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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (17100)	6/19/2001 7:54:49 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

An odd thing that I've noticed about the involvement of the Catholic Church in sexual politics in the Philippines is that the primary objective seems to be not the preservation on unborn lives, but the maintenance of the highest possible level of chastity. I wonder how much this prevails elsewhere. After all, logic dictates that if you want to decrease the incidence of abortion, you should support the highest possible levels of sex education and contraceptive availability. Those who oppose abortion and also prefer to reduce sex education and access to contraceptives pretty clearly have another agenda floating around. The Catholic hierarchy here seems convinced of two things. First, sex is bad, and the less sex people are having, the better people are. Second, women are slaves to their desires, and the only thing that will keep them from rutting like rabbits is the threat of unwanted pregnancy and social opprobrium. Therefore, sex education is evil and should be banned, contraception is immoral and should be banned, abortion is unmentionable and must be banned, and the social stigma against birth out of wedlock must be maintained at all costs. Of course this combination, blended with the church-approved physical and economic subjugation of women, virtually assures a steady stream of unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions, but that does not really bother the Church, because the church is not really concerned with reducing abortion rates. It is concerned with preventing sexual contact. It is also very ineffective at that, but at least they can feel noble about their efforts. What does one expect from an institution that regards virginity as the most exalted state a woman can attain? It is worth noting that the vast majority of the abortions performed in the Philippines (I wonder if this applies in Latin America as well) are performed on married women, not single hussies. Most cannot feed the children they have, and have husbands that will not accept the use of contraceptives. It is also worth noting the comment of a Filipino priest, when asked how families were supposed to feed all those kids. He said Idagdag ng tubig sa sopas. In English Add some water to the soup. There are some who really deserve to be crucified.