HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSE RIZAL

Please be assured that there are those who are carrying on, somehow, what you can no longer do. We are a group composed of freethinkers, atheists, agnostics, humanists, and avid readers. We hope to continue the crusade you so bravely started a century ago. To liberate the Filipino mind from blind faith. Indeed, to banish the evil exploiters, executioners and liars out of our way of life. The evil called "Christianity" that was not only responsible for your death by public execution, but also entirely culpable for the strangulation of the search for truth, knowledge and wisdom for us as a people. Sir, I must sadly tell you that Christianity is the only thing that is a success in the Philippines. During your time, the Catholic friars shaped and controlled the destiny of the Filipino. Today, our country is controlled by the Catholic bishops and their political partners. There is no such thing as the power of God. There is only the power of the church, which maintains itself by teaching successive generations of impressionable Filipino students to embrace faith instead of science, reason and thought. Thus - via our schools, colleges, and universities - Christianity perpetuates the Filipino dream of the next life, whilst the priests and the politicians enjoy wealth, power, and glory in this life. We are taught by the millions to believe in sacred lies that only those biblically frightened would believe – that hours before you were executed – you retracted from your errors against Christianity and Masonry. Imagine Masonry. It was not even a religious organization or a revolutionary society. It was a humanitarian association dedicated to the liberation of mankind from being submerged in ignorance and slavery to progress in science and freedom. As a matter of fact, adherence to intellectual honesty and pursuit of veracity characterized you as a great man at home with scientific rationality. Indeed, you always struggled in the arena of ideas, using truth as your weapon, and reason as your shield. In the meantime, ours is not a system of education that encourages human intelligence. On the contrary, we are still stuck under a basic system of indoctrination that inspires social and moral and political decadence. Sir, you are the first intellectually courageous Filipino put to death by Christianity in the Philippines. It was due to your writings on the values of Filipino dignity, the beauty of a sane society, and love for humanity. You are the one and only great Filipino scientist-humanist-freethinker this country has ever produced. Instead of worshipping the saints of Christianity, for the sake of the good life – one inspired by love and guided by knowledge - we would rather love you, respect you, and admire you! Dearest Sir, Happy Birthday on June 19. Poch Suzara pocholosuzara@gmail.com