#it was because the preist worked for this Catholic school

[hogwartsconsultingtimelady]

The time has come for me to tell the mayonnaise sandwich story.

Are you ready to know the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football? Well this is even dumber and more unhinged than that. And also for some reason about basketball? Strap in.

Growing up, I went to the biggest of the bumpkin schools in my area. It was a college town in the middle of rural America, so we had a ton of socioeconomic diversity. Everything from professors to farmers. Every kind of white person. But if you went to my school, you’d mostly remember the staggering number of camouflage print hoddies, Drive Your Tractor to School Day, and the fact that we had to get the first day of deer season off every year because not enough students and teachers would show up to hold class. I say all this to let you know that the accusations leveled against us were only half exaggerated.

Our school was notably good at sports. Our main competiton was larger schools from the closest city, often private schools who could essentially recruit. I can not communicate to you, dear reader, how unfair people thought it was that private (often religious) schools could offer scholarships to the best child athletes in the county and we had to work with whoever stumbled out of the corn field and into a classroom. State sport championships were really all we had going for us, so I don’t begrudge people for getting way too proud of it. But still.

Of course the most important sport was football and our rival for the district title every year was the all boys Catholic school in the city. Their name ended with “Preparatory School” and we always referred to them as “Prep”. They thought we were losers from Nowheresville who rightly shouldn’t have been contenders and we thought they were arrogant trust fund babies with sticks up their flat, khaki-clad asses. All parties involved were correct.

We all grew to buy into this rivalry mostly because it was fun to roast the rich kids. When we played them, our student cheering section would wear Daisy Dukes and other back country costume pieces. (The straw hats had to be bought from a halloween store, but everyone already owned their own work boots.) It was fun, but exaggerated. It was also not helped by what happened next.

One day just before Christmas break, our basketball team beat their basketball team. This caused a man to snap.

A counselor at Prep who also coached track and cross country sent out a mass email to the entire student body and staff. It started off on a high note by making a really lame pun on our school’s name and then segued immediately into blaming the loss on their student cheering section. He said if more students were cheering, they would have won and any students who would rather sit with their parents should “cut the chord and grow a pair”. Furthermore if any student from this all boy’s school wanted to sit with a girlfriend, “she is a needy, selfish, high maintenance pig and you should dump her now.” Either that or transfer to the co-ed Catholic school along with a former student who he shouted out BY NAME. To finish out this section, he called any student who’d rather sit with friends “boy lovers” because this screed against his own mentees wouldn’t be complete without a dash of homophobia (immediately followed by an exaltation of brotherhood. Ironic.)

Then he stopped insulting his own children and turned to us. It was mostly one sentence, but he made it count.

The conclusion of this email was an explanation that the goal should be to make the opposing team and their families as uncomfortable as possible. And that, and I am once again quoting from memory here, they never should have lost to a bunch of “mayonnaise sandwich eating, sister loving, trailer park dwelling, back country clowns”.

Well.

We weren’t about to take that lying down.

Sure, our town had trailer parks, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t own the joke.

Our cowboy costumed cheering section now brought mayonnaise sandwiches to eat loudly during the game.

Varsity team tee-shirts now printed the list of derogatory descriptors beside our school mascot.

And a restaurant in town put a sign in their window that said “Two-for-one mayonnaise sandwiches. Bring your sister!”

We’re humble people. We never pass up a good meme.

But what of the unhinged counselor who felt the need to gift his students a drunken rant for Christmas? He was suspended for two weeks and then brought back. I checked Prep’s staff directory before making this post to see if he’s still employed today.

He’s their Vice President of Equity and Inclusion.

[typewritertoni-blog]

The Church Teaching Vs LGBT+ of the Philippines

Toni Torres here with my first post! I've decided to express an opinion I have on this issue up there. Yep. The title. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Catholic. I've been raised in a Catholic school and studied Christian Living for eleven years. Something in me just seems to analyze and see all of these arguments of Catholics who reason their hate against the LGBT+ community. I strongly oppose them. I am a victim of their discrimination, I'm a bisexual teenager after all. I grew up hearing that I was the scum of the earth. Just because I prefer both genders. Amazing.

Do their arguments really hold up? Can hate be justified? Morally and logically? No. And I will rant on why. This will be the fruits of all my bible reading, researching and writing. Let's get into it!

Many would argue that it is stated in the Old Testament that no man should lie with another man and a woman with another woman. I need to stress the words: OLD TESTAMENT. Loud and clear? Good. These rules are from a time before Chirst, a time before the Messiah. A time so ancient that we don't really keep much of the rules that they have mentioned.

You know those rules right? How to sell slaves, how we aren't allowed to eat certain types of meats (we don't have those restrictions in the present, by the way), men could have multiple wives and many more ancient rules that were regarded as Gospel at the time. Do we follow these outdated rules in the present? NO. The rule of polygamy in the Old Testament is against the teachings of the Church about monogamy. So why should we treat this specific rule about homosexuality like it is an unbreakable rule that should be followed at all times? If we shall do so, shouldn't we adopt these old rules as well?

We live in the era after Christ saved us. His two most important Commandments, love God with all you heart and Love thy neighbor as you love they self, are the basis. The Old Testament rules can only be applied to the times of Old and are not feasible or necessary to follow. Our focus should be on the new.

Some people also argue that homosexuality falls under one of the Ten Commanents: "You Shall Not Commit Adultery". The definition of adultery is to have sex with someone you are not married to. Homo people have sex because of one of two reasons: 1) They are in a commited monogamous relationship that resembles marriage but cannot be marriage because it ain't legal in their country. 2.) Lust has taken over and they have therefore sinned. You know, like all other straight people who have sex left and right. But do we see people up in arms about it now? No. Double standards, I tell you. They make homosexual sex such a big deal and turn a blind eye to straight people who are having extra-marital and pre-marital sex.

Let's put it into the context of the era the Old Testament was in. Homosexual intercourse is a ritual by pagans to their gods and was basically RAPE. Some have homosexual intercourse because of LUST and not LOVE. These are the types of homosexual relationships that God doesn't want. God is the ultimate symbol of love. Why would he be in the way of a love that is pure and true? If that pure and true love was between two people of the same gender, what difference does it really make?

I know what some of you might be saying. "Homosexuality is unnatural!" BOY YOU SURE 'BOUT THAT? If you try to do a little bit more research, same-sex relationships in animals do happen. They're natural. If you're worried of declining number of babies then don't you fucking worry. Many animals accept these same-sex relations, have they gone extinct? Hell no!

I could hear another keyboard warrior typing off with another objection. "Jesus told us to be fertile and multiply! Being gay means not doing what He says." Slow down there, bucko. Do you guys take everything literally? My CL teacher taught me to not take everything literally, that it takes patience to interpret meaning. Like how the parables aren't literal and have meaning, so too does the Bible. Although yes, having children and teaching them about Christianity is one way of fulfilling this responsibility, it is not the only way. Being fertile could also mean being fertile with faith and strong love for God then converting the people around you, thus multiplying believers of the Good News.

"Marriage is between a man and a woman! God made man and woman for eachother!" For religion, marriage is all about reproduction. But isn't marriage supposed to be a bond between two people who love eachother so much that they would like their love to be sealed by God's grace? Just like I said in the previous argument, making babies is not everything. Reproduction is important but not everyone needs to do it. Having kids isn't a responsibility, it's a choice. If you're going to punish gay people for not taking part of the reproduction of our species then you should punish those who practice celibacy like our nuns and preists. Alsooo those who are barren. Was it their fault they were barren? No and the Church leaves them alone. Is it the fault of homos to be the way they are even if they were like this ever since?

Hell, the world is overpopulated. If you're worried that straight people won't exist in the future if we let homosexuality and queerness run wild, don'tcha worry. EVERYONE HAS PREFERENCES. Like how you might like chocolate than vanilla, even if many of your peers like vanilla more. YOU STILL CHOOSE CHOCOLATE RIGHT? Your preferences are uniquely your own and no one can influence you to be like someone unless you let them. So you won't be gay if you truly aren't gay. Like how you won't like vanilla if you truly don't.

If you really want no gay weddings in your churches then at least don't meddle in state affairs! The rights of others won't undermine your religious rights. States are supposed to represent all the people and not everyone is Catholic. Seperation of Church and State. Not all Filipinos are Catholics. Even if a Filipino were Catholic, they should be allowed freedom of thought. Let them think what they want to to think, outside of the religious belief system. Then again, organized belief systems don't let people have their own interpretations. We must follow the leader's interpretation. That truly destroys free and critical thinking.

Man and woman are made for eachother…for reproduction. It's simple biology and I won't argue with that. We're talking about relationships. Not all people believe that the opposite sex is for them, some people believe that they'd like the same-sex as a partner. Again, all about preference.

I could go on and on about the different verses and reasonings that Catholics (maybe priests) make about being anti-homo. If you want me to answer any of the ones I haven't discussed then feel free to send a question to submissions. My beliefs probably don't stem from Catholic dogma but I simply base what I believe in the Word of God. It was made by Him as he used the Bible writers as his vessels.

As a good Catholic, I should believe in what the Church says but I'm tired of playing dumb. I'm tired of hating myself just because some people with fancy titles say so. These doctrines, the ones that reject homosexual and queer people, are not of God. He is merciful. He is forgiving. He is loving. He loves us. He won't hate me for being bi, He loves me because I'm His child.

"But Toni…how can you say that those doctrines are not of God, you aren't a prophet!" I'm no prophet nor am I pretending to be. The God I know and have been raised to believe in is not an all-powerful entity that hates people because of shallow reasons. My CL teachers and the Church themselves have taught me that God is Love.

The Church may be founded by the Chosen 12 of Jesus but the Church is far from perfect. We are taught that. If only they could accept that maybe the things that they teach could seriously hurt and isolate the queer people who are God's children as well. If only they could keep on improving themselves instead of insisting that backwards thinking would work the best. Jesus himself was a radical, who changed beliefs and taught differently but without losing the essence and all the while creating something new, better and updated.

Is being queer a weakness? (These godly people insist that being homosexual is human weakness, after all.) To answer that, you better answer this: Is loving someone a weakness? No. If anything, loving with a pure heart is the strongest and bravest thing you could ever do.

Even if it is human weakness in doctrine, straight people have human weaknesses as well. You call it, sin. Simply being human. Again from my points from previous paragraphs, there are double standards.

You don't see straights getting beaten up because they love someone. They don't get to be called dirty and worse than animals. We are all equal. We are all sinners. If I sin for being who I am then you are no different than me because you sin too. All sins are equal, so are the good things we commit in the eyes of God. So don't go riding your high horse because I might shoot it down with a shotgun of logic. People like you are the reason why many members of the LGBT+ Catholics face discrimination and pain. Jesus told us to comfort the afflicted, not drag them to the ground.

As our Lord said, "Let him who has never sinned, cast the first stone."

Okay. Now let's discuss how the CBCP is demanding that LGBT+ people should not have protection and not have a right to protection by the Anti-Discrimination Bill. The news is kinda late but their point still stands until now. The SOGIE Bill that aims to protect our Filipino LGBT+ brothers and sisters are being restricted by this. They insist that we are disordered when humans have always been disordered because of our tendency to sibln. Looking down on us like we're monsters or deviants serving the devil. In reality, we simply want to love and be loved. Just like everyone else.

Here you are, CBCP, calling yourselves Children of God when you yourselves act like the devil who tries to make the lives of other people miserable, the LGBT+ community in particular. Are you so blinded by dogma that you stop remembering what our mission as Christians are? We are tasked to show and express God's love to all peoples. Is denying the LGBT+ from protection your way of showing God's love? If so, that is a HORRIBLE way of doing it. You're just doing the opposite at this point.

I'm sure many Catholics are accepting and could see reason. Many probably disagree to the CBCPs actions. What I'm striving to fight against is how the teachings that are supposed to guide us to become good Catholics are teaching us to see LGBT+ people as scum of the Earth. No true child of God would do that, right?

We don't like things we don't understand. Maybe the Church has not tried to show compassion or try to understand the LGBT+ community. We are supposed to reach out to the oppressed but no. We are the oppressors.

So... Who's the scum of the earth now?

We don't have to let things be this way. God always gives us second chances. And I think it is high time that we change for the better, for the sake of our LGBT+ brothers and sisters who are faithful to God and to His mission of bringing His love to all people.

Remember. Bring His love to ALL people.

That includes us.

Sincerely,

Toni Torres

(For questions or rebuttals, just send one to my submission box or comment them. I'd be happy to see what your thoughts on the topic are. Did I miss something? Was I innacurate? Do enlighten me. This rant was based on knowledge I have at the present. In discussing these matters with civility but with conviction, we will learn more from eachother. Who doesn't want knowledge? Anyways, thank you for reading! Sorry for the rant, this topic was too close to home and I just wanted to say my piece. I dedicate this post to all LGBT+ people out there who struggle to come to terms with their identity and faith. I've been through that and I know it is tough. Just keep on believing.)