Congressman to ban GOD

Yes a member of the Philippine Congress wants to ban GOD in public, the same way a minority group in the US succeeded to stop prayers in public schools as well as the reading of the Bible in the United States of America.

In the Philippines, a party-list Congressman wants to legislate a ban on all religious activities, symbols and ceremonies by claiming that (in a predominantly Catholic nation such as the Philippines) “the state cannot be seen as favoring one religion over the other, in allowing the prominent conduct and display of religious ceremonies and symbols, respectively in public offices and property.“

In a news item published in the Philippine Star last Saturday; Kabataan Party list Representative Raymond Palatino has reportedly filed a House bill entitled “RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN GOVERNMENT ACT”. While the title sounds pro-religion, the contents of the House bill turns out to be a scheme designed to ultimately prevent any and all religions and their practices from being observed in any government or public place.

In the story written by Star reporter Paolo Romero, he quotes section 4 of the propose House bill that states:

“Religious ceremonies shall not be undertaken within the premises and perimeter of their offices, departments, and bureaus, including publicly owned spaces and corridors within such spaces and corridors within such offices, departments and bureaus.”

Since I don’t know Congressman Palatino personally, I can’t decide if he is just trying to be noticed or an Atheist. Rather than dismiss him as a crackpot or the Anti-Christ, I choose to take him seriously because to ignore him may one day result in allowing an insignificant minority to decide the faith and the future of the next generation.

That is what happened in the United States in the early 1960’s when God loving, Bible believing people chose to ignore an insignificant bunch of “looneys” who wanted to remove prayer from the school rooms.

No one paid attention because no one believed they were serious or that it would ever happen. What many “believers” failed to realize was that the insignificant loonies simply needed to convince a dozen individuals, or wait until their allies made it into the system.

After just a few years, the US Supreme Court ruled that prayer in public schools violated the rights of “non-believers” or people of other beliefs. Three years later, lawyers filed for a ban on reading the Holy Bible in US public schools.

So 50 years later, Americans can’t pray in school or any public place, Americans cannot display any symbol or possible representation of their faith such as the Star of David, the Cross, etc. not even in their front yard or on top of their house, but they can have an abortion on demand and now they have the first Black American President who supports gay marriage.

Anyone who watches western TV programs knows all about the social and moral breakdown that has taken place in the United States right after prayers and religion were taken out of the schools and public places. For a country that “Trust In GOD”, it is ironic that the word GOD is something they are careful about uttering not for fear of GOD but for fear of man.

So going back to Congressman Palatino’s legislative agenda, I would rather that we Filipinos quarrel over religious beliefs and practices rather than let a minority representative meddle or steal our freedom to exercise our religious practices and beliefs whenever and where ever.

I have had no problem joining a “Muslim brother” in prayers, the same way I enjoyed and learned from joining a service at the “Central” church of the Iglesia Ni Cristo in Diliman. I have spent half of my life as a Catholic and the rest of my life being “Born Again”. Yes I am ignorant of many other faiths and practices but only in interacting with them in public will we all learn and truly give meaning to Respect and not just tolerance.

Yes, I sometimes get a queasy feeling seeing an oversized statue of the Sto. Niño in government offices, I’m sure some people weird out when people invite them to Bible studies during lunch or after office inside a military camp or police precinct. Some people might shake their head every time government offices in the ARMM come to a pause for prayer. But all of that simply shows that the great majority of people believe in “GOD” or “ALLAH”.

Congressman Palatino should consider that suppression of religious beliefs and practices by legislation is not representative of the “benevolent neutrality” he infers from the Constitution. Rather, the proposed legislation he has crafted is an act of violence against every religion in existence in the Philippines. As a follower of Christ I am taught to turn the other cheek, but that miraculous event might happen if the issue or the problem were personal. But when someone intentionally misinterprets the Constitution and attempts to violate our GOD given and constitutionally protected right and duty to worship the GOD we believe in, I have no plans of going meekly to the slaughter of my faith.

Congressman Palatino should pay attention to his work and his assignment and not tell us when and where to worship GOD. Perhaps it is high time that the members of Congress limit and regulate the participation, and legislative agenda of party list representatives. Pass bills that address your marginalized sectors and stop meddling in matters that are none of your business.

A column of Cito Beltran in philstar.com

To see original article here.

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Indian father kills baby 'for being a girl'

My heart bleeds after reading this news from CNN. It's like differences really make difference. The cultural differences of human in this crazy world influence the norms and the moral aspect of life.

Bangalore (CNN) -- Nineteen-year-old Reshma Banu sits on the stairs outside her parents' home, staring at the tiny screen on her cell phone.

The video on the screen has her mesmerized: a very short home video of her baby girl, Afreen.
The moments captured are precious because they show Banu's only child alive and well again.
Three-month-old Afreen died in the hospital. Authorities say the baby was admitted to the hospital with bite marks, cigarette burns and a dislocated neck. Police say she was killed by her father.

"After my delivery my husband had come to see me and the baby. He said, 'It is a girl, why did you give birth to a girl?'"

He wanted a boy, an heir. Girls were too expensive, he said. A couple of days after giving birth, Banu says her husband gave an ultimatum.

"For her wedding we will require a hundred thousand rupees (about US$1,800 dollars) for all the expense. If you can get that amount from your mother, then keep her, but if you can't, then kill her," Reshma recalled her husband as saying.

She didn't believe he meant it and was sure he would change his mind once he held his soft, bright-eyed baby girl.

Three months later, her baby is dead, and her husband under arrest accused of beating the baby to death. Police say he confessed to the killing.

This is by no means the first case of its kind in India. Attitudes, traditions, and economics have come together to make being a girl a dangerous prospect in the country, doctors say. Most of the time girls are disposed of long before they are born.

How? Sex-selective abortions.

India has a growing gender gap: The 2011 census showed that for every 1,000 boys six years or younger there were only 914 girls. It is the lowest child sex ratio since India's independence in 1947.

The United Nations has said India is the most dangerous place to be a girl. Dr. Anand Krishnan at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who has studied the gender gap for years, agrees.

"Yes, largely this is from the point of view of mortality statistics for girls versus boys," Krishnan told CNN.

Sex-selective abortions are against the law in India but are still happening at an alarming rate, he said.

His study shows a surprising trend: Sex selective abortions among the educated and well-off seem to be more prevalent than among the desperately poor and uneducated. Despite greater prosperity, their mindsets have not changed and they have the money to pay for ultrasounds and abortions.

"A boy is seen as a better investment. They prefer boys," Krishnan said.

Girls are mostly aborted here. The people want more boys. There is a shortage of girls

The explanation goes something like this: In traditional Indian families the men marry and bring their bride home to live and take care of his parents.

Girls, on the other hand, marry and leave the home without providing extra financial support.

Moreover, a girl's family can go broke trying to pay a dowry to get her married. Although outlawed in India, dowries are still common and take different forms throughout society.

Indian law also forbids doctors to tell a couple the sex of their child after an ultrasound, but many clinics break the law and do so anyway.

India has made an effort across the country to stop female infanticide.

CNN visited a village in Haryana state with one of the worst ratios of boys to girls, according to the Indian government. A campaign is under way to change villagers' minds about girls.

Tiny placards above the doors of several homes read in Hindi: "If you get rid of your girls, where will you find your daughter-in-laws?"

A teenage boy wore a T-shirt that said, "Save our girls."

Nonetheless, there were young boys everywhere and only a few young girls. Villagers only affirmed why there appeared to be an imbalance.

She had just come into the world. She was like a flower bud, and he killed her. I lost my daughter. What can be worse than this?

"Girls are mostly aborted here. The people want more boys. There is a shortage of girls," Chandravati said without hesitation.

The villager was taking care of her neighbor's newborn baby girl. She cooed at the baby while blowing cigarette smoke into its tiny little face, oblivious to the dangers second-hand smoke could pose.

She told us the poorest people don't have the money to abort, so they are forced to keep girls, but those who can afford an ultrasound and abortion get rid of female fetuses.

"So much money is required to get them married. Where will the money come from?" she said. "Everything is so expensive these days."

But India is a country filled with in-your-face contradictions. When it comes to women and girls it is a place where the discarding of girls is juxtaposed with the fact that India has a female president and speaker of the House -- and its most powerful politician is a woman, Sonia Gandhi.

Indira Gandhi, Sonia's mother-in-law, became India's first woman prime minister and one of the world's first female heads of government.

In 2011 the latest census data showed the literacy rate for girls is growing faster than for boys.

Banu, whose husband is accused of killing their baby, and her parents say they always believed a baby -- boy or girl -- was a blessing.

Her mother, Maqbool Bi, had four girls and a boy. Though the family is poor, she raised her girls with great hope for their futures.

"With all that is there in my heart, my heart breaks every time I recall what happened [to my granddaughter]. Even when I was starving I raised my children, all four of them. I used to pray to God to save me from seeing any of my children die before my own eyes. My children should succeed in life. They should make us proud," she said.

Banu now lives with her parents in a tiny two-room home filled to a bursting point with family members.

She will spend her life struggling with the fact that she never got the chance to raise her first child because it was born a girl. With tears welling in her eyes, Banu said, "She had just come into the world. She was like a flower bud, and he killed her. I lost my daughter. What can be worse than this?"

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