A man of the cloth speaks rationality? Where are the numerous commenters now? How curious that they don't come out when there are signs of intelligence within the Catholic fold. Should we not praise this man, support him for his rationality? Should we not support him so that other clergy that are of a like mind can see that it is ok to speak out their minds and question the actions of the church they labor for?

These are the people we should be uplifting so that they can become leaders of the church and spread the gospel of rationality to their flock. These are the people we should be engaging with so that we can see true change not just in the Catholic Church, but in society at large.

His email's at the end of the article. Why not thank him for writing this article, or better yet invite him to the FF meetup?

I salute Mr.Celdran for not giving into the temptation to become a "hero" for anyone that had a grudge against the church. I salute him for promoting tolerance for all, and for being disappointed in people who simply let hatred drive their actions. It is this unmitigated vitriol that keeps people of any race, nation, or creed from coming together to have a discussion.

If you truly care about the RH bill, I would humbly suggest that you rally in front of either the GSIS building or Malacanang. It is the Legislative and Executive bodies of the government that will ultimately decide whether or not the bill will be passed. And if you want to show that you are better than the people that you deride, make sure that you get the proper permits to rally as well, to show that you are being responsible citizens.

Please read about Communism and in a lesser extent Fascism, both of which have took religion to be useless, indeed "the opium of the masses."

Did the eradication of religion in these kinds of nation states stop all kinds of brutality?

Religion may give people an excuse to hate/maim/kill each other, but the absence of religion assures nothing. I leave it at that for now for fear we're diverging too far from the topic of the article.

Name me an analogy that encompasses all possible situations and I'll call the nobel prize society, or at least Ripley's Believe it or not.

If a specific dehumanizing aspect is taking place, by all means, call it out. but call the act out, and not the religion itself. If a religious leader is propagating it, call the leader out. If a specific doctrine in their canon propagates it, call that doctrine out.

On blacks and women, do you honestly believe that it was religion that created these inequalities (an honest question, not needling)? Because frankly speaking I believe that white people hated blacks because a)they were black and b)emancipation of blacks meant that they would lose the secular (ie lawful) rights that they held over black people.

As for women being second class citizens, I think that the anthropological roots of that go way before any of the organized religions of the present day.

Frankly I'd like to see if they can muster up the numbers they claim they can. If Noynoy isn't a pussy and doesn't back down, this may be what people need to realize that the church isn't as strong as it claims to be.

It's funny how we all seem to be taking issue with last sentences. :)

The damage created by any extremist is the fact that when they stir the pot it makes it harder for things to settle. Let's say Christianity is an angry, retarded tiger in a zoo. The tiger repeatedly does stupid things so the secular humanist starts poking with a stick and calling it names. This infuriates the retarded tiger so much that it jumps out of its cage and mauls not only the foolish humanist, but random passerby.

In this sense, I would strongly agree that any kind of extremism is the enemy, and not specifically the religious sort.

To quote William James, a leading figure of American Pragmatism:
"The most fervent opponents of Christian doctrine have often enough shown a temper which, psychologically considered, is indistinguishable from religious zeal."

If we do not wish to become that which we despise, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard.