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A Filipino atheist's letter to Pope Francis
http://www.rappler.com/rappler-blogs/marguerite-de-leon/78960-filipino-atheist-letter-pope-francisDear Pope Francis,
As someone who does not believe in the existence of a god, some people might assume that your visit to the Philippines would not matter very much to me. Maybe, to some, it would be just like me walking past a church on a Sunday, bearing momentary witness to the rituals and pronouncements of something I don’t believe in, and thus feeling nothing.
But as much as I do not believe in any religion’s claim to authority, I do know that a visit from the head of the Roman Catholic Church still matters immensely to me – just not in the same way it matters to quite a lot of my countrymen, who are, to put it mildly, rapturous in glee at the thought of your presence. (And I don’t blame them. I was a 9-year-old Catholic schoolgirl when John Paul II came over, and immersed as I was in rote rehearsals of "Tell the World of His Love" in the school gym day after day, I was pretty damn excited, too.)
Your visit matters to me because not since the heyday of the Reproductive Health Bill debates a couple of years ago has secularism been in so much danger in this country (and believe me, it’s violated here a lot). And that’s troubling not just for me, but for anybody, regardless of their faith or lack thereof.
As someone who does not believe in the existence of a god, some people might assume that your visit to the Philippines would not matter very much to me. Maybe, to some, it would be just like me walking past a church on a Sunday, bearing momentary witness to the rituals and pronouncements of something I don’t believe in, and thus feeling nothing.
But as much as I do not believe in any religion’s claim to authority, I do know that a visit from the head of the Roman Catholic Church still matters immensely to me – just not in the same way it matters to quite a lot of my countrymen, who are, to put it mildly, rapturous in glee at the thought of your presence. (And I don’t blame them. I was a 9-year-old Catholic schoolgirl when John Paul II came over, and immersed as I was in rote rehearsals of "Tell the World of His Love" in the school gym day after day, I was pretty damn excited, too.)
Your visit matters to me because not since the heyday of the Reproductive Health Bill debates a couple of years ago has secularism been in so much danger in this country (and believe me, it’s violated here a lot). And that’s troubling not just for me, but for anybody, regardless of their faith or lack thereof.
From time to time the snarky comment will arise here, "Why are atheists so obsessed with religion?" Pretty good read here from an atheist explaining why.
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