Thursday, June 23, 2005
Not the Same God
It is not true that God Almighty is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. During ancient times, as recorded in the bible, God had the power to save his chosen people – the Jews – from the Egyptian sword. However, during World War II, God showed neither power nor interests to save the Jews from Hitler’s gas chamber. And to think that this is the same Hitler who wrote in his MEIN KAMPF: “I believe I am acting in accordance with the will of God, because in defending myself against the Jews, I am fighting to defend the work of the Lord. “ Poch Suzara
JESUS AS GOD AND GOD AS JESUS
In John, Jesus speaks frequently of his extraordinary Status
in life and speaks of himself in the most exalted language:
“I am the light of the world.” 8:12
“I am the bread of life.” 6:35
“I am the resurrection and the life.” 11:25
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 14:6
“I and my father are one.” 10:30
“Whoever has seen me has seen the father.”14:6
“No one comes to God except through me.” 14:6
And yet, crucified on the cross, in more exalted language, Jesus cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Imagine a God willing and able to forsake Himself? And all for the sake of accomplishing nothing! Poch Suzara
in life and speaks of himself in the most exalted language:
“I am the light of the world.” 8:12
“I am the bread of life.” 6:35
“I am the resurrection and the life.” 11:25
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 14:6
“I and my father are one.” 10:30
“Whoever has seen me has seen the father.”14:6
“No one comes to God except through me.” 14:6
And yet, crucified on the cross, in more exalted language, Jesus cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Imagine a God willing and able to forsake Himself? And all for the sake of accomplishing nothing! Poch Suzara
Credulous Theologians
The Theologians are a credulous lot, and must believe in something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, they are happy and proud to believe in anything especially if such beliefs were sacred and therefore based on nothing. Poch Suzara
George W Bush
As a candidate for the US presidency in 2000, Bush was once asked: “Who has been the most important influence in your life?” Without a second thought, he replied: “Jesus Christ.” This is the same Jesus Christ who, in the bible, admonished: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26. Under the leadership of such religious morons, is it any wonder that America has grown to be a nation of hate? Indeed, Americans hate other Americans for Christ’s sake. As an American citizen myself, I ask: When will we Americans grow up and show to the rest of the world that we have, just like most of the Europeans have duly ceased to embrace the evil called: Christianity? Poch Suzara
George W Bush
As a candidate for the US presidency in 2000, Bush was once asked: “Who has been the most important influence in your life?” Without a second thought, he replied: “Jesus Christ.” This is the same Jesus Christ who, in the bible, admonished: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26. Under the leadership of such religious morons, is it any wonder that America has grown to be a nation of hate? Indeed, Americans hate other Americans for Christ’s sake. As an American citizen myself, I ask: When will we Americans grow up and show to the rest of the world that we have, just like most of the Europeans have duly ceased to embrace the evil called: Christianity? Poch Suzara
Born-again Politicians
With Reagan’s victory in the 1980 presidential race, organized Christianity inherited more power and glory in America. Reagan, in violation of the separation between State and Church openly and constantly sought the advice of such famous Born-again evangelists as Jerry Farwell and Jimmy Swaggart – both generous supporters of the Republican party. Born-again Christians were elated; Born-again atheists were degraded.
Unfortunately, however, there is no such creature as a Born-again Christian. When we were born, fresh out of the uterus, we are atheist. No child has any religion. All babies are born atheists: free from theism, free from religion. No baby is born a catholic, a muslim, a jew, or a baptist or a hindu. We are all born free and then indoctrinated. For my part, I was raised and educated as a Catholic; but I know that in the truest sense of the word: Today and proudly, I am a Born-again atheist. Poch Suzara
Unfortunately, however, there is no such creature as a Born-again Christian. When we were born, fresh out of the uterus, we are atheist. No child has any religion. All babies are born atheists: free from theism, free from religion. No baby is born a catholic, a muslim, a jew, or a baptist or a hindu. We are all born free and then indoctrinated. For my part, I was raised and educated as a Catholic; but I know that in the truest sense of the word: Today and proudly, I am a Born-again atheist. Poch Suzara
Power of the Church
Church power has been damaged irreparably with questions from all sides and is in fact already crumbling miserably. Attendance is declining, except in those churches, like in the Philippines, who traffic in closed minds and broken hearts.
n the meantime, science has gifted us with diversity of beliefs, values, and standards so that we have been forced to wonder what is true or lasting or real. Tragedy, however, comes when people cannot embrace the changing reality and therefore unable to live creatively or intellectually. They would rather be inspired by religious timidity, if not by ecclesiastical mediocrity, not to mention biblical stupidity perpetually. Poch Suzara
n the meantime, science has gifted us with diversity of beliefs, values, and standards so that we have been forced to wonder what is true or lasting or real. Tragedy, however, comes when people cannot embrace the changing reality and therefore unable to live creatively or intellectually. They would rather be inspired by religious timidity, if not by ecclesiastical mediocrity, not to mention biblical stupidity perpetually. Poch Suzara
Let’s Reason Together
“Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. Verses down, the Lord also admits: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways are my ways, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8. Gee, I am glad I have my own thoughts and my own ways. It's another word for self-respect and dignity. Poch Suzara
Wars in Heaven
How can heaven be a happy and a peaceful place when wars have been declared in the kingdom of God too? In Rev. 12:7 - 9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragons; and the dragons fought against his angels. . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast with him.” For my part, I ask: what was the devil and his dragons doing in heaven to begin with? Who created those celestial monsters, and for Christ’s sake, for what divine purpose? Poch Suzara
Biblical Unicorns
The Holy Bible as written by inspired authors of God actually declares that unicorns, yes unicorns, exist? Here are the biblical passages:
"Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?" Job 39:9-10.
"Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns." Psalm 22:21.
Unicorns are likewise presented as truly existent in Numbers 23:22; Numbers 24:8; Psalm 29:6; Psalm 92:10; Deuteronomy 33:17; and Isaiah 34:7. Poch Suzara
"Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?" Job 39:9-10.
"Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns." Psalm 22:21.
Unicorns are likewise presented as truly existent in Numbers 23:22; Numbers 24:8; Psalm 29:6; Psalm 92:10; Deuteronomy 33:17; and Isaiah 34:7. Poch Suzara
The Bible
The bible is the greatest source of inspiration especially for those who do not read it. They depend on bible scholars, if not on atheists to interpret bible messages for them. This, in order to maintain faith in the sacred mysteries and in church doctrines. It is indeed sad. The atheists have to point out the silly words, verses, and chapters written in plain English in the bible to wake up the bible believers to read for themselves the holy book. It is, after all, the basis of incredible beliefs in sacred lies and other ecclesiastical deceptions. In the meantime, the clichés of antiquity such as “but the bible says so,” or “but the church teaches,” can no longer be applied to settle questions and disputes. Only arguments based upon logic can we put ourselves on the path towards arriving at the truth of which has yet to be revealed in the bible. Poch Suzara
The Planet Earth
There is nothing tragic or even comic about the human conditions. We are like a speck of dust in the infinity of worlds. We are all but organisms inter-relating with one another in the environment on this grain of sand called “earth.” Against the backdrop of the galaxy, the earth looks like an atom. One million
( 1,000,000 ) planets the size of earth can fit inside the sun. In fact, our earth is one insignificant planet circling around one star in a galaxy that contains about 400,000,000 stars and planets, and is itself one of the hundreds of billion of galaxies called the Cosmos. One day our sun will eventually grow cold, and life on this planet will come to an end, but the cosmos will continue, utterly indifferent to our fate. “Mankind,” wrote Bertrand Russell, “is like a group of shipwrecked sailors on a raft in a vast sea at night. There is darkness all around. One by one they fall off the raft into the waters and disappear. When the last man has fallen off, the sea will roll on and holes made in the water by their bodies will be covered over. Thus, after a brief life, man drops out of the scheme of things, and the universe moves on uncaring and unknowing. In the eternity of the universe, one individual with his values and principles amount to nothing. Nature cares not for man.” It follows therefore that we must love one another as there is no else to care for us. It is up to us to assume responsibility for our own lives and for our own destiny by establishing local and global sanity as the redeeming feature in what should constitute humanity. Poch Suzara
( 1,000,000 ) planets the size of earth can fit inside the sun. In fact, our earth is one insignificant planet circling around one star in a galaxy that contains about 400,000,000 stars and planets, and is itself one of the hundreds of billion of galaxies called the Cosmos. One day our sun will eventually grow cold, and life on this planet will come to an end, but the cosmos will continue, utterly indifferent to our fate. “Mankind,” wrote Bertrand Russell, “is like a group of shipwrecked sailors on a raft in a vast sea at night. There is darkness all around. One by one they fall off the raft into the waters and disappear. When the last man has fallen off, the sea will roll on and holes made in the water by their bodies will be covered over. Thus, after a brief life, man drops out of the scheme of things, and the universe moves on uncaring and unknowing. In the eternity of the universe, one individual with his values and principles amount to nothing. Nature cares not for man.” It follows therefore that we must love one another as there is no else to care for us. It is up to us to assume responsibility for our own lives and for our own destiny by establishing local and global sanity as the redeeming feature in what should constitute humanity. Poch Suzara
Superstition
Superstition is the product of fear and ignorance. By nature the majority we are all still superstitious. Look how we believe that God will provide, and if that were not yet forthcoming, the Son of God Jesus will nevertheless make His Second Coming soon to straighten out the religious mess that is keeping, for example, the Filipino poor as a people and the Philippines backward as a nation. And to think that Jesus was not born in a Christian country like the Philippines. He was born in a Jewish town in Israel – a Jewish State. Poch Suzara
The Great Religions
If the human race lives in a welter of organized hatreds and threats of mutual extermination, do not blame human nature; blame instead the great religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For centuries, the faithful believers of each of these great religions have not ceased making a mockery of human nature as they all hate and kill each other down here for love of God up there. If, however, there is anything I find great joy in contemplating – it is that in this century organized religion is finally meeting its own mortality, a victim of its own immaturity, stagnancy, and traditional stupidity. Poch Suzara
Cemetery Mentality
Most theologians have the cemetery mentality – no thought, no question, no change, no challenge, no improvement, no progress, no knowledge, and no hope for a better future. The only new thing remarkable about the theologians of today is that they are beginning to look cadaverous - a living proof, I must say, that there is life after death. Poch Suzara
Bankruptcy Behind Religiosity
When science is unable to give the answer, religion steps in and fills the gap of our ignorance with sacred nonsense, holy fantasies, and pretentious lies. In the meantime, science as a self-correcting enterprise is the best antidote we have against the poison of organized superstition otherwise more popularly known as organized religion. Poch Suzara
Evil Show
When slavery died, another evil, called segregation emerged and took its place. When communism died, another evil, called terrorism emerged and took its place. The hidden evil, however, has been and still is the terrible fact that for centuries the corrupt businessmen in cahoots with the corrupt politicians have made not only huge profits but also enjoyed power and glory maintaining and supporting, if not replacing the death of old evils with the birth of new evils. Poch Suzara
Confucius
"Man,” said Confucius, “differs from an animal only by a little. Most men throw that little away.” If I may add, one day, hopefully, our emotion will catch up with our reason, our wisdom with our knowledge, and our purpose with our destiny. Then at last we shall all have behaved like decent human beings capable of creative thought that should transform into creative action. Poch Suzara
Love of Money
A great many people believe they are poor because they have no money. On the contrary, the worse kind of poverty is the poverty of the mind. Among those who are truly rich are those who are rich in thought. Here's what Bertrand Russell wrote:
“Love of money has been denounced by moralists since the world began. I do not wish to add another to the moral denunciations, of which the efficacy in the past has not been encouraging. I wish show how the worship of money is both an effect and a cause of diminishing vitality, and how our institutions might be changed so as to make the worship of money grow less and general vitality grow more. It is not the desire for money as a means to definite ends that is in question. A struggling artist may desire money in order to have leisure for his art, but this desire is finite, and can be satisfied by a very modest sum. It is the worship of money that I wish to consider: the belief that values may be measured in terms of money, and that money is the ultimate test of success in life. This belief is held in fact, if not in words, by multitudes of men and women, and yet it is not in harmony with human nature, since it ignores vital needs and the instinctive tendency towards some specific kind of growth. It makes men treat as unimportant those of their desires which run counter to the acquisition of money, and yet such desires are, as a rule, more important to well-being than any increase of income. It leads men to mutilate their own natures from a mistaken theory of what constitutes success, and to give admiration to enterprise which add nothing to human welfare. It promotes a dead uniformity of character and purpose, a diminution in the joy of life, and a stress and strain which leaves whole communities weary, discouraged, and disillusioned.” Principles of Social reconstruction by Bertrand Russell
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
A SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
June 16,2005
MANILA STANDARD TODAY
Dear Editor:
If the truth were at the foundation of our social values, we would admire the truth-seekers and truth-tellers of our society. Unfortunately, however, our society is structured on lies, deceit, and falsehood. Indeed, we just carry on with the same traditional delusions that keep even our officials in government busy with virtually nothing but to be in the business of power struggle in order to maintain the circus that makes us all famous as the Sick Man of Asia.
Ten million Filipinos now live and work today in some 180 foreign countries. They are enjoying decent standard of living and the higher standard of thinking. Such developing countries enjoy two very simple but most powerful sentiments benefiting them tremendously: Love of country and love of fellow-citizens. In such countries, our Asian neighbors, such sentiments are quite basic within their system of education. We Filipinos, on the other hand, have yet to learn how to love of our country, to love fellow citizens, to love law and order, indeed, we have yet to love growth as a people and maturity as a nation via the love of science and technology. To think that the corrupt men and corrupt women in our corrupt government are the products of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the Philippines: La Salle, Ateneo, UP, Assumption, San Beda, UST, Mariam, Letran, Santa Scholastica, and not to mention (AIM) the Asian Institute of Management. But then again, what can we expect of schools, colleges, and universities where education of values and indoctrination of religious beliefs tantamount to exactly the same thing? Indeed, what is biblical is practical and what is practical is biblical in this God-forsaken country. Look at China. She has been irreligious since the 11th century. Look at her today growing to become a world power not because of faith and trust in divine providence but simply because of hard daily work and discipline while taking full advantage of human intelligence behind science and technology.
Look at the Philippines in this already 21st century. Since the 16th century, we have been the only Christian country in Asia. But due to our illusions and delusions, we continue to wallow in our social and political and religious confusion. For the Philippines, it means poverty, not national prosperity. It means stagnancy, not national maturity. All for the sake of our faith in divinity and trust in the holy mystery.
Sincerely, Poch Suzara
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