The gay marriage issue is extremely controversial because it not only divides the people of a nation – it further causes deep divisions even within the church itself. While the Catholic church firmly opposes same sex marriage, some denominations even within the more fundamentalist Evangelical churches are struggling with the conflicting sentiments of their adherents. If there are die hard fundamentalists, there are those who ditch their religious leanings in favor of secularism and abide by the wishes of the law of the land. Canada had passed the same sex marriage law and the rest of the world criticized the country as the modern day equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophets of doom expected God’s wrath to burn the country to the ground and turn its cursed people into stone. At the end of the day though, the law didn’t encroach on people’s religious persuasions. They were free to continue to believe and practice their time honored religious traditions. In other words the name of the game turned into respect and tolerance – live and let live.
When Carrie Prejean, Miss California was asked at the Miss USA pageant of what she thinks of same sex marriage, here’s her reply :
“I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
Miss California’s answer incensed many people including one of the pageant’s directors. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton called her a stupid bitch. What did they expect her to say ? That she MUST adhere to political correctness and does being politically correct mean that she acquiesce to liberal and popular opinion ? She was asked and she expressed her opinion without berating the other side – what is wrong with that ? She didn’t she conduct a sermon of what things ought to be, didn’t she? Alas, people don’t seem to understand that there are those who will never agree with gay marriage until their last breath ! We can all have different opinions and need not agree on everything but we can stay united. What’s is the glue of unity ? Respect and tolerance. Sadly, many people have lost touch with reality. They are abusing the tolerance the majority had so graciously afforded them.
(more photos of Quebec City next page )
THE PACMAN’S MOM
Manny Pacquiao’s mom, Nanay Dionisia will reportedly travel to the U.S. to watch his son fight but shuns the thought of being at the ringside watching his son duking it out with another pugilist. This is the first time for Nanay Dionisa to fly to the States to watch his son fight – a very timely decision because this is Manny’s biggest fight in his career. I’ll skip the analysis this time but Nanay Dionisia mentioned that when she went to the U.S. Embassy in Manila to apply for a tourist visa, the interviewer told her ” how come you’re applying only now? ” hehe. I thought it was darn funny 😆 All the best to Nanay Dionisia. Hope she enjoys her long awaited trip to the U.S. of A.
MORE PHOTOS OF QUEBEC CITY
As I crossed into Quebec at the provincial border at Cornwall, Ontario I noticed a conspicuous trend of street, village and town names with the prefix St. or Ste. ( I bet you know the difference) on them. One can almost say with certainty that all the saints, from Agapit to Zachary had been honored with a street, town or city in this province. Not surprising, because the tour guide reaffirmed the fact that the province of Quebec is 92 per cent Catholic. In fact, in the early days of the colony, the French government allowed only French Catholics to migrate and settle in Quebec. Surprisingly, the tour guide went on to say that church membership had been dwindling over the years and Quebec has a number of churches and basilicas that had been losing membership and had to close down.
THE BASILICA AT STE. ANNE de BEAUPRE
I took this shot on a Holy Saturday last Easter weekend at around 7pm. The basilica is located at Ste. Anne de’ Beaupre, about 20 minutes from Quebec City. As you can see, the church was almost empty. The basilica is large, beautiful and I was very impressed with the architecture and the quality of the material and construction.
MONTMORENCY FALLS PARK
Montmorency Falls Park is about 10 minutes from Quebec City. The falls measures 83 meters high and is 90 feet higher than Niagara Falls but much smaller in width. The area itself is a park where people can walk about, have a picnic, take the cable car up and down the hill and billet themselves at an exclusive lodge managed by the park. The snow hasn’t fully thawed at this time in spring but otherwise the place rocks in summer.
QUEBEC CITY – OLD and NEW
Inside the city – a mix of old and new architecture.
The old walled city
SLIDE SHOW
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[…] about Perez Hilton as of April 25, 2009 Bigotry or Honesty ? – bwzone.wordpress.com 04/25/2009 The gay marriage issue is extremely controversial because it not […]
It wasn’t fair for her to lose just because of her convictions. Were the other contestants asked the same question?
The basilica is beautiful. Lovely pictures BW.
Irrealis – not sure if the same question was asked of other contestants but I agree with you that the question ended up being unfair.
The basilica is a work of art indeed. Thanks.
[…] Bigotry or Honesty ? […]
Funny how some people who profess to be liberals end up being no different from the bigots they so love to hate,.. tsk tsk.
Re Paquiao’s mom: money changes everything, huh? ngayon pa ballroom-ballroom dancing na lang siya… 😀
Great pics as usual. Were you using the DSLR?
Sngl – right on, both sides are quilty of bigotry and it becomes news when spilled out in an important event.
Yep, looks like she also had a facelift 🙂
There were 2 cameras that took these shots. My wife was using the Panasonic FX35 and I was using my Olympus E520 SLR.
i twittered about Ms. California’s comment the day i read it. My God, these people want tailored answers. Never mind she lost the title at least she didn’t lost her mind and her principles.
Now, we know that these pageants are MEANINGLESS and I think it is for the DUMB. 🙂
lol at pacquiao’s mom. She was really ecstatic and GMA 7 was there to cover it…more lol. 🙂
Ipanema – she spoke her ehart – nothing wrong with it.
Know what you’re right. These pageants are vain and meaningless. I don’t buy the ambassador of peace crap that they trumpet about these pageant queens 😦
Self-righteous people like VP Dick Cheney and ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich had those bigoted view of other people’s sexuality – now, they have positive view of gays/lesbians after Cheney’s daughter and Newt’s sister were not straight. My wish for Miss California is for her to one day bear a child who is gay/lesbian. This is not a disease, just accept them as who they are – they’re better than those criminals especially the ones prying on children. They’re better than those hypocrites in the Catholic church who purport to be your spiritual counselor but Pedophiles instead. They’re harmless.
Nanay Dionisia ba o Donya Diony? Hope she brings goodluck charm to her favorite son, meaning my head will be buried in the sand.
Nice pics.
Who’s singing, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson or Tim something???
TruBlue – I heard about Cheney’s daughter but not Newt’s sister. Vocal critics of homosexuals become mutes once a gay face appears in their families duh.
Donya na ngayon for sure 🙂 Hey, you bet on Hatton did you? Take your bet back hehe 🙂
That’s country singer Blake Shelton. I’m sure he’s paying lots of royalties to Michael Buble 🙂
the montmorency pic is just priceless. can i have an authographed copy of that?
on my cali… it is an opinion so i see nothing wrong there. i laud her for being honest.
Lawstude – hey, I’d have a one year calendar if I were to ask authographed copies of your cool pics man 🙂
She was crucified for being honest. Tragic eh?
The music in the slideshow is Home performed by Blake Shelton. I’ve only heard the Michael BUble version.
I heard a joke on the same sex marriage issue that I found funny: if gays want to marry, let ’em marry. Why should only straight people suffer? hehe
Wil – my daughter tells me that this guy Blake Shelton sounds “weird”. I guess she is familiar with the original Bubke version 🙂
That’s true bro. I don’t give a rats ass either – it’s their life – not mine 🙂
modern day Sodom and Gomorra, OA yun ah!
Jeff – OA is an understatement. You ought to see how people protested against the passing of the gay marriage act here. Not only Christians but people from other religions as well.
people really have respect issues when it comes to opinion. sometimes i think they do not even know what an opinion means.
hose photos are really great. sobrang gusto ko na pumunta diyan LOL dati i didn’t think of canada as a tour place eh LOL
btw i love that version of blake ng home naalala ko tuloy nung pinost ko yan LOL
Prinsesa – Although I am not very vocal on my opinion with friends, I don’t see gayness as an abomination as what many fundamentalists say duh. I happen to agree that as long as the love between two people is pure, who am I to say that they can’t have a sacred vow . I really don’t care what my church nor my church mates say. The can excommunicate me anytime. Acceptance is part of our evolution as humans. Bigotry is unecessary. Forcing people to behave your way – both sides -is being bigoted.
Hey, Canada has 6 time zones – it is a very large country and I cannot possibly sepnd my lifetime taking photos of its beauty hehe 🙂 Do come and visit !
yes, I remember your post about this song 🙂
maybe it has something to do with traditional people, or maybe it is just a matter of how we were raised. i once heard something about divine laws should not be flexed so that it will fit our lifestyle. i think this issue will never die even if it takes a thousand deaths in all courts of law or otherwise.
my relatives are in ontario. sabi nila okay daw magwork diyan dahil maganda ang future ng health care workers diyan LOL
Prinsesa – ideally, religious beliefs and tenets are expected to remain unchanged until the end of time but history shows that people evolve and get enlightened therefore interpretation changes and gets aligned with the times. For instance, the Catholic church had apologized for the inquisition and the deaths it has caused to thousands of people. Hundreds of years ago, the bible was locked in a safe in the church and no one was allowed to read it. That is no longer the case. A religion can also die a natural death if people get more enlightened of what is good and bad and seek more freedom in their actions.
Ontario is going through a touch recession right now just like any other place. Health care is funded and operated by the government here so there is an advantage of working for the government for sure 🙂 Toronto – its capital is also a vibrant city – the 5th largest in North AMerica by population and growing so there’s opportunities here for health care workers.
I especially liked the photos of Old and New Quebec City. I was laughing out when I heard the interview with Manny’s wife and mom. That mom’s primary purpose to go to the US is to get around and shop.
Of course, being gay is not yet acceptable (will it be in the future?) in this part of the world. The locals here think it’s taboo and I had to really hugely react when one of my local colleagues pointed out that there must be something wrong with the Filipinos when they’re born because there are so many Filipino gays. What a shallow mind. I didn’t have to argue but had to explain. I hope they’re sensitive and smart enough to study the relationship of influences to culture and biology.
Witsandnuts – thanks. Hope you can visit the place one day too 🙂
Society will evolve whether we like it or not. 1 billion years from now, who knows, perhaps we will have no more religion on this earth. Perhaps we would have rebooted the world anew after a catastrophic nuclear war. My point is really simple – respect people for their nature – they were born that way and it really stops here for me. I’ll not go all over the place asking gays to convert to heterosexualism and also expect gays not to educate straights into their homosexual activities. I’m not in favor of a bandwagon approach of converting gays nor I am in favor of seeing posters on the subway that says ” Be Gay for A Day”. Let’s do it our respective ways but lets keep it under our hats.
i stand by the catholic church. i believe God created adam and eve and not adam and steve. just a common joke. hehehe…
but it’s always in them, everyone deserves an opinion.
Dong – I respect your opinion bro. Celibacy is a virtue with the church clergy. On one hand, it is suprising that the Catholic church’s stand on homosexuality itself is soft and this is because a big percentage of priests are gays. I am not going to open a can of worms on this post bro but try googling it and you’ll be surprised, in case you don’t know yet.
they must not ask these kind of loaded questions in a pageant. It’s the organizers who screwed this up and not the contestant.
Nice photos. I prefer the Buble’s original than the country style version.
Natez1 – agree. The sad part is, people who ask these questions are so dimwitted that they can’t accept people’s personal opinions. Talk about irony.
Thanks… I happen to like Buble’s version too.
i wish i could say more but my opinion goes exactly the same with Miss California.
NYL – that’s fine sis. The tragic part is if someone lies just to gain acceptance – that’s not being true to oneself.
large but empty cathedrals…for sure filipinos are the ones hearing mass there…bad luck for the same sex marriage question…unfair too
Tutubi – unfortunately Pinoys are a minority in Quebec because of the language. There are lots of Vietnamese, Haitians, Labanese and immigrants from French speaking countries who are for the most part non Catholic. Here in Ontario, Pinoys are very active in churches – Catholic or Evangelical for that matter.
Miss California got a tough and unfair question – that’s for sure 😦
The inside of the church is gorgeous!
I had to pause and think of my beauty-pageant answer with regard to same sex marriage. It is quite difficult because I had been raised to believe those who engage in homosexual relationships will be annihilated come judgment day and since I quit my religion I have maintained a neutral opinion. In beauty pageants you can’t be neutral.
Such treatment of the poor pageant contestant really is unfair—some people will kill and die for their convictions. It is entirely possible to disagree without being hostile or preachy, but some people just don’t know how to do that
Kat – it is indeed beautiful – the architecture and workmanship .
LOL on the annihilation 😆 That’s what we are being told all along but looks like hypocrisy abounds in all of us anyways – teachers say so but they also do it- What else its new ?? At the end of the day, it is our degree of enlightenment also whispers to our soul what is believable and what is not, what is sacred and what is not.
Quebec is really beautiful. I have always wanted to visit. Maybe someday.
I have not seen the Ms USA pageant, but I thought that the beauty of living in the US is that every one has an opinion. I applaud her for speaking her mind. I may or may not agree with her beliefs, but I respect them just the same.
Ewok – hope you put Quebec City in your vacation list 🙂
Yes, everyone can have an opinion but in this case, Miss California’s opinion may have caused her to lose ! Well, super blogger Perez Hilton reportedly apologized after the fact but too late – the harm was done.
Hi, BW. Great pics! Seems like you’re having a great time snapping away with your new camera. (I suddenly lost the passion…dunno why. I might give up blogging as well.)
As for this Pacquio fight, well, I hope the Mom will be able to stomach the scene. I heard she had wanted her son to retire from professional boxing.
Gay marriage…gastas na gasgas na issue na yan. So no comment, LOL.
Hi Jayred – I missed you – where have you been ? 😆 Are you serious on giving up blogging ?
Yep, Mom Dionisia would be as usual – praying while her son is fighting 🙂 Well, I ‘m sure part of her purpose of going to the States is to tour around and shop 🙂 I know – the gay marriage issue has been beaten black and blue by now 🙂
i like what you said re miss california’s answer.
i saw an interview of pacman’s mom kanina. let’s just see what will happen sa game this sunday.
i like your pictures.. traditionally modern. and i love the music 🙂
Tin – her answer would have been true methinks 7 out of every 10 women asked but I could be wrong 😯
Yep, we will see on Sat night here. I will be watching the fight at my buddy’s place – as usual. He works for the cable company here 😉
Thanks.. I still have a bunch of them in my laptop – too many to publish. BTW didn’t realize you’re a surfer now. Pwede bang umangkas sa surf board mo? hehe 😆