Top Filipino Economists

Top Filipino economists are still insisting, as a matter of fantasy, that the biggest problem confronting the nation today is how to pay our external old debt of $65 billion dollars.
These economists are not even ashamed of themselves. As a matter of reality, our biggest problem is how to catch and put in jail those corrupt officials in government that made such loans not to benefit the nation, but to deposit into their personal bank accounts such foreign loans. Well, more loans are needed for the nation and, as we are acquiring more loans, how come the nation is getting poorer and sinking deeper into the economic quagmire?
As a matter of reality, however,, the biggest problem of the nation is the population explosion. Two million babies are born every year in the Philippines. Whatever economic productivity, if any, we may achieve, it will be just eaten up by more mouths to feed. Thus, instead of the higher, only the lower standard of living.
The trouble with our God-fearing, college-educated and faith-soaked economists is that they feel so blessed by God. Specially when they see Filipinos smiling and proud of their lower standard of thinking. As if with our poverty as a people and bankruptcy as a nation God will continue to bless this Pearl of the Orient Seas – the only Christian country in Asia.
It is all about the same stupid economy in cahoots with stupid theology year in and year out: the religious insanity ever playing the major role to keep up with the economic insanity of this God-forsaken country. After all, according to our Christian values and beliefs, the more we suffer, the more sacrifices we make for the Lord, the chances are better for the Philippnes to remain forever famous as the only Christian country in Asia. Poch Suzara

A Thinking Filipino

For a great many years, I prayed daily on my bended knees but received no response. Then I started to think daily with my head.
It got me into more responsible thinking. As a grown-up man, I no longer bother with childish prayers. I gave up trying to change the mind of God. God, after all, is immutable. Poch Suzara

Faith

Religions in general and Christianity in particular have always been an impediment to our growth as a people and to our development as a nation. Consider faith: how it has crippled the Filipino mind. Faith has subverted our natural ability to question, to learn, to discover, and indeed even to love one another and to love our country. In fact, due to faith, we have never ceased praying to Mary, the Mother of God, to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. For my part, I think it's unfair that in the eyes of Mary, the mother of God, she has not ceased looking at Filipinos as having no purpose in life other than just be sinners in the Philippines. Poch Suzara

The Immortal Soul

God in heaven will judge the immortal human soul that all this time apparently could see, hear, taste, feel, and smell. But if that were the case, why would the immortal soul need a mortal human body on earth to begin with? More to the point: if God created heaven for happiness and created earth for unhappiness, why bother to create earth for unhappiness to begin with? Poch Suzara

Hereafter and Herebefore

I never worry about the hereafter because I never worry about the herebefore. I do not recall existing before I was born. If I never existed before birth, why should I worry about not existing after death? Immortality of my personality is neither a feasibility nor a possibility. It is, in fact, a ridiculosity. Poch Suzara

Free Will

If God gifted man with a Free Will, why would his first command be – Thou Shalt have no other gods before me? Who are those other gods? Where did they come from? Who created them? Were they not gifted with Free Will as well? As the song goes . . . what's going on? Poch Suzara

Dangerous to Society

“It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief.” George Bernard Shaw. This is right on target. May I, however, add: especially if we respect such beliefs that are baseless, aimless, rudderless, reckless, and thoughtless. Poch Suzara

As An Atheist

As an atheist, I do not retreat in the face of threats or punishments dispensed by theocratic terrorists. They are only more interested in protecting their own power and glory indulging in their vanity. Theocratic terrorists do not care to promote humanitarian ideals for the happiness of the human community in the here and the there nor in the hear and the now. Poch Suzara

Jesus and Education

And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 18:2-3 It is obvious that Jesus did not give a hoot about the value education.
For my part, I have no wish to go to heaven. I do not wish to enjoy happiness in the company of little children happy with immaturity for the rest of eternity.
On this earth, however, I would rather listen to Bertrand Russell: Most children wish to know until they go to school; in many cases it is bad teaching that make them stupid and uninquiring.
In the meantime, the bible totally contradicts Jesus: “My friends, stop thinking like children. Think like mature people.”
( 1 Corinthians 14:19 ). Poch Suzara

Reality and Fantasy

As an atheist, by merely being in touch with reality, I appear like a lost damned soul in the eyes of my God-fearing friends and relatives, specially as they are in closed touch daily with fantasy. Poch Suzara

All Religions

All religions of the world came from only one source:- God; unfortunately, God does not exist. Otherwise, if there is a God, there would only be one intelligent religion. There would be no need for the existence of many stupid religions that’s keeping our world wracked in mutual hatred. Poch Suzara

Honor Mother and Father

The 4th commandment: honor thy mother and father. I ask: how exactly could a son or a daughter obey this commandment of God if his or her father were a politician and mother is just one of the many wives of the politician who has also sired some other 27 illegitimate step-brothers and step-sisters? Oh yes, God’s 4th commandment - Honor thy Father and Mother- is a sick and an insane commandment. On the contrary, it is mothers and fathers who should love and honor each other as decent parents. In this way, no millions of street children need live like sick animals in the sick streets in our poor country – the only Christian country in Asia since 500 years ago. - Poch Suzara Google# Twitter# Facebook#

Why

Why something rather than nothing? Precisely. That something is the entire universe itself of which, as basic energy, we are all part of. As energy can neither be created nor destroyed, we will always be a part of that something.There is nothing outside the universe. We will always be a part of the universe, whether we like it or not. Forget nothing! It does not exist. Poch uzara

Yes, I am a Pinoy

Indeed, I am proud to be a Pinoy. I am happy to be a citizen of the Philippines. I am also proud to have Spanish, American, and Filipino blood in me.
The shame, however, is that we Pinoys continue to love, worship, and adore anything foreign specially a foreign God called Jesus who was never a Filipino as he was born in the land of Israel that today is not even a Christian country, but a Jewish State.
We Pinoys should have our own local God. May I suggest the thinkers and philosophers amongst Filipinos? How about Jose Rizal – our national hero – why don’t we start studying seriously and learn from this courageous Filipino thinker who said that it is better to be truthful to each other than continue spreading mediocre, if not sanctimonious, - lies about ourselves. Indeed, to love our country and not to love that pie in the sky by and by.
It is time we Pinoys stop the business of easy believing; instead, we should begin to appreciate hard and serious thinking. We should stop having faith in a lot of sacred nonsense, and begin instead to think for ourselves. It is not the responsibility of foreigners to think for Filipinos or to think for the Philippines. Poch Suzara

We Filipinos

We Filipinos must extricate ourselves up and out of our ancient superstition that’s only giving us more faith in sacred illusions, if not some other biblical delusions. Such evils need not be placed at the foundation of our essential beliefs and other social values.
That there is power in prayer has got to be among the first sacred concept that must be thrown out the window. Otherwise, in the centuries to come, if we continue to believe in the power of prayer, we Filipinos will just continue to accomplish the same nothing as a people, and we will just continue to achieve the same nothing as a nation. Indeed, we will just continue to oppose each other not for the sake of developing or accomplishing something, but only for the purpose of recycling to death the same nothing. Poch Suzara

Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe

In recognizing the unsolved mysteries of the universe, the scientist does not kneel down to supernatural explanations. He stands up to the natural explanations, if any. Otherwise, he suspends his judgment and seeks not obscurity, but evidence for the sake of clarity. In his “Brief History of Time,” Stephen Hawking wrote: “Ever since the dawn of civilization, people have not been content to see events unconnected and inexplicable. They have craved an understanding of the underlying order in the world. Today, we still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Humanity’s deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for our continuing quest. And our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the universe we live in.” In the same book, Hawking also wrote: “So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor an end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator? Poch Suzara

The Wealth of the Catholic Church

The wealth of the Catholic Church in the Philippines comes mostly from its priests who can determine who will go to heaven or who will go to hell. If a Filipino died in a state of mortal sin, he will go to hell. If he died after the priest gives him extreme unction, he will go to heaven. Before reaching heaven, however, he must spend years suffering pain in Purgatory. The situation in Purgatory can be diminished considerably by indulgences which is money paid to the priest for saying mass for the souls of the dead. Holy Mass can be purchased wholesale or retail. There are discounts offered and therefore big saving to be made buying it wholesale. Billions of pesos that are then remitted each and every month to the Vatican State. Poch Suzara

Jesus – The Man

“Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which is made of the seed of David according to the flesh” – Romans 1:3 – meaning Joseph was his father; moreover, “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,” – Galatian 4:4 – meaning Jesus was human with no reference whatsoever to the miracle of a divine virgin birth. And to think that this is the same Jesus who proclaimed that: I am the way, the truth, and the life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. Was Jesus really a miracle worker? Did he perform major or just minor miracles. Take his resurrection, a minor miracle. It could have been a major event had he not allow others to get him crucified dead on the cross. Remember, Jesus could even walk on water or raised back to life the dead. Take again, the Second Coming – a minor miracle. If His mission on earth were a major miracle during the First Coming, what need is there for a Second Coming? And to think this promise was made some 2,000 years ago and it has yet to be delivered. Poch Suzara

MELCHISEDEC, King of Salem

“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him. . . . Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” Heb. 7:1. See also Genesis 14:18 Where is Melchisedec? How come no one has met or seen this fellow? Where on earth is he hiding? Why is he unwilling to share his fantastic experience in life with the rest of mankind? I, for one, would like to see Melchisedec reveal to us the Revealed Truth as written in the bible. Poch Suzara

My Former Classmates

My former classmates at De La Salle University laugh at me because I read a lot. I laugh because they only pray a lot. I read a lot to be rich in spirit. My former classmates pray a lot to be poor in spirit. In school, we have been taught to believe that to be poor in spirit is something of a grace from God.

Poverty of the mind is the worst kind of poverty. The greatest of wealth can only come from mental health. To be poor in spirit obviously means enjoying lies and deception and other forms of superstition. For my part, I enjoy searching for the truth. In the meantime, the success of social insanity in the Philippines is the exact reflection of what it means to be proud of one's so-called "education." Poch Suzara

1st AND 2nd WORLD WAR

The last two world wars were indeed fought by and among Christian nations: in the first, between England, France and the United States on one side, and Germany on the other. In the second, between Germany, Italy and (the only non-Christian) Japan on the other side and England, France, the United States and several other European countries on the other side. Yes, in these two world wars, the contending sides surely did pray to God for victory. The victorious then thanked God for listening to their prayers. The counties defeated prayed to God for vengeance.
Bertrand Russell wrote in his NEW HOPES FOR A CHANGING WORLD – that the painful thing “about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.” Poch Suzara

ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Steal small and you will end up in jail like a damned fool. Steal big, however, and you will be treated with respect and admiration. In fact, as a big-time thief, you immediately qualify to be a candidate for a high government position. And if you campaign by declaring yourself a man of deep faith in God, you have more chances to win in the elections by landslide. Poch Suzara

I AM AN ATHEIST

Yes, I am an atheist. I do not believe in the God of the Catholics; neither do I believe in the God of the Protestants. I also do not believe in the God of the Jews or the God of the Muslims or the God of the Hindus. I do not even believe in the God of the Americans – the Almighty DOLLAR. Consider the Millions of American families derailed and destroyed yearly due to the worship of this powerful American God. Poch Suzara

A GOOD TEST

“A good test of character: when we do wrong, who do we blame? Philippine Star, December 10, 2005.
Speaking for myself, I blame entirely the system of education. In school at De La Salle University, after having our minds twisted with fear and our hearts distorted with more fear, we were then taught to believe that God is always available at any time to forgive our sins and our crimes. As long as we do not miss going to confession regularly and not miss sunday Mass consistently where we can donate to the priesthood industry in the name of charity. Poch Suzara

A Critic Wrote

A critic wrote: God needs evil in this world in order to guarantee the freedom of man.
If this were true, I must assume that the devil too needs good in order to guarantee deviltry in this world. Is it any wonder that we all enjoy first class stupidity perpetually in the light of eternity? Poch Suzara

THE WORDS OF A SCIENTIST

Listen to the words of a scientist, a chemist, physicist, crystallographer, molecular biologist, and medical researcher, and atheist – the famous Linus Pauling: I had made many discoveries in chemistry and other fields of science and had even made some contributions to medicine, although it was not clear that these contributions would have much effect in decreasing the amount of suffering caused by disease. Now, I thought, I have learned about something that can decrease somewhat the amount of suffering for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people, something that had been noticed by other scientists and by some physicians but for some reason had been ignored. Linus Pauling – How to Live Longer and Feel Better.
Is there a match anywhere in the history of the church
when a theologian uttered the same sentiments? Poch Suzara

It is Incredible

It is incredible how the birth anniversary of Christ is highly celebrated in the Philippines, but not celebrated in Israel – the place where Christ was born.
It is more incredible, however, to see how the birth of our national hero Rizal not as equally celebrated in the Philippines – the place where Rizal was born. This is the same Rizal who was executed by the Catholic friars because he wrote books on the evils of the Church teaching the Filipino to love not the Philippines, neither the things that are in the Philippines. If the Filipino love the Philippines, the love of God is not with him. ( See John 2:15 ) Poch Suzara

ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION

The word religion comes from the Latin, religare, which means “to tie back, to fasten or to bind.” Another word for religion is theism which holds that there is a super-thing existing outside of nature, that it proves itself by miracles – which is the breakthrough of natural laws, that this super-thing has agents which communicates its wishes to people, that there is communication with the super-thing and it rewards the believers and punishes the unbelievers. Atheism, however, embraces none of this superstitious nonsense. There is nothing of religion that is associated with Atheism. We have no dogmas, no rituals, no gods, no priests, no worship, no prayer, no holy places, no churches, temples, no synagogues, and no miracles. Any dictionary or encyclopedia will tell you that religion is a system of attitudes, practices, rites, ceremonies and beliefs by means of which individuals or the community put themselves in relation to a god or to a supernatural world, and from which the religious person derives a set of values by which to judge events in the natural world. As an atheist, I embrace not only the freedom of religion; but I embrace even more - the freedom FROM religion. As an atheist, I kneel to no one. In this connection, I do not care to identify myself as an agnostic, a rationalist, ethical culturist, humanist, freethinker, objectivist, secularist, iconoclast, and whatever other gutless nomenclature you can find in the dictionary. I am atheist. Period. My dear reader, If you find that word hard to accept, then that is your positive problem; not mine. In the ultimate analysis, I say what we need in life is not a religion, but a philosophy – where faith is replaced with reason, where holy paralysis is replaced with lively analysis, where our useful book is the book called the world right here in front of us, and a sick written by sick authors of a sick God who came to visit earth thousands of years ago. Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

THE TROUBLE WITH RELIGION

The trouble with religion is that it makes us believe in the existence of a supernatural papa who will readily forgive us of our sins and crimes. Who will also give us strength to pray daily to him to give us this day our daily bread, and indeed, to lead us not into temptation. More devastating, however, religion makes us believe that such a supernatural papa created us in his own image and likeness. Poch Suzara

THE PROMISES OF JESUS

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. [Matthew 21:21]
If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. [John 14:14]
Ask, and it will be given you. [Matthew 7:7]
Nothing will be impossible to you. [Matthew 17:20]
Believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. [Mark 11:24]
What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:24
The handicapped children without arms or legs in this country have prayed hard to Jesus to restore their lost limbs. So how come they are still handicapped? Where is the result from the power of prayer? How come the promises of Jesus have not been delivered? Where is Jesus? Poch Suzara

The POWER OF UNIVERSAL STUPIDITY

In God’s kingdom is the power of love. In the devil’s kingdom is the power of hate. In man’s kingdom is the power of fear. Combine the three kingdoms inextricably together and they all add up to the power of universal stupidity at home with infinity. Poch Suzara

God – With a Poor Memory

God is depicted in the bible as being angry that “man has become one of us, in knowing good from evil.” I ask: did God have a poor supernatural memory in that he totally forgot to remember that he made man in his own image and likeness? See Genesis 3:22. Poch Suzara

Psychics Vs Psychotics

Psychics claim they can talk to the dead. Psychotics claim God can talk to them. Indeed, the psychics and the psychotics are able to talk to each other but only about a lot of childish nonsense. As for me, please excuse me. I would rather hold on to my self-respect and dignity as a skeptic. Poch Suzara

The Good versus the Bad life

“The good life,” wrote Bertrand Russell, “is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” Does it not follow that the bad life is one inspired by hate and war and fear and ignorance? Such evils have always been behind the great religions that have contributed much to what is bad in this world. In the future, there is a big chance, that is, if we do not wake up soon enough, the great religions armed with nuclear weapons will reduce the planet earth into a lunar landscape. . . We atheists should work harder to convince the whole of mankind to start looking at atheism as the best and only road toward world peace and tranquility; indeed toward our sense of common humanity globally. Poch Suzara

Modern Education

Modern education has to do with pupils learning from the teacher, but more so, it is about the teacher learning from his pupils. Academic freedom means opportunity to develop one’s talents and abilities. This is where the teacher plays an important role – exploring or discovering the talents and abilities of his pupils as great gifts from nature. Modern education does not mean recruiting the young to become members of this or that political party or to become members of this or that church or synagogue or temple or mosque. That is not modern education. That is harmful indoctrination. Poch Suzara

Too Complex

We can see the micro universe better and brighter with a microscope, and we can see the macro universe better and brighter with a telescope. It is sad, however, to meet college-educated men and women insisting that they see better and brighter both the world in the small and the world in the large with blessed by God horoscope. Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

STAYING and LEAVING

One in three Filipinos have hopes of moving to another country. That’s about 29 million Filipinos. At one million Filipinos migrating per year, it would take 29 years to move them all out. Of course, after 29 years, at 2.3 per cent growth per year, our population then will have reached more than 150 million Filipinos.
What can be expected of ourselves as a people who, during childhood days at home, we were taught to believe that God will provide? And in school, we were taught to believe not in the power of reason and science, but only to have faith in the power of prayer as among the best way to solve real problems and troubles in life?
In this 21st century, even our high officials in government have high hopes that the best answer to all of our problems is not via efficient and honest government, but only by searching for the revealed truths in the Old or the New Testament.
I remember my grandfather asking: “Where is the government of the Filipino, by the Filipino, and for the Filipino?” to think this was some 50 years ago. Today, as a grandfather myself, I find asking: What government?” Poch Suzara

Happy New What

December 31, 2013 Dear Friends and Relatives: At the end of each year, we all greet each other: - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Never, do we ever, greet each other with:- HAPPY NEW IDEAS or HAPPY NEW THOUGHTS or HAPPY NEW VALUES and or HAPPY NEW BELIEFS! Thus, every new year, it is the same old corruption around us everywhere. The same old corruption in our government, and in our churches, and in our other institutions, and indeed the same old corruption via education in our schools, colleges, and universities yearly producing college-educated men and women proud of corruption as a way of life in the Philippines. To each of you, for 2014, I greet you: HAVE A HAPPY NEW PHILIPPINES! I love you all. Poch Suzara

Our Asian Neighbors

The secret why other Asian countries are economically ahead of the Philippines is no secret at all. Our Asian neighbors have been substantiating to the fullest extent possible what Jose Rizal, the nation’s chief hero, was precisely saying to fellow-Filipinos more than a hundred years ago: “Wake up! Embrace science! Utilize the scientific way of thinking! Start to emulate the freethinkers! Knowledge is the heritage of mankind, but only the courageous inherit it! We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth. However bitter it may be!”
Indeed, in this center of Catholicism in Asia, we would rather have more beliefs in the power of prayer and theology than we should have more knowledge in the power of science and technology. Poch Suzara

Rizal’s Revolution of the Mind

Unlike the rest of our national heroes, Rizal was the first and only Filipino revolutionary of the mind. He was the first Filipino who thought that human dignity and intellectual integrity should be solid as the foundation of Filipino culture. Owing to the successful retraction lies, however, Filipinos today believe Rizal not as a great humanist or a great freethinker, not even as a great man of intellectual capacity, but only as a faithful silly servant of the priesthood industry. Poch Suzara

Rizal’s Biographer

Rizal’s biographer – Leon M. Guerrero, clearly notes that Rizal returned to the Church of his youth in extremes of self-abasement, frenziedly in childlike fashion, spending the remaining hours of earning indulgences from purgatory by confessing four times, and obsequiously attending to Fr. Balaguer and Villaclara’s wishes. In brief, according to this biographer, Rizal died as a timid coward. Indeed, according to this official government commissioned biographer, our national hero in the end turned out to be a turncoat.
But then again, four years before his death, Rizal in 1882 wrote a letter to Gregorio Aglipay: “In all parts of the world where an honest man tries to achieve reform he is crucified on Golgotha. Christ had nowhere to lay his head, when Pilate governed. It is probable that I will be executed – then they will try to bring along my moral death by covering my memory with slander.” Poch Suzara

The Shame in Rizal’s Life

The shame in Rizal’s life is not the retraction of his deeds, writings or personal conduct. Such retraction was only a frailocratic figment of the imagination. The real shame comes from the Filipino historians and other Catholic writers who believed not in Rizal’s power of intellect, but believed instead his enemies – the friars – who invented sacred lies about this great man. Via the control of the system of education in the Philippines, these friars have and still are blocking, expediently and consistently, Rizal’s qualified and legitimate entry into the world stage as one of mankind’s greatest thinkers. But then again how can the world learn of Rizal’s intellectual power if the Filipinos themselves know so little of the health and wealth of this great 19th century Filipino scientists and thinker and writer? Poch Suzara

Santo Thomas University and Ateneo

Rizal was a product of Ateneo and Santo Thomas; yet both Catholic universities continue to assassinate the character of this great humanist thinker. Rizal had learned on his own initiative, outside academic wall, to think deeply and to embrace intellectual honesty courageously. Indeed, to this day, all Catholic universities still teach that during his last day on this earth, just hours before he was executed for his principles, noble values, and rational beliefs, Rizal retracted and went back to have faith in the teachings of the Catholic Church. What brazen lies! It is no less than a tall story. Otherwise, after his death, he would have been given a Catholic burial and his bodily remains not just put inside a dirty old sack and then thrown in the Paco Cemetery in the corner where executed heretics are stashed away like dead animals. Poch Suzara

Rizal Versus Jesus

Rizal was involved not only with the cultivation of the mind but also with the development of the human knowledge. The exact opposite of what Jesus Christ stood for – infantile emotions, sentimental illusions, and proverbial delusions. Consider Jesus: he never uttered a word against slavery or against tyrannical oppression. Jesus appealed not to the intellectual power of man, only to his childish hopes and dreams. And to think that most Filipinos have more love and respect for Jesus who was born in a foreign country some 2000 years ago, than they care to study and learn seriously from a great Filipino thinker born in the Philippines some 150 year ago. Poch Suzara

Rizal and Education

Jose Rizal pointed out that evolution in education, ( not reliance on foreign investments ) is the best hope for our nation to enjoy the highest standard of living and thinking. The system of education for the Filipino must be based on science and technology, and not upon prayers and theology. Indeed, according to Rizal, a free nation can rise no higher than the standard of beliefs and values set in its schools, colleges, and universities. In there hope for the Philippines? Yes, there is! But first its system of education must be radically revamped. No more silly prayers to support a stupid theology. Only more science and more technology via more scientific method of thinking. Poch Suzara

Rizal – the Humanist

Rizal struggled not only against Spanish authority, but against superstition. He fought not in the battlefield, but in the minds of men and in the hearts of women. Rizal was Asia’s first scientific-humanist thinker put to death a century ago by musketry as imposed by theocracy. The same Catholic theocracy today that is keeping the Filipino youth via education to fear new and fresh ideas; indeed, to keep away from the free market of ideas, and to hate, at the same time, the freethinkers. “Blotting out their brains,” Rizal wrote, “in faith, prayers, masses, novenas, superimposed these onto native superstition.” Poch Suzara

A century after Rizal’s Death

After a hundred years, how influential has Jose Rizal been on the Filipino as a people? Millions today would readily give credence by listening to the words of a Mike Velarde of El Shaddai preaching pastoral nonsense derived from the bible – a book written not by Filipinos but by foreigners. Only a handful of scholars would care to read and understand the real Rizal and carry out his principles and ideals for the achievement of pride, dignity, intellectual and scientific honesty for the Filipino as a nation. And to think, the Jews, the Chosen People of God, never considered the bible as a holy book at any time in their history. In fact, the Jews live in a Jewish State. They do not live in a Christian country – the land where Jesus Christ was born. Poch Suzara

Rizal’s Enemies

Rizal’s enemies were the theologians who gave themselves fancy titles: soothsayers, seers, charmers, prophets, enchanters, sorcerers, wizards, astrologers – all more popularly known as the Spanish friars. In brief, Rizal’s enemies were fear, ignorance, and superstition as embodied in the Catholic Church that felt threatened by Rizal’s writings. Rizal indeed aimed first at redeeming the Filipino mind damaged by indoctrination, as well as redeeming the Filipino heart impoverished by revelation. Rizal was a heretic in the eyes of the theologians – the power behind the Spanish Catholic authority. It is said by millions of Filipinos today that it does not matter whether Rizal retracted or not. This is so stupid; for, if Rizal indeed had retracted why was he still executed and then not even given a Catholic burial? Poch Suzara

Rizal – a great Thinker

Rizal, indeed, was a great thinker. He clearly saw 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 Christianity; 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 Filipino theologians, or among the Opus Dei gang – the kind of people who had Rizal put to death, please Lord spare me the sacred horror. I would rather be in hell. Poch Suzara

Rizal’s Spanish Friars

If the Spanish friars had only introduced the concept of humanism instead of establishing in the Philippines religious 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 amongst Filipino learning to enjoy throughout the land national pride and Asian dignity. Poch Suzara

Lies about Rizal

Rizal never said or wrote: “It was my pride that ruined me.” Those words were put into the mouth of Rizal by his official prize-winning biographer Leon Maria Guerrero who believed, as a Catholic, the Rizal retraction story as 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 Rizal to go on living as a decent man and as a thinking Filipino. Poch Suzara

Rizal’s Killers

What kind of men needed to see Rizal dead, discarded and forgotten? Were they men of reason, logic, science or philosophy? Were they avid readers, critical thinkers, or scientific investigators? Were they men at home with civilized humanity? No! On the contrary, Rizal’s enemies were the friends of blind faith: - the superstitious primitives, the sanctimonious hypocrites, and those indeed who were selfish, greedy, stupid, and insane. Rizal now dead more than a hundred years ago, still have the same enemies alive today. They are the ones insisting that it makes no difference whether Rizal retracted from his religious, political and philosophical principles or not. What a silly conclusion to bestow upon the greatest of Filipino seminal thinker who died for the liberation of the Filipino mind and heart, and indeed, for all mankind. Poch Suzara

JOSE RIZAL – THE FIRST FILIPINO 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.”

To me, in my simplicity, 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 brazen 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 for the here and the 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, more than all the angels in heaven, I have the greatest love you as a fellow human being, and I have the highest respect for you as a fellow Filipino. Poch Suzara

Sacred Absurdities

In his Science and Religion, Bertrand Russell wrote: “Now logical unity is at once a strength and a weakness. It is strength because it insures that whoever accepts one stage of the argument must accept all later stages; it is a weakness because whoever rejects any of the later stages must also reject some, at least, of the earliest stages. The Church, in its conflict with science, exhibited both the strength and weakness resulting from the logical coherence of its dogma.” The Church, however, got into deeper trouble not only with science, but with the opening remarks in her own silly bible. The first five words in the bible contain three supposition and a contradiction. Supposition one, there was a beginning. Supposition two, there was a creator. Supposition three, the creator was not created. Contradiction, there was a beginning, there was not a beginning. However the case may be, for the critical reader with a focused mind, the bible turned out to be nothing but a book for the superstitious primitives impressed with sacred absurdities. Poch Suzara

Worship

To worship the unknown is childish and to worship the unknowable is even more childish. In the Philippines, for the sake of our prayers and theology that’s based upon the unknown, we were taught in our schools to have faith in the supernatural that is based upon the unknowable. Poch Suzara

Function of a Teacher

Bertrand Russell wrote: “Men pass from birth to death, sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy; sometimes generous, sometimes grasping and petty; sometimes heroic, sometimes cowardly and servile. To the man who views the procession as a whole, certain things stands as worthy of admiration. Some men have been inspired by love of mankind; some by supreme intellect have helped us to understand the world in which we live; and some by exceptional sensitiveness have created beauty. These men have produced something of positive good to outweigh the long record of cruelty, oppression, and superstition. These men have done what lay in their power to make human life a better thing than the brief turbulence of savages. The civilized man, where he cannot admire, will aim rather at understanding than at reprobating. He will seek rather to discover and remove the impersonal causes of evil than hate the men who are in its grip. All this should be in the mind and heart of the teacher, and it if it in his mind and heart he will convey it in his teaching to the young who are in his care.”
For my part, if I had teachers like a Bertrand Russell at De La Salle University, I never would have been expelled out of high school. A teacher like Russell would never have taught me to believe in silly things under the threat of a silly damnation in hell-fire. Poch Suzara

Designed Intelligently

For: TIME magazine

Intelligent Design

The push to teach “intelligent Design” in America raises a question: Does God have a place in science class?

The Christians in charge of education in America apparently do not believe that God is everywhere. That God somehow is omni-absent during science class for American students.

In the bible, God admits: “For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” Well, if God made man in his own image and likeness, it follows that God must be made of dust too. What purpose is there to put God in science class if God, like dust, were already there as He is present everywhere?

As for the existence of monkeys, I think they are designed not only intelligently, but more so gracefully. Look how the monkeys live in peace on earth and goodwill to all monkeys. They do not terrorize each other in God’s name. Monkeys do not go to war to kill other monkeys in order to establish freedom and democracy.

For my part, I envy the life of monkeys. They have no system of salvation. They have no church, no synagogue, and no mosque to inspire amongst the faithful to become selfish, greedy, insane, and homicidal. Monkeys do not cut each other's throats because like the Christians, Jews, and Muslims do so because they cannot agree as to what will happen to them after their throats have been cut. Poch Suzara
Poch Suzara

Anti-Christ Movement in Europe

A great many Christians are bothered by the anti-Christ movement, especially in Europe. It does not seem to matter, however, if the anti-Christ movement in Israel have already been a tremendous success – the land where Christ was born. Indeed, due to the Jewish anti-Christ movement, Israel has never developed to be a Christian or a Catholic country. It is still pretty much a Jewish State. In the Philippines, however, JESUS IS LORD MOVEMENT is as active as ever. Not, however, with an advance, but by the Jesus followers attending “Retreats.” Poch Suzara

God’s Children

It is incredible to believe how a loving God created the human race – his children – to hate each other, specially in His name and for His glory. In fact, history shows countries under a theocracy have always been at war against each other. It is happening today in Iraq. America wants to replace Islam in that part of the Arab world with Christianity. As if both Christianity and Islam for that matter have ever been a peaceful grace for the whole human race. Poch Suzara

Jesus

If Jesus was born as a perfect child of a Holy Virgin Mother, why did Jesus have to go through circumcision?
If Jesus dead on the cross was not buried, but instead cremated, could he have resurrected? And to think that after He had resurrected, Jesus appeared secretly to his apostles in a remote mountain. He never visited his enemies – the believers who thought they had already gotten rid of Him dead and buried and gone. Poch Suzara

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

What If

What if, after death, it will turn out that there is a God after all to judge my terrible sins, what will I say in my defense? “Oh God, please forgive me for having totally wasted the first 18 years of my precious life as a devout Catholic in the Philippines.” Poch Suzara

The Philippines

The most unique country in Asia today is the Republic of the Philippines. Its citizens are always enjoying the vows often made by its duly elected government officials. The problem, however, is that while the country is getting rich with vows, the government officials are getting richer by not delivering such vows. Poch Suzara

The Religious Inventors

The religious saviors who promised to save souls from going to hell are the same religious saviors who invented souls, invented hell, and invented the “wrath of God.” And to think that these are the same religious clowns who are the owners not only of schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals, but are also owners of churches and cathedrals, not to mention other commercial entities legally operating under Philippine laws. Poch Suzara

Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever

All my school-mates and class-mates must have uttered together more than a billion times these words: “St. John Baptist De La Salle, pray for us sinners, and live Jesus in our hearts, forever.” Indeed, before class, after class, before recess, after recess, at the end of class of each day, we repeated those words with much solemnity. Look at my classmates and schoolmates today: - they have neither love for each other, nor love for country, nor even love for mankind; except love only for Jesus. In the meantime, it is truly sad to see college educated men in the Philippines still stuck with infantile desires to win divine reward and avoid divine punishment. Indeed, the Sick Man of Asia in thought and in action. Poch Suzara

Public Libraries

If we Filipinos were learned as a people and educated as a nation, how come churches and cathedrals have been established throughout the Philippines than public libraries? True, we do have a national library. It is the most unique in the world. Books there are not being read by readers, researchers, and other scholars, but are only eaten and digested by termites. Poch Suzara

Civilized Nations

Civilized nations produce children as needed and loved for the growth of country and development of humanity. In the Philippines, however, we beget children for the growth of poverty and development of social insanity for the glory of divinity. Poch Suzara

Terrorism

Terrorism does not only come from terrorists. The most deadly kind comes from teachers in school teaching such horrors like: “Natural life came by God’s breath; eternal life comes by Christ’s death.” See Philippine Star, Nov. 4, 2005. In the meantime, God must be doing a lot of heavy breathing these days. Three (3) babies are born every single minute of the day or about 1,500,000 babies arrive in the Philippines every year. By the year 2010 our population will reach 100,000,000 Filipinos all to be terrorized at home, in school, and in church to believe in the eternal life that comes from Christ’s death. Poch Suzara

Self-deception

We humans have a demonstrated capacity for self-deception specially when our emotions are stirred, and there is nothing more stirring than the belief that there is better world to come after death in kingdom of God.
In the meantime, we deliberately ignore this simple truth: a man dies not partially, but entirely and irrevocably. Nothing is more obvious to him who is not delirious or superstitious. The human body, after death, is but a mass of meat, incapable of producing any lively movements the union of which constitutes life. We no longer see circulation, respiration, digestion, communication, and indeed, cogitation. It is, however, claimed that the soul has separated itself from the body. And yet, it was the good-for-nothing theologians who were the inventors of such souls. But to say that this soul, which is unknown, is the principle of life, is saying nothing except to admit what is unknowable. Meanwhile, nothing is more simple than to believe that the dead man lives no more. There is nothing more absurd than to believe that the dead man is still walking somehow or running somewhere. Poch Suzara

Giordano Bruno

For wanting to steer humanity toward reason, rather than to have our thoughts determined for us by church authority, Bruno, the 16th century Catholic monk, was burned alive at the stake by the Catholic Inquisition.
Bruno wrote: “Time gives all and takes all away; everything changes, but nothing perishes.”
For my part, It is men like Bruno who inspired me to make changes in my life by escaping away from the horrors of Catholicism into the beauty and sanity of atheism. Poch Suzara

Moses - God's Favorite General

Moses was one of the greatest army generals of God, but he was more of a clown than he was a military leader. He could split the Red Sea in less than 40 hours, but to find for his people the way out of the desert, it took Moses some 40 years. But then again, let us not forget that Moses was also one of the greatest writers of the bible. He wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. As an inspired author of God, however, Moses was even able to literally describe his own death and how the Lord buried him. See last chapter of Deuteronomy. Poch Suzara

America

During the 20th century America got to be so rich and powerful thanks to the threats of Communism. In this 21st century, America will become richer and more powerful because of the threats of Terrorism.
Such is America. The land of the free. The home of the brave. A paradise for the Arms manufacturers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, traders, and exporters. The very same Americans who will inherit the earth while the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians are at war killing each other off the planet earth. Poch Suzara

America and Christianity

In Matt. 22:39, the bible says - THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. But in Joshua 6:16-22,
the same bible says - THOU SHALT KILL THY NEIGHBOR. In other words, thou shalt love thy neighbor by killing him.
No wonder the US government continues to cherish Christian values and beliefs. Its foreign policy for all nations, friends and foes alike, is based on the paradoxical theory that we can only keep alive by preparing to kill each other. After all, it is a gigantic and a lucrative business globally. Poch Suzara

Universal God

A universal God ought to have revealed a universal religion. Not a religion revealed by Jews living in the Israel desert some 2,000 years ago. But then again, how could any one believe that a God who fills the galaxies with his immensity of eternity should transform himself into a Jewish baby and born uncircumcised at that in order to save the parasites living on this grain of sand called earth?
In every age, religion has indeed kept the human mind in darkness by claiming it to be - the way, the truth, and the light of the world. Poch Suzara

Worship

Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship: `for salvation is of the Jew. John 4:22. This simply means that salvation is for the Jews; not for the Christians. Poch Suzara

Slained Heretics

Heretics may be justly slain, said St. Thomas Aquinas. Such is the kind of God the great saint believed – the infinite God that should always be defended and protected at all cost from the unbelievers of the faith - the heretics. In the meantime, how wonderful of God to be everywhere. But has God a sense of urgency to inspire the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians to cease slaying each other over each other's heretical views? Poch Suzara

Jesus as God and God as Jesus

In John, Jesus speaks of his extraordinary status in life and speaks of himself in the most exalted language:
I am the bread of life. 6:35
I am the light of the world. 8:12
I and my father are one. 10:30
I am the resurrection and the life. 11:25
I am the way, the truth, and the life. 14:6
No one comes to God except through me. 14:6
Whoever has seen me has seen the father. 14:11
And yet, crucified on the cross, with even more exalted language, Jesus cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Imagine a God, by some miracle, was able to forsake himself. Poch Suzara

The Greatest Miracle

The greatest miracle ever – devout Christians do not read in full bible contents as they already believe that it is a book written by INSPIRED AUTHORS OF GOD. This means that they do not care to be inspired as the BIBLE READERS OF GOD too. Poch Suzara

Another Critic Wrote

Man has a free will and religion tries to approximate it to that of God's will. Have you gone to any philosophy subject?
Evil my dear came out of human will and not from God’s will. Simple philosophy. Anonymous

My Response: Apparently, this brilliant critic believes that God is not everywhere; and that before Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin, there was no Original Creator existing anywhere. More than philosophy, I took up theology – the study of nothing reduced to a system. Indeed, theology is not what we do not know about divine nature. It is what we do not know about human nature. Poch Suzara

Religion and Science

Science is the chain of human intelligence. It is the exact opposite of religion - the chain of human stupidity. No doubt, religion has had its innings; but its days are numbered. In the name of science, we will never allow religion to destroy this world. There is no god to speak for us. In the name of science - we must speak for this world. Our world. Poch Suzara

From a Critic

A Critic Writes:

I'm not that big with religion but I do believe in its purpose. I think we are better off with it, considering that our country is impoverished, religion is the hope of the poor. Otherwise without it, anarchy will probably take over. If the poor people have no hope, then they are desperate, if they are desperate, we all know what desperate men can do. Without religion, there will be nothing to stop them. Religion is a higher government that overshadows all governments, without it, there will be no organization. There must be a higher law over the state because when our government fails, it's always religion that helps in rebuilding it. So though what you write may be true, I think it is selfish because you are ruining the hopes of most of the people not only in our country but also in our world. We all need something to believe in, otherwise we're nothing. And it just so happens, and this has been proven for thousands of years, that religion is what people believe in and what hhas sustained them. Annonymous My Response: I agree, we all need something to believe in, otherwise we are nothing. Indeed, we all need religion. What we do not need, however, is superstition. When a Jesus, the Son of God, teaches you the following, and you believe it, then you are not being religious in any sense of the word, you are only being childish and superstitious: “And another of His disciple said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury the dead." “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword,” “For I am come to set a Man at variance against his father, and daughter against her mother.” Matt. 10:34-35 “And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” Matt. 19:29 “There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s. But he shall receive a hundredfold now in time… with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” Mark 10:29-30 “Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.” Mark 13:12 “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five to one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother…” Luke 12:51-53. If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, and yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not that all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33. “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them for me.” Luke 19:27. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal; . . . If any man serve me, him will my father honor.” John 12:25-26. In the meantime, in the Philippines, we have stupid religion enough to make us hate, but not enough to make us love, one another. For my part, I believe my family, my country, and the whole of mankind are all bigger and greater than I can ever hope to be. I love them all first and foremost and last as nothing else matters to me except perhaps the earth - our home planet - another thing bigger and greater than I am. Poch Suzara