salt on Vatican wounds

Perhaps it may serve as a warning to all those who espouse "deeply-held beliefs" ... beliefs run a poor second to facts.

In the Philippines, a largely Roman Catholic country, President Benigno Aquino III has quietly signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act -- a piece of legislation that allows for the contraception the church opposes.

That signature, according to the somewhat overzealously-reported Associated Press story, "bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses."

Glorious and much-decorated beliefs rise up.

Reality awaits the believer.

Let us infuse our beliefs with a grain of salt.