anyone, not to his parents, not to his siblings. He never developed any ties with anyone. Cho was almost certainly autistic, his brains scarred by a chemical imbalance for which, as far as I know, there is no known antidote. Unable to communicate with anyone, deliberately withdrawn from meaningful human contact, Cho spent what must have been an excruciatingly painful and awkward adolescence in an American high school where he was, not surprisingly, bullied, humiliated and made fun of. It is not surprising that resentment against the whole world welled up in his sick mind. It is amazing that the American school system was not sensitive enough to detect the walking time-bomb that Cho was, not during his four years in high school, not during his I-don�t-recall how many years in college at Virginia Tech. If anyone can be blamed for what he eventually did, it must be the guidance counselor in high school, and the guidance counselor at Virginia Tech. There seems to have been enough red flags in his trajectory through college to warn school authorities that they had a problem student in their hands mutely crying out for help. But hardly anyone paid any attention to Cho.. His English professor, Lucinda Roy, noticed the unusual violence and aggressive behavior manifest in his literary output, and even went to the extent of voluntarily tutoring him one-on-one. She said that she recommended to her academic superiors that professional help for Cho was necessary, but nothing came of it. It also turned out that two female students, on separate occasions, had complained to the college police that Cho was stalking them. In response to the second complaint, the police actually brought him to the college counseling service, but again nothing came of it. So to the cocktail of mental illnesses that was brewing in his convoluted mind must be added sexual frustration. Unable or unwilling to strike normal relationships even with his own suite-mates in the dorm, Cho was also crippled by his inability to establish ties with the opposite sex. Cho was not only a loner. He was also a loser. As the whole world has learned in gruesome details over the past week, the walking time-bomb that Cho was blew up on April 16. At 7:15 am, he first shot and killed two persons in a dorm. Two hours later, he shot and killed 30 students and instructors, and wounded 14 others, in four classrooms at the Engineering building, before he shot himself dead. The seething anger with which he shot his victims was evident in their wounds. Each victim, whether killed or merely wounded, was shot at least three times. It was the worst civilian massacre in US history. Forensic investigators have zeroed in on a package that Cho mailed to the Manhattan offices of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) at 9:01 that morning, midway between the shooting spree at the dorm and the rampage at the Engineering building. The package�s contents � a 1,800-word manifesto, video clips of Cho, armed with two pistols, in various macho poses, and audio/video recordings of Cho accusing his unnamed tormentor that �you made me do it.� � were an eerie window into Cho�s sick mind. Cho was not only paranoid, he was also schizoid. In the still shots that he took of himself, gone was the pathetic loner and loser that he was in real life. In its place was a macho Cho, armed with two pistols, who struck defiant and belligerent poses, as if to warn the world, �Don�t mess with me! Or you�ll be sorry1� A warning that he could not articulate in real life because of his emotional and psychological infirmities. Cho would make for an apt anti-hero for a modern-day Dostoevski, only this time there would be no guilt-ridden Raskolnikov driven to suicide by remorse over his crime. Only a defiant and unrepentant psychopath whose only regret was probably that he was not able to kill more than he actually did. Even though Cho was only a resident alien, this was an American tragedy, and not only because the deed was done on American soil and most of his victims were Americans. If Cho had remained in South Korea , he would not have been able to commit his horrendous crime, no matter how sick and dysfunctional he had become. South Korea has strict gun control laws, Only members of the police and the military are allowed to possess and carry guns. Cho would not have had a chance to buy a gun, let alone two, from a gun store in Seoul , of which there are none. It was the liberal gun laws in the US and the easy availability of guns, especially in the state of Virginia , that allowed Cho to live out his fantasies about exacting revenge on the cruel world that had oppressed and humiliated him. I understand that in Virginia, anyone with the requisite IDs � which Cho had � can buy an unlimited number of guns. The only caveat is the buyer must wait 30 days after each single purchase before he/she is allowed to buy the next gun.. So, theoretically, 12 guns a year, if you fancy that many. Will someone in Virginia please confirm this?. While I sympathize with the families of Cho�s victims and even with Cho�s own family for this colossal tragedy that has visited them, I cannot overlook the bigger tragedy that daily engulfs the people of Iraq . And it, too, is an American tragedy even if most of its victims are not Americans, and even if most of the killers are not Americans either. Iraq is an American tragedy because it was with duplicity and hubris that American political leaders duped and led the American people into the bottomless sands, under false pretences and with tragically fatal miscalculations, there to frantically twist and thrash about as they sink deeper into the abyss. Two days after the Virginia Tech massacre, a series of six explosions in and around Baghdad killed 198 people and wounded dozens more, in one of the biggest one-day massacres since the Americans invaded Iraq in March 2003. And it was not an isolated incident, as the Associated Press reminded its readers with a grizzly scorecard four days after Virginia Tech: 179 dead on March 29, 198 dead on March 27, 194 dead on March 6, 167 dead on Feb. 3, 138 dead on Feb. 1, another 138 dead on Jan. 22, 142 dead on Jan. 16. And that was just in 2007.With this macabre harvest, it is not difficult to believe the estimate made last year, that 650,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the start of the American invasion. In addition, some three million Iraqis (out of a population of 27 million) have fled from their country since 2003 and are still leaving at the rate of 50,000 a month, for relative safety in Jordan or Syria or wherever they can find shelter. Millions of patriotic Americans have come to realize that their government has wrecked an entire country and brutalized an entire people, while squandering more than $400 billion of their money and wasting the lives of more than 3,300 of their young men and women. And all for what? So that the neo-cons in Washington can have their total control of the Middle East . So that Halliburton et al can grab the oil. So that George W can intone his meaningless �freedom and democracy� mantra. So that the Christian Fundamentalists can have their Armageddon and their Second Coming of Christ. So that the Jewish Lobby can secure the safety of Israel . The daily carnage in that unfortunate land would tend to desensitize the jaded news junkie to the endless suffering of the Iraqi people. But the wall-to-wall barrage of details that cascaded from CNN over the Virginia Tech massacre has served instead to remind me that the pain and suffering endured by the Iraqis are no less intense and devastating and senseless than the pain and suffering endured by the Americans over Virginia Tech., and this on a massive scale unimaginable in Blacksburg . George W. Bush is no less a madman than Cho for inflicting such undeserved punishment on so many people for perceived affronts and imagined threats no less illusory or delusional than Cho�s.. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and www.acabaya.blogspot.com OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �American Tragedies� More Reactions to �Sexual Morality 1� Mr. Abaya, Your article on the VT tragedy seems to place the blame on negligent guidance counselors, an abusive family background, shunning from peers, and most of all, guns and America's reckless gun laws. Somewhere along the line, haven't you forgotten who the real victims were?Certainly the families and friends of the 32 deceased deserve our sympathy and pity more than Cho. Moreover, your proposed solution to the problem makes victims of the entire nation by restricting our rights through gun control. Your suggestion that we take a cue from South Korea is ironic, given the fact that South Korea is one of the countries most interested in opening new markets in Iraq , and is heavily involved in the reconstruction effort. Regards, Randall White, (by email), USA , April 24, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww From your article "American tragedies"... "It was the worst civilian massacre in US history." Not only was it not the worst civilian massacre in American history, it wasn't even the worst school massacre. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/bath/index_1.html Please do at least a little basic research before you spew the rest of your nonsense. Frank Groen, (by email), USA , April 25, 2007 MY REPLY. Not being a crime junkie and not having time on my hands, I was not able to read through your 8-chapter post about a massacre that happened in Michigan in 1927. I suggest you send it to CNN. Tens of millions of TV viewers around the world know Virginia Tech as the �worst civilian massacre in US history� because CNN said it was so. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi! Tony, I agree with you that George W. Bush is worse than Cho. At least Cho harmed only Virginia Tech. Bush has harmed the world. The world is in turmoil because of him. Jun Tambunting, (by email), April 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony. What can I say? We finally agreed on something. When it comes to the invasion of the USA on Iraq , our position is the same. Cheers! Bobby Tordesillas, (by email), Appril 25, 2007 MY REPLY. Hallelujah! wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, You wrote: "I understand that in Virginia, anyone with the requisite IDs � which Cho had � can buy an unlimited number of guns. The only caveat is the buyer must wait 30 days after each single purchase before he/she is allowed to buy the next gun.. So, theoretically, 12 guns a year, if you fancy that many. Will someone in Virginia please confirm this?" Response: http://crime.about.com/od/gunlawsbystate/f/gunlaw_va.htm I live in Northern Virginia . Pierre Tierra, (by email), Virginia , April 25, 2007 MY REPLY. According to the above URL, there is no need to secure a permit to buy rifles and shotguns in Virginia , there is no registration of rifles and shotguns, there is no licensing for owning rifles and shotguns, and no permit is needed to carry rifles and shotguns. As for handguns, no permit is also needed to purchase handguns, there is no registration of handguns, there is no licensing of owners of handguns, but YES a permit is needed to carry handguns if concealed. There is also no FBI check for firearms transactions, no record of gun sales, no state waiting period. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I enjoyed reading this analytic article which takes a "shotgun" blast at a landscape of American tragedies, not only within the continental United States but extending to the Middle East as well. And for good measure, it also includes some sniper shots at U.S. gun laws and George Bush. It is clear that, like guns in Virginia , keyboards are easy to acquire in the Philippines and there are no restrictions to their use. The usual defense given by gun enthusiast for liberal gun laws is that it is people, and not guns, that kill. I suppose that applies to keyboards as well. All the best, and happy hunting! Charlie Borromeo, (by email), April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Virginia Tech gunman Cho was indeed an American- and Asian- tragedy. His mental illness was so irrationally destructive. But as I sympathize with all the victims' families, I wish that more people knew enough about chemical imbalances to have acted more aggressively in helping him or anyone so afflicted, get immediate treatment. Chemical imbalances CAN be treated these days, Tony. Those afflicted can and should be guided or mandated to see a psychiatrist for therapy and medication. Mental/stress disorders- bipolar (e.g. manic depression) or unipolar (e.g. depressions) etc., are so prevalent among many families, including Churchill, Beethoven, Rizal- a relative, etc., that everyone should learn more about this very important aspect of our total health. If only Cho's mental illness could have been aggressively treated since the observation of abnormal behavior. If only the shooting news on VT's campus could have been spread by text rather than email for quicker dissemination. If only more people knew about mental chemical imbalances to have acted swifter and pro-actively. This last statement can still be done at least. Best regards, Cita Y. Abad-Dinglasan, (by email), San Francisco , April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww "Paranoid? Schizoid? Psychopath????" Whew! Phew! Where and when did you receive your education in Psychology and Psychiatry? Stick to Pilipino political news punditries. You are clearly out of your elements here. ArcherG, [email protected], April 26, 2007 MY REPLY. In response to your snide remarks, I surfed the Net to see how professionals viewed Cho. The website www.healthyplace.com posted excerpts from a story from the San Francisco Chronicle which had quoted various professionals. Stephen Hinshaw, identified as chairman of the psychology department of the University of California at Berkeley : �The video (of Cho) is a window into a very tortured paranoid delusional form of thinking�..� Martin Blinder, identified as a San Anselmo (CA) psychiatrist with a 40-year career: �(Cho) is psychotic in a grandiose way � he is operating like some kind of messiah�.� ABC News/Health at www.abcnews.go.co �Renowned (forensic) psychiatrist Michael Werner, chairman of the Forensic Panel (of ABC News) ��believes the evidence strongly supports that Cho had paranoid schizophrenia�..� In USA Today (www.usatoday.freedom.com), Pat Brown, identified as a criminal profiler: �Cho Seung-hui was not psychotic but a psychopath and possibly beyond help��� It is only fair that you have the courage of your convictions by attaching your full and real name to your opinions, especially when you are insulting someone else.. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww This is an article that should be reprinted in every newspaper in the USA . I�m currently in the US , and where the tragedies are very real, the incessant reporting is desensitizing. This new angle would be a blockbuster. Peter Capotosto, (by email), April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Oh my God, Tony, this is heart-gripping ! There can't be a single reader of this article who will ever be indifferent or inattentive again. Nita Hontiveros-Lichauco, (by email), April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Unedited) If Cho was indeed insane, how could he have easily planned the whole thing? Despite his insanity, he was smart enough to plan the whole thing. He was able to get the guns and staged his own goodbye note. How he able to acquire these weapons was due to a "privacy clause" which prohibits the disclosure of his mental health records which led not only to the purchase of two hand guns but also to his enrollment in Virginia Tech. If background researchers had access to these records, then maybe it would have prevented this tragedy. If you don't believe me watch CNN. Although guns are one of the reasons why this happened, | would not blame it the prolifiration of guns. If you are a decent, law-abiding, mentally sane person, you wouldn't even think of drawing a gun even if you have a whole stockade in your home. And what's with Iraq and Jorge Bush? You're really rooting for them to lose aren't you? As much as I was against the war, it's being fought and if that war is lost then terrorism will run amuck not only in the U.S. but also around the world. If you disagree then go back to the 70s and 80s incident. Warner Fernandez, (by email), April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, I'm probably exaggerating but I think White American Supremacy is still alive - not only within the US but around the world (e.g. Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement). Eugene Earle, (by email), April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, As always, great article!!! Totally agree with you! In fact, the number of dead and dying in Iraq today is so big and frequent that they seem unreal ... makes me feel guilty just saying this because they are real. Let us all ponder where this world is headed with leaders like George Dubya, etc (there are others closer to home too) who cannot overcome themselves and rather sacrifice entire nations ... God help us. Col Dennis Acop, USMA �83, (by email), April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good one, Tony. More power to you. Isn't it curious that Americans champion the right to bear arms in their country but not for other countries when it comes to nuclear weapons, whereupon they believe responsibility and the common good should restrict this right? God bless. Ding Roces, (by email), Sydney , Australia , April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I could not agree more with your analysis. Be it a psychotic individual who displayed disturbing anti-social behavior over a long period of time, or with so-called "born-again" Christian leaders consumed by a messianic complex, society must be ever vigilant that they do not inflict tragedies on so many innocent people. We must intervene and take necessary steps early on. We should take heed and not ignore early warning signs. On your question, I learned from watching comments by storeowners/gun dealers on TV that in the state of Virginia , a buyer has to wait 30 days before he/she can purchase another firearm. (That is also what I thought and wrote, but according to the above URL, there is no waiting period at all. I�m confused. ACA) This may be confirmed by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) Tom de Guzman, (by email), April 26, 2007 . Peace and Joy Every Conscious Moment! wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I have been a fence sitter all these years and just read about the world we live in, as you see it. Never have I seen you so fired up as today when you berated President Bush re his handling of Iraq.The VT massacre was deplorable, but the continuing blood letting in Iraq has to stop. Tony Dedal, (by email), Sydney , Australia , April 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Well written/ well said!! AND the biggest tragedy of them all is that Bush II was rewarded with a second mandate!!! Goes to show that it is not only Filipinos who have the capacity to be stupid voters!! Alexander Po, (by email), April 27, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Many thanks for this email. It was a good CNN in-depth report.. To my knowledge we did not get that information 'down under'. It looks like we don't get this kind of reporting out here, as the present government seems hell bent on controlling news, with the excuse regarding the war on terrorism and invasion of Iraq . The explanation of Cho being autistic makes sense. However the High School, as well as Virgina Tech Councilors missed making an essential and obvious analysis on Cho. It seemed they were not prepared to handle that job. The police have also been negligent, however they will never face up to it. It looks like the US once again is in the limelight of incompetence. You have ably brought back and pointed out the horrors of the pre-empt invasion of the Iraq war, which clearly show the present government misleading the world with their power and obsession that 'might makes right'. Best wishes and more power to you. Abrazos, Jaime Calero, (by email), Sydney , Australia , April 27, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir, Ahh! Waht a relief to hear once in a while a sane voice within the cacophony of nonsense that descends upon us day by day. Just two things I would like to add: I don't know if you had seen already the reply of the NRA to the school shooting? Although it was rather predictable that they would come up with the usual nonsense like: "Guns don't kill, its people" this time they outdid themselves. The answer to this massacre is not to disarm the American public, or, at least make it more difficult for lunatics to get their hands on guns. No, the answer according to the NRA is to allow each and every student to arm themselves, so they can 'protect' each other. What nonsense, what a disaster in the making. Will schoolteachers soon have to wear body armor? I am a German and can tell you that in Germany we have about the same number of gun-related deaths in a year, that Americans have to endure in a single day. And this is not the result of Germans being saints, but the fact that getting a gun there is a very tedious affair, if not impossible. The other issue is the tragedy, which is unfolding in Iraq , which seams to be invisible to the American public. A madman has shot and killed 32 Americans and a whole nation is in shock and mourns, rightfully as I hasten to add. A whole country has been plunged into an abyss by another, much more powerful madman, and nobody seems to care there. Regards, Ulrich Bosse, (by email), Antipolo, April 27, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, I am indebted to my brother for bringing you into my life. You write your thought-provoking columns with so much passion that they have awakened and inspired the Filipino in me. Your latest article on American Tragedies has made me aware and vigilant and to a certain degree, scared of the thought that perhaps there are still a few more of those "walking time bombs" in our society today. What's more is it can happen anywhere, like in a McDonald's a few years back in California, and the most unlikely of places like the church. It is very ironic that our modern day problems have evolved with the amenities that come with progress and that the BUSH administration will continue to cover up its mistakes short of whitewashing them until such time that they will be voted out of office. However, in spite of all these, I still have faith in the Almighty that somehow, without even lifting a finger, something is going to happen that will restore everything to their natural balance and it will be business as usual for everyone. One thing is sure. I won't worry myself to death, rather I would like to share a quote. I can't remember where I got it, but it says "It is always wise to stop wishing for things, long enough to enjoy the fragrance of those now flowering". Yours very truly, Noe Castanos, (by email), Toronto , Ontario , Canada , April 28, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I don't recall how your messages came to my account, but, believe me, it's a blessing beyond compare considering that I have been living in Hong Kong for the last 15 years now and a total of more than 20 years away from my beloved homeland. I left the Philippines . in 1979 to work in Saudi until 1986, then moved to Hong Kong in 1992.) Thank you, your insight and wisdom are a comfort for me, knowing that most of the old vanguards of press freedom have gone home to the Lord. I am 62 years old, and I really miss those old writers with brains. I am praying for your good health that you may share your wisdom for a long long time to come. God bless you richly Sincerely, Nes Baricante, (by email), Hong Kong , May 02, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �Sexual Morality 1� (April 15, 2007) It is obvious that the overwhelming majority of our people do not accept the Catholic Church�s position on contraception. How tragic it is that the political will is not there to oppose the church. Poor Filipinos continue to suffer as a result. Politicians who are subservient to Catholics bishops and those who place their own religious beliefs above the public welfare should be made to pay at the polls. To many Catholics around the world, contraception is not a moral issue. It�s about survival, making ends meet, and providing a quality of life that married couples desire for their children and the desired family size. To those who read the article �Infallibility in Ethical Perspective�, it is clear that Catholic theologians disagree with church magisterium, yet the Church, under Pope Paul VI, would not change its position on contraception because to do so would contradict the doctrine of papal infallibility. This is the heart of the debate and not so much the morality of contraception. When independent-minded Catholics reject church teaching on contraception, it undermines church authority for it places a dagger on Papist claim of infallibility. Misael C. Balayan, (by email), Mililani , Hawaii , April 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ALCASID IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. THE CHURCH WILL NEVER CHANGE ITS TEACHING ON ARTIFICIAL CONTRACEPTION. BUT THE CHURCH DOES NOT DECIDE POLICY OR ENACT LAWS. THAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE CHURCH BUT A PRESIDENT WHO IS SO PETRIFIED OF BEING OUSTED THAT SHE WILL PANDER TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OR TO ANYBODY ELSE FOR THAT MATTER WHOSE SUPPORT SHE CONSIDERS VITAL TO HER CONTINUED SURVIVAL. A RECENT SURVEY SHOWED THAT AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY IN THE PHILIPPINES WANTS ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVES, ALTHOUGH THAT HAS NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM TO THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE ELITE. I AM CERTAIN THAT THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY IS AWARE OF THIS, BUT PREFERS TO PRETEND THAT "GOOD CATHOLICS" SUCH AS THESE ADHERE FAITHFULLY TO CHURCH TEACHING. SO, ONLY THE POOR, WHO NEED IT MOST, ARE DENIED ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVES. Alex, Menez, (by email), April 18, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I respect your personal opinion, but I don't agree with you anyway on your one-sided argument on "sexual morality." Gabriel Ballawig, (by email), April 29, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, Your wrote: "... What I did was show that the Church has in the past changed its moral positions. For example, I wrote, it was once a Mortal Sin to lend money with interest. Now it is no longer a Mortal Sin. How do you explain that? There are other historical instances too many to list here. ACA." Response: Mt 16:18. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Mt 16:19. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. When it comes to the teachings of Faith and Morals, the Catholic Church has never and will never change. Papal Infallibility is claimed only in matters of teaching of Faith and Morals ... not in economics (as in "lending money with interest), nor in astronomy (when the church condemned Galileo Galilei's claim that "the earth revolves around the sun"). Pierre Tierra, (by email), Virginia , April 29, 2007 (The issue of lending money with interest was not an economic issue, as you claim. It was a moral issue because the question was: is it moral or immoral for anyone to lend money with interest? And the judgment of the Church was: it is immoral. (The issue of the Earth revolving around the Sun was not an astronomy issue, as you claim. It was also a moral issue because the question was: is it moral or immoral for anyone to believe or teach that the Earth revolves around the Sun. And the judgment of the Church was: it is immoral. (The doctrine of Papal Infallibility � that the Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra on faith and morals - was pronounced only in 1870 and was obviously meant to excuse the Church of culpability and embarrassment for its many bad judgment calls during the previous 1,870 years. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony! I keep reading your comments and more and more I believe that YOU should be acting as a good politician, with all the marvelous themas you have for this Nation that I like so much! Regards + kisses to all of you. Madeleine. Obrist, (by email), Fribourg , Switzerland , April 29, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Dear Mr Abaya, I noticed that you have a very strong position concerning the Catholic stand on artificial birth control. I just thought that our readers should also get an equal chance to appreciate facts from the other side of the argument. The rationale behind the Church's opposition to ABC has been stable like a rock since the inception of the Christian faith, dating way back to the time when the New Testament was still being written down by the evangelists. Christians have always condemned contraceptive sex. Both forms mentioned in the Bible, coitus interruptus and sterilization, are condemned without exception (Gen. 38:9�10, Deut. 23:1). The early Fathers recognized that the purpose of sexual intercourse in natural law is procreation; contraceptive sex, which deliberately blocks that purpose, is a violation of natural law. Every church in Christendom condemned contraception until 1930, when, at its decennial Lambeth Conference, Anglicanism gave permission for the use of contraception in a few cases. Soon all Protestant denominations had adopted the secularist position on contraception. Today not one stands with the Catholic Church to maintain the ancient Christian faith on this issue. How badly things have decayed may be seen by comparing the current state of non-Catholic churches, where most pastors counsel young couples to decide before they are married what form of contraception they will use, with these quotations from the early Church Fathers, who condemned contraception in general as well as particular forms of it, as well as popular contraceptive sex practices that were then common (sterilization, oral contraceptives, coitus interruptus, and orally consummated sex). Many Protestants, perhaps beginning to see the inevitable connection between contraception and divorce and between contraception and abortion, are now returning to the historic Christian position and rejecting contraceptive sexual practices. It should be noted that some of the Church Fathers use language that can suggest to modern ears that there is no unitive aspect to marital intercourse and that there is only a procreative aspect. It is unclear whether this is what some of them actually thought or whether they are intending simply to stress that sexual activity becomes immoral if the procreative aspect of a given marital act is deliberately frustrated. However that may be, over the course of time the Church has called greater attention to the unitive aspect of marital intercourse, yet it remains true that the procreative aspect of each particular marital act must not be frustrated. This stand has been the teachings by almost all Church Fathers starting with Barnabas to St Augustine . If one is not a Christian, the argument is just as cogent as is seen from Natural Law viewpoint. According to Natural Law, contraception is wrong because it�s a deliberate violation of the design God built into the human race, often referred to as "natural law." The natural law purpose of sex is procreation. The pleasure that sexual intercourse provides is an additional blessing from God, intended to offer the possibility of new life while strengthening the bond of intimacy, respect, and love between husband and wife. The loving environment this bond creates is the perfect setting for nurturing children. But sexual pleasure within marriage becomes unnatural, and even harmful to the spouses, when it is used in a way that deliberately excludes the basic purpose of sex, which is procreation. God�s gift of the sex act, along with its pleasure and intimacy, must not be abused by deliberately frustrating its natural end�procreation. (I�ve heard and read all these arguments before, going back to Moral Theology at the Ateneo. But they never convinced me then, and they do not convince me now. Natural Law is nothing but a construct of those senile old men in ivory towers. They were wrong and they eventually changed their positions about lending money with interest. They were wrong and they eventually changed their positions about the Earth being the center of the Universe. To me, that is nothing to be ashamed of, so there is no really need to go to such great lengths to deny that they changed their positions. ACA) The question now is: Can man outwit Natural Law? (Not outwit. Just outgrow, and hundreds of millions of Roman Catholics around the world have shown that they have outgrown it by ignoring the Church�s teachings against artificial methods of birth control. ACA) The other question is: Can something be made right just because it is done by the majority? (Yes, because as I have written in previous paragraphs, morality is determined by common agreement in society, through the laws that that society enacts. What may be acceptable or benign or desirable in previous environments (pastoral, feudal) in previous centuries, may no longer be acceptable or benign or desirable in present environments (urbanized, industrialized) because social and economic conditions have drastically changed. ACA) Ike Eslao, (by email), April 30, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Eslao wrongly assumes that the Catholic Church is absolutely correct in its teachings and that the Protestant Church , and Mr. Abaya, and all those who believe in population control are wrong. He also makes sweeping statements that are meant to be accepted as fact - just because a group of like-minded fundamental Catholics believe so, based on biblical text and other arguments. The argument for population control in the Philippines can be reduced to one simple argument (amongst many, many equally down-to-earth arguments): We cannot absorb any more people into our work force. Yes, we can ship them all abroad so they can earn dollars for their uneducated, under nourished, poverty stricken fellow Filipinos. And yet, at a conference in one of the UAP schools on homsexuality, it was pointed out that the rise in homosexuality could be traced to the fact that 48% of all families in the Philippines have one or no parents sitting at the head of their tables - mostly due to the OFW phenomenom. I don't know if this is correct. If it is true, then it is extremely frightening - not the homosexuality thing - but the fact that we are creating a generation or more of children without parents. Obviously this goes against "Natural Law". And we don't know with any certainty what the social effects of this phenomenom will be. Instinct tells us that it cannot be positive. I wonder if Mr. Eslao lives in a broken family or in a poverty stricken home. I wonder whether he sleeps in a comfortable bed or on "karton" in a tiny room in the middle of squalor, with a poorly educated mother or father struggling to give one meal a day to their children. Natural law? I would like to respond to this with equally simplistic arguments: Are we simply animals? If sex was not made for pleasure, why did God make it so pleasurable? Why is a healthy sex life so important for a long lasting marriage? Why do chimps and other animals practice homosexuality and rut for pleasure? I am not religious - but I would recommend that Mr. Eslao read about the Reformation that led to the highly successful Protestant movement that continues to grow and attract followers around the world - oftentimes to the loss of the Catholic Church. Look at the weaknesses of the Catholic Church. Somewhere in the New Testament it says that one should look at the log in one's own eyes before casting judgment. Something like that. At the end of the day, God is too big for one religion. The sooner people realize that, the more peace and tolerance will there be in this world. Dondi Joseph, (by email), Davao City , April 30, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr Joseph's sudden umbrage against Catholic stand on contraception is understandable, but going against Natural Law is either Quixotic or idiotic. I hope it's for a better reason. But having praised reformation, it may also be of interest to Mr Joseph the viewpoint from a movement who believe in Scriptures ALONE. A bible-toting reformation scholar would speak as follows: Is contraception a modern invention? Hardly! Birth control has been around for millennia. Scrolls found in Egypt , dating to 1900 B.C., describe ancient methods of birth control that were later practiced in the Roman empire during the apostolic age. Wool that absorbed sperm, poisons that fumigated the uterus, potions, and other methods were used to prevent conception. In some centuries, even condoms were used (though made out of animal skin rather than latex). The Bible mentions at least one form of contraception specifically and condemns it. Coitus interruptus, was used by Onan to avoid fulfilling his duty according to the ancient Jewish law of fathering children for one�s dead brother. " Judah said to Onan, �Go in to your brother�s wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.� But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother�s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him also" (Gen. 38:8�10). The biblical penalty for not giving your brother�s widow children was public humiliation, not death (Deut. 25:7�10). But Onan received death as punishment for his crime. This means his crime was more than simply not fulfilling the duty of a brother-in-law. He lost his life because he violated natural law, as Jewish and Christian commentators have always understood. For this reason, certain forms of contraception have historically been known as "Onanism," after the man who practiced it, just as homosexuality has historically been known as "Sodomy," after the men of Sodom, who practiced that vice (cf. Gen. 19). Contraception was so far outside the biblical mindset and so obviously wrong that it did not need the frequent condemnations other sins did. Scripture condemns the practice when it mentions it. Once a moral principle has been established in the Bible, every possible application of it need not be mentioned. For example, the general principle that theft is wrong was clearly established in Scripture; but there�s no need to provide an exhaustive list of every kind of theft. Similarly, since the principle that contraception is wrong has been established by being condemned when it�s mentioned in the Bible, every particular form of contraception does not need to be dealt with in Scripture in order for us to see that it is condemned. After dismissing Natural Law, Mr Joseph might even dismiss Scriptures for all I care. He could not even distinguish population control from contraception. How can logic apply to such a reader? Ike Eslao, (by email), May 01, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The Roman Catholic Church's modern position on contraception was first expressed in Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI. Artificial contraception is considered a grave sin, but methods of natural family planning, including modern forms that are highly effective, are morally permissible in some circumstances. These methods are known as periodic abstinence and are argued to be morally different from positively modifying the couple's fertility. This stance is explained further in a series of lectures given by Pope John Paul II, later entitled Theology of the Body. From Humanae Vitae: " The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life. " In further justification of this position, Pope Paul VI claimed, " Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings�and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation�need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection. " On July 17, 1994, John Paul II clarified the Church's position during a meditation said prior an angelus recitation. " Unfortunately, Catholic thought is often misunderstood ... as if the Church supported an ideology of fertility at all costs, urging married couples to procreate indiscriminately and without thought for the future. But one need only study the pronouncements of the Magisterium to know that this is not so." " Truly, in begetting life the spouses fulfill one of the highest dimensions of their calling: they are God's co-workers. Precisely for this reason they must have an extremely responsible attitude. In deciding whether or not to have a child, they must not be motivated by selfishness or carelessness, but by a prudent, conscious generosity that weighs the possibilities and circumstances, and especially gives priority to the welfare of the unborn child. " " Therefore, when there is a reason not to procreate, this choice is permissible and may even be necessary. However, there remains the duty of carrying it out with criteria and methods that respect the total truth of the marital act in its unitive and procreative dimension, as wisely regulated by nature itself in its biological rhythms. One can comply with them and use them to advantage, but they cannot be "violated" by artificial interference. " Nonoy Ramos, (by email), Pennsylvania , May 01, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww For those who are hostile to Catholic stand, it might be more interesting for them to know that there is such a thing as Overpopulation Myth. How come Bolivia is "overpopulated" with 5 people/square kilometre but Beverly Hills or Sydney with its enormous population density is not? How many people are needed per square kilometre to warrant and make affordable a school, hospital, electricity supply or piped water? Which place gives the evidence of this? Why do we cluster in cities and big towns - for the shared benefits - yet there are vast sparsely populated areas in Australia . Populations need to be large to gain better services, and so it is development aid, not killing off, that Bolivia needs. Starvation is caused by war, poor organization and incompetent and corrupt governments, not by too many people. War reduces material goods to rubble, causes poverty and makes farming hazardous. Stability, peace and just government allows work to thrive and food to be grown, and development to proceed.. Australia 's population is rapidly ageing, and births are below replacement level in most First World countries, so why are we continuing to believe in overpopulation in our drive for small families, when we are in reality killing ourselves off? The following quotes come from "Population and Development" by Eamonn Keane "the myth of overpopulation is one of the most powerful in the world... in reality it is nothing more than a rationalisation for a worldwide war against the poor - a war which inhibits legitimate development and social justice.... The Netherlands has four times the population density of its former colony Indonesia , but it is Indonesia and not the Netherlands that is said to have a problem of overpopulation. "Michael Schwartz , Overpopulation and the War against the Poor "African nations are forced to accept as a precondition for funding, family planning and all its attendant projects -abortion, contraception, sex education etc. A lot of money is expended by Western agencies, particularly Planned Parenthood of America, on contraceptives for Africa ... In villages where there is no portable water, no electricity, and no health care services, the major concern of these world population control agencies is not development but family planning clinics" African Caucus, Report on negative effects of population control on Africa Testimony on International Population Control Activities, 12 April 1994, sponsored by Population Research Institute "the doctor finds that while he cannot save the life of a woman dying of a simple pneumonia because he does not have a vial of penicillin which costs only a few cents, he could if he so desired, fit her with as many IUDs as he liked in her death throes. An IUD costs many times the price of penicillin" Dr. Margaret A Ogola, Testimony on International Population Control Activities, 1994 Philippines "Funds for our national health programs are tied to our acceptance and implementation of American and Japanese contraceptive and abortifacient programs. We have many towns in remote areas without even the most basic sanitation and elementary standards of health care; but these remote areas have USAID-subsidized contraceptive and abortifacient drugs and devices. Acceptors of these are not being provided informed consent. Abortifacient drugs such as Depo-Provera have been used on Third World women for decades; yet there are till no long-term follow-up studies on the effects of these drugs on the acceptors or their subsequent offspring...We perceive this clearly as utilising our women and children as guinea pigs" Dr. Rene Bullecer MD Submission to US Congress , Testimony on International Population control Activities, 12 April 1994. Here at home, we mismanage resource development with third-world ideas on how wealth should be distributed; we breed corrupt leaders who steal our national patrimony and mismanage our economy and bureaucracy; we fail again and again to exercise our rights to decent governance, sell our votes; cheat in tax payments; we mismanage our natural resources and lead immoral lives; we put our country into eternal debt and spend whatever surplus from our balance of payments to debt servicing instead of using it to build infrastructures for water, housing, roads, etc. At the end of the day we created a generation of poor population by inept economic management and corrupt governance. Then a few nut-heads blame the Catholic doctrine for causing overpopulation! What do you call this? Ike Eslao, (by email), May 02, 2007 (Over-population is a relative term. Over-populated relative to geographical area? Over-populated relative to economic growth? Macao, Hong-Kong and Singapore may be over-populated relative to their geographical areas, but they are not over-populated relative to their economic growth. (Most, if not all, of the dirt poor countries of Black Africa are not over-populated relative to their geographical areas, but they are over-populated relative to their economic growth. Put another way, their economic growth rates are not likely to catch up with their population growth rates. (Unless you have some bright new ideas on economic development that the world hasn�t heard of yet, Sudan or Chad will never be another Singapore even though they have more than 3,600 and 1,800 times, respectively, more land than Singapore . Their population growth rates in 2005 were 2.56% in Sudan , 2.94% in Chad and 0.51% in Singapore . ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww In the past, the west promoted the Masagana 99 Rice Program to sell more chemicals and fertilizers. Promoting western solution e.g. abortion and contraceptive drugs is another form of marketing western products. That'll be more money to Uncle Sam. When can we (message truncated) Nonoy Ramos, (by email), Pennsylvania , May 03, 2007 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |