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

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

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

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

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

Letter to TIME MAGAZINE

TIME Dear Editor, President Gloria Arroyo repeated the same words past presidents of the Philippines have faithfully declared again and again. Have “faith and trust in divine providence” during hard times. Indeed, democracy without education means hypocrisy without limitation; it means the degradation of high office into cheap prayers in order to serve the rulers and deceive the ruled. Meanwhile, growth as a people and development as a nation have yet to take roots. Unfortunately, our government officials are just waiting for divine providence to provide. Indeed, we Filipinos have been taught to believe that God will solve our problems for as long as we never lose faith. History, however, fails to prove that the creation of human decency throughout the land has ever been a priority with divinity. Corruption is the privilege of our elected officials and prayer rallies are organized if there were any proposal to alter the patriotic tradition. Our democratic failure is due to the popularity of ignorance. A Filipino has a better chance at winning high government position if he or she has achieved a reputation in mediocrity. Is there hope for the Philippines? Yes, there is. As soon as we begin to become the intelligent masters rather than the stupid victims of religion. Golly, even the daily prayers addressed to God in this country are as similar in form and content to letters children write to Santa Claus. But if God would rather fulfill the needs of the devil rather than save the Philippines away from the same old evil – why should the leaders of this Republic continue to have faith and trust in divine providence? Where is our science and technology to remedy the religious mess that is keeping us Filipino poor as a people and the Philippines backward as a nation? Yours sincerely, POCH SUZARA June 15, 2005

Rizal, the first Flipino Humanist

Before he died at the age of 98, mathematician-logician-philosopher-humanist Bertrand Russell said, “If we must die, let us die sober, and not drunk with lies.”
As a great admirer of Jose Rizal, I believe he died sober; but those in power who had him executed at the age of 30, and those who concocted his retraction story, were the ones drunk with lies.
I defy anyone who believes Jose Rizal, the first great humanist the Philippines has ever produced, died a coward engrossed in childish fairy tales.
And why do I say Rizal was a great humanist? What else do you call a man who was committed to the application of reason and science and to solving human problems of the here and the now?
What else do you call a man who deplored efforts to denigrate human intelligence, who did not seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and who did not look outside nature for salvation? A man who wanted to leave this world one day a better place than he found it.
What else do you call a man who valued scientific discoveries that have contributed to the betterment of human existence? Who was concerned with securing justice and fairness by eliminating discrimination and intolerance in society?
What else do you call a man who attempted to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, ethnicity and who worked for the spread of common human decency?
What else do you call a man who believed that developing his creative talents to the fullest constituted the greatest happiness in life here and now?
What else do you call a man who believed in the cultivation of moral excellence, respected the rights of others, believe in human integrity, and was open to critical and rational way of thinking?
What else do you call man who was concerned with the moral education of children? Who wanted to nourish them with the passion for reason, love, and compassion?
What else do you call a man who rejected the theologies of despair, the ideologies of violence, and the sacraments of mediocrity?
And finally, what do you call a man who believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in place of dogma, truth instead of sacred lies, joy rather than guilt and sin, tolerance in place of fear, love instead of hate, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith?
Jose Rizal, indeed, believed in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that anyone is capable of as a human being, He was the greatest of Filipino humanists. And he died intellectually sober, not drunk with religious lies.
To Jose Rizal, wherever you are, I have the greatest love you as a fellow human being, and I have the highest respect for you as a priceless rarity among Filipinos.
Poch Suzara

Rizal's Unfinished Revolution in our country

Rizal called for the revolution of the mind to throw off the exploitation of man by man under the inspiration of superstition.This was a century ago. But due to our fear of the Lord and our love for that pie in the sky, Rizal’s call for that revolution of the human intellect ended up to what is recognized today in the history of the Filipino people as “the unfinished revolution.” Rizal wrote: “ I am not writing for this generation, but for those yet to come. If this one could read what I have written, it would burn my books, my whole life’s work. But the generation that deciphers these characters will be a learned generation; it will understand me and say: Not everyone slept during the night of our forefathers! These strange characters – the sense of mystery they will create – will save my work from the ignorance of men, just as strange rites and the sense of the unknown have preserved many truths at the hands of priests. ” Poch Suzara

Lies About Rizal

Rizal never said or wrote: “It was my pride that ruined me.” Those words were written by his official prize-winning biographer Leon Maria Guerrero who believed, as a Catholic, the Rizal retraction story concocted by the sciolistic friars. Moreover, Rizal never “got rid of his political appetite, moral perplexities, and intellectual pride.” On the contrary, Rizal chose to die proudly. After the friars stripped him of his dignity, it was no longer possible for him to go on living as a thinking man should. Poch Suzara

Rizal and the Spanish Friars

If the Spanish friars had only introduced the concept of humanism instead of establishing in the Philippines organized barbarism and other forms of supernaturalism, Filipino priests like Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora need not have been garroted to death for wanting reforms within the Catholic Church in their time. Moreover, great thinkers like Jose Rizal need not have been executed by firing squad for writing to promote common human decency for the Filipino enjoying throughout the land pride and dignity. Poch Suzara

Rizal A Great Thinker

Rizal was a great thinker. He saw clearly in his day what we vaguely see around us today: religion and diseases flourishing hand in hand under ignorance, filth, hate, and poverty. What irked the friars against Rizal was his refusal to continue to believe in Christian values and beliefs; for, he learned to be on the side of humanity. For my part, if there’s life after death, it’s great thinkers like Rizal that I should wish to be with. Otherwise, if I will just find myself in the company of the likes of Opus Dei gang – the kind of people who had Rizal put to death, please Lord, I would rather be in hell. Poch Suzara