This discussion of the counterproductive nature of the proposed SOGIE bill will not be complete if we do not bring up some philosophical and theological principles that are based on the Christian faith to which the great majority of Filipinos belong.  From the very beginning it must be stressed that what the Catholic faith condemns as sinful is the homosexual act, the sexual act between two persons of the same sex.  It does not and will never condemn same-sex attraction itself which may or may not be self-inflicted.  There are persons who feel same-sex attraction through no fault of theirs and who struggle against it by exerting the necessary human effort to avoid indulging in homosexual acts and in case of the practicing Catholic having constant recourse to the help of grace through the Sacraments, especially those of the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist.  This is how we should interpret the oft-quoted reply of Pope Francis when asked about his view of gay persons.  His reply was “Who am I to judge?”  No one, not even the Pope, can know the innermost condition of the soul of a person.  Someone who is publicly known as a gay person (having “come out of the closet”) may be living a chaste life and not indulging in same-sex intercourse precisely by having a strong spiritual life.  We can never be judgmental of other persons, especially of the homosexual.