By Fr. Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
The eighth anniversary of Ladlad is a significant milestone in Philippine LGBT history. The celebration was carried out in style at the classy Astoria Hotel off Shaw Blvd. near the Ladlad national headquarters.
The well-attended (250 by my count) event is well documented on the Ladlad website.
I want to ponder for a moment the significance of Ladlad and its strong showing on its eighth anniversary. The post-midnight magnificent speech by Boy Abunda told it all — along with his personal inspiring testimony. I sure hope it was taped to be transcribed and preserved for posterity. It was a masterpiece — with no visible signs of a manuscript.
Looking back for perspective, when Rizal marched between two Jesuits to his execution, we realize he had no way of knowing how and when his beloved patria (homeland) would be free — politically. We all know it happened — boosted by his initiative and martyrdom. But the freedom he dreamed of is still not complete. He assertively told Blumentritt “the friars are the cause” of all the suffering and tears of the Filipinos. That’s a strong statement, and today we can see clearly that it was true.
Rizal did not know all the ramifications of sex-negative theology imposed by the friars. He had heard of NO masturbation, NO pre-marital sex, NO divorce, but some NOs which bug us today — such as NO condoms, NO love for the one you love if the one you love is one of the same sex, NO marriage ever if you and your partner are LGBTq — were not a subject of common cogitation in his day, probably not even for a such a great thinker as Rizal. But those things also descend from the friars whom he bemoaned.
Sadly, despite the Constitution, today the distinction between what is religious and what is political is blurred. This is because the political rights, the human rights of the Filipino people are influenced, abridged, and denied by the power of the modern-day hierarchical “friars” who wield such unbelievable power over the members of Congress — a phenomenon not found in any other non-Islamic country in the world. Yes, that’s what our “friar power” and an “Islamic republic” have in common.
In short, friar power and the imposition of what Rizal called “false religion” did not end when the Spanish lost control of the government. The effects of sex-negative theology, brought by the friars are perpetuated by the hierarchies of today. They continue on two fronts — on the religious front and in the political front (which can be readily observed in the intimidation of the members of Congress).
The leader of today’s sex-negative theology hierarchy, Pope Benedict XVI, recently visited his homeland of Germany. The protests he experienced there boldly proclaim to us that some people in some countries no longer kowtow to sex-negative false religion, including LGBTq rights. The media pointedly commented that people formerly associated with this religion are staying away in droves.
So where does Ladlad come into the picture? LGBTq people here are denied freedoms which have been taken away in the political arena because of the power of the peddlers of sex-negative theology over the people who make the laws (Congress). Ladlad surely will aim to become one voice, one positive influence in Congress to counteract this negative influence. They fight for us alongside Teddy Casino and Akbayan (as Etta Rosales did all the years she was fighting for us in Congress) and the few brave warriors who always fight for us. Now we have Ladlad. Now we can win membership in Congress and fight the battle right there in the halls of power. Thank God, the battle is carried on with competence and dedication by Ladlad, by Bemz Benedito. Danton Remoto, Boy Abunda, and all the officers and members throughout the archipelago.
In the meantime there is the second battlefront — the religious one. Unfortunately, Rizal was right in his day, and he’s still right today. The source of all our troubles arises from the teachings of a religion which has the power to impose its “way” (No, No, No. You know the NOs — you’ve had to live without them all your life). Even worse, they thrust them on not only you and me, but on every person of every religion, every believer and non-believer in the country. (Not just Catholics are denied the right to divorce; all citizens are.)
MCC in the Philippines celebrated its twentieth anniversary in early September.
As little as Rizal could have guessed on that somber December morning in 1896 that some great things were going to happen in his beloved country — likewise as little could we have guessed on September 7, 1991 that on the religious and political front great things would happen in our beloved country for the LGBTq people. When the first openly gay and lesbian organization began to openly welcome people, we knew we had a job to do, but we did not foresee that ProGay would come along in 1992, that MCC and ProGay would sponsor the first Pride march in Asia in 1994, that dozens of LGBTq organizations and LGBTq-friendly groups would rally to the LGBTq cause, culminating in the work of Danton Remoto to set up Ang Ladlad eight years ago.
Now MCC has three congregations (with pastors Ceejay, Myke, and Egay) and the Christian United Church has come along (with pastor Regen), and I do my little part, and we have to do the battle on the religious front. The bottom line is: sex-negative theology is the problem. It must be replaced with sex-positive theology. I teach the subject in free on-line seminars. MCC and CUC are out there on the front lines bringing new hope and peace and joy to lives battered by sex-negative theology.
The solution:
On the political front — Ladlad leads the battle. It would be the beginning of the solution, as they strategize with Boy Abunda and work from the office (with Edmund Osorio) to the nationwide field — if they could free Congress members from the power of the sex-negative hierarchy.
On the religious front — the sex-positive religious organizations, MCC and CUC, could liberate people with a new-found — but always guaranteed as a basic religious and human right — freedom to follow one’s informed conscience to know and do what is right, not what is imposed by sex-negative theology.
September 27, 2011
Fr. Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
saintaelred@gmail.com
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Comment: Rizal and the Friars
By Father Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
In reply to feedback and questions which have come to me by email since my blog about Rizal, 9/11, and modern-day terrorism, I offer the following comments.
I was restrained in that blog. I did not use Rizal’s stronger criticism of the friars. I chose to quote a mild comment by Rizal calling for respect for other people’s (religious) views.
But because I have been challenged to show more specifically how Rizal’s attitude is similar to and a springboard for my sex-positive attitude, I am writing more and quoting his stronger statement.
I use the word attitude because Rizal never heard of suicide bombings or suicide airplane crashes. The issues are different, but the attitude is comparable.
Therefore I call your attention to this very explicit criticism of the abuses of the friars of his time. He clearly is using the word “religion” here in the same way we use “religious extremism” today.
He was not condemning the whole religion. He was fighting the religious extremism of the friars that was causing “all the suffering and tears” of the Filipino people. He was not against the religion, but he was vehemently against the abuses.
He respected and got along well with the Jesuit missionaries, but the abuses of others were his target. (One Jesuit, in fact, asked him why he called the “Noli” a novel when it was a true to life description of things as they actually were.)
The last four years of his life he attended Mass regularly with the Jesuits in Dapitan. Two Jesuits, from his Ateneo days and his Dapitan days, accompanied him to his execution.
Likewise, if I may say, I pray the Mass everyday and respect and believe the teachings of the church which are not un-Biblical and unlike (contradictory to) Jesus’ life and message of love.
This assessment by Rizal of the friars of his time resonates with my assessment of the modern-day friars who are not brown or black-robed friars but colorfully-robed hierarchy in purple and red.
Everything that Rizal combats can easily be applied to my attitude toward their control of the lives of people today (of all faiths and non-faiths) with regard to such things as divorce, condoms, same-sex love, and justice for women.
Rizal about the Friars
“The friars utilize religion not only as a shield but also as a weapon… I was forced to attack their false and superstitious religion, to fight the enemy that hid behind it!...
God ought not to be utilized as a shield and protector of abuses, and less to use religion for such a purpose.
If the friars really had more respect for their religion, they would not use so often its sacred name and would not expose it to the most dangerous situations.
What is happening in the Philippines is horrible. They abuse the name of religion for a few pesos. They hawk religion to enrich their treasuries. [Imagine] Religion to perturb the peace of marriage and the family, if not to dishonor the wife!
Why should I should I not combat this religion with all my strength when it is the primary cause of all our sufferings and tears? The responsibility falls on those who abuse the name of religion!
Christ did the same to the religion of his country, to the Pharisees who had abused so much. (Letter to Blumentritt 1890)
In reply to feedback and questions which have come to me by email since my blog about Rizal, 9/11, and modern-day terrorism, I offer the following comments.
I was restrained in that blog. I did not use Rizal’s stronger criticism of the friars. I chose to quote a mild comment by Rizal calling for respect for other people’s (religious) views.
But because I have been challenged to show more specifically how Rizal’s attitude is similar to and a springboard for my sex-positive attitude, I am writing more and quoting his stronger statement.
I use the word attitude because Rizal never heard of suicide bombings or suicide airplane crashes. The issues are different, but the attitude is comparable.
Therefore I call your attention to this very explicit criticism of the abuses of the friars of his time. He clearly is using the word “religion” here in the same way we use “religious extremism” today.
He was not condemning the whole religion. He was fighting the religious extremism of the friars that was causing “all the suffering and tears” of the Filipino people. He was not against the religion, but he was vehemently against the abuses.
He respected and got along well with the Jesuit missionaries, but the abuses of others were his target. (One Jesuit, in fact, asked him why he called the “Noli” a novel when it was a true to life description of things as they actually were.)
The last four years of his life he attended Mass regularly with the Jesuits in Dapitan. Two Jesuits, from his Ateneo days and his Dapitan days, accompanied him to his execution.
Likewise, if I may say, I pray the Mass everyday and respect and believe the teachings of the church which are not un-Biblical and unlike (contradictory to) Jesus’ life and message of love.
This assessment by Rizal of the friars of his time resonates with my assessment of the modern-day friars who are not brown or black-robed friars but colorfully-robed hierarchy in purple and red.
Everything that Rizal combats can easily be applied to my attitude toward their control of the lives of people today (of all faiths and non-faiths) with regard to such things as divorce, condoms, same-sex love, and justice for women.
Rizal about the Friars
“The friars utilize religion not only as a shield but also as a weapon… I was forced to attack their false and superstitious religion, to fight the enemy that hid behind it!...
God ought not to be utilized as a shield and protector of abuses, and less to use religion for such a purpose.
If the friars really had more respect for their religion, they would not use so often its sacred name and would not expose it to the most dangerous situations.
What is happening in the Philippines is horrible. They abuse the name of religion for a few pesos. They hawk religion to enrich their treasuries. [Imagine] Religion to perturb the peace of marriage and the family, if not to dishonor the wife!
Why should I should I not combat this religion with all my strength when it is the primary cause of all our sufferings and tears? The responsibility falls on those who abuse the name of religion!
Christ did the same to the religion of his country, to the Pharisees who had abused so much. (Letter to Blumentritt 1890)
Friday, September 16, 2011
Terrorism, Nine Eleven, Rizal, and Sex-Positive Theology
By Fr. Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S, Ph.D.
saintaelred@gmail.com
We have all been reminded of the demonic evils of religious extremism and bigotry in the observance of the tenth anniversary of “nine eleven” today.
Religious extremism, whether Islamic, Protestant, Fundamentalist, or Catholic is not religion, is not of God, is direct from the demons of evil.
Those who plotted and those who flew the suicide planes that killed nearly 3,000 people on 9/110 — said they were doing it to please their god, but indeed the truth is that such insanity was very displeasing to the God of Islam, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus came and lived and loved and as we live and love. Look at his life. He was completely free of prejudice. Look, for example, at how he made heroes (e.g. the Good Samaritan) of foreigners, people of a different religion from his and most of his kababayan. That is already a clue to see what Jesus was like for 33 years among us.
Jesus came to show us what God is like, that God is love, and he showed it by his behavior toward the hated foreign Samaritan people. Imagine him, who came to show us what God is like, being anything but horrified by the 3,000 lives wiped out on 9/11.
Now let us examine some other things that misguided extremists do in the name of religion.
We all know that bombing of cathedrals and mosques comes from the insanity of religious extremism. A nun friend of mine who had just completed her master’s degree at Ateneo in Manila was disabled for life by a bombing while she was praying in the Catholic cathedral of Jakarta on Christmas Eve.
It was the same insanity that caused my nephew and godson, Joseph Mickley, to lose his wife in the Pentagon on 9/11. My son, Pete, was with Joe that fateful day in the Pentagon as they franticly helped the officials and ambulance drivers pull out the mangled bodies, including Joe’s wife, Patty.
The terrorism of religious extremism is not limited to insane suicide bombing or suicide plane crashes.
We don’t have to think very long to see the parallel in the stranglehold of religious extremism of one religion which has a hierarchy extreme enough and strong enough to deprive every Catholic, every Protestant, every Moslem, every person in the Philippines of the right to seek divorce in a marriage of incompatibility and perhaps violence for at least one of the partners. The Philippines is the only country in the world victimized by this form of religious extremism.
That same modern day religious extremism is preventing every woman in the Philippines from having the benefits of an RH Bill (which in no way fosters or condones abortion). At the same time it deprives every citizen, of whatever religion, from the freedom to choose the benefits of the RH Bill because of the power of the hierarchy of one religion.
In a letter to Fr. Pastells, Rizal showed his high regard for religious tolerance or respect for another person’s conscience. He tells the story of his conversations with a Protestant Pastor in Germany. “There, in calm and slow conversation, with freedom to speak, we talked about our respective beliefs, of the morality of peoples, and the influence of their respective creeds on them. A great respect for the good faith of the adversary and for the most contrary ideas that must necessarily arise due to the difference in race, education, age, led us almost always to the conclusion that religions, whatever they might be, should not make people enemies of one another, but rather brothers and real brothers,…I obtained … profound respect for every idea sincerely conceived and practiced with conviction.”
Of course we wish that every religious extremist would heed the experience of Rizal. It would be uplifting if even the senators of this republic would practice these “principles” of Rizal in the RH Bill debates.
When it comes to one religion and its own adherents, it is a different story. If a religion demands that its followers never play cards, never smoke, never dance, then it is up to the members of that religion to make their own free choice to follow those rules or if they stay in that religion or not. If the Roman Catholic religion requires celibacy of their priests, that is an internal discipline. But if that church requires lifetime celibacy of all LGBTq people, that is not an internal issue. It is sex-negative theology imposed unjustly upon all who will bow to it. The problem is, because of the influence of the teachings of that church, this becomes a “law” of society.
If one religion dominates a whole culture, such as Islam in Saudi Arabia which forbids and punishes the practice of all other religion, e.g. for all Christian Filipinos working in Saudi — we are not speaking of choice, but of injustice. If one religion dominates the whole culture of Philippine people, and its views are “enforced” in law or in the acceptance of society, because it is the religion of the majority, then we are no longer speaking of choice, but of injustice...
The list of prohibitions goes beyond divorce and the RH Bill. The “no-nos!” go deep into the lives of the citizens, in the bedrooms and out of the bedrooms. It is no laughing matter when a teenager is ridiculed to suicide because of the attitude of the church toward masturbation or feelings of same-sex attraction. It is no small matter when parents are driven to desperation because their church tells them, “No Condoms!” when they already have more (beloved) children than they can feed or send to school.
And to where can we trace the gay bashings, the murders of young and older gay men, the senseless slaughter of transexual people here and around the world? Can we see that it is all traceable back to religious extremism and societal prejudice which springs from religious extremism?
The whole matter of the treatment of women as inferior in society is no small matter. Perhaps nobody says, “In the name of God, for the glory of God, I declare you are a woman and you are not equal, not entitled to equal pay, equal rights, equal opportunities, access to ordination or leadership roles.” But where did this attitude of male supremacy come from? Look to patriarchal society which originated in religion. Look to one religion in particular with a male only priesthood, a male hierarchy.
My friends, it is not only Islamic religious extremism and 9/11 which bomb and kill and victimize society. Religious extremism of any religion brings about oppression and death — even today. Yes, in the Near East in Islamic countries, the government hangs men caught in same-sex sex or women caught in any forbidden sex. But here, in our own country, we see and feel the pain of incompatible marriage in the absence of divorce, the horror of bashings and murders and suicides and job losses and evictions — every day because of the attitude fostered by religious extremism and sex-negative theology and the powerful influence of its propagators.
As always we offer Sex-Positive Theology as a solution. We join in our time hundreds of scholars, theologians, teachers and authors who have thought through the unscriptural and un-Jesus-like evils of all these oppressive controls of one religious view over the lives of all citizens.
I have been pondering what might be “eight pivotal truths” for sex-positive theology for LGBTq people. What would I include in eight cardinal truths or eight key principles?
What would I consider the eight foundational elements of sex-positive theology?
This is my first draft.
1. I believe God is Love. Those who live in Love live in God, and God lives in them.
2. I believe the Bible is sex-positive. There is no passage in the Bible which condemns same-sex love or gay and lesbian relationships. There are good examples of same-sex love.
3. I believe all sex is good if it is not harmful or forceful; some sex is better if it is in the context of loving and caring; and some sex is best when it is in a committed enduring loving relationship.
4. I believe women are created equal in rights and justice and opportunity. Thus God loves women unconditionally and welcomes them into the fullness of Christian witness, including ordained ministry.
5. I believe heterosexual expressions of love and homosexual sexual expressions of love are equally good in the eyes of God. Thus God loves LGBTq people unconditionally and welcomes them into the fullness of Christian witness, including ordained ministry.
6. I believe the body and soul are equally good with a goal to uniting spirituality and sexuality.
7. I believe that since God is Love, love-making is a sacrament of God’s presence.
8. I believe God is Friendship, and friendship with God and with people and a good life go together for the fullness of life.
These eight points just scratch the surface of Sex-Positive theology. We discuss the subject fully and extensively with those who want to really get a complete mastery of Sex-Positive Theology in our free Seminar in Sex-Positive Theology by email. Just email me and let me know you are interested. saintaelred@gmail.com
saintaelred@gmail.com
We have all been reminded of the demonic evils of religious extremism and bigotry in the observance of the tenth anniversary of “nine eleven” today.
Religious extremism, whether Islamic, Protestant, Fundamentalist, or Catholic is not religion, is not of God, is direct from the demons of evil.
Those who plotted and those who flew the suicide planes that killed nearly 3,000 people on 9/110 — said they were doing it to please their god, but indeed the truth is that such insanity was very displeasing to the God of Islam, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus came and lived and loved and as we live and love. Look at his life. He was completely free of prejudice. Look, for example, at how he made heroes (e.g. the Good Samaritan) of foreigners, people of a different religion from his and most of his kababayan. That is already a clue to see what Jesus was like for 33 years among us.
Jesus came to show us what God is like, that God is love, and he showed it by his behavior toward the hated foreign Samaritan people. Imagine him, who came to show us what God is like, being anything but horrified by the 3,000 lives wiped out on 9/11.
Now let us examine some other things that misguided extremists do in the name of religion.
We all know that bombing of cathedrals and mosques comes from the insanity of religious extremism. A nun friend of mine who had just completed her master’s degree at Ateneo in Manila was disabled for life by a bombing while she was praying in the Catholic cathedral of Jakarta on Christmas Eve.
It was the same insanity that caused my nephew and godson, Joseph Mickley, to lose his wife in the Pentagon on 9/11. My son, Pete, was with Joe that fateful day in the Pentagon as they franticly helped the officials and ambulance drivers pull out the mangled bodies, including Joe’s wife, Patty.
The terrorism of religious extremism is not limited to insane suicide bombing or suicide plane crashes.
We don’t have to think very long to see the parallel in the stranglehold of religious extremism of one religion which has a hierarchy extreme enough and strong enough to deprive every Catholic, every Protestant, every Moslem, every person in the Philippines of the right to seek divorce in a marriage of incompatibility and perhaps violence for at least one of the partners. The Philippines is the only country in the world victimized by this form of religious extremism.
That same modern day religious extremism is preventing every woman in the Philippines from having the benefits of an RH Bill (which in no way fosters or condones abortion). At the same time it deprives every citizen, of whatever religion, from the freedom to choose the benefits of the RH Bill because of the power of the hierarchy of one religion.
In a letter to Fr. Pastells, Rizal showed his high regard for religious tolerance or respect for another person’s conscience. He tells the story of his conversations with a Protestant Pastor in Germany. “There, in calm and slow conversation, with freedom to speak, we talked about our respective beliefs, of the morality of peoples, and the influence of their respective creeds on them. A great respect for the good faith of the adversary and for the most contrary ideas that must necessarily arise due to the difference in race, education, age, led us almost always to the conclusion that religions, whatever they might be, should not make people enemies of one another, but rather brothers and real brothers,…I obtained … profound respect for every idea sincerely conceived and practiced with conviction.”
Of course we wish that every religious extremist would heed the experience of Rizal. It would be uplifting if even the senators of this republic would practice these “principles” of Rizal in the RH Bill debates.
When it comes to one religion and its own adherents, it is a different story. If a religion demands that its followers never play cards, never smoke, never dance, then it is up to the members of that religion to make their own free choice to follow those rules or if they stay in that religion or not. If the Roman Catholic religion requires celibacy of their priests, that is an internal discipline. But if that church requires lifetime celibacy of all LGBTq people, that is not an internal issue. It is sex-negative theology imposed unjustly upon all who will bow to it. The problem is, because of the influence of the teachings of that church, this becomes a “law” of society.
If one religion dominates a whole culture, such as Islam in Saudi Arabia which forbids and punishes the practice of all other religion, e.g. for all Christian Filipinos working in Saudi — we are not speaking of choice, but of injustice. If one religion dominates the whole culture of Philippine people, and its views are “enforced” in law or in the acceptance of society, because it is the religion of the majority, then we are no longer speaking of choice, but of injustice...
The list of prohibitions goes beyond divorce and the RH Bill. The “no-nos!” go deep into the lives of the citizens, in the bedrooms and out of the bedrooms. It is no laughing matter when a teenager is ridiculed to suicide because of the attitude of the church toward masturbation or feelings of same-sex attraction. It is no small matter when parents are driven to desperation because their church tells them, “No Condoms!” when they already have more (beloved) children than they can feed or send to school.
And to where can we trace the gay bashings, the murders of young and older gay men, the senseless slaughter of transexual people here and around the world? Can we see that it is all traceable back to religious extremism and societal prejudice which springs from religious extremism?
The whole matter of the treatment of women as inferior in society is no small matter. Perhaps nobody says, “In the name of God, for the glory of God, I declare you are a woman and you are not equal, not entitled to equal pay, equal rights, equal opportunities, access to ordination or leadership roles.” But where did this attitude of male supremacy come from? Look to patriarchal society which originated in religion. Look to one religion in particular with a male only priesthood, a male hierarchy.
My friends, it is not only Islamic religious extremism and 9/11 which bomb and kill and victimize society. Religious extremism of any religion brings about oppression and death — even today. Yes, in the Near East in Islamic countries, the government hangs men caught in same-sex sex or women caught in any forbidden sex. But here, in our own country, we see and feel the pain of incompatible marriage in the absence of divorce, the horror of bashings and murders and suicides and job losses and evictions — every day because of the attitude fostered by religious extremism and sex-negative theology and the powerful influence of its propagators.
As always we offer Sex-Positive Theology as a solution. We join in our time hundreds of scholars, theologians, teachers and authors who have thought through the unscriptural and un-Jesus-like evils of all these oppressive controls of one religious view over the lives of all citizens.
I have been pondering what might be “eight pivotal truths” for sex-positive theology for LGBTq people. What would I include in eight cardinal truths or eight key principles?
What would I consider the eight foundational elements of sex-positive theology?
This is my first draft.
1. I believe God is Love. Those who live in Love live in God, and God lives in them.
2. I believe the Bible is sex-positive. There is no passage in the Bible which condemns same-sex love or gay and lesbian relationships. There are good examples of same-sex love.
3. I believe all sex is good if it is not harmful or forceful; some sex is better if it is in the context of loving and caring; and some sex is best when it is in a committed enduring loving relationship.
4. I believe women are created equal in rights and justice and opportunity. Thus God loves women unconditionally and welcomes them into the fullness of Christian witness, including ordained ministry.
5. I believe heterosexual expressions of love and homosexual sexual expressions of love are equally good in the eyes of God. Thus God loves LGBTq people unconditionally and welcomes them into the fullness of Christian witness, including ordained ministry.
6. I believe the body and soul are equally good with a goal to uniting spirituality and sexuality.
7. I believe that since God is Love, love-making is a sacrament of God’s presence.
8. I believe God is Friendship, and friendship with God and with people and a good life go together for the fullness of life.
These eight points just scratch the surface of Sex-Positive theology. We discuss the subject fully and extensively with those who want to really get a complete mastery of Sex-Positive Theology in our free Seminar in Sex-Positive Theology by email. Just email me and let me know you are interested. saintaelred@gmail.com
Monday, September 5, 2011
MCC and SPT Carry on the Work of Rizal: Reflections for the 20th anniversary of MCC in the Philippines (September 7, 1991 – September 7, 2011)
Sunday, September 4th, 2011, MCC Manila celebrated the 20th anniversary of MCC in the Philippines. It was a well attended, lengthy service with a six-piece band of Gospel musicians and multimedia presentations throughout led by Pastor Egay and his assistant, Val.
It may have been the first time in history that an MCC service was held in a five-star hotel and capped off by a tasty banquet in the dining room of a five-star hotel, the Grand Opera Hotel of Chinatown, Manila.
My message, too heavy for oral presentation in a Gospel service, was distributed in pamphlet form. I delivered only the final prayer.
I present my anniversary reflections here...
Little did I know when I came to Manila in 1991 and opened the doors of MCC Manila with the encouragement of Edgar Mendoza – little did I realize I was carrying on the work of Jose Rizal.
The revolution was over, but as I learned more and more about our national hero, his work and his advocacies, the more I realized the work of Rizal must go on, and MCC must be part of it.
Padre Damaso and sex-negative theology and oppression of the Filipino people did not die on that somber December morning in 1896, and neither did the work of Rizal come to an end.
MCC and Sex-Positive Theology have a big role in carrying on the work of Rizal, even now 150 years after his birth.
In many ways, the Philippines is a perfect place to learn and apply the benefits of Sex-Positive Theology.
First of all, the country is a society deeply influenced by Spanish culture. It is a great place to put into practice the ideas we have developed over two decades in the Philippines, and MCC has developed over four decades since 1968.
It is a country which has long rolled over and accepted the heavy residue of foreign oppression. Long after the political control was gone after Rizal inspired the gaining of political freedom, the moral slavery has lingered.
The stifling oppression of “religious dominance,” sometimes called friarocracy or friararchy, “control by the religious attitudes of the friars,” has held its tenacious grip on the lives all Filipinos, of all religions and beliefs. Today every Catholic, every Protestant, every Muslim, every believer or non-believer is subjugated, even by law, as well as by culture, under the mandates of friararchy (theocracy) passed down and passed on by the hierarchy of today. Examples are the prohibition of divorce (in the only country in the world) and the iron fist over the RH Bill (not to mention the unmentionable – same-sex marriage).
What are some glimpses of light, especially in the yearning of LGBT people for justice?
After MCC opened its doors as the first openly “gay and lesbian” organization in the country, one by one, after ProGay, organizations sprang up to serve the needs of the community (of perhaps ten million persons with same-sex attraction). Friendly organizations began to align themselves with our pro-justice stance. Even some members of congress, such as Congresswoman Etta Gonzales, now Human Rights commissioner, began to espouse LGBT causes in Congress. In her case it was her heroic efforts to get the Anti-Discrimination Bill passed that was prominent in her long-time efforts (although defeated by the powers of prejudice).
A very significant bright light in the freedom landscape is LadLad Party List political party with its avowed LGBT agenda and advocacy. Initiated by well-known columnist, author, and professor, Danton Remoto, this party has made a reality of the unbelievable suggestion in the early ‘90’s that there be a “gay and lesbian” party-list party. It has now happened, despite the prejudice of the Comelec (against LGBT “morality,” another example of government and society being influenced by religious attitudes). It moves forward under the leadership of Bemz Benedicto with celebrity host and promoter Boy Abunda as political advisor.
A sample of the fight is given in this paragraph from a speech by Bemz at an event in the Congress. “And now, we are fighting for equal rights right here, in the halls of Congress. We are asking our congress members to finally pass the Anti-Discrimination Bill that makes sure no lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Filipino will be oppressed again in his or her own country. For this is our country, too, and we are all the children of God. In His – or Her – infinite wisdom God made us all different. For only in our differences can we see our similarity, which lies in the human soul that is found within us all.”
With Ladlad fully in the leadership of the political arena for the battle to end oppression, what is needed is continued education, savvy and strategy in the country-wide, world-wide war against the moral slavery of sex-negative theology. For this purpose we have initiated a series of free cyber seminars, one-on-one learning experiences by email to provide mastery in the theory and practice of Sex-Positive Theology.
Logically the situation requires a faith-based program. The problem is caused by a negative and untrue theology of the nature and will of God. There is much good in Spanish culture and the religion brought by the Spaniards. But there is much that is not good theology in the sex-negative theology (with its false picture of God) which was also brought by the Spanish missionaries along with the redeeming value of their religion.
Surely the picture is wrong: the white bearded policeman in the sky watching over a cloud to catch every boy enjoying playing with himself, every older boy and girl making love in a secluded place, every man who loves a man and every woman who loves a woman – in order to zap them into the fires of hell.
And that same policeman has crept into the bedrooms of married men and women, forbidding them to use condoms or common sense in planning their family, and elsewhere forcing the continued “marriage” in a situation of incompatibility.
LGBT people have borne the heaviest weight of rejection, denunciation, deprival by society and excommunication by church.
Scandalously (from the point of view of justice and from the Constitution of the Republic) the power of the hierarchy’s sex-negative theology is so strong that all these prohibitions of the hierarchy have become ingrained in law and culture – so that not only church but society conspires to deprive LGBTq people of their rights to love and to freedom of conscience.
Thus it is clear that a faith-based “answer” must be added to the political “answer” begun by Rizal and carried on by Ladlad and others. A society warped by a false faith-based attitude must find answers in a true faith-based solution.
For twenty years MCC has been bringing that answer to LGBTq people of the Philippines who have been able to hear it. The answer simply is God’s unconditional love. But even that love is warped by the hierarchy. God’s love and God’s true nature and description must be spelled out in the full length story of Sex-Positive Theology. That full answer is spelled out in the full-length story of Sex-positive Theology available free by emailing me at saintaelred@gmail.com
A light on the hierarchy-darkened scene is the known presence of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), now serving God’s people in three locations in the country, along with the Christian United Church (CUC), and the Center for the Study of Spirituality and Sexuality (CSSS).
For twenty years MCC has dared to contradict sex-negative theology in all its oppressive expressions. Its known presence has made known throughout the land that there is an alternative to NO masturbation, NO condoms, NO premarital love-making, NO same-sex love.
On the contrary MCC has proclaimed the gospel with the truths of Sex-Positive Theology. Yes, MCC is a faith-based community of believers. Their Gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their truths are the truths of the God who became human and dwells in us. They have long summarized Sex-Positive Theology in four simple spiritual truths for LGBT people.
1. God loves LGBT people unconditionally. God smiles upon their love and blesses their love – for God is Love, and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
2. The Bible does not in any word, verse, or story condemn same-sex love. The few verses quoted to claim this are totally wrongly interpreted and proven wrong by countless scholars. (I do a full-length seminar just in proof of the falsity of these claims, and a whole module of the Sex-Positive Seminar is devoted to this.)
3. The Bible offers examples of beautiful same-sex love. The stories of the love of Ruth and Naomi and David and Jonathan and Jesus and the beloved disciple are an inspiration to LGBTq people.
4. LGBTq people can be Christian, and countless thousands are fulfilling their vocation to “come, follow me,” and live the fulfilled life that comes from realizing God’s unconditional love and responding by living a loving life in friendship with God and with others. Thousands are fulfilling this call to “life in Christ” in MCC around the world and in the Philippines.
In conclusion, there is light in the darkness of sex-negative theology imposed on our culture. MCC first turned on that light 1n 1991, two decades ago. The light of MCC and Sex-Positive Theology now, more than ever, must be a defining light, a guiding light with an ever increasing wisdom in the knowledge and application of Sex-Positive Theology.
Religion has long been used against LGBTq people in direct contradiction to the all-loving, unconditionally loving God known in the true theology of God. But that does not call for rejection of God or the truth of God. It only calls for the rejection of the false things about God. I think Jose Rizal is an example of practicing that. He never heard of the term Sex-Positive Theology, but while he attended Mass regularly, he never stopped his work against oppression, regardless of where it came from.
MCC, with praise and worship pleasing to God, and sound Sex-Positive Theology pleasing to God must liberate more and more of God’s beloved LGBTq children and set them free to worship God, be friends with all, and love the one they love. MCC must bring a happy fulfilled life to more and more of God’s children who have been experiencing oppression.
And surely bringing the people out of oppression is a continuation of Rizal’s work and God’s will.
(RRM, September 4, 2011)
My prayer for the people of MCC and the future people of MCC is in unison with St. Paul: “We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and your love for all God’s people. When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard of the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven. The Gospel is bringing blessings and spreading through the whole world, just as it has among you ever since the day you first heard of the grace of God and came to know it as it really is.” (Colossians 1:3-6)
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