[From the web] The Day of the Purple Ribbon A Secular Success |Filipino Freethinkers

The Day of the Purple Ribbon â€” A Secular SuccessÂ |Â Filipino Freethinkers. The Day of the Purple Ribbon will be remembered for different reasons. Some will remember the strong political statements made by RH champions, especially the call of former President Ramos for President Aquino to prioritize the RH Bill. Others will remember the music, ranging…

Human Rights Online Philippines

May 14, 2011

2–4 minutes

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Catholic Church, ESCR, filipinofreethinkers.org, John Lennon, Lea Salonga, Philippine, Purple ribon, Reproductive health, Reproductive Health Bill, Reproductive Rights, RH Bill, SM Megamall, Women’s Rights

The Day of the Purple Ribbon â€” A Secular SuccessÂ |Â Filipino Freethinkers.

The Day of the Purple Ribbon will be remembered for different reasons.

Some will remember the strong political statements made by RH champions, especially the call of former President Ramos for President Aquino to prioritize the RH Bill.

Others will remember the music, ranging from Noel Cabangon’s hearty original, “Ako’y Isang Mabuting Pilipino,” to Lea Salonga’s heavenly — yes, heavenly — rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Still others will remember it for the camaraderie: spending an afternoon remembering the journey we started, celebrating the progress we’ve made, and pledging to continue until the RH bill becomes law.

But what I’ll never forget about the Day of the Purple Ribbon is how secular it was. There was no opening or closing prayer. The pledge to support the RH bill, which could have easily included a line to ask for help from a higher power, was a pledge that even an atheist could recite with complete conviction. Grace was not said before the meal — at least not publicly.

And that’s the point. I’m sure most of the people there were Catholics who did say Grace before their meal, Catholics who attend mass every Sunday and who pray regularly for the passage of the RH bill.

As the majority in attendance they could have assumed that everyone else shared the same beliefs they did. But they didn’t. And that’s what secularism is about: focusing on the things you can publicly agree on and keeping personal practices and beliefs private.

The event organizers knew that what the people shared was support for the RH Bill, and that is what they made the event about — nothing more nothing less. For the RH Bill to pass, the government needs to practice secularism; RH Advocates are showing them how.

Compare this with priests who ask parishioners to kneel for a final prayer, not knowing that somewhere before the final Amen they’ll ask God to block the RH Bill — regardless of whether they support it.

And so it went that even without religious pledges or public prayers, the Day of the Purple Ribbon was a success. I’m sure even the Catholics there would agree.

Except maybe for this one Pro-Lifer who came uninvited. We recognized each other from the recent Anti-RH lecture at SM Megamall. He greeted us with a smile and said that he came with an “open mind.”

But after hearing Noel Cabangon’s song reach a secular stanza — which came after a torrent of secular and pro-RH statements — he left. I could almost see steam coming out of his ears.

It’s a good thing, too. If he’d stayed longer, Lea’s “Imagine” would have blown his mind wide open.