LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error…” (Romans 1:26-27, the Holy Bible).
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UNDERSTANDING PACQUIAO ON SAME-SEX RELATIONS: I am quite sure that the noise and brouhaha about the comments made by Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, now one of the senatorial candidates of the United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar Binay, on gays and lesbians are understandable reactions.
But, clearly, Pacquiao was merely echoing what the Bible said about relationships and sexual encounters between people of the same sex and he, as a Bible-believing Christian, has all the right in this world to expound on the Bible. Anyone who is a true Christian has the duty and obligation to say exactly what the Bible is saying, no matter who gets offended or hurt.
What is undeniable is that, the Bible said men-to-men and women-to-women sex are curses from God which lead to death. In Leviticus 18:22, it is there stated that men should not have sexual relations with other men, for that is detestable to God. In Romans 1, intercourse between men and men and women and women are punished with death, and this penalty applies also to people who just approve of these acts.
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“I MAY NOT AGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY…”: I agree that gays and lesbians who felt alluded to by what Pacquiao said have a right to denounce him. But this does not mean that Pacquiao should be prevented from talking about what he believes in, more particularly what he believes are the doctrinal foundations of his Christian faith.
Indeed, many may not agree on what the world boxing champion said about gays and lesbians, especially those who are engaging in men-to-men or women-to-women sexual relationships nowadays which, the Department of Health said, has contributed to the unprecedented rise of the dreaded disease HIV-AIDS in the Philippines today, but Pacquiao has every right to preach his belief, especially about what the Bible is saying.
As a foreign philosopher once said, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.” In a society where many people no longer believe in God and in the Bible, a free exchange of ideas should be encouraged, rather than restricted, if only to enable everyone to understand every facet of an all-too important issue such as same sex relationships!
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WHAT DID PACQUIAO REALLY SAY? But, what did Pacquiao really say about gays and lesbians? From my understanding, he was merely parroting (unfortunately for him, indeed) earlier Facebook posts showing presidential candidate and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago’s caricatured picture with a caption that read something like, “animals are better than humans because animals don’t engage in sex with their kind of the same sex.”
Really, nobody here has ever witnessed yet animals of the same sex having intercourse, right? I am of the belief that there is no place in the whole world as of yet that has animals of the same sex mating, or having sex together, is it not?
This was what the post about Santiago was saying actually, and what Pacquiao actually meant. The intended message was, if animals, which are greatly lower in form and in intelligence than humans, do not engage in same sex relationships, humans who do that—same sex relationships—would therefore appear to be worse than the animal species. This, I believe, was what Pacquiao wanted to say! So sorry he goofed in the manner he said it!
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PLEASE WATCH OR LISTEN: “Tambalang Batas at Somintac”, a news-commentary radio program, aired at DZEC 1062 kHz and other Radyo Agila provincial stations, at http://www.eaglebroadcasting.net/radyoagila and at www.youtube.com (type DZEC Radyo Agila Tambalang Batas at Somintac 1062 Live), 6 to 7 in the morning, Philippine time. Phone: 0922 833 43 96, 0918 574 0193, 0977 805 9058. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.
