The Philippine Online Chronicles

The CBCP recently issued opposition to an anti-discrimination bill, which may include protection for homosexuals, on the works at legislation. According to the CBCP through its lawyers, homosexuals should not be treated as a discriminated sector because, unlike the elderly or handicapped, homosexuals have “chosen” to be part of the “third sex,” thus implicitly bound to suffer the consequences of their religiously unsanctioned choice. Atty. Imbong with the CBCP adds that an anti-discrimination bill that is inclusive of homosexuals could subject the church, which does not recognize same sex marriage, to sanction by possibly ushering in same sex marriages in the country and punishing the church for not officiating such marriages, as if civil marriages did not exist.

The myth of choice

The CBCP's arguments are rooted in the mistaken belief that sexual orientation and gender preference is a choice, as if a man suddenly wakes up one morning and while drinking coffee decides to become gay, because, who knows, it might be fun. What the church blocks out with its horse-blinders built from antiquated and heterosexist interpretations of outdated and often ambiguous biblical passages is that heterosexuals are equally choice-less when it comes to sexual orientation. The same way it is innate in a homosexual to find another person of the same sex attractive, neither do heterosexuals suddenly come to a point when they decide that the opposite sex is what turns them on. Sexuality and gender preferences are outside the ambit of choice, and as such places the LGBT community on equal footing with the heterosexual world. Even “coming out of the closet” or “paglaladlad” should not be interpreted as the pivotal point when a person chooses to be gay. If anything, the act of coming out/paglaladlad  is a testament to heterosexism which makes it necessary for a homosexual to isolate an aspect as essential as sexuality for fear of discrimination. By proclaiming that homosexuals shouldn't be considered discriminated and oppressed, the church only adds to the discrimination that have placed homosexuals right in the center of the closet.

Orientation isn't evil

Not only is sexual orientation innate and outside of choice, but even assuming for the sake of argument that it is a choice, there is little to show that choosing to be a homosexual is wrong or evil. Leviticus is the easy scriptural retort, but in the spirit of the sinless casting the first stone, conservatives should remember that the bible also prohibits a host of other things  that are now considered the norm. Even Internet memes understand this. The stubborn belief that the norms and mores of centuries past is still applicable today is one of the church's downfalls, incapacitating it from truly shepherding its flock by, first and foremost, understanding it. Instead, the church isolates itself by erroneously assuming its primary text to be closed to contemporary and alternative interpretations and that its own reading is the only possible reading, which incidentally is in total opposition to the spirit of humility that Christ himself professed.

Inconsistencies from within

Indeed, interpreting the bible's Leviticus with rigorous pedantry isn't quite possible in the face of the Roman Catholic church's own tendency to blur the lines between right and wrong. Just recently, the pope himself even attempted to normalize pedophilia and rape within the church by citing its prevalence in the past. One can't preach ethical relativism while maintaining that homosexuality is an absolute sin and social menace by virtue of a few passages in the bible. Indeed, religion and relativism are essential opposites.

Isolating itself from the flock

The CBCP's continuing stand against homosexuals is a sad reminder of the church's unfortunate decision to isolate itself from its flock amidst the changes in society. The entire incident brings us to the crux of the CBCP's error: that change is something to fear and oppose. What is sad about all this is that this adamant refusal to change is in stark contrast with the heart of Jesus' own story – after all, what is the story of salvation if not change from sin into forgiveness through repentance and faith, and what is Jesus if not an emblem of change, from one god to three, the father, son and spirit? Jesus the human is nothing if not an example of change, and how even a god could deign to transform itself.

Stunted potential for change

Religion as a social institution has massive potential for restructuring society, precisely because of its' potential functions: it can be a form of relief for many against the vagaries of life, an answer to hard-to-ponder questions affecting us big-brained animals who aren't content with just survival but must also ask why we're here and what for, and escape from the perennial materialism of the world through spirituality. Isolating itself from the growing, and rightfully so, normalization of homosexuals in the eyes of society defeats all these purposes for religion as a social institution. By continuing its discrimination against homosexuals, the church itself becomes one of the arbitrary vagaries that it should have been the shelter to. After all, biases and discrimination are essentially caprices of the empowered and ruling sectors. And if certain studies are to be believed, 10 percent of the population is a pretty big chunk to exclude from the doctrines of teleology, divine purpose, and spirituality that the church preaches.

Like any social institution , the church and religion's survival depends on its capacity to answer social needs and remain relevant to the people. The church can provide the necessary counterpoint to a number of afflictions suffered by the people, straight and gay alike. The church has even proven its capacity to change itself even from within, such as through the protestant revolution which showed us that even within the clergy itself, it is possible to think and self-criticize. Which is why the church through the CBCP should stop fighting its unfounded causes and start molding itself into something that makes sense over 2000 years later. It can do this by acknowledging change and relinquishing its futile struggles against the LGBT community in terms of discrimination, women in terms of reproductive health and control over body, and even the family in terms of contraceptives and family planning.

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some rights reserved.