From Erection to Resurrection

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 "Give us your children for the first 7 years of its life and we will give you Filipinos." Jesuit motto. During our formative years in school - we were never taught HOW to think; only WHAT to believe. Thus, instead of education to be a healthy nation populated by readers, thinkers, and leaders; we are only a people of sick prayers, sick believers, sick followers, boxers, singers and dancers; not to mention sick lawyers as sick lawmakers. In the meantime, millions of Filipinos now living and working in some 198 countries around the world. They are more known as "employees." When, however, foreigners are living and working in the Philippines, they are more known as our "employers." Poch Suzara

Sick Religion Behind the Sick Man of Asia

Indeed, if our system of education made sense at all, we Filipinos should be ahead of everyone else in Asia today. Enjoying neither damnation nor salvation, but enjoying scientific growth and technological development of Filipino civilization. Unfortunately, due to our sick system of education, in this already 21st century, we Filipinos are still busy arguing back and forth whether Jesus, some 2,000 years ago, died on the cross to remedy the past sins of the Jews; or, resurrected back to life to remedy the future sins of the Filipinos in the Philippines - the only Jesus-freak country in the whole of Asia since the 16th century! I asked it before, I ask it again: after 400 years of Catholicism in order to straighten the mess out of the Filipino minds and hearts in this only Catholic country in Asia, how come even the Philippines, already a Republic, is only proud of itself as a nation of Catholics. As with me, for the sake of dignity and self-respect, I decided to walk out of the Catholic church. I no longer have need to love a great divinity. I have, instead, learned to love something bigger, taller, and greater: - the existence of my family, my country, and the whole of humanity on this earth globally. Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

On Death and How to Stay Dead

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely be the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.- Steve Jobs “I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive. I am not young and I love life. But I should scorn to shiver with terror at the thought of annihilation. 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. Many a man has borne himself proudly on the scaffold; surely the same pride should teach us to think truly about man's place in the world. Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cosy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own.” - Bertrand Russell What if it is for life's sake that we must die? In truth we are not individuals; and it is because we think ourselves such that death seems unforgivable. We are temporary organs of the race, cells in the body of life; we die and drop away that life may remain young and strong. If we were to live forever, growth would be stifled, and youth would find no room on earth. Death, like style, is the removal of rubbish, the excision of the superfluous. In the midst of death life renews itself immortally. - Will Durant “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” - Mark Twain This is, perhaps, the essence of atheistic grief and also the essence of atheistic hope. To understand that death is the end of existence and that it is inevitable, but to live as if it is not. To refuse to be resigned to death even as we refuse to deny its permanence - we must nevertheless care for all that is not yet dead on our planet. At any rate, after my own death, if I shall have to be with God in hell, or to be with the Devil in heaven, or to be with Jesus and his disciples like my grade school and high school teachers in La Salle, like Bro. Eduardo Manalo of Iglesia Ni Cristo, Bro. Mike Velarde of El Shaddai, Bro. Eddie Villanueva of Jesus is Lord Church, or Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Restorationist Christian Church, etc in Purgatoy, I say - no way, Jose. Over my dead body. I'd rather stay buried in the cemetery with my precious books forever and ever till the end of time and space.- Poch Suzara

Lead us Not into Temptation Baloney

Every day millions of Catholics pray to a Catholic God to "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." As the losers in the fight against temptation and evil, however, Catholics have no other recourse but to pray also to Mary, the Catholic Mother of God, to pray for us Catholic sinners, now and at the hour of our Catholic death, amen." For my part, I am most proud to have walked out of the Catholic church ever since my La Salle teachers in high school also told me to GET out of their Catholic FREE WILL classrooms. My intellectual evolution was far more precious than the free temptation of playing the FREE WILL games with a silly Catholic Divinity. Poch Suzara

The Pleasures on Earth as it is in Heaven

"The pleasures of earth cannot be compared to the joys of heaven." Philippine Star, Apr. 10, 2013 Heaven must be a place for those who are faithfully insane. Especially when they look back at their dead bodies buried on earth rotting and being eaten away by worms and maggots that in turn are also being eaten away by bacteria, germs, and viruses. In the meantime, I ask: if the greatest pleasure on earth is the joy of intellectual understanding - how is it possible that the greatest pleasure in heaven is the joy of spiritual flicky-flating. Poch Suzara

The 7 Last Words of Jesus dying on the Cross

Christ Jesus died on the Cross to redeem mankind, to save us from our sins because of his love for men, women, and children. As recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ was mocked, scorned, and tortured in the praetorium. He carried his cross up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem to Calvary, was nailed to the Cross and hung between two common criminals, and suffered an indescribable end, recalled by the Church on Good Friday of Holy Week. Here are his Seven Words, the last seven expressions of Jesus Christ on the Cross recorded in Scripture. THE FIRST WORD "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Gospel of Luke 23:34 THE SECOND WORD "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Gospel of Luke 23:43 THE THIRD WORD "Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son." Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother." Gospel of John 19:26-27 THE FOURTH WORD "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 THE FIFTH WORD "I thirst." Gospel of John 19:28 THE SIXTH WORD When Jesus had received the wine, he said,"It is finished;" and he bowed his head and handed over the spirit. Gospel of John 19:30 THE SEVENTH WORD Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Gospel of Luke 23:46 After hearing these last seven words from his dying Son Jesus crucified half-naked on the cross, God said: "Oh my dear son Jesus, for Christ's sake, grow up! You are such a cry-baby! What's the drama all about your dying on the cross since you never stayed dead to begin with? On the 3rd day, you will resurrect back to life from death? So what are you being so melodramatic about?" As a matter of fact, what exactly have you finished, as you said: "IT IS FINISHED!" Didn't you, a while back, promised to return? Poch Suzara

Evil Triumphant in the Philippines

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” Edmund Burke In the Philippines, there is no such thing as good men; and if there were, they are only busy believing that they are good by committing the greatest of crimes - the crime of silence. Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

The Results of our Daily Prayers

Prayers never bring anything . . . They may bring solace to the sap, the bigot, the ignorant, the aboriginal, and the lazy - but it is the same as asking Santa Claus to bring you something for Xmas. - - - W. C. Fields Praying is like rocking chair - it will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere. - - - Gypsy Rose Lee Prayer is like a pump in an empty well, it makes a lot of noise, but brings no water. - - - Lemuel K. Washburn When you talk to God, it is called "praying." When God talks to you, it is called "hallucinating." Our culture of corruption comes mostly from God leading us always into temptation despite our daily prayer to God to "lead us not into temptation." The Son of God Jesus, crucified on the cross, prayed out loud: "MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAS THOU FORSAKEN ME?" I can hear God replying: Oh Jesus, for Christ's sake - grow up! You are such a cry-baby! In the meantime, after all of our prayers to God daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly since the 16th century - these are the results in this already 21st century Philippines: homelessness, joblessness, mindlessness, poverty, misery, economic perversity, social insanity, political stupidity, corruption, lies, and deceptions - all for the greater glory of Jesus on earth as he is in heaven. Not to mention more than 1,200 schools, colleges, and universities blessed, own and operated by the Catholic church tax-free that continue to teach us to love that God is love but he needs money!t.- - - Poch Suzara

Mediocrity Behind Divinity

In the Philippines, in order to succeed in the world of trade and commerce one must be greedy, selfish, stupid, corrupt, and insane. Not to mention one must always be inspired by a silly divinity. In the meantime, some men are born mediocre. Some men achieve a reputation for mediocrity, specially as the hope to be successful as a corrupt politician one day. A lot of men, however, have been frightened into mediocrity. Specially as they are products of education during the formative years in Catholic schools. Poch Suzara

Oh God, My dear God, please Wake Up!

"Each person has his place in God's service, and only God deserves the glory." Philippine Star, April 6, 2013 Oh God, my dear God, as you are already a God, and have been a God since the days of Adam and Eve, do you really need more service from the millions of poor Filipinos today already faithfully serving you daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly? I ask: What are you a God for? Why do you still need glory and for what? Come on God, isn't it time for you to WAKE UP and start behaving like a real honest-to-goodness kind and loving God? Poch Suzara

Social Ills in the Philippines

May 9,2014 Phil Daily Inquirer Letter to the Editors Dear Sirs: When one person has faith in a grand delusion, it is called insanity. When millions of people have faith in a grand delusion, like in the Philippines, it is called Christianity. There was a time when every man, woman, and child in this world believed in the existence of God - loved, adored, obeyed, and had faith in God. Historians refer to it as the Dark Ages. It lasted for a thousand years - from the 5th to the 15th century. During this time, however, no one dared to think; no one dared to bring enlightenment to the human mind. Everybody loved only God in heaven up there; especially by hating one another on this earth down here. Today, 99 million Filipinos out of 100 million believe in the existence of God, love God, obey God, worship God, and adore God. We still live in the Dark Ages; though it is referred to as "social ills." But according to the Catholic Bishops - God and only God can remedy the ills of our sick society. We must only pray. If nothing happens, we must pray harder. If nothing still happens, it is because we do not know how to pray! At any rate, no matter what happens, we must never question God's divine plan for the Philippines - a country for poor Filipinos, but more so for the rich foreigners - our employers. Our investors. Indeed, our Saviors! No doubt, social ills are a historical reality in our country. Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle described such horrors as: "The tombs of hunger, unemployment, homelessness, violence, discrimination, injustice and corruption." If I may add, the tombs also more known as schools, colleges, and universities: The breeding grounds for having faith in social insanity and political stupidity. Otherwise less referred to as "corruption by education" in our poor and backward only Christian country in Asia since the 16th century. In the meantime, the new Vicar of Christ - "Pope Francis used his first Easter Sunday address to call for peace in the world." It is incredible, how Pope Francis, the sole representative of the Son of God Jesus, ignores the clear message from Jesus as written by inspired authors of God in the holy bible: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matt. 10:34-37 I said it before, I say it again: The troubles in our world begin with the troubles in the human family. Now listen carefully to Jesus, preaching as the savior of our troubled world. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not carry his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26-27 For my part, I am a humanist. This means that I am an atheist who cares. I rest my case. Cheers! Poch Suzara Pasay City pocholosuzara@gmail.com

If Only Jesus Bothered to Resurrect

I said it before, I say it again: If Jesus only bothered to resurrect the dead minds and dead hearts of his apostles; his friends and relatives; his neighbors; and specially the dead minds and dead hearts of the women and children in his community; and, indeed, resurrected the dead minds and dead hearts behind the Roman Empire - no one, but no one would have bothered to get Jesus crucified dead on a piece of wood some 2,000 years ago. Sadly, in this already 21st century, we Filipinos in the Philippines - because of our own dead minds and dead hearts - otherwise more known as "faith in Jesus," we still yearly mourn the death of Jesus, crucified on a piece of wood, some 2,000 years ago in a foreign land populated not by Filipinos, but by the Jews otherwise more known as the CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GOD. Hijos de tootie-frootie y patooties - GISING NA TAYO MGA PINOY! Even the Jews have learned to become great as a THINKING and a RESPONSIBLE people. They do not waste precious time and precious energy believing that Jesus, the Savior of the world, has ever SAVED them or saved any other people in this world for that matter. Poch Suzara

Thinking by Walking

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher For my part, right after breakfast, I walk a mile every day of the year. That's where I do most of my thinking via questioning - everything - for the purpose of my writing, if not re-writing. In the meantime, I said it before, I say it again: In this life, we shall never find the truth; that is what makes life tragic. But to stop searching for the truth makes life even more tragic. No doubt, finding the truth is like finding a drop of truth in the ocean. It is, however, precisely what gives meaning and significance to the whole existence of the ocean. Poch Suzara, Atheist

Spirituality has more to do with Asking More Questions

“The learning of something new requires a giving up of the old self and a death of outworn knowledge. To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake, to kill, our narrower vision. In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this – to stay where we are, to keep using the same microcosmic map, to avoid suffering the death of cherished notions. The road to spiritual growth, however, lies in the opposite direction. We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and the unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning EVERYTHING.” M. Scot Peck, Psychiatrist, author of ROAD LESS TRAVELED For my part, I said it before, I say it again: seek answers to your questions, but never belittle the power of formulating better kinds of questions. Otherwise gullibility takes over to support mediocrity - a horror that insures the survival of Christianity. More questions are always more valuable than the ready-made answers. Indeed, to stop asking questions is to stop thinking thereby constraining the power of one's spiritual life. “The truth,” wrote Bertrand Russell, “is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion the human spirit is capable.” Poch Suzara Facebook# twitter# Google#

Shroud of Turin in Violation of the Commandment

God's 2nd Commandment: Thou shalt not make for thyself any graven image having also weighed a lot of evidences on the shroud there is one simple fact that leads me to not believe it is a burial cloth of the image of Christ, setting all the science and proofs aside. The simple fact that I just cannot get my head around God violating the second commandment. If we are not to make any images or perceived likenesses of God why would He and then do contrary to His own Law and violate it? Poch Suzara

Thinking versus Believing

Education in the Philippines, especially during the formative years in grade school, has always been and still is mostly about the business of silly believing via silly praying; hardly about intelligent knowing via intelligent thinking for the sake of more and deeper learning as a life time adventure. Indeed, in the Philippines, schools are places where they teach you how to save your silly soul for the glory of Jesus up there. It has nothing to do with how to develop the power of your mind, and how to cultivate the beauty of your heart for the glory of your country down here. If, however, you have desires to learn how to recognize the existence of things that are bigger, taller, and greater than you are - such as your family, your country, and indeed, the whole of humanity - never, but never will you learn them by going school; especially schools own and operated by the Catholic church! There are more than 1,200 of such Catholic schools, colleges, and universities established all over the Philippines - the only Catholic country in Asia. I, myself, some 60 years ago, enrolled at De La Salle university - our learning was mostly about daily praying; specially praying daily to: "St. John Baptist De La Salle, pray for us, and live Jesus in our hearts forever." And also, to faithfully follow what the holy bible says in John 2:15: "Love not the Philippines, neither the things that are in the Philippines. If any Filipino love the Philippines, the love of God is not in him." Thus, the arrest, incarceration, and death by public execution of our Jose Rizal! Finally, happily, and constructively, I got expelled out of high school. Today, in my home library, at 77 years old, I am still learning and educating myself. Especially, by reading so-called "bad books" taught me in school never to read because it might endanger losing my soul. That I will only offend God If I dare to entertain the usefulness of my precious mind to think; especially as a life time adventure! Indeed, that it is sin for me to be aware of the lies and deceptions that's keeping us poor and obedient as a people, and to foreign investors why we must only remain subservient as a nation! Poch Suzara

Separation of Church and State - A Farce, Fraud, and a Ceremony - in the Philippines

Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Mark 12:17 In the Philippines, however, we never had a Caesar, and if we did, such a Caesar has always been under God as God has the kingdom and power and glory more known as the priesthood industry in the Philippines - the land blessed (conquered) by Christianity in the 16th century Consider the Philippine Constitution, the supreme law of the land. It begins with the words: "We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society, and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution." How could the State separate away from the church since the church has dominion over the State? Indeed, the laws of the land are a State issue. But the church and its priesthood industry have the right and the privilege to meddle with the laws of the land such as the RH Bill? Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…but if one were an atheist in the Philippines - he has neither the right nor the privilege to be a member of Congress. In fact, from the lowest of school teachers to the highest of college professors, from the lowest court judges to the highest Supreme court judges, and indeed, from the lowest to the highest State government officials - all are much well-established in religion: all have been raised and educated in schools, colleges, and universities own and operated by the Church in the Philippines - the only Catholic country in Asia since the 16th century. Listen carefully to this verse written in God's holy bible - paraphrased: "love not the (Philippines) or the things that are in the (Philippines). If Filipinos love the (Philippines) the love of God is not in them. 1 John 2:15 We Filipinos have been educated to render not to fellow Filipinos existing in poverty. We must only render to the Church by imploring the aid of the God Almighty. What is powerful in the Philippines is not the freedom of the people, by the people, and for the people; but the freedom of religion, by religion, and for religion. There is no nothing mentioned in the Constitution regarding the FREEDOM FROM RELIGION. But both the Church and the State always in cahoots together - promote religion In the meantime, in this already 21st century, we Filipinos are still trying to build a just and Filipino society; still trying to establish a Government that shall embody Filipino ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure for ourselves and for our posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a government of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, - but the Church with the power of religion have never allowed it because it will put the God business in the Philippines out of business. Thus, the Separation between State and Church in the Philippines has always been and still is a farce, a fraud, and a ceremony! Poch Suzara Twitter# Facebook# Google#

What Happens to my Body and Brain when I Die

Question: If energy is neither created nor destroyed, what happens to the energy within our bodies and brains when we die? My answer: in death, our energy, no longer bundled up as a human body - will be scattered back in nature as nature, always evolving, never ceases to be in the business of birth, growth, decay, and death. It is otherwise more known as existence! It is, in this way, that we will always be a part of energy in nature forever. As to what our scattered energies will bundled up if at all as a new body of existence next time - not even God knows! Poch Suzara

The Evils of Christianity

My Dearest Et Al, A psuedop-scientist writes: “Humankind cannot abide the terror of mortality without the promise of immortality, I have argued in the past. In the absence of religion human society sinks into depressive torpor. Secular society therefore is an oxymoron, for the death of religion leads quickly enough to the death of society itself.” I ask: how true is this in China today? The Chinese people have been irreligious since the 11th century? Or take the then USSR – a so-called atheistic nation that eventually crumbled but only because after dumping Christianity, the USSR replaced Christianity with another religion called “communism.” Indeed, Communism, a religion, just like Christianity, advocates a religious way of life on the basis of irrational dogma. It has a sacred history, a Messiah, and a priesthood. The history of the struggle of Christianity against communism was not a struggle of GOOD against EVIL; but a struggle of EVIL against EVIL. In any case, EVIL won! In the meantime, our world view has been deranged by myths imposed upon us by Christianity. For my part, I refuse to believe that centuries before Christianity arrived, we Filipinos were living in a dying society deprived of Christian teachings, values and beliefs. In fact, all that is messy in our country today comes from the evils of Christian religion. Indeed, up to this day and age, we Filipinos still believe that religion has only to do with what is "prayable" and "forgivable." Hardly with what is "thinkable and workable." I ask: What ever happened to our historical sense of growth as a decent people and to our historical sense of development as a decent nation? A billion Filipinos have already lived and died in this only Christian country in Asia since the 16th century. They are now enjoying a better life with God in the next world. So what? Indeed, even if there were a better life to come after death, is that enough reason for us Filipinos to make a mockery of this life in this country of ours after birth? I said it before, I say it again: Christianity has always been and still is based on sacred phooey, priestly gooey, and holy chopsuey. It continues to twist our minds with ignorance as a people; and, continues to distort our hearts with fear as a nation. And until we dump the evils of Christianity out of our country, indeed, out of our traditional way of life, the evils that we Filipinos - the Sick Man of Asia - have accomplished since in the 16th century, we will only continue to accomplish more of the same evils in the centuries to come. The many poor will get poorer; only the few rich will get richer. In the meantime, poverty in the Philippines is of the worst kind: the poverty of the Filipino minds and hearts. It is time to wake up. Enough is enough. In this already 21st century, among Asian nations, in the race to achieve the higher standard of living and thinking, our blessed by God Philippines, the only Christian country in Asia, has been and still is only circling viciously as a loser pretending to be a winner. Cheers! Poch Suzara Atheist# Google# Twitter# Facebook#

The Joy of Understanding

"For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who refuse to understand, no explanation is possible." unknown As for me, I understand, and since there is more, much more to understand, I'd rather enjoy the greatest joy in life: the joy of understanding. Poch Suzara