Open Letter to Jose Rizal

No doubt you are the rarest Filipino that ever lived. You are still the nation’s chief hero. Otherwise, as a humanist-scientists thinker, you were also a human rights defender during your time. Our Spanish colonizers, especially the “friars” and the “theologians” found it crucial to plan your death. This was in December 30, 1896 by public execution with a military decree under the power of the church and its authority. According to those holy men of God, the unthinking Filipino is not worth killing. But the thinking Filipino is worth a bullet inside his brain, especially in God’s name for his glory in heaven. In other words, believing is a virtue. Thinking is always an offense against God - a sin. Well sir, we know today that with you then out of the way, the friars and the theologians faced no more hurdles or threats while they profit from their big superstition business in this country. Of course they called it the “love of God.” With you dead and gone however, you could no longer encourage the Filipino to stand up with dignity as a people to enjoy not the freedom OF religion, but precisely to enjoy the freedom FROM religion. Your enemies were busy spreading Christianity. It would have been better if they were, instead, spreading Filipino decency. But with their own local version of the crusades, holy wars, and inquisition in Europe, Christianity has been quite a success in the Philippines – murdering the minds and hearts of children in school. We have yet to look, however, at the hidden truth: Christianity has always had a vested interest in human suffering. Most Christian doctrines are unintelligible unless viewed in this context. For centuries, Christianity has capitalized on human suffering; and it was enormously successful in insuring its own existence through the perpetuation of such evil. No, it has never openly advocated human suffering; it prefers to speak instead of HOLY SACRIFICES in this life to take advantage of the rewards in the next life. Quite fortunately for the priesthood industry, the dead cannot return to demand a refund. Sir, I am sad to report that, in this modern age, it’s the same old story in the Philippines. As far as love of country and love of fellow-Filipinos are concerned, we have not made any improvements at all. We only love God up there by hating one another down here. Meanwhile, Instead of a government for the people, we only have a government for the government officials. They are the criminals and the sinners of our sick democracy. They are rich and powerful especially because they are always forgiven and blessed by God via the lucrative priesthood industry in the Philippines. We are still lethargic, if not apathetic, when it comes to the power of modern logic. It is still a fright for many of us to read books. But if we read, we do not read in search of the truth. We only read to remind ourselves of the revealed truth told during our childhood days. Our system of education has not improved any. It is still about a system of recruiting believers and followers to defend the faith. In matters of nation building, our college educated men and women are as colorless and self-righteous as their faith-soaked professors. A lot of these professionals would rather immigrate to other countries. The laborers who are left behind would rather enjoy their work here to help increase the population growth of our sick country. Nevertheless, we all look forward to a happy life after death in the Kingdom of God in heaven. In the meantime, our men and women have yet to be educated to work and to develop and to improve the Kingdom of Filipinos with the power of science and the scientific way of thinking and technology. Look, for example, at our primitive dental industry. It is decades behind as compared to the dental practices in other Asian countries. I have met duly licensed Filipino dentists. They are able to expound expert opinion not on the latest tool and equipments of modern dentistry, but bible verses as inspired by ancient theology. In the meantime, according to a survey, 98 per cent of the population of the Philippines suffer from teeth decaying, molars rotting, and gums bleeding. Now look also at our highly educated men and women called “lawyers.” In the college of Law, in order to determine the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, these would be Attorneys at Law are vigorously trained in the art of cross examination. Yet, they would not, even for a moment, cross examine the crimes of religion and other superstition that’s keeping the Filipino impoverished as a people and the Philippines backward as a nation. Again many of these lawyers are more conversant with bible chapters and verses than they are practicing their profession. In the meantime, like the rest in our sick society, these lawyers too would rather play safe and not rock the religious boat. They too prefer to win in the rat-race of eternal salvation in the next life with divinity and to hell with the Philippines in dire need to catch up with modern science and technology. Sir, do you know that even your own so-called Knights are mostly bible readers than they are Rizalian thinkers? When a silly lie is told about you in the media, such as your retraction story, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th degree Rizalists would rather defend religious absurdities. Hardly would they publicly defend what you had died for: - the right not only to a higher standard of living but more importantly, the right to a higher standard of thinking in our country. Despite your knowledge and wisdom, we Filipinos still have not as yet understood the real source of our never-ending troubles: our confused minds and damaged hearts. Mostly owing, if not due to - sacred beliefs and other superstitions that we continue to embrace in deep faith. Instead of standing up to improve by working on what is natural down here, we are still busy kneeling down praying to what is supernatural out there. In the meantime, no Filipino family has ever become rich for believing that God is BAD; and yet millions of Filipino families are poor for believing that God is GOOD. Sir, the search of the truth, indeed, is the noblest of all human activities. In the galaxy of philosophers, humanists, scientists, and freethinkers, I am most proud to be a great admirer of yours. Let me just say, quite simply, my dear Jose Rizal - wherever you are, in the hearts and minds of decent people throughout the world, we will always think of you as a great man - one who has had the courage to put beauty in nature where religious authority in this world continue only to promote horrors of religious insanity. Yours Faithfully, Poch Suzara La Salle High School Expelled Student