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Choose to Live

I choose life. Because Life is about choice.

One thing I am proud of growing up maturely is that I am capable to be in charged of my life by adhering to Pro-Choice.

It makes my life more meaningful: 1. Because I take responsibility of my life. 2. I get to know myself in the process.

Life Without God

You may find a practicing minister for 20 years losing belief on the teaching of the Church a bit disturbing. But not for Sam Harris and Tim Prowse.

A glimpse of the interview would make you wonder why the former minister seems relaxed amidst the faith disturbance.

It is nice to hear that your exit from the ministry has been comparatively smooth. What will you do next?


Repudiating my ordination and leaving faith behind was much smoother than I had anticipated. Ironically, something I had worked years to accomplish ended in a matter of minutes. When I slid my ordination certificates across a Bob Evan’s tabletop to my District Superintendent, I was greatly relieved. The lie was over. I was free. This freedom does not come without consternation, however.


Fortunately, a dear friend helped my family by offering their second home to rent at a very reasonable price. Another dear friend has procured a sales job for me in her company. While housing and employment have been provided in the short term, long term my future is much more uncertain. Ideally, I’d love to write and lecture on my experiences; especially concerning the negative impacts faith and church have on individuals and societies. I’d love to write a novel.


I do not have visions of grandeur, however. If the rest of my life is spent just being a regular “Joe” that will be fine by me. I have a wonderful family and a few good friends. My heart and mind are at ease. I’m healthier now than I’ve been in years and tomorrow looks bright. For the first time in my life, I’m living. Truly living, Sam.


If you could go back in time and reason with your former self, what could you say that might have broken the spell sooner?


I would tell myself to ask questions, to read the text, to wonder, to explore the nuances, to take seriously my intuition and abilities to debate. I’d tell myself to listen to what is actually being said with critical and reasoning ears. I’d tell myself to substitute “Invisible Friend” for “God” every time I encountered the word and notice how ridiculous the rhetoric sounds from grown-ups. I would challenge myself to be more skeptical, to study science. I’d tell myself to find joy in life – it’s the only one you are going to get – don’t waste a second.

My "Bad Hairday"

Entschuldigen Sie!

I am learning German these days. When you think of German, the first to come to mind is...dandaran, Albert Einstein.

So, coincidentally I found some interesting stuff that would raise my hair in not so very bad day.

Albert Einstein: It is a Lie that I Believe in a Personal God...
It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. - Albert Einstein, letter to an atheist (1954), quoted in Albert Einstein: The Human Side…

Here is perhaps the best Einstein quote on God… in 1915 when he was at the height of his intellectual prowess:
Albert Einstein: Only God’s non-existence can excuse him…“Why do you write to me ‘God should punish the English’? I have no close connection to either one or the other. I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him.” Albert Einstein, letter to Edgar Meyer, a Swiss colleague, January 2, 1915;

At around the when his death approached (in 1954) he wrote this massive intellectual attack on Catholicism as a grave obstacle to peace on this planet:

Albert Einstein: Catholic Political Activism Danger to the Community… I am convinced that some political and social activities and practices of the Catholic organizations are detrimental and even dangerous for the community as a whole, here and everywhere. I mention here only the fight against birth control at a time when overpopulation in various countries has become a serious threat to the health of people and a grave obstacle to any attempt to organize peace on this planet. - Albert Einstein, letter, 1954

Here’s more from Albert just before he died:

Albert Einstein: a new religion… "I am a deeply religious nonbeliever.… This is a somewhat new kind of religion.” Albert Einstein, a letter to Hans Muehsam, 1954;

Albert Einstein: Did not believe in immortality… “I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it. Albert Einstein, letter to a Baptist pastor in 1953; from Albert Einstein the Human Side,

As Real as it Gets

In her world of make believe, says one show business personality who just broke up from a rumored gay boyfriend, she wants to keep part of life as real as possible. Thus, the revelation and transformation came out of the limelight.

Anyways, it is not about her and her ordeal. It is more on keeping it real.

I get it when the method of make believe to compel a kid to finish his meal, else, his/her hands will crumble like a crawling crab saves wastes. When a lifetime annual make believe of getting gifts from Santa Clause for being good spares parents from being good by example. It may have some use to those who depend on elders for decision, well, like a child. An adult relying on make believes to decide is a threat to sanity and goodwill.

Threat to Sanity

Amidst the desert during summer time, one can make believe that the shadow of pouring sands from a rock can be a water to relieve thirst. Faith makes us taste water out of sand. Anyways, with so much fun making believe, the land rover was missed that can bring me to a city where real safe water can be found. Who knows what kinds of dirt masks that sand?

Goodwill

Have you heard of the story about Mother Theresa’s allowing only near death patients to be confined in her hospital if they will be converted to Catholics?

Well, Can this kind of compassion be as real as it gets?

Gifted

PJMS a.k.a. nunal sa punso in may himala: “I know them. Even if I robbed them of their dignity for kissing my a*s, a gift compensates their silence in times that I mock their inability to do things I know nothing about, like morality. This gift can fuel the mob to drag my enemy out of the scene. It can twist their loyalty. It can make them help me hide my insincerity. Most of all, this gift paints my marketing to color the belief that money can buy everything. Only one thing I should do. Make everyone believe that the gift is for charity and a token of appreciation for keeping me in control and in power"

Bisyopoop: "She thinks she can play us around? We own this country. Whatever we say is godly. Who would like to beat that shit? Pardon my French. But then, whether you like it or not, I'll get away with it. We own this country.

Charity? What the hell are you talking about? That's an insult to god's power. Why would we accept gift coming from gambling? That's against the teaching of Jesus Christ, for god's sake. Jesus Christ sent away those gamblers inside and outside the temple in new testament. Receiving charity fund from gambling is very un-Christian.

She's lying. She's been lying during her stay in power. We own this country and we can't do anything about her. "Hello, Farci" is not enough evidence of this dishonesty. Besides, we are busy taking care of our investments in banks, mining and other big companies. And taking care of the poor, too. In 100 years, we'll open the church to victims of calamity. For that, we will need 2nd, 3rd and 4th collection to make it real. Because by that time, there will be no school buildings. Only churches. We own this country. We can do everything in it and get away with it.

Pathetic Me: I wasted my time hearing this dialogue. I should have just prayed and ask god to give all the money they need and leave this country alone.

Reasons Exchanged II: Faith

An imaginary friend is necessary when one cannot bear the fact of solitude.

“So, any understanding made by human comprehension must be really personal and nothing absolute.”

—well girl, that is absolutely the point in this area called faith, religion or belief. Believing (or not believing,) that there is God and/or a Supreme being is on a very intimate personal level.

If you have read the Bible, good for you. To connect it with science (and politics too), good luck to you.

There are questions which science can answer, of course there’s facts to prove it, not everything is about facts, there are also questions only faith can answer because it’s experiencing through the heart and not with the mind.

Actually to know God is not merely because one knows about it , knowing God is experiencing him/her/it.

FYI, even Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein acknowledges there ’s a Supreme Being beyond their technical expertise.And your pondering about all the pain that the world is experiencing right now,it is made by fellow human beings too, why does someone who doesnt believe in God wonder if God did that or what.duh.

Follow up question….I am wondering why some atheist hate believers that much? , well there was respect during times she was in church with us.

May enlightenment be upon you too, if not, then that’s fine, it’s about you. I just hope i dont receive emails like these again blasphemous enough for me to react.

My Response

Religion is supposed to alleviate suffering and pain because the backer is the all-loving, all-benevolent, all-knowledgeable supreme being. I don’t find it fascinating to punish someone for being created a certain way. Example, God being all-knowledgeable that knows the past, present and the future already knows that one will be a liar but still created him/her that will eventually be punished for being created as liar in the beginning.

One can have faith that the sky is color green but it doesn’t change the fact that its color is sky blue. Being ABSOLUTE that the sky is green due to faith is an insult to those who are not color blind. It will be dangerous to be assisted by color blinds when crossing the traffic lights.

“There are also questions only faith can answer” and those question should be raised first. However, how can those questions be raised if there’s already the faith that the answer is God.

“Actually to know God is not merely because one knows about it , knowing God is experiencing him/her/it.”

We know a unicorn is a combination of horse with horn on its head. We didn’t know unicorn by experiencing unicorn.

“FYI, even Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein acknowledges there ’s a Supreme Being beyond their technical expertise.” So what’s your point? Maybe they have, but it doesnt mean they define that it is the god of christian, islam, hindu or jew. Their acknowledgment does not serve as proof of its existence.

Tell me an atheistic institution that excommunicate fellow atheist. No atheist has performed Inquisition or Crusade or burning of witches or collaborated in genocide. Even the Christians persecuted and nailed Christ as the bible said so.

Slavery, Incest, mass murder, rape, favoritism in the Bible as inspired by “God” is not only blasphemous but also obscene and disrespectful.

Thank you for reacting. I appreciate that.

Reasons Exchanged I: Mystery

I was recently engaged in a an exchange of emails. It all started when I sent them an essay on the evaluation of the Bible verses. And I share it with you.

"MY Personnal View and somewhat 95% of the world’s population have the same belief that one way or another there is a Supreme Being that we call God. I pity people who believe that everything can be explained by Science or by reason — why? because of the word MISTERY. Do you actually believe that the size of your brain which is around 15cm and weighs around 1.5kg can contain everything that you need to know about the whole universe? I can not even explain why I yawn when other people yawn in front of me or even the scientist have all the theories about yawning but still have not found out the real explanation on yawning.
If any human being will try to explain everything by science or by reason then there will never be any end to all the questions of how and why. Question like why our eyes cansee 3D 3-dimension of everything while when you shoot a 3D film, you need 3 cameras simultaneously. We have only two eyes by the way.
Even there is no exact science about dreams. Personally, If you will say that I’m ignorant for believing with our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ and the Bible, I have no problem with that.
In the end sir, I can not judge your beliefs or your “facts”. All I can say is that yes I believe you when you say that our mind is free. That we can think now for the all the reasons that we can reason. But for you sir, while you are finding answers, I will pray for you to find those answers. And thank you for reading the Bible sir, next time sir try reading it with your heart and not only with your mind."

My Response

Before December 3, 1903, the bird’s ability to fly was a mystery until it was explained by Wilbur and Orville Wright with their flying machine named Kitty Hawk. Flying by human was once a mystery and eventually explained without reference to the Bible. Every invention/creation of human comes with a manual that tells how it works and will be troubleshoot. Unfortunately, the Bible does not say anything about the brain, heart, gravity, mathematics, and telecommunications like what we found in manuals. Today in quality assurance, a manual is a standard. Is the brain, heart, airplane, submarine, yawn, 3D eye also a mystery to the entity that made it possible/existing that’s why it is not included in the Bible?

The 10% capability of the brain being utilized now corrected the ancient earth-centered and flat earth belief that threatened, tortured and killed early scientists and thinkers like Galileo, Copernicus, Bruno and Hypatia. It also has extended life expectancy through scientific discoveries on medicines and transplants. This brain enables us to invent machines and instruments that can predict catastrophes like typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis. Its natural curiosity and courage to question the established knowledge progresses the civilization. It facilitates the self-correcting attribute of the scientific world (Example: Newton Laws is corrected by the Relativity. Relativity is corrected by the quantum physics).

It is a mystery to me why an all-loving, all-powerful, all-knowledgeable all-benevolent supreme being would allow innocent children die of starvation in Africa and as victims of war. It is a mystery to me why an all-just supreme being allows the innocent children suffer for the sins of their parents. As a human, I don’t have that kind of cruelty to send anyone to eternal fire to suffer for not believing in me. And I am not even a parent nor all-loving, all-powerful, and all-knowledgeable.

If there’s supreme being, he/she/it is incomprehensible by the 15cm and 1.5kg brain and by the heart that pumps blood in or out of the vein. So, any understanding made by human comprehension must be really personal and nothing absolute.

Prayers

" . . Prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down. I do not choose to admit weakness. I accept the challenge of responsibility. Life, as it is, does not frighten me, since I have made my peace with the universe as I find it, and bow to its laws. The ever-sleepless sea in its bed, crying out 'How long?' to Time; million-formed and never motionless flame; the contemplation of these two aspects alone, affords me sufficient food for ten spans of my expected lifetime. It seems to me that organized creeds are collections of words around a wish. I feel no need for such. However, I would not, by word or deed, attempt to deprive another of the consolation it affords. It is simply not for me. Somebody else may have my rapturous glance at the archangels. The springing of the yellow line of morning out of the misty deep of dawn, is glory enough for me. I know that nothing is destructible; things merely change forms. When the consciousness we know as life ceases, I know that I shall still be part and parcel of the world. I was a part before the sun rolled into shape and burst forth in the glory of change. I was, when the earth was hurled out from its fiery rim. I shall return with the earth to Father Sun, and still exist in substance when the sun has lost its fire, and disintegrated into infinity to perhaps become a part of the whirling rubble of space. Why fear? The stuff of my being is matter, ever changing, ever moving, but never lost; so what need of denominations and creeds to deny myself the comfort of all my fellow men? The wide belt of the universe has no need for finger-rings. I am one with the infinite and need no other assurance."

--Zora Neale Hurston ("Religion," from Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942

Something to Think About: Humanism

Open Letter to the CBCP


My Dear Catholic Bishops,

I should wish to share with you words from a psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, author of THE ROAD LESS TRAVEL. It is a bit about psychiatry at its best on top of Christianity at its worst:

“The learning of something new requires a giving up of the old self and a death of outworn knowledge. To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake, to kill, our narrower vision. In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this – to stay where we are, to keep using the same microcosmic map, to avoid suffering the death of cherished notions. The road to spiritual growth, however, lies in the opposite direction. We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and the unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning EVERYTHING.”

Well, in our sick society today, if we question the evils of corruption, we find that corruption is not a political or a legal or a medical issue. Corruption is a moral issue. During these past centuries under Christian authority, hasn’t it been your sole responsibility to shepherd the flock, to be in charge of the teachings of moral values? Especially to establish self-respect and human dignity as the foundation of a healthy and a sane society? Why is it that after 400 years of Christianity solidly established in this country, tens of millions of Filipinos in this 21st century continue to experience interior emptiness, still thirsting for some form of spirituality? No doubt, we still have deep faith in the holy Trinity known as the “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit,” but in our race to achieve a higher standard of living as a people, and to accomplish a higher standard of thinking as a nation – where is the Holy Trinity on our side as our “Creator,” “Redeemer,” and the “Sustainer?”


For my part, as a humanist, I embrace morality as one of the greatest of human values. Not, however, superstitious morality. I do not do good because there is a greater power out there who will reward me for my goodness after death. On the contrary, I do good precisely because of what’s higher and greater than me, namely, - my family, my country, and indeed, this planet earth as the home of humanity.


I duly recognize that there is little difference between the goals of the Christians and the humanists. We both value helping others. But as a humanist I am drawn to this goal out of unselfish love and empathy – which arises from education in rationality. As a humanist my goal in life is to try and spread the virtues of felicity via intellectual growth and maturity. Indeed, to keep ignited the torch of enlightenment. To see things now as they will seem forever, - “in the light of eternity.”


The Christian, however, is driven to it out of fear for his own eternal welfare. For the Christian, helping others is not an end in itself, but only a means of saving himself from damnation.


As a humanist I realize that I could be mistaken about what is best for my fellow-Filipinos; so I am willing to listen to criticism. I am willing to have my ideas torn apart and will listen to the power of reason.


The Christian, however, cannot admit that his ideas of right and wrong might be mistaken, because to doubt would imperil his immortal soul. He must have faith in Christian doctrines – out of fear of eternal torture if he does not. He must be anti-intellectual in order to maintain his faith – out of fear of torture if he does not. And he must never doubt that his action is correct – again out of fear of torture if he does not.


What is happening to us, I ask? Why is it that we Filipinos do not, and cannot as yet enjoy social unity, moral sanity, and political maturity in our own country? We only continue to be a people of childish followers; hardly a nation of intelligent thinkers as leaders. Why is it that in this day and age, under your moral guidance and inspiration, we Filipinos only continue to believe that human life is but a defect, and that we must only live our lives seeking not reconstruction, but only obliteration!

My dear bishops, as citizens of our country, isn’t it time for you to take a deeper look at our spiritually poor and morally bankrupt nation - the Philippines - the only Christian country in Asia since 400 years ago? No doubt, Christianity has been a great success. But what has been a greater success, however, is the Filipino way of life. We are still faithful to a higher power out there, but paying for it at a expensive price down here: the horrors of spiritual corruption, moral degradation, economic stagnation, political delusion, educational deception, not to mention the lack of national health, hygiene, and sanitation in our country everywhere!

In the final analysis, I say it again: it is time for us Filipinos to stop fooling around with our silly “free will” for the sake of heavenly salvation. We should, instead, begin to believe and have faith in our intelligent “good will,” especially for one another for the sake of Philippine civilization?

Yours sincerely,
Poch Suzara
Chairman
Center for Inquiry, Philippines
December 13,2008