The Manila Cathedral, the target of hate of the Condomists and Condomizers...-
WHEN A RIGHT BECOMES WRONG
by Philip Beley, Defensores Fidei Foundation
The stunt of celebrity tour guide, Carlos Celdran, during the Ecumenical Conference and Eucharistic Celebration at the Manila Cathedral has solicited both boos and whistles from sectors of Philippine society. Some have elevated Celdran to hero status for being brave enough to challenge the leaders of the Catholic Church. Some have labelled him as a buffoon.
I will not delve into the issue of the RH Bill here. Rather I will share my thoughts on the incident that occurred last week. Carlos Celdran has all the right to voice out his opinion on the controversial RH Bill issue. He has all the right to show his disagreement with the position of the Church hierarchy. The Church, too, has the right to have an ecumenical conference and a Eucharistic celebration in peace.
Stepping back, we can see that in asserting his right, Carlos Celdran violated the rights of others. He disturbed what is a peaceful conference and sacred celebration by going upfront and thrusting his protest poster in the faces of the church leaders seated in the pews. While being led out of the cathedral, Carlos Celdran shouted invectives at the audience.
Civilized and democratic society dictates that the rights of all should be respected. The Philippine constitution guarantees this principle. In the exercise of one's rights, a person has to be mindful of the rights of others. This is the responsible way to exercise a right. There is something terribly wrong when a person violates the rights of others in the process of exercising his rights.
What bothers me is when people fail to see this principle. What bothers me is when people think that it is okay or even laudable that in exercising one's right, the rights of other people are violated or trampled upon.
A person who violates the rights of others and does not see anything wrong doing so is so full of pride and is very much into himself. He has no place in civilized society. There is something wrong when people have this kind of mindset. This is an attitude that only breeds chaos and anarchy.
We need to remember that in the exercise of one's right, there is an attendant responsibility. And this is to ensure that the rights of others are not violated. I am greatly saddened when people have lost the Christian ideal of love for others. How can we proclaim to love God, if we cannot love others? After all, loving others includes respecting the rights of others.
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