When
I received a copy of the comic strip, I thought I had missed a frame. I was
waiting for the punch line, unfortunately it never came.
The
issue on sexual preference and the Catholic Church’s stand is relevant, but Mr.
Medina’s take on it was distasteful. I don’t understand why he needed to sully
the reputation of St. Scholastica’s College and the Sisters. Calling them (a
derogatory term for) lesbians was not only uncalled for, it was a slap in the
face of all religious vocations.
St.
Scholastica’s College is an enlightened institution that advances socially
relevant issues. For the past 100+ years it has borne strong women – leaders, politicians,
business women, artists, wives, and mothers, each treating the other with
affection. We are, after all, sisters.
I earned
my College degree from St. Scholastica’s College. I love this school because it
taught me to see things not in black, white, or gray, but in a full spectrum of
color. At St. Scholastica’s College, we learned that everyone had rights, that each
right had consequences, and that we should all be held accountable for them. SSC taught us tolerance - and beyond tolerance St. Scholastica’s College taught us
love. Love of justice, truth, humanity;
love of stewardship and of service; love of Mother Nature; love of good old
fashioned hard work; love of excellence, brilliance, and of quality; love for
the sciences and the arts; loving our Faith; loving ourselves. At St.
Scholastica’s College, discipline and respect is essential, and we carried all
of these values and virtues with us even as we traded our whites and blues for
other colors, uniforms, and caps.
So
yes, I am offended by the comic strip. For those who don’t understand, allow me
to point out why:
- The
generalization that all Christians are hypocrites;
- That
girls from exclusive Catholic schools are lesbians;
- Implying
that the Benedictine sisters are lesbians; and
- The
fact that Mr. Medina singled out St. Scholastica’s College.
I don’t see the point of the strip. Was it to advance the cause of the LGBT
Community? (I think it did the opposite, actually). Was it to pick on SSC? Did
it want SSC to discriminate, box, and label its students according to creed, color,
sexual preference, height, and weight? Or was it a careless stab at the
Catholic Church? Either way, it was a sloppy, poorly executed joke.
It
bothers me that even with the flak Mr. Medina has received over that strip, there
is no apology, no sign of remorse. Instead, he declares that he is a victim of
a conspiracy.
Another
thing that bothers me is that the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s only action on
the matter was to pull out Mr. Medina’s comic strip (pending further
investigation). An apology came, but arrived too late and was too weak to be
noticed. Really, if they were all for accuracy, fairness and good taste, would
it have been released in the first place? It was a re-published strip – doesn't the Editorial Board have any control over the contents of their publication? I
don’t want heads to roll and I don’t want it to be a witch hunt; I just want fairness
to prevail.
It upsets
me that a lot of people don’t see the reason for the uproar. I am disheartened
but not angry. These people are entitled to their own opinion, but my Alma Mater and our Scholastican community taught me better than that.
