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LAST Friday’s column, titled “Political will vs. runaway
population growth,” elicited strong reactions from readers. So
strong were the reactions that some resorted to name-calling.
The three reproduced below illustrate how the
issue of population—particularly, artificial contraception—can
get up the gander of not a few people.
Due to space limitations, I have taken the
liberty of picking out what I felt were the readers’ main points.
Church correct
The first comes from Jojo Bernardo of Quezon
City:
“I feel . . . the Catholic Church is totally
correct in its population policy, for the following reasons:
“Only God has the power over life. Man should
not mess with it. Pills and condoms lead to diaphragms leads to
morning after pills and abortifacients leads to abortion. A culture
of death, a mindset that man can play around with the very essence
of life will lead to decay in the very fabric of society.
“Curbing population is not as important as
curbing corruption. In computing GNP per capita, the real waste, the
true inefficiencies are occurring in the opportunity costs of
corruption. Rather than mind the 1.9 percent population growth,
increase the GNP growth to 7 percent . . . maybe 10 percent like
Thailand or China or Singapore [over prolonged periods in history.]
Then the GNP per capita will really be a meaningful indicator of
economic development.
“Economic development is a sure-fire way of
decreasing population growth. Look at the developed economies [that]
now have zero population growth. As households progress in
education, productivity, decrease in infant mortality, double income
families, better health care etc . . . family sizes will
automatically downsize. Population growth will self-adjust once
progress kicks in.
“In the 1800s, economist Malthus said that
famine and starvation were inevitable because population grew exponentially
and food production only grew arithmetically. He was wrong. It has
been proven that technology can easily overcome population growth.
“It is reported that only 10 percent of Pinoy
Catholics go to mass. Maybe. But like the Jesuits of Ateneo [Father
Nebres recently and Father de la Costa in decades past] I hew to the
belief that the Filipino has deep roots in family and faith.
That’s why the Diaspora of Pinoys all over the world [is] becoming
the core for the rejuvenation of the faith in international
parishes. The population growth has allowed Pinoys to send children
abroad who remit the funds that keep the economy afloat.
“Children are a blessing. They come from God.
Mess with the family structure, like what’s happening in the West
where the family unit is breaking down, and I believe that
spirituality will inexorably erode
“Curb corruption and population will curb
itself.”
Malice and cynicism
Jose Maria Alcasid, M.D. sent an e-mail with an
attachment containing an article—titled “Cutting against the
grain”—he wrote three years against House Bill 3773 explaining
why the Catholic Church will never change its teaching on artificial
contraception.
I have no power to allocate space for the
article of Dr. Alcasid who, however, did say in his e-mail:
“The bottom line is that the likes of former
Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez and Sen. Ping Lacson would rather
violate natural and divine law to push through with their anti-life
agenda. In would seem to me that they would rather promote sexual
pleasure over continence and the practice of virtue, e.g.
temperance.
“I would like to think that they are ignorant
of the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception but I believe
it’s due more to malice and cynicism more than anything else.”
Catholic Taliban
Espousing the opposite view, Misael Balayan of
Mililani, Hawaii, wrote:
“If we look at East Asia, all countries in the
region, except the Philippines, have implemented an aggressive
population management policy as part of a comprehensive economic
strategy to reduce mass poverty.
“All East Asian countries are predominantly
non-Christian [Thailand and Vietnam , for example, are predominantly
Buddhist]. No country in the region, again the Philippines being the
sole exception, has religious hang-ups about the use of artificial
methods of birth control.
“By all yardsticks of common sense, isn’t
[it] easier to feed, shelter, clothe, educate and find jobs for 65
million people [in Thailand] than 89 million people [in the
Philippines]? Extrapolation leads us to conclude that a developing
country with a smaller population will be more successful in
reducing mass poverty, compared to a country with a larger
population. Malaysia, with a population of only 25 million people
[one third that of the Philippines], is now a middle-class country,
and is well on its way of achieving developed, First World status by
the year 2020. Thailand is not too far behind.
“I hope you and more columnists will continue
writing articles criticizing the Catholic Taliban’s position on
contraception, and also the kowtowing and subservience of many
Filipino politicians [GMA included] to the sanctimonious bishops of
the Roman Catholic Church. I long came to the conclusion that the
‘pro-life’ hypocrites’ stand against artificial methods of
birth control is the single, major obstacle to any successful
government effort in reducing mass poverty.”
dansoy26@yahoo.com
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