Thursday, November 20, 2008 The faces of freedom By Noemi C. Fetalvero Two empty bottles
FREEDOM is about what we ought to do, not what we want to do as we please. Under democracy, we are free to choose the things that we ought to do and should adroitly face the consequences.
There is a growing trend of constant rationalization of questionable acts that are in juxtaposition with what is relatively acceptable—and that is being assimilated into the Filipino culture. However, not every relatively accepted act can be morally accepted.
In America, the government practically fixes everything by legislation. The democratic process is such that if you want to do something which raises some people’s eyebrows, have it enacted into a law and it becomes legal regardless of its morality.
Freedom of religion in America took center stage when Atheist Madeline won her relentless struggle to ban prayer in America’s schools.
I saw a bumper sticker, which read: “They abolish prayer in schools; now they have installed metal detectors.” Since Madeline’s victory, how many school camp violence have erupted which had resulted to the murder of several students?
A close observer of the events as it unfolded said: “The proud who think that money, glory and fame are all that matters will wake up one day with the reality that a life without a relationship with God will turn their lives upside down that they can not even hold a change in their pockets.”
In Islam, what is legally accepted is basically what is morally allowed. In the other words, they define their laws according to their religious beliefs.
There are issues tolerated in the Western World that is taboo in the Muslim community and Catholic dominated countries like ours. We clash in issues, like abortion, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, gay marriages, and Euthanasia.
People’s representatives should be very careful what they fill their two empty bottles with when sponsoring a bill. We do not need more laws that will end up being abused or misinterpreted.
The Reproductive Health bill is supposed to address the problem of over population.
In my opinion, discipline is the panacea to everything else that ails our society today, including over-population.
