Sunday, March 13, 2005

freedom from ignorance

26 children died recently from food poisoning in Bohol.
26 families lost a valuable part of their lives.
And yet some people still have the nerve to use their grief for political gain.
"A sign of God's displeasure with the government's population management program" according to one bishop from Bohol.

Good grief.
Another relic from the Middle Ages, when supposed "men of God" used natural disasters for furthering their own agendas; the so-called "Black Death" was blamed on "witches", who were basically people who went against the Church.

The "Black Death" or bubonic plague was caused by mice and rats that migrated to Europe from Asia, not by the "magic" or "sorcery" of "witches".
The food poisoning incident in Bohol can also be explained by science.
Cassava is naturally poisonous, if it is not prepared properly the toxins in it would be able to affect a human being.
Pesticides could also have been present in the food ingested by the children.

An act of God?
Hell no.
An act of ignorance?
Most likely.

Ignorance of the dangers of eating food made from cassava.
Ignorance of the dangers of using pesticide.
Ignorance of the importance of proper sanitation.
Ignorance of proper cooking methods.
Not "divine" retribution for a law that clearly seeks to address the ignorance of our fellow countrymen towards reproductive health!

How do you combat ignorance?
How do you prevent this from happening again?
You educate people.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What about the side of the church? Those are terrible claims, dude. I sure do hope you did your research on both sides of the matter, not just relying on mere hearsay and second hand information.