Manny
Pacquiao, the world renowned boxer and a member of the House of Representatives
in Philippines publicly denounced same-sex marriage during an interview on a
local TV network. Through his online remarks about LGBTs, the 37-year boxing
legend who is also contesting for the post of a Senator in Philippines
triggered a war of words all over the world. The TV5 network of Philippines
asked Pacquiao and other senatorial candidates their opinion about same-sex
marriage and posted their views online.
What was Pacquiao’s answer?
Manny
Pacquiao didn’t mince his words to say that human beings who enter into
same-sex relationships are “worse than animals”.
Pacquiao justified his
statement by saying that there are no male-to-male or female-to-female sexual
relations among animals. He further argued that when the animals are able to
recognize the difference between the two genders, people who are unable to
recognize the same are worse than the animals.
The path shown by the Holy Bible
Pacquiao
who is an ardent follower of Christianity later made it clear through his
posting on Instagram that he said just what the Bible taught him and it was certainly
not his intention to condemn anybody. As a true Christian he wants to obey the
Lord’s command instead of getting carried away by sexual desires. In his
Instagram post Pacquiao has quoted a phrase from the Bible according to which
all wrongdoers including idolaters, adulterers, sexually immoral and those who
have sex with same gender will not be able to inherit the Kingdom of God. The
boxing legend asked his countrymen not to get deceived by falling into same-sex
relationship.
Severe criticisms
Pacquiao’s
comparison of humans and animals to denounce homosexuality has lead to strong
reactions from other Filipino celebrities. Vice Ganda, the TV host and well
known gay comedian said that LGBTs are not animals and that they are humans. In
his post Vice Ganda recollects the view of Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic
Church about gays. Pope Francis never condemned the gays. In his tweet, Ganda
quoted Pope Francis, “If a person is gay and he searches for the Lord and has
good will, who am I to judge?” Danton Remoto of Ladlad, an LGBT group lamented
that Pacquiao failed to understand deeply the issues before the LGBT community.
In a telephone interview, Remoto said that since Pacquiao is contesting for the
position of Senator, he should represent not only straight people and boxers
but one and all.
A purely religious view
The
uncut video on social media that showed Pacquiao’s interview on same-sex
marriage has gone viral and he is being targeted for sharp criticisms from
different parts of the world. A debate is going on among internet-users whether
Pacquiao’s views on same-sex marriage were taken out of context. While
apologizing for his comparison of humans and animals, Pacquiao was firm about
his comments and made it clear that his views are based on what he learnt from
the Bible. Pacquiao said he only expressed the beliefs of a Christian.
Christianity is against same-sex marriage and as a Christian he believes that
woman and man were made for each other. So, if we allow same-sex marriage, we
will be worse than animals.
