Awareness

One cannot fathom the possibility of changing the society to accept atheism if one is not known to be one in his own immediate environment - friends, family, and even neighbors. If you are not an out-of-the-closet atheist, you cannot appreciate the changes in people's perception when they are confronted with the real thing. To most Pinoys, a non-believer is an unimaginable being but here I am and I am real. And more, I belong to a growing community. They cannot dismiss us if we have a case. If we can argue well our position, we can either gain respect or get derision. Personally I'd prefer respect but I can also take derision if that's the price of being intellectually honest to myself. In the end, one ends up in one hand real friends who will respect your views despite the vast difference because they saw beyond your atheism, and on the other hand may lose superficial friends. I think religious differences, which I take to include non-religion, in matters of personal relationships should take a backseat but if the other party cannot do that, it will surely result in rough roads ahead that can also mean separating. It's gotta be painful if he/she is a very close friend or family but I wouldn't know since so far I have been in good terms with all of them.

hb4110.net

Hi folks,

We are currently in the process of putting up a website to support the consolidated Reproductive Health Care Act now filed in the 14th Congress. Once it's setup, we'll let everybody know. Please keep yourself informed by reading the bills yourself first-hand and maybe you can write your congressman to express your support for this very important but still pending legislation.

cheers!
TonyB

Support HB4110 or Reproductive Health Care Act

We the undersigned express our support of HB 4110, The Reproductive Health Care Act.

We fully support the bill’s principles as laid out in Section 2.

We all hope for a healthy Filipino society. We believe the bill will help us build such a society where reproductive health care is available to anyone and everyone, free of discrimination on age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, and religious affiliation or non-affiliation. Where policies concerning reproductive health care that affects everyone is not dictated by any particular religion or belief system. We believe in the right to choose one’s method of planning a family and spacing children, or to choose to have no children at all. The rights of the individual to choose according to his conscience don’t fall under the aegis of self-proclaimed moral authorities of the religious establishment.

The Philippines is a nation of diverse religious beliefs/non-beliefs. No single belief system represents the whole diversity of Filipino religious and non-religious thought or belief nor does any of its leaders speak for all its adherents. The continued opposition by the leaders of certain sects is a clear encroachment on the rights to free choice on reproductive health methods and services of every Filipino, and trample on the rights of those who do not adhere to their beliefs. We strongly condemn the negative campaign being waged by these leaders to mislead its adherents by misrepresenting the bill’s content, and by resorting to using dogmatic, unscientific, and outmoded beliefs to support its arguments.

We strongly support the legislation because we believe this is for the well-being our nation in particular and humanity in general as we face the future of a planet with limited resources.

Please read the bill here:
http://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/population/documents/HB4110.pdf

Please sign the petition here.

How Myths Are Made

This is how myths and urban legends are started. Somebody with a creative bent and imaginative mind sees things in an otherwise just an ordinary snapshot (above), like the toasted bread that's supposed to show the image of Virgin Mary sold on eBay and bought by a casino supposedly because it has become a part of pop culture, this time it's supposedly the faces of five teenagers from Paete who perished in an accident in Famy, Laguna the other day. It's a cheap shot.

Regarding the accident, the driver was asking for forgiveness in what happened. Well and good but that should not get him off the hook.

Why I Don't Believe?

According to somebody, this is the reason I don't believe.

Nagreflect na naman ang namentioned ni amang tony tungkol sa sinasabi sa BIBLE.
Sinabi sa BIBLE,"GURO,ano pa po ang kailangan kong gawin upang maligtas ako.Sinuusunod ko ang 10 utos ng DIYOS,lahat ng kabutihan ay ginagawa ko na."Sumagot si HESUS,"Iwan mo ang mga ari-arian mo at sumunod ka sa akin".Nalungkot ang lalaki dahil di nya kayang gawin yun."Talagang mahirap mapunta ang kaharian ng DIYOS sa mga mayayaman,mas madali pang pumasok sa karayom ang isang kamelyo kaysa makapasok sila sa kaharian ng DIYOS".

Yan ang hindi kayang gawin mo amang tony.katulad ninyong mga atheist ang lalaking tinukoy sa BIBLIYA.At kung gagamitin mo ang talinong pinagkaloob sa atin.Kaya mong ipaliwanag ang talinghagang ito at hindi yun literal hane.sears!

It's wrong on many points.

First, it's a simple ad hominem: saying I cannot follow Jesus and that's the reason I don't want to believe in him. It's putting the cart before the horse. No, I don't believe in god or Jesus Christ being god, so I cannot follow him. It's the other way around. That's the basic thing that they have to understand first. If they cannot do that, they cannot mount a coherent argument against non-belief in their particular god.

Second, it assumes I believe in the bible being the word of god. Nothing to say more about this. Again, this is basic.

Third, atheism is not about being rich or being poor. Now I have a job that gives me sufficient income but I didn't turn atheist when I landed a job and became self-sufficient. I was an atheist since I was in college when my parents were trying to make ends meet for all of us. I turned atheist because I realized everything can be better explained without god, that god did not make sense. It has nothing to do with my economic station in life. I wonder what he/she has to say about rich Christians. (This is actually one of the anomalies of the Catholic Church: it's rich beyond imagination.)

Finally, the generalization in the end is just hypocritical to say the least. I would like to see his/her become a true Christian, love his/her neighbor and stop judging them.

If they want to score against atheism, all they have to do is prove that their god is existing, if he/she is Christian, that Jesus is this alleged god. If that is done, everything else becomes moot and academic.

Dear Anonymous

I am posting one of my replies in the forum where people reacted to my atheism.

---

Hi Anonymous,


I appreciate your frankness. Please don't take this post negatively. And this is a long one, hehe.

you said:
>> I can respect you being an atheist but what I don’t like about your
>> declaration is justifying it with insult to us that there is no amazing
>> things about religion nor GOD.

If you mean in this forum, please quote me. Where did I say there is NO amazing thing abut religion nor god? Let me make it clear. I believe that we are confusing two things here. First there is the belief in god and in religion and second there is this belief that having religion will make one morally superior than those who don't. I admire the cathedrals and the art that religion has helped foster. I admire people who try to be good and do good because they believe that that is what's right to do though I believe that to do good, you need not subscribe to religion. In fact, if subscribing to religion makes one good, then I insist that he continue subscribing to it. Some say by not believing means being free to do evil things. Well, it goes on to show that atheism is not for everybody. I don't like religionists telling non-religious people that they are going to hell because they evil/not religious. It's simply wrong.

Also, please check some posts here insinuating that I am a maamong tupa na nasa loob ay leon. Duh? I am just like anybody here. If I didn't tell you I don't believe in your god you wont be able to tell the difference. Every man is capable of doing good or bad. That includes all believers with no exception as shown by the kind of response they throw at me. The difference lies not in religion but in how each one of us choose to be in the many opportunities that we face every minute of the day. I am not a murderer, I am not a corrupter.


you said:
>> That believing in neither GOD nor religion is a cultural artifacts
>> and other harsh thing about GOD existence.

But religion is cultural. Please check an encyclopedia and see for yourself that religions are divided along cultural or ethnic lines and across all history. Yes, a religion may be the One True Religion or the god of a certain religion The One True God but how are you to know and how to navigate the great cultural landscape when each one is claiming that they hold the Absolute Truth with some even dismissing Reason and Knowledge as "bad" because it leads us to atheism? It is not free if freethought can lead us to question god and find its proof insufficient but we are going to be punished by eternal fire and burning for it.

Contrary to somebody here who said that all religion believe in the same thing, the truth is far from it: The Indian culture is predominantly Hindu, Western European culture is predominantly Catholic plus Protestant, Eastern Europe is predominantly Orthodox, the Arabic, Turkish, South East Asian, and Iranian cultures are predominantly Islamic, the Chinese and Vietnamese cultures are predominantly atheistic, Thai culture is predominant Buddhist, Japanese culture is predominantly mystic/secular, Latin culture is predominantly Catholic; small tribes like those found in the Cordillera - like the Igorot culture - are animists. In earlier times, it was still different. Classical Greek culture believed in the now-obsoleted Greek gods of Mount Olympus while Christianity and Islam was non-existent at all while Zoroastrianism was widespread in the middle east and Sun-god worship was the religion in ancient Egypt. Each of the modern and ancient religions and sects under the same religions are further divided along doctrinal lines. Some cultures are monotheists (Islamic, Judaism, some sects of Christianity) some are polytheists (Hindu, Igorots, some Christian sects), and some are atheistic (some form of Buddhism). I can go on and on and still you will not accept this glaring anomaly. If you choose not to accept these, they are not going to disappear magically.


you said:
>> Now some may have responded to you very negatively and with bad attitude I
>> felt sorry for those who can not handle your declarations but I just wish
>> that you don’t go down to their level by insulting us.

I have been called the devil or worse than the devil. I have been called bad example and a disgrace to mankind. I have been called many names that are only meaningful to them. If I will be hitting back, you should grant me the right to do that but I restrained myself because my intention in this forum is not to malign people. My family belong to many different kinds of religion and never did we talk about religion in the house as it foments ill feelings, specially with those who have beliefs they cherish and protect from scrutiny. But mention once how evil I am because I don't believe your religion and don't expect that I will turn my other cheek. I don't engage in this if I think it's not the right forum. I leave forums when it becomes too hot for me to handle because I still respect the majority view. I retreat to my own forum where believers can visit but with a caveat. That that forum is hollowed ground for atheism. There I can say whatever I want but even there I still have some restraint.


you said:
>> You maybe smart in some line but you can’t deny that humility as preached
>> by greats people are still the best philosophy you can follow.

I prefer honesty over humility. I wont humble myself to people who accuse me of evil or immorality simply on the account that I don't believe their personal gods. Sometimes there is the truth in the saying "respect begets respect" or in this case, humility. I didn't come here to solicit respect nor to malign everyone's religion. Somebody greeted me "god bless" in USAP and I took that as honestly good intention. I replied back. (Please read my post and see if my intention was malicious.) I know him and his sisters and family and they knew me since I was small because our parents are both retired public school teachers and his siblings are my siblings' friends and classmates. He is a nice person. I looked beyond his faith to see his good intention but I have to say what I said because that's what I am. I have as much right as him to declare what I am and what I believe or not believe. That is because I had decided to come out of the open and join and maybe contribute in the exchange of ideas. Somebody copied that post out of context and posted it here starting this silly thread (which provides me humor some times) and now people seem to be enjoying it that it has grown this long. I have been called many names and even accused by a kid of founding a cult (LOL) by organizing my class reunion. People here are putting malice in every action I make in public just because I declared my name. I am not ashamed because all of these are lies. I wonder what happened to not bearing false witness? Yes, there are many great people out there who teach us great lessons in life and I look up to some of them by reading books (other than the bible). I do choose to ignore some posts by following Dilbert's advice which actually mirrors your own advice, thank you.

The Opitahals

Liceo De Paete Class of '89 had another meeting about the planned reunion. In attendance were about 15 people. I could not remember what was decided. :D What I remember is that there was still a debate on which day the event will be held, this late. Given that the venue has been decided, it may not be a problem but it should be decided now.

I didn't take any picture this time.

Decorative Panel Sculptures

I was recently visited by a high school friend mainly to catch up about life and what not. We haven't seen each other for years maybe and I almost failed to recognize him to my embarrassment. He mentioned that he's working in a small furniture manufacturing outfit geared for export. He works as a skilled craftsman doing what we call in our town as "labor." I tried looking up what it's called in English but in vain. For some time now I have been thinking of wall accents, mainly panels I can put on the bare walls of my place and he just came in the right time. I asked him to produce me a design but given that I was flying out the next few days, I didn't have time to wait for any designs. I will be looking at them in March and if I like it, I'd have samples carved for trial. I'm sure they will look good on the walls.

Short Vacation

I came back to Tokyo yesterday from a week's vacation mostly in Laguna. I wasn't able to spend much time away from the house due to the small things that I needed done in and around the house. I managed to take some boring pictures of things around which has not changed much anyway. This time around it's different in that the leaving part was easier than the last. Maybe because I find my vacations getting less and less enjoyable because I am finding myself dealing more with unnecessary burden that is being put on my shoulders by the constant stream of people spoiling it. Maybe leaving is easier because it affords me the escape that I needed in order to keep my sanity.

Why do I keep coming back to the town of my birth and childhood? I wish someday I can tell myself I had enough of it then move on. That I shall not be wanting to go back any more. I want to be forward-looking and never look back ever.