More Criticisms

I point out that if we hope to get a million more tourists to visit the Philippines every single month, we must first clean up the garbage and trash all around us on a minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day - round the clock operation. Now I am told not to be too hard on myself and not to be too hard on the Philippines. That instead of criticizing, I should, instead, offer solutions to problems. In other words, join the bandwagon of the blind. Stop pointing out the garbage and trash all around us. Be positive. Don’t rock the boat. Just look the other way. Let the tourists see and enjoy for themselves not only our tourist attraction, but especially also our more exciting tourist distraction. In the meantime, our tourists have already returned home telling everybody that if you have no taste for health and sanitation, it is worth touring the Philippines. No wonder the members of Republican Party of USA are the only ones who feel at home touring the Philippines. In the meantime, I imagine millions of Filipinos no longer hating each other, instead only loving each other proudly touring each other’s provinces in this country of ours. That would truly be a real WOW PHILIPPINES! Poch Suzara

Mar Patalinjug

Mar Patalinjug out of New York summarized precisely what I have been saying again and again for years: “One reason why poverty persists among Filipinos is that they suffer from the deadly poverty of the mind. And this poverty of the mind is the nefarious result of religious indoctrination.” Thank you sir. You are, indeed, a rare Filipino thinker. No, not the communion of many Filipino saints and sinners, but the communion of the few Filipino thinkers and philosophers have the greatest love and admiration for you! Poch Suzara

Bread

Give a man a loaf of bread and you feed him for a day. Teach him religion and he will starve to death while praying for more bread. The prayer goes like this: “Our Father, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, and lead us not into temptation, amen.”
Now imagine the poor Filipino in need of bread and at the same time, he also needs to pray to God to lead him not into temptation. And to think that the response from heaven is that on this earth - “Man does not live by bread alone.” In the meantime, imagine again the poor Filipino eating his bread in the streets. He does not even own a table. He was, however, taught to believe his faith in God is the best thing he has as God will provide. Poch Suzara

We Filipinos

We Filipinos are not only born troubled, but also raised and indoctrinated to be selfish, greedy, and insane. Even in death we are taught to look forward to saving only our own souls, and to hell to what we will be leaving behind - our poor and troubled nation.
I imagine our schools, colleges, and universities yearly teaching young Filipinos the virtues of intellectual courage. Then I imagine not the young, but the elderly Filipinos looking forward at the inevitability of death as the only way we can meet and tell the Lord to please trash the cult of mediocrity, to please dump the religion of vulgarity, and to please discard the worship of absurdity more popularly known in the Philippines as “Christianity!” Poch Suzara

The Poorest People on this Earth - the Filipnos

Poverty cannot be measured in pesos and centavos alone. Poverty must be viewed from a larger, deeper, if not a wider perspective: social, political, spiritual, cultural, educational, environmental; and indeed, poverty in science and technology. The poorest people in the world may yet be the Filipino. Filipinos, as a people, do not even own a country. Millions of Filipinos are employees to foreign employers in the Philippines which is mostly owned by the Catholic Church. In the meantime, our congressmen and senators have always bragged openly, if not declared publicly that their great success in health and wealth comes from God. It only proves that God does not exist, and if there is a God, such a God has got to be nothing but a divine Jerk. Poch Suzara

I was Spiritually Abused as a little boy in school

It’s not surprising that abused kids grow up to abuse their own kids. I was once an abused kid myself. For asking too many hard questions, I was often humiliated, if not punished, often thrown out of class by my teachers in school. Happily, I have not acquired a taste to be abusive to anybody. The painful memory of my own suffering under Christian teachings has prevented me from being abusive to kids. I do, however, tremendously enjoy a personal war against the abusive system of education that is still as destructive as ever. In schools today, it is still being taught that what is important in life is not the endless cultivation of the mind and heart for this world, but only the mindless preparation of the salvation of sick souls in the next world. As for my own children and grandchildren and all the children of this world – I have every desire that they will eventually see the light and learn to become not the stupid victim of indoctrination, but become instead the intelligent master of education. Today, my former classmates and schoolmates secretly envy me for my guts in standing up and speaking out against the sick system of education that's been keeping us Filipinos poor as a people and corrupt as a nation. - - - Poch Suzara Google# Facebook# Twitter#

Word of a Televangelist

Before accepting the word of a televangelist, we ought to be guided with the power of reason. Credulity without free enquiry encourages not only religious timidity; it is worst, - it promotes political and social insanity. After 500 years of Christian values and beliefs, look at us Filipinos in this 21st century. We are still stuck in a religious quagmire. We are still waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord to remedy the malady that’s keeping the Philippines poor and backward under the cult of social insanity otherwise more popularly known as Christianity. Poch Suzara

If St. Augustine were alive Today in the Philippines

“St. Augustine,” wrote Bishop Bacani, “would sympathize well with us Filipinos, if he were alive today.” (Manila Standard Today, Aug. 29, 2006). As a matter of fact, if St. Augustine were alive today, he would typically personify the average Filipino with a college education in the Philippines. St. Augustine wrote: “There is another form of temptation, even more fraught with danger. This is the disease of curiosity. . . . It is this which drives us on to try and discover the secrets of nature, those secrets which are beyond our understanding, which can avail us nothing and which men should not wish to learn. . . . In this immense forest, full of pitfalls and perils, I have drawn myself back, and pulled myself away from these thorns. In the midst of all these things which float unceasingly around me in everyday life, I am never surprised at any of them. . . . I no longer dream of the stars.“ The time of Augustine’s death, 430 a.d., marks the beginning of the Dark Ages in Europe. It lasted for a thousand years (5th to the 15th century). Every single man, woman, and child believed and had faith in God. It characterized the Dark Ages. In view, however, of his attitude towards life in general, St. Augustine could even be more than qualified to be appointed Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports of the Philippines. Poch Suzara

Education

“Education,” wrote Bertrand Russell, “should fit us for the nearest possible approach to truth, and to do this it must teach truthfulness.”
If only truthfulness were taught in our schools, colleges, and universities, the Philippines could have been the most developed nation in Asia centuries ago. But then again, what can be expected of the millions of college degree holders of this country? They would rather have faith in the Revealed Truth for the sake of the next life rather than have faith by discovering the truth for the sake of this life. Poch Suzara

Death

Death is natural. It is also undeniable, unavoidable, and indeed inevitable. The big question, however, if death is the end, and there is no life after death, and humanity will perish utterly, then all our efforts will eventually come to nothing. As an atheist, I do not agree.
Well, to begin with, I know I will surely die one day. The problem, however, is how would I know that there is life after death in heaven or in hell since I would not even know that back on earth I am already dead and buried or cremated?
Bertrand Russell explained it briefly and, indeed, cheerfully: “Happiness is nonetheless true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting.” Poch Suzara

Theology

Theology is the study of the good; especially, the good for nothing. Look at the good for nothing theologians. After centuries of studying the existence of God, the one and only thing these so-called religious scholars have learned about God is that His existence is a mystery. No doubt, the theologians have power; but their power comes not from knowledge. It comes only from human ignorance and fear. In fact, in order to keep themselves in power, they only have to repeat and repeat the claim that wisdom for this world is evil with God. Is it possible that God’s mystery is not as serious a matter as it is the study of nothing called theology? Theologians have the gall to tell us that if we do not worship God, we will just end up instead worshipping ourselves. As if that exactly isn’t what we are doing all the time – worshipping the same reflection – the same image and likeness of a silly God in the mirror. Poch Suzara

Oh God

In the spiritual world, God expelled the devil and his demons out of heaven.
In the material world, God expelled Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.
In the academic world, and for questioning too many biblical nonsense, God also had me expelled out of high School at De La Salle University. Among other pertinent questions:I ask: if God could very well create a lasting happiness in heaven, why could He not also create the same lasting happiness on earth? Poch Suzara

A Belief

A belief always follows the path of the least resistance. It is like shallow water that seeks new grounds no more. It is already satisfied stuck on its own shallow level. Poch Suzara

Freedom of the Mind as the Greatest of Freedoms

Freedom is neither a party celebration nor a pleasurable fecundation. Freedom means work, especially more work in the search of the truth. In brief, if it should make any sense at all, freedom has nothing to do with intellectual poverty; on the contrary, it has mostly to do with experiencing intellectual prosperity. Francis Bacon admonished: “Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt.” Indeed, the truth will not make us rich, but it will make us free... In the meantime, I know only of one freedom worth embracing to the end of my days, and that is the freedom of the mind... Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

The Crime of Silence

The crime of silence arises when the need to protest makes men cowards. Of course cowards do not bother with corruption here, corruption there, and corruption everywhere in our sick and corrupt society; especially corruption in the senate or in Congress. After all, according to the coward's faith in God, there is always that forgiveness of sin and crime and that better life to come in the hereafter after death. Poch Suzara

Freedom of Expression

What value has the freedom of expression if, as children in school, we were never taught to value the free play of free thought in the constructive or creative arena of free ideas? Indeed, what value has the freedom of expression if we were never encouraged to question, for example, the destructive influence of sacred beliefs, sick parental prejudices, frightened school teachers, or even to challenge the validity of ecclesiastical authority? For my part, as long as I am enjoying the freedom to make mistakes, and more especially, to learn from my mistakes, I will always, to the end of my days, embrace the freedom of expression as one of life’s most precious of freedoms. . . Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

Democracy

Compared to a theocracy or a kleptocracy or the government of deviltry, democracy is the best form of government. It is the lesser evil. Democracy has its great values and merits. It has, however, its own inherent defects. The worse of it is that democracy encourages the cult of mediocrity. Indeed, in a democracy, like that of the United States of America, one must first accomplish a reputation for mediocrity before getting elected into high office.
Indeed, I have lived and worked in America for some 17 years. Twelve years in Los Angeles and 5 years in San Francisco There never was a politician in high government office I could intellectually love or respect or be worthy of my confidence, trust or even vote. The one and only time I entered a voting booth was when I voted for Jimmy Carter for president of the United States of America. He won. He turned out
to be good; unfortunately, for the United States and for the world - good for nothing. Poch Suzara

Rich Americans

In the past, rich Americans said to foreigners: “Give me liberty or give me death.” In the present, however, rich Americans say to foreigners: “Give me cheap energy or our military will give you death.” Poch Suzara

Jose Rizal a Heretic not a Catholic

We Filipinos are not winning in the struggle to achieve for ourselves a sane and a healthy society. We only believe what Ninoy Aquino believed that: “the Filipino is worth dying for.” And to think Ninoy died because the Filipino killed him. Unless we reform with the radical reform of humanitarian ideals, we will just carry on dying destructively as a people rather than living creatively as a nation. The Philippines is on the way towards extinction. No, we have not found the power that would destroy us. On the contrary, we have not found the truth that should save us. In 1896 Jose Rizal was put to death. He was executed because he was a heretic. He loved the power of reason. He was always at work to challenge deviltry as he was never comfortable with the promises of theology. He believed that the discovery of truth entails free inquiry and free expression. He wrote the Noli and Fili – two great books about our faith in sacred lies and other ecclesiastical deceptions. The same faith, in fact, that’s keeping the Filipino poor as a people and the Philippines backward as a nation. And to think that those in authority responsible for Rizal’s death are still the very same authority today that continue to dominate the minds and hearts of our children in schools, colleges, and universities. In the meantime, in this 21st century, we Filipinos are still bereft of national identity. We are still victimized to love not our country, but love only divinity. Rizal did not care to believe in the next world to come after death. A rarity as a thinking Filipino that he was, he believed, instead, in a better life for the Filipino living in a better country that needs always to be made better. Especially with the power of knowledge that frightens not, but joyfully enlightens the minds of men, and cheerfully strengthens the hearts of women. Rizal’s enemy was not the Filipino. He was executed by mindless and heartless believers - the real enemy that’s keeping the Philippines still pretty much defeated in the race as a nation to achieve peace and unity, security, social and political and environmental sanity, and indeed, economic prosperity. Rizal cared much for life not after death, but for life after birth. He cared much for the good life - one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Indeed, Rizal believed in the pursuit of endless education rather than the final preparation for eternal salvation. After all, in the ultimate analysis, eternal salvation is the condition of dead Filipinos who refuses to believe that they are already dead. Poch Suzara

Prayer To Afflict the Comfortable

For Michael Moore: Thank you for writing STUPID WHITE MEN. It is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read. I particularly enjoyed reading page 234-235 – A prayer to Afflict the Comfortable. How stupid of me not to have written that myself. It's a classical piece of thought that provokes thought. With your kind permission, I am publishing same in my blog: Thoughts To Provoke Your Thoughts. A Prayer to Afflict the Comfortable Dear Lord ( God/Yahweh/Buddha/Bob/Nobody): We beseech You, O merciful One, to bring comfort to those who suffer today for whatever reason You, Nature, or the World Bank has deemed appropriate. We realize, O heavenly Father, that You cannot cure all the sick at once – that would surely empty out the hospitals the good nuns have established in Your name. And we accept that You, Omniscient One, cannot eliminate all the evil in the world, for that would surely put Thee out of a job. Rather, dear Lord, we ask that You inflict every member of the House of Representatives with horrible, incurable cancers of the brain, penis, and hand (thought not necessarily in that order). We ask, Our loving Father, that every senator from the South be rendered addicted to drugs and find himself locked away for life. We beseech You to make the children of every senator in the Mountain Time Zone gay – really gay. Put the children of senators from the East in a wheelchair ad the children of the senators from the West in a public school. We implore, Most Merciful One, just as you turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt, that You turn the rich – all the rich – into paupers and homeless, wiping out their entire savings, assets, and mutual funds. Remove from them their positions of power, and yea, may they walk through the valley and into the darkness of a welfare office. Condemn them to a life of flipping burgers and dodging bill collectors. Let them hear the wailing of the innocents as they sit in the middle seat of row 43 in coach and let them feel the gnashing of teeth that are abscessed and rotted like the 108 million who have no dental coverage. Heavenly Father, we pray that all white leaders (especially the alumni of Bob Jones University) who believe black people have it good these days be risen from their sleep tomorrow morning with the skin as black as a stretch limo so that they may enjoy the riches and reap the bountiful fruits of being black in America. We humbly request that Your anointed ones, the bishops of the holy Roman Catholic Church, be smitten with ovaries and unplanned pregnancies and a pamphlet about the rhythm method. Finally, dear Lord, we call upon You to have Jack Welch swim the Hudson he has polluted, to force Hollywood's executives to sit and watch their own movies over and over and over, to have Jesse Helms kissed on the lips by a man of his own gender, to make Chris Matthews go mute, to let the air – quickly – out of Bill O'Reilly, and turn to ash all who are responsible for those who smoke in my office. Oh, yes, and unleash with a fury a plague of locusts to nest in the toupee of the Senate Minority Leader from the great state of Mississippi. May you hear our prayers and grant them, O King of Kings, Who sit on high and watches over us as best You can, considering what screwups we are. Grant us some relief from our misery and suffering, as we know that the men You shall smite will be swift in their efforts to rid themselves of their misfortune, which in turn may rid us of ours. With this we pray, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit –Who-Used-to-be-a- Ghost. Amen. Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#