DEATH and the New Evangelization

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

DEATH is a sentence for national suicide.   As many may be aware of, DEATH is an acronym that stands for Divorce, Euthanasia, Abortion, Total Population Control, and Homosexual Marriage.  A nation that sees nothing wrong in legislating these things is sowing the seeds of its own extinction. 

What do the champions of DEATH have in common?  They deny the cross, they defy Christ.  They refuse to see the meaning of suffering.

   “What’s the point in staying married when you no longer love each other? Divorce will make you live happily ever after.” 

   “Our hearts bleed to see our loved ones suffering so much—therefore, out of mercy, let’s kill them and hasten their trip to heaven.”

   “Why let a fertilized egg ruin your future?  It’s just a blood clot in your system, a parasite sucking the life out of you!  If you don’t kill it, it will kill you!”

   “You are poor because you are overpopulated!  You can have a satisfying sex life without worrying about another mouth to feed.”

   “I’m a human being, too, why deprive me of the right to choose whom to marry regardless of race, religion or sex?” 

   Is a nation lost when its leaders are in the dark?  I’d like to believe that our leaders who are rooting for “modernization” by legislating DEATH are simply suffering a mild and temporary case of insanity.  I’d like to hope that the young people they magnetize will soon outgrow their misguided idealism.  I’d like to think that our national piety—manifested in the millions attending religious festivities, the proliferation of televangelists, the mall chapels overflowing with Mass-goers—will sooner than later bring us to communion with the Living God.

   But that will not happen by turning our back on the life-giving power of the cross of Christ.  How far has 450 years of Christianity brought us toward embracing the mystery and wisdom of the cross?  Our hope now hinges on the New Evangelization to spare our country from the tightening grip of secularization.  It has often been said that the Filipinos, the only Christian people in Asia, are “baptized, but not evangelized”.   We have heard the call of Christ, taken steps to follow Him, but we have yet to muster the courage to follow Him all the way to the cross.   We need the New Evangelization as it is an invitation to refresh and deepen our friendship with Christ and with one another—and for it to bear fruit, we must humbly admit to our need to be evangelized, beginning with our evangelizers.  And that’s the truth.

The 'how' of it

Now that we have RA 10354, Filipinos should not forget HOW it became that from being RH Bill 4244.  We may think we know what it’s all about—what “RH” is, who voted for or against it, when and where it happened—but unless we look deeply into the how of things we will continue to walk blindfolded into the hell hole that the Aquino administration tells us is the gateway to paradise.

Palace intervention in the RH issue eerily seems like a replay of the Corona case when 188 congressmen were herded (into a Japanese restaurant) to approve the impeachment complaint.  It is not clear whether the lawmakers were “DUI”—Deciding Under the Influence (of saki and sashimi this time)—but it was reported that even without reading the complaint, the congressmen signed it, otherwise they’d reportedly be deprived of their bowl of “adobong baboy”, a.k.a. pork barrel which on record goes as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

It seemed adobong baboy was again used as bait in the case of the RH Bill.  The President hosted a whirlwind lunch for the congressmen just two days after the August 4 anti-RH rally on EDSA, where contraception was equated with corruption and the anti-RH camp repeated its claim of having 140 congressmen on its side.  The Aug. 6 blitzkrieg lunch by the Palace resulted in the post-lunch viva voce vote ending the period of interpellations in Congress, a day ahead of schedule.  (Huh?  Isn’t Congress supposed to be independent of the Palace?)

Then again, during the voting on RH bill’s second and third readings, Noynoy henchmen were in the Batasan lounge, advising anti-RH party members to “go home” if they were just going to vote NO.  We heard that from some congressmen themselves as we covered the proceedings then.  What’s alarming is that the Executive Branch is doing its meddling so brazenly; what do they take the Filipinos for?

These episodes were reported by media but the protests against Palace intervention were feeble and mostly drowned out by the media-supported barrage of clichés, arguments and downright lies that have served as pro-RH camp’s staples since Day One: RH is the solution to poverty; the Church is indifferent to the needs of the poor; 11 mothers die daily; RH is for informed choice; the Church is in the dark ages; HIV-AIDS cases rise in RP; ad infinitum.

When the 104 anti-RH votes on the second reading dwindled down to 79 on the third, it seemed most people saw it as the end of the fight between pro-RH and anti-RH, and accepted without question that it is how things are done in Philippine politics: whoever is in power and has control of the moneybag gets his way—how he does it is entirely up to him.

Jubilant over the RH “win”, a lady senator now hails the President as a “hero” who has finally “put an end to the divisive issue so that the nation, united, may move on”.  Say that again—a nation united?  Another lie.  As we may have known, a lie repeated often enough eventually becomes accepted as truth.  Meanwhile, are we to forget how the RH victory was won, how the lawmakers yielded to executive pressure?  Do our congressmen serve the people’s best interests or only their own agenda? Is the Philippines already a democracy—really?  Can we as ordinary citizens do some “damage control” before this Pied Piper administration lures more innocents (and rats) to perdition?

One battle won does not mean the war is over.  More lies will be spread around in order to destroy the forces valiantly standing up for justice, truth, and life.  Let not the Filipinos be known as a people of mediocrity.  Keep watch—evil prevails when good people stop being vigilant.  And that’s the truth.