Jessa Maureen M.

Carolino 2012 59026 September 18, 2013 INTEGRATION PAPER

The first movie we were required to watch was the 2002 Mexican film, The Crimes of Padre Amaro. It was a movie about priests who have sinned much and broken their vows to the Lord. As a devoted Catholic, and to have some priests and reverends as close friends of my parents, I know well a mans duties, sacrifices, limitations and vows when one decides to join the priesthood and enter the seminary. Becoming a priest is considered one of the Seven Holy Sacraments, more commonly known as the Sacrament of Holy Order. As one of these holistic sacraments, it is spiritually and morally right for a person to respect it and obey its commands. Becoming a priest is also having to become a role model to other people. As a leader of hundreds of Catholics and religious devotees, one must serve as a good influence to people, for what one preaches will most likely be what people will consider right. The story of Padre Amaro brought so much emotion to me, for as what I have said, I am devoted to my religion and I have met a lot of priests to know that how Padre Amaro and the other priests have acted and behaved were immorally and spiritually wrong. Padre Amaro did not only commit one heavy sin, but four. I found it very interesting how one wrong decision and sin led to another, until everything he cared for, was gone in a blink of an eye. Padre Amaros sins must be, if Im not mistaken and if I have been informed well, the worst of sins a priest, a reverend and a follower of Christ might commit. Padre Amaro did not only break the rules of priesthood, but had also disobeyed the commandments of God. Hes first

offense was his lust for a woman. It is strictly forbidden for priests to have lust for women. As a priest, one has offered and dedicated his everything to the Lord, thus his whole life he must only serve, praise and worship God, and Him alone. Padre Amaro had his lust controlled during his first few days as a new priest in the village, but as Amalia tried to lure him into her life, the more he got tempted to commit sin and do as she wishes. Another of Padre Amaros sins is lying. This is a common sin for a lot of people; almost everybody has committed the sin of lying. Padre Amaro lied and kept his secret relationship with Amalia for his benefit. He lied to Amalias mother, he lied to his fellow priests, and he lied to God. Padre Amaro did not only break his promise to God, but he also disobeyed an important commandment. Padre Amaros third sin is denial. He denied his child with Amalia, he denied his relationship with her, and he denied her. Because Padre Amaro did not want any responsibility with the child, and put his name in vain, he denied a child and a woman for his sake and benefit. We find in his second and third sins that Padre Amaro has committed, he was not only a liar and in denial, but he was also selfish. All he thought about was his name, his reputation and his dignity. He did not care about what would happen to Amalia and the child, for if he did, people will judge him and will be excommunicated. The only way knew to get rid of the consequences he was facing was to think about his self first, and forget about other people. He was a liar, in denial, and selfish. His fourth sin, and probably is the heaviest sin of all, is murder. He murdered an unborn childs life and he murdered Amalia whom he should have taken full responsibility of. He taught her commit murder as well by encouraging her to abort the baby. Abortion and murder is one and the same, thus it is a crime to commit it, but Padre Amaro did not care, for he only wanted his name to stay clean as it is and no one in his way to keep him from doing so. To not commit murder is again found in The Ten Commandments of God, and so, Padre Amaro has committed another heavy

sin. To conclude all of Padre Amaros crimes, he lusted, he lied, he denied, and he killed for his sake and benefit. But even though Padre Amaro committed morally wrong deeds, he possessed a good heart by helping others and preaching Gods news to people. His actions did not just spontaneously happen, but it happened out of choices that he made. He was frightened, frustrated, anxious and scared. He was afraid of what other people will think of him, of how people will judge him. He was blinded by what society will do and will say, thus he had forgotten the goodness within him. Quoting Plato, Virtue is Knowledge; Knowledge is wisdom; Knowledge is remembrance. Plato is saying that there is good is in every human, that we had the purest soul a state in which our hearts will to do nothing but good until we were born, our bodies polluting it through time. He wanted to let everyone know that we can remember being good, because it is within us, we just forget because of the physical world slowly corrupting our minds. When in doubt, we always tend to do the opposite of what is right, because our minds arent clear, thus we arent thinking right. Another one of Platos famous quotes about mans morality goes, In the world of knowledge, the last thing to be perceived and only with great difficulty, is the essential Form of Goodness, which is the source of whatever is right and good for all things, it is sovereign in the intelligible world and the parent of the intelligence and truth... Without a vision of this Form, no one can act with wisdom, either in his life or in matters of the state. Plato is trying to tell us that if we do not remember wisdom, knowledge, and truth, we will not be able to remember goodness, and so we do immoral deeds. And just like Plato, I believe that there is goodness in every people, and that all of us are intelligent and knowledgeable. But I disagree with Plato that people accidentally forget to be good, because all of us have a choice and a mind of their own; we are capable of thinking, and thus we are aware

whether what we are doing is right or wrong. Take for example, Padre Amaros first temptation. He was completely aware at first that it is a mistake to give in to our forbidden lusts. He was able to ignore some of Amalias temptations during the first half of the movie. But towards the end, he gave in, and thats when he started doing the wrong decisions. Padre Amaro was thinking; he was aware, but he chose to behave sinfully, and he chose to be selfish rather than be selfless. To conclude my reaction towards the movie, The Crime of Father Amaro, there is good in every people, but sometimes we choose to forget, because what is unjust is usually physiologically, and sometimes mentally, pleasurable for us. People are free to do what they will, though we usually play clean within the society to avoid being judged; but because we have freedom, we are free to be morally good or not. It is not always because we forget to be good so we commit sins, but we commit sins because we choose to, because we purposely prefer to. We do it for the small amount of time to feel the pleasure we desire for. I want to quote another famous philosopher who has spoken such strong and inspiring words fit for this discussion, Aristotle. He said, For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one fine day. Similarly, one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy. Aristotle wants to tell us that a pleasure for a small period of time will not be enough to quench our thirst for happiness. I want to add in Aristotles quote that if something can give us pleasure for a small amount of time, it is worth not getting into trouble and doing immoral deeds. To be good is a decision, and to make a right decision is to choose wisely. Let us not be fools, and let us think before we act. Because goodness isnt often forgotten, it is sometimes set aside just so we can have fun for a little while. Aiming goodness leads to endless happiness, which we all want and dream of. Thus let us remember and not forget; let us choose to be good and ignore to be sinful.

The movie, If These Walls Could Talk, showed perfectly the lives and obstacles of teenaged and middle-aged women who are in doubt of delivering and having a child. Again, as a devoted Catholic, it is our obligation, whether we get into a situation like them, to take care of the child since it is our responsibility. The church always reminds us that it is illegal and immoral to have an abortion because it is considered murder as well. Even though a child is in its mothers womb yet, it already has a life and therefore aborting an unborn child is completely the same as killing a child who is already living in this world. The church also points out to us that it is not the unborn childs fault if it came to this world. It is the parents who are at fault if they did not plan on having a baby, thus it is not the baby who should pay for the consequences of having a family. It is obvious that the church is against abortion and contraceptives, considering how the community fought against the implementation of the Reproductive Health Bill. Although our country needs to keep an eye on its population growth, we must accept the fact that it is normal for people to have a number of kids they want and not the number of kids they are only required to have. It is a commandment of God for us to increase our number of faithful servants to Him, and so we must not restrict our growing population because it is the will of God. The first part of the movie, 1952, Claire Donnelly portrayed a woman who unexpectedly got pregnant and did not want to carry on having it. Claires life and the decisions she made manifested the exact life of women who wouldnt want to take responsibility of their children. Claire was not only having problems with her baby, but she was also having problems with the fact that she slept with her husbands brother. It was hard for Claire to lose her soldier husband; she became lonely, depressed and felt alone, despite her husbands familys constantly looking out after her. It led her to do a mistake, which consequently led to another. It was not their

intension to do it, but her loneliness was depressing her. And because what they did was something she regretted to do, she also regretted having her baby, and made her think of aborting it. She was scared of what other people will judge her, she was afraid of what her husbands family will do to her. She did something immoral, something that was against the norms of the society, thus she was afraid of having to take care of it for the baby was a mistake and it would destroy her life and reputation. And so she decided to abort her baby. The second part of the movie, 1974, was a story of a woman who had trouble balancing her career and family. She had four growing children, one who was about to go to college, and the three in high school and primary school. Life wasnt easy for her and what she and her police husband was earning was just enough for her family. Unexpectedly, she found out she was pregnant, and it was hard for her to take it. Her daughter who was going to college wasnt supportive of her pregnancy for she knows she might sacrifice her college education. Her husband wasnt expecting it as well, but the baby was already there and he had nothing else to do. It was all up to Barbara to decide whether to keep her baby or not. Just like Claire, she had doubts of keeping it; it was already difficult for her to take care of four children and have them sent to school. Her expenses for their necessities were just enough to keep them going every day. Her daughter was going against it and was telling her to abort it for it will just add to the familys expenses, but she decided otherwise. In the end, she chose to keep the baby and go on with her original plans concerning her husband, her daughters plan to go away to college, and her three other children. The last part of the movie, 1996, featured a girl who had a fling with her professor and got pregnant with his professors baby. The professor decided not to take responsibility of the child but instead gave her money for her expenses on their baby. She was left alone to take care

of something they are obliged to look after. She realized at the end that she made a mistake trusting her professor, and had broken the rules of society. And having parents who are Irish Catholics, she was raised to be someone with moral goodness and honorable reputation. They expect so much from her that the pressure is weighing on her. She finally decided in the end to abort the baby, ignoring whatever people say about abortion, even closing her mind to the fact that she is aware that it is immoral and illegal to kill a living person. The three stories of If These Walls Could Talk are a perfect example of intellectual and practical choices we do in our lives. Intellectual choices are what we intend and plan to do, these are choices we make in advance; these are what we ought to do because with these choices we will obtain the better outcomes in our lives. Practical choices are what we do when we are in the situation already. These choices are impromptu and are more likely feasible than our intellectual choices. These kinds of choices are usually influenced by the rules of society and the pressure weighing on the person. And these choices are usually different from our past, intellectual choices. In all three parts of the movies, it showcased the three womens practical choices about their unborn child and their intellectual choices for their future. In 1952, Claire was pressured on what other people, especially her husbands family, will think about her and do to her. And, obviously not wanting to disappoint her only family, her practical choice was to abort the baby to hide her secret of having a one night affair with her brother-in-law, and to avoid hurting the family. Her intellectual choice was to start a new life a life free from worries and her mistakes. Unfortunately, she wasnt able to live her intellectual choice because she died from aborting her baby. In 1974, Barbara was experiencing great difficulty balancing her career and her family, and then comes a new baby to take full responsibility of. She was not ready to have it, and her intellectual choice was to abort it, seeing as she wouldnt be able to provide another childs

needs. But towards the end, she decided on her practical choice which was to keep it, and her intellectual choice to still fulfill her plans and duties to her four other children and her husband. And in 1996, Christine was left alone to take liability of the child. She knew what she did was wrong, and it was against what her Irish Catholic parents wanted as a future for her. With all these problems she had, she decided on her practical choice which was to abort it. She had high hopes of living a brighter future as the equipments for performing an abortion was advanced than back in 1952. Her intellectual choice was to have a better future ahead abiding by the norms and doing just as her parents wanted her to do. The last movie we were required to watch was the 1991 Chinese movie, Raise the Red Lantern. It was a story of a young girl who married a rich man who already had three wives before she married her. And because she was new in the mansion, her wishes and favors were always granted, and the husband wanted to always sleep with her. Raising the red lanterns along and within one of the houses of the wives signifies power over the three others, choosing what meal to eat, having a foot massage and having the master to sleep with them. As the story proceeds, Songlian finds it difficult to live in the mansion with three other women fighting over their husbands love. She was also having trouble with her personal maid having an affair with the master, which she found out and soon they had an argument. The mansion had a lot of hidden secrets, and every single day, she unveils each one of them, which in the end, led to a horrifying tragedy. The third wife was killed after Songlian accidentally revealed the thirds affair with her physician. Songlian got afraid of what happened and what might happen to her. After seeing the men in the household mercilessly kill the third wife, she worried about his husbands capabilities of doing to her and to other people in the mansion. Having crazy thoughts and nightmares about

the tragedy, Songlian went mad and crazy, and soon enough, wasnt able to think straight, and was abandoned by his husband in her house. Raise the Red Lantern illustrated the lives of Traditional Chinese men and women, most especially their traditional custom of arranged marriage. A number of immoral deeds can be observed in the movie, including the tradition of polygamy. Even though polygamy, which means having to marry more than one person, is a custom not accepted in most religions, it was a normal thing for the Chinese, particularly the rich and successful. Chinese men are the only ones capable and able to have a polygamous life as women were known as weak, incapable, and useless. The cases that showed immoralities and human inequality in the movie were arranged marriages, polygamy, women discrimination and murder. Arranged marriages are decision made by the elders and seniors of the children to be wed. They plan to have them get married at a particular time, without consulting the people to be wed. They have no right to do otherwise as they will be abandoned and hated by their parents. Obviously not wanting for their parents to have no interest in them and leave them, they do want they want and wed the person they were arranged to be with. Freedom was an issue to the Chinese, and there werent much of it for children, especially for girls. And because all the parents want for their children is for them to become successful in life, they perform and plan these things to give them a bright future, ignoring whatever it is the child wants. Freedom was something hardly given to Chinese children; they werent given the chance to make choices for themselves and act on them. Instead, they were obliged to make choices and budget their own lives. And because a tradition like this has been practiced for a long time, it is a custom passed down to children of the previous generation, and it goes on as long as today, though most Chinese families are more liberated and

free to act on and make their choices. Another one of the considered immoral deeds in the movie is polygamy. Like I previously said, polygamy is a custom practiced by rich and successful men in China. It was mostly restricted to the rich because they are the only ones able to provide the necessities and support what their women want. But it was a tradition against most religions, as it is unfair, emotionally hurtful for their wives, and a violation of one of the Ten Commandments of God. It was unfair to the women because they a man gets to choose from either one of them, and the women not chosen are left on their own until their husband chooses them. It is emotionally hurtful for their wives as they easily become jealous and they get depressed and lonely if their husband wouldnt stay with them anymore. They start to feel useless and unloved as their husband continues to marry another woman, and theyre left in their houses with nothing more than the responsibility of taking care of their children. It is stated in the Ten Commandments that one is committing a sin if it makes loves or loves a person other than who they are officially wed to. Thus, polygamy is a disobedience of the Ten Commandments and an immoral deed to practice. Discrimination of women was another immorality, and is probably the biggest issue in China, as well as with other countries until today. Before women was able to fight for their rights as human and part of society, they were discriminated and were thought of as weak, incapable and unreliable. Women were treated useless and was not given rights like an education or a career. They were obliged to stay in their households and do chores all day until the men come back to their homes. The masters dislike of having a daughter, and the favor he does for his two sons and giving them an education showed how discriminated women were. But today, it is made legal that women have equal rights with men, and are capable of having to do any career they pursue. This is being implemented in most countries, and authorities are on the look to share this mostly to Muslim countries which still practice their discrimination to women

by hurting them and not giving them a future to live. The last case of immorality included in the movie was the killing and murder of the third wife. It is not our job to take someone elses life. Only God made life, thus He is the only one with right to get them back. It is a norm in the society not to kill people, it is considered a huge sin and the consequences to be faced are difficult. In some countries, including China, death penalty is implemented whenever a notorious and very illegal crime is made. Such thing is not implemented in our country because it is considered murder as well, and it is an issue within the church and other Philippine religions.