The Devil

As a prominent character, the devil played a major role both in the Old and in the new Testaments. To think that Jesus promised to destroy to devil centuries ago. But the promise was never delivered. The existence of the devil turned out to be the main and necessary ingredient in the Christian scheme of eternal salvation. Poch Suzara

Lies are more Damaging

The truth hurts, but lies are far more damaging and can last for a thousand but lies years. Poch Suzara

6 Billion People

The majority of the 6 Billion people struggling to survive on this earth - love, worship, and adore God. And to think that God continues to carry on with that “I don’t give a hoot” attitude. And to think further that the politicians and the theologians in the Philippines believe that God has never ceased to provide for them wealth, power, and glory. Poch Suzara

The danger from Hatred

In his Expanding Mental Universe, written in 1959, Bertrand Russell explained the danger generated by hatred: … “Although we have been told on Sundays to love our neighbor, we have been told on weekdays to hate him, and there are six times as many weekdays as Sundays. Hitherto, the harm that we could do to our neighbor by hating him was limited by our incompetence, but in the new world upon which we are entering there will be no such limit, and the indulgence of hatred can lead only to disaster.”
And to think that in the Philippines, we would rather love God up there with hatred for one
another down here. Poch Suzara

Happiness for the Atheists

Happiness for the atheists? Please read Bertrand Russell’s Conquest of Happiness: “A man who has once perceived, however, temporarily and however briefly, what makes greatness of spirit, can no longer be happy if he allows himself to be petty, self-seeking, troubled by trivial misfortunes, dreading what fate may have in store for him. A man capable of greatness of spirit will open wide the windows of his mind, letting the winds blow freely upon it from every portion of the universe. He will see himself and life and the world as truly as our human limitations will permit; realizing the brevity and minuteness of human life, he will realize also that in individual minds is concentrated whatever of value the known universe contains. And he will see that the man whose mind mirrors the world becomes in a sense as great as the world. In emancipation from the fears that beset the slave of circumstance he will experience a profound joy, and through all the vicissitudes of his outward life he will remain in the depths of being a happy man.” Poch Suzara

God’s Commands

If the Christians were mentally efficient at anything, it is at obeying God’s commands. Each can be summarized into one very easy command to follow: thou shalt not think. Poch Suzara

Organized Religions

Twisting reason before offering faith. Distorting the joys and pleasures in life before offering of salvation. These are among the fundamental ways to organize a religion. The capital to start with is fear: fear of the mysteries, fear of the unknown, and fear of death. Sales, marketing, advertising, accounting and bookkeeping are needless. The business is tax-free. The goal: destroy the minds and hearts of children to grow up mindless and heartless for the glory of divinity. This lucrative commercial enterprise is also known as “organized religion” in general. In particular, however, they are called Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each, by the way, still embracing a 14th century mentality now happy and proud to be in possession of 21st century weapons of mass destruction for war to destroy each other including atheists, agnostics, and heretics like me.
In the meantime, all the great religions of the world - Judaism, Islam, and Christianity – have their roots in fear and barbarism on the one hand, and on the other, ignorance and superstition. Otherwise, if only the revealed truths have already been revealed, the God behind these great religions should have been the creative and healthy impact on global history, and not just the destructive and sick faith of a local mystery. Poch Suzara

Theology

More than a hundred billion people already lived and died on this earth. So long as the theologians do not know how many souls are already saved in heaven; and, how many souls are already condemned in hell, theology will only continue to be the study of the unknowable. In the meantime, shouldn’t it be part of the revealed truth for the theologians to know God as a great success in winning souls for heaven, or the devil a great failure in winning souls for hell? Perhaps, it’s the other way round. Poch Suzara

Mediocrity

To the mediocre, mediocrity is not only an achievement; it is a respectable way of life, especially if one were a church dignitary or a high government official, or if one were connected with the Central Intelligence Agency protecting nobody except the homicidal maniacs in charge of the United States government. Poch Suzara

The Issue with God

The issue with God was that he created both man and the devil gifted not with good will, but with free will. And to think that sometime ago, God promised the world a Redeemer to destroy the devil. The mission, however, has yet been impossible.
In the meantime, the nature of God’s existence is a deep mystery. The nature of the devil’s existence is a deeper mystery. The nature of man’s existence is the deepest of mysteries. How are we to understand the nature of God’s existence and the nature of the devil’s existence, when we do not even understand the nature of human existence? Poch Suzara

Philippine Democracy

Philippine Democracy is all about the corrupt majority electing into office the few chosen from the corrupt minority to manage the corrupt government under the blessings of an equally corrupt theocracy. Poch Suzara

The Simple versus the Great Life

The simple life is achieving the higher standard of living. The great life, however, is achieving the higher standard of thinking. In a religious country, like in the Philippines, neither the simple life nor the great life is possible to achieve. Filipinos would rather be escaping daily away from human responsibility by trying, instead, to achieve the higher standard of praying. Poch Suzara

So What?

Hundreds of thousands of people everyday die of starvation in India. Tens of thousands of people everyday are murdered in the Congo. Millions of Filipino children are malnourished trying to survive on street diet in the Philippines. What is our attitude towards such horrors? Silently, we say: So what? When a princess die in a car accident, however, about 2 billion people of the earth’s 6 billion people falls prostrate with grief, tears and sadness. Indeed, so what? Famous dead personalities are often revived. Never mind those who have no celebrity status trying so hard to survive. Poch Suzara

For This Christmas

For this Christmas I urge my friends and relatives to please give not your kids and grandkids toys that are destructive. Instead, give them ideas that are constructive. In this way, we will grow up celebrating yearly the birth of religious sanity, and celebrate no more the birth anniversary of a Jewish baby some two years thousand ago in Israel that today is not even Christian country. Poch Suzara

Most Married Men

Most married men are not faithful husbands. They cheat on their wives. And to think that such unfaithful husbands are more afraid of their wives than they are afraid of God. After all, God is always there to forgive them of the sins against divinity and to forgive them of their crimes against the family. The Sick Man of Asia, indeed, in thought and in action as victims of a stupid system of education.
For my part, I never was unfaithful to my wife. Instead of murder, however, I chose the lesser evil. With much pain and regret, I was constrained to divorce her legally. Poch Suzara

My Stupid Teachers

A stupid man is a happy man specially as he believes that everyone else is just as stupid as he is. And to think that a stupid man is happy not finding the light at the end of the tunnel. He does not even bother to look for the tunnel. I should know. Quite a few of such stupid men were my teachers in grade school and high school at De La Salle University. They conspired together to expel out me out as I was a rare student always questioning what we were always being threatened to believe. For Christ's sake, this was some 60 years ago. It is still a great part of the system of education in the more than 1,000 Catholic schools, colleges, and Universities owned by the Catholic church today in the Philippines. Poch Suzara

Oldest Profession

The world's oldest profession is not prostitution; it is creation. Creation has been ongoing even long before the days of prostitution of the Immaculate Misconception. Poch Suzara

The Scientific Method of Thinking

Perhaps, if we look closer at its aim, we might grasp what the scientific method of thinking is all about. To begin with, science does not open the door to perpetual sagacity; on the contrary, it sets a limit to everlasting stupidity. In fact, the whole purpose of science is to make sure that we are not misled into thinking that we know something when, in truth, we really know nothing. There is nothing permanent as everything is temporary in science. Nothing is sacred in science, especially as it is about the never-ending search of the truth. Poch Suzara

Free from Ignorance

I pursue knowledge. The search of the truth is the most precious of activities. I cannot pretend to be free from ignorance. I am not gifted with talents nor with abilities. I just enjoy taking full advantage of my free will to question everything. It is the only way I can be genuinely spiritual, if not be truly intellectual. In the meantime, I am not interested with life after death. I do not care to go to heaven to be with God. I do not waste time worrying that I might end up in hell with the devil. I am only interested with this life in this world. Our world. The next life, if any, matters not a pin to me. Poch Suzara

Open Letter to Kofi Annan

SECOND REQUEST PLEASE

Nov. 6, 2004
Kofi Annan
Secretary General
UNITED NATIONS
New York

OPEN LETTER TO KOFI ANNAN

Dear Mr. Kofi Annan,

I am most proud of you serving as the Secretary General of the United Nations that just celebrated its 59th year of existence. Congratulations. I sincerely thank you for your leadership and moral integrity through what continues to be a critical era of world history.

Indeed, the United Nations was founded as an instrument of peace, human rights and development. I would like to suggest that in order for the UN to attain its goals: - a world without poverty, without industry for hostility, without crimes against humanity - it should be able to reach out over and above governments and be rightfully supported by ordinary men and women from all over the world. I am suggesting that we all become citizens of the United Nations. The much needed resources for the U.N. can be willingly provided by the citizens of the U.N. I believe the General Assembly can empower you as Secretary General to appoint a small committee to explore this possibility.

In HAS MAN A FUTURE, Bertrand Russell wrote: “Law is a farce unless there is power to enforce it, and power to enforce international law against great states is impossible while each possess vast armaments. Great states have, at present, the privilege of killing members of other States whenever they feel so disposed, though this liberty is disguised as the heroic privilege of dying in defense of what is right and just. Patriots always talk of dying for their country, and never of killing for their country.”

Imagine 2 billion people supporting the UN with $10.00 each as annual citizenship dues of the UN. This would amount to $20 billion dollars a year. Enough I think for the UN to maintain not only its own Peace-Keeping Force, but to gradually expand to the point where the United Nations is in total control of all major weapons of war. It is hard to see any other way by which the human race can survive the weapons of mass extermination owned by an ever increasing number of countries. In the near future add another 2 billion people to make it 4 billion UN citizens, - $40 billions dollars a year. The UN would become the respected and effective enforcer of international law and an irresistible global force for peace and goodwill to all men and women and children. The protection of our natural world from unsustainable population growth could also be addressed. It is dramatic but true - The future of humankind is at stake.

We are in a new era of global community. We need a United Nations which has both the involvement and support of peoples throughout the world. We can make it come true if we, the ordinary men and women in our respective countries, can be made a legal part of the UN’s ultimate goals. We have sufficient resources to provide our fellow citizens with adequate food, education and health care. We have the will to treat our brothers and sisters with dignity and self-respect. But this cannot be accomplished by, or entrusted to, a small group of nations representing the interests and prejudices of a small percentage of the human race; it can only be achieved by the super citizens of the United Nations functioning as a world government.

Yours Faithfully,

POCH SUZARA
BERTRAND RUSSELL SOCIETY, PHIL.
8 Zipper Street, SLV,
Makati City, Philippines