Michael Voris versus the RH bill: Round 2

Last year, renowned lay Catholic speaker and commentator Michael Voris visited the Philippines and came up with two videos attacking the RH bill (Thrilla' in Manila and Liberal Tyrants).

This past February he came back to the Philippines for an extended tour and filmed the following videos, all of which touch on the RH bill one way or another:

Obama and the Philippines




Obama's Gay Ambassador




Even in the Philippines




The Church is Right!




Bishop Chat

The following article from the CBCP for Life website summarizes Voris' exhortations to his Filipino listeners to defend the Catholic faith and its stance on matters of doctrine and morals:

Int’l speaker urges Catholics to understand pro-life issues

MANILA, Feb. 22, 2012—Catholics should see to it that they translate their faith into concrete everyday actions instead of merely paying lip service and staying on the level of being a “Sunday Catholic,” an international speaker said during his recent visit to the Philippines.

“One can’t say ‘I’m a Catholic, I love Jesus,’ then goes home and pretends that none of the other stuff matters. There are threats against the true, good and beautiful so intense that this demands a certain response from us. Everything we do needs to be dedicated to the advancement of the Faith, whether we’re evangelizing someone we know, carrying out a devotion, fighting abortion in the Philippines, the RH bill… Whatever it is, we simply don’t escape,” Michael Voris of RealCatholicTv.com reminded the crowd at St. Francis of Assisi Parish during a recent talk he gave as part of activities being conducted by Pro-Life Philippines for Respect and Care for Life Month.

Voris, known for his online episodes of The Vortex which delves on various issues pertaining to culture and the Catholic faith, emphasized the call to every Catholic to deepen his understanding of the Faith and urged all to be pro-active in defending the Church especially nowadays.

Not to be timid about Catholicism

“You cannot be… quiet, afraid, timid, shy about Catholicism. The Church is under attack from every possible avenue you can imagine,” he said.

The Catholic Church is being criticized for its unwavering position on contraception and abortion, and Church officials and groups have been leading the opposition to anti-life legislation, such as the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. Lately, however, Filipinos of various persuasions and religious affiliations have become more vocal in rejecting the population control measure.

Voris pointed out the need to understand issues regarding the culture of life and know how to explain their stand on matters like the RH bill, even when talking with self-proclaimed “independent thinkers.”

“Oftentimes Catholics do sound uninformed, uneducated, just like we’re parroting back some party line, some script to read, that we don’t understand. That’s wrong; that has to change, the 50-year-old speaker observed.

“And for some it’s ‘I’m gonna vote against the RH if it comes up’ or ‘I’m gonna oppose it and I’m gonna go out in the streets and protest against it because the bishop told me to.’ You sound like a total moron to somebody who doesn’t understand what the Church teaches. You need to be able to say, ‘I’m protesting this because… blah blah. And I’m happy that the Church and I are in agreement on this because this is the truth, and I live according to the truth.’ That’s how you’re going to have to answer that,” he urged.

Genuine love leads to studying the Faith

Voris, who went on a week-long tour speaking to groups in Manila, Bacolod, Cebu and Davao accompanied by Pro-Life Philippines’ officers, explained that the desire to know more is a natural consequence of a genuine love for Christ and his Bride, the Church. And if there is genuine love, a Catholic would want to understand the Church’s teachings and position regarding life issues.

“In order for Catholics to really, really love the faith, and love all the teachings that come out of it, not just the theological, dogmatic or sacramental teachings but also moral teachings, you’ve got to know the faith. There’s a basic principle of philosophy — you can’t love what you don’t know. And the opposite of that is true also: Why would you not want to know everything that you can possibly know about something that you love, or someone that you love?” the speaker stressed.

Voris is known for his direct and sometimes scathing approach to tackling issues, and here he minced no words in getting his points across to jolt his audiences into a more dynamic practice of the Catholic faith.

“When Catholics are accused of being like mindless sheep and can’t think for themselves, that argument against Catholics has a little bit of truth in it… Why? Because Catholics don’t know their faith enough.”

For a Catholic not to know his faith means he doesn’t love it enough, he said, but enthused that authentic love for God and the Church he established will change that.

“The faith… always comes down to a simple relationship between me and my God. Now do I love this God the way I should? And if I don’t then shame on me,” Voris continued.

“When you love somebody you want to know everything about them that you can possibly know. You wanna know everything about the person. You ask a lot of questions. Why? Because you love them or think about them and you wanna know everything about them. “

Earlier in the day, Voris paid a visit to Adamson University to speak with the students as part of his Manila itinerary. He visibly captivated his young audience, driving home the message about the need for young people to seek friends, and eventually a future spouse, who will bring them closer to God first and foremost. He also underscored the importance of finding someone whom they can be proud to call as the father or mother of their children. He concluded by urging the young students to be true to their calling to live a Catholic way of life and to be true to their identities as Catholics.

(...)

Michael Voris on why the Philippine RH Bill is WORSE than similar American or European legislation

Michael Voris against the RH Bill

(Originally posted in the morning of February 25, 2011)

UPDATE: Here's a transcription of Mr. Voris' talk of this video, thanks to Mr. Rommel Lopez, a Knight of Columbus:

Hello everyone and welcome to the Vortex where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed . I’m Michael Voris coming to you for the next week from beautiful Manila in the Philippines.

We left Detroit in a blizzard and landed to a very welcome 82 degrees after 22 hours of flying and not much sleep.

We came to the Philippines because of a series of pro-life talks going on in the country’s capital centering. I’m happy to say I’m one of the invited speakers to the various conferences sponsored by faithful Catholics in cooperation with their bishops who are unafraid to battle against the culture of death. Being in Manila reminds me of an event that happened here more than 30 years ago. It was THE world heavyweight championship boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier that took place in September 1975. It was a slugfest still seen as the most brutal of all. Because of its ferocity it was dubbed the Thrilla’ in Manila! 

It might be apropos then that another epic battle is shaping up in this capital city. Another slugfest of epic proportions – but this one will have results that last much longer than some yellowed sports pages and old movies. This one is a fight to the death  -- physically and spiritually -- and it’s over contraception, which of course will ultimately mean abortion as well. In this corner Jesus Christ and the infallible teachings of His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. In the other corner Satan and all his usual allies: the secular media Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights. At issue? The nation’s current laws which in general forbid or greatly restrict contraception. 

The Philippines is an overwhelmingly Catholic country 85 percent of the population. But little by little through the insidiousness of the secular media, movies, TV, news reporting, the creeping culture of death is getting a foothold. They actually established a beachhead and gotten to all the right kind of people: lawmakers and celebrities. And now a legislative war of titanic proportions is being fought in the halls of the nation’s government.

If this all sounds like “Back to the Future” to you, don’t be alarmed. You’re right. This is the same war that happened in the United States and Europe right about the time that Ali and Frazier were pounding each other’s brains out here in the Philippines back in the mid-1970’s.

Contraception used to be illegal in the United States and not that long ago. Certainly within living memory of many of our viewers. But in the mid 1960s a public relations campaign that proved very effective at the end of the day was waged in the media and the courts.

Eventually the US Supreme Court ruled that a “right to privacy” existed in the US Constitution which permitted married couples to use contraception. That was the camel’s nose under the tent. Soon the right to privacy was extended to unmarried couples, then a right to kill an unborn child which resulted from failed contraception then further extended to homosexuals having sex. It’s a tried and true plan on the part of the secular atheist crowd. They talk about over population and poverty and how large families and unintended pregnancies keep a country in economic slavery. How the poor will always be poor as long as they are getting pregnant.

That the only solution is the humane one of “family planning and contraception”. They produce charts and graphs and enlist the help of TV and radio and newspaper journalists, all who support these positions , to lie about them and slowly over a period of months and years of never-ending beating of the drum through TV shows and editorials and advertisements and clever marketing campaigns and news reports focusing on one individual’s problems and woes . Through all these methods they slowly get into the minds of the populace who begin to believe the hype and the lies. With having planted enough doubt into people’s minds they also focus on politicians who accept money from the Planned Parenthood type groups. International pressure is brought to bear through UN studies and recommendations and reports and committees’ findings.

Foreign aid by the billions is dangled in front of them to sweeten the deal. A tsunami of disinformation, propaganda, lies, money, celebrity and glamour is presented and soon the tide begins to turn in their favor. Once all the groundswell work has been put in place the secularists and Planned Parenthood turn their attention to the courts and lawmakers. The Philippines has a government system much like the US ,with two houses (an upper and a lower), a President and a Supreme Court. Right now, a  huge battle is being waged in the lower house to pass what is called the RH bill -- Reproductive Health. Coverage of it has been extensive not only in the Philippines but also in of all places the New York Times and other western media. We’ve attached a few links to these stories and reports which details the efforts of the anti-life crowd right over here including the propaganda from Planned Parenthood that is widely quoted in the Philippines .. most of it lies or distortions. But the again .. Planned Parenthood makes a handsome living off its lies so no surprise there.

Within the next couple of weeks the lower house of government is expected to vote on whether to pass the RH bill and thus pave the way for contraception to become legitimate in this vastly Catholic country. Unlike many of their counterparts in the US and Europe the Catholic bishops in the Philippines are speaking out strongly and loudly and boldly about the evil of contraception. Some are on record as saying that if this becomes law they will oppose it so strongly that they will go to jail. Talk about a night and day difference between many US and European bishops and these champions of the Faith.

Bishops in the west barely make a peep about contraception, much less threaten to go to jail over the issue or any issue for that fact; but the Filipino bishops have the deep faith and love of Our Lord and his teachings that they know what this will all lead to and they love their people enough to not want the evil of contraception, and then abortion and homosexuality, to be unleashed on them.

We’re going to be meeting with and being introduced to a number of these bishops during the coming week and we will be certain to send them these heroes of the Faith all your greetings and warmest wishes and prayers for their success in the coming battle. The Ali-Frazer battle can’t hold a candle to this upcoming Thrilla in Manila. Keep these men and their faithful flock who are fighting hard to turn back the forces of death in your prayers. We’ll have more for you all this week as we report from The Philippines. GOD Bless you.