If you can remember I had a post on does the Bible really subjugates women? Well, this article is a continuation of that feature as my students can’t get over the issue and again we had a heated discussion last night about the issues involving women and religion.
As the facilitator of the class I have to present the two sides of the coin, the bad side and the good side of religion in relation to the lives of women. Then all of a sudden this bothered student of mine, raised his hand and said;
Maam, the problem with religion is that it is absolute, whether you commit sin small or big it is still a sin, there are only two kinds of identity that the Bible imposes for humans to live, being a straight man and a straight woman … what about me?
For quite a while the whole class was in silence as we didn’t expect that he would confess his chosen gender identity being him a real masculine in the outside. And then he continued speaking, saying ….
……the problem with our society is that we often look at the coin having only two sides, in Bisaya… patay o buhi lang, religion in the same manner looks at life as black and white, no gray matters….. The third side of the coin is often overlooked, ako tong giring-giring maam…. (I’m that grid side of the coin) in which women and men who claim this side are often overlooked.
And let it be known that there are three sides of the coin, he continued. There are people like us who belong to this side which are often overlooked because we deal so much with the face and the back of the coin.
Indeed, students learn from their teacher and sometimes teachers also learn from their students.
Thanks for reading, see you again for another experience n this side of town.
I salute that student who has the courage speak up and think differently and his unique ideas... and I agree with him on the 3rd side of the coin...
ReplyDeleteAnd if I may, with your permission, I would like to reproduce this blog post in my blog site and credit due to you for your effort...
ReplyDeleteHmm so you're a teacher pala vernz... it's a great challenge to become one.AFter my Civil Engineer. I went for Prof ed ..planning to teach again partime.. pero goodby blog na
ReplyDeleteGracia, yes dear ... I only do this part-time, Full-time mom by day and part-time prof by night ... LOL, the least, two hours that's 5 to 7 in the evening more than that I do not accept anymore the offer ..... hirap kaya.. especially if you have many students ... dami papel icheck ... LOL!
ReplyDeletePikey, Sure just post a link ... thanks for dropping by....
ReplyDeletewow vernz that was an awesome thinking about the three sides of the coin makes me ponder a lot of this kind of idea. I guess and I believe that your student was man enough to admit his true self. It takes a lot of courage to come out in the open. There is a lot of people who are hiding and wearing masks just to cover their true self. I wish this people will have the courage to get out from their shell. Have a happy weekend vernz
ReplyDeleteHi carms, thanks for dropping by ... I didn;t know he was a gay until he stood up and drop the bomb...
ReplyDeleteanyway .. salamat sa pasyal...
ah so you teach pala vernz? are u a HS teacher? this is an interesting post. me myself havent thought of a coin having 3 sides. yeah some things and some people can be easily overlooked and taken for granted but i admire the kid's courage to speak up.
ReplyDeletewell when it comes to religious issues I usually listen and voice my opinion. I respect others view hope they too. but I am sure sure that everything will go smoothly as long as discussion is diplomatically handled.
ReplyDeleteThough talking about religion it was really hard to comment because we have our own belief understanding and personal experience that can affect each and everyones faith...but his courage was absolutely great...totoo nga naman sometimes we overlook the thirds sides of the coins which we should haven't.
ReplyDeleteHmmn...It is indeed tough to come out of the closet. Kudos to that student of yours for the gut. I suspect someone who is gay but he kept hiding his skeleton inside his closet. I want to help him to be open with his real identity but I can't find the right way to do so as I may be wrong with my suspicion.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, have a merry Monday Vernz!
Hi jenn, i'm a college prof ... part-time only, having mothering as my full-time career ..LOL.
ReplyDeleteLife, teachers job to process all issues before the class ends ....
Loveleng, it's ok .... i'm a pluralist ... I go for everyone's belief .. in fact I don't have religion ... but I have sacred philosophies...
Tita Beng, I was thinking to call you that,.....
while our society tolerates this kind of gender identity, sad to say we still do not welcome it ... I actually process it the whole time because some of them got disappointed with what that student said ... thanks for dropping by.