The answer ultimately lies in what it means to be a Catholic. As a noun, Catholic is defined as “a member of the Catholic Church, especially a Roman Catholic.” And what does it mean to be a member of such church? Does it require one to acknowledge the infallibility of the Church’s teachings including Humanae Vitae, which maintains that sex must always be kept open to procreation? If so, then “pro-RH Catholic” is indeed an oxymoron because the RH Bill not only obliges all accredited health facilities to provide a full range of modern family planning methods but actually seeks government funding for the purchase of contraceptives.
But considering the more than one billion members the Catholic Church claims to have, it is more logical to presume that membership is attained simply through baptism and can possibly end only in excommunication or by actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica (a formal act of defection from the Catholic Church). And if that is the case, as it probably is – otherwise the Church would not be boasting of so much members – then “pro-RH Catholic” is not an oxymoron.
Interestingly, catholic, if used as an adjective, means “universal, all-inclusive, broad-minded, and liberal“. Unfortunately, universal and all-inclusive pertain only to membership while broad-minded and liberal seem to have been lost when Catholic was incorporated into the name of the largest Christian church. Nevertheless, as long as one was baptized into Catholicism and hasn’t been excommunicated or formally defected, then he or she is officially a Roman Catholic regardless of personal convictions on contraception and therefore cannot be called an oxymoron for professing to be a pro-RH Catholic.
Now some may find it odd or even hypocritical for a member of Filipino Freethinkers – a group composed mostly of atheists and agnostics – to argue for the inclusion of RH Bill supporters in the membership of the Catholic Church. One would expect me instead to tell the pro-RH Catholics to have themselves excommunicated. However, secularism, which happens to be one of the major advocacies of Filipino Freethinkers, is not necessarily about religious skepticism or indifference but the exclusion of religious considerations from civil affairs and public education. We do have members who call themselves progressive or liberal Christians – and that is not an oxymoron. We respect other people’s right to their beliefs for as long as they don’t try to substitute reason and evidence with their dogmas in public discourse – especially on an issue where 11 women die daily due to childbirth complications. And while it is simplistic and rather unfair to blame these deaths solely on those who seek to prevent the passage of the RH Bill, a real oxymoron comes to mind: “PRO-LIFE/ANTI-RH”.
The last line made me grin! All this time I've been complaining about how anti-RH people keep referring to themselves as "pro-life." If that is so then what does that make us who supports the RH bill? ANTI-LIFE?! As absurd as it gets, it's very obvious that the real pro-life here are those who support the bill. Not only are we concerned about the quantity of the population but also the quality of human experience these babies deserve.
panalo ang closing line… a real oxymoron comes to mind: “PRO-LIFE/ANTI-RH”.
Hmm, well I am assuming these people are against slavery, but the Jewish book of fairy tales is very specific that people can own slaves coming from their neighbors. So I guess, an anti slavery Catholic is an oxymoron as well.
I agree with Wes, what a waste of political will in this country. Our ball-lacking president is apparently not man enough to shove the CBCP where they're supposed to go and just flat-out say that religion is not supposed to mingle with politics. Tsk.
People voted on our president because of promises of the RH Bill, yet it was removed from the final list of the urgent bills that need to be passed.
Funny story, i happen to be led to pro-life baguio, and the counseling doesn't include anything of how to support your baby after you give birth. It's just, wtf, give birth, keep the baby! You made that, you give birth to it!
Seems like a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too… if the Catholic church wants to bully some weak-willed politician with a show of numbers, anyone that ever stepped inside a church is suddenly counted as a "catholic"… but when they want to play bad cop, people are branded as "fake Catholics" left and right. Talk about pulling the welcome rug right from under you. seems that the CBCP has some kind of bipolar disorder.
Plus consider the curious fact that PRO-LIFE Philippines made absolutely no effort to intercede on behalf of the dozens of filipinos on death row in China, most probably driven to becoming drug mules out of sheer poverty and desperation… so the death penalty is not part of the prolife agenda? sperm must indeed be more sacred than fully grown people. they'd move heaven and hell to save every bit of semen from being caught inside a condom but once you're out of the womb, you're on your own pal 🙁