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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The First Filipino Freethinkers Forum
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Filipino 'dwarf' judge loses case
Yes folk...it happened in the Philippines.
A Philippines judge who said he consulted imaginary mystic dwarves has failed to convince the Supreme Court to allow him to keep his job. Florentino Floro was appealing against a three-year inquiry which led to his removal due to incompetence and bias.
He told investigators three mystic dwarves - Armand, Luis and Angel - had helped him to carry out healing sessions during breaks in his chambers.
The court said psychic phenomena had no place in the judiciary.
The bench backed a medical finding that the judge was suffering from psychosis.
Click here for more of this article.
He told investigators three mystic dwarves - Armand, Luis and Angel - had helped him to carry out healing sessions during breaks in his chambers.
The court said psychic phenomena had no place in the judiciary.
The bench backed a medical finding that the judge was suffering from psychosis.
Click here for more of this article.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Who Said Freethought is…Free?
As an atheist and a freethinker I have to be realistic and here’s a fact: LIFE SUCKS!
Unknown to the participants of the First Filipino Freethinkers Forum that was held last Sunday (February 1)at the Shang, I have to walk from Novaliches, Quezon City all the way to Shangri-La Plaza just to attend it.. That was a four hour walk non-stop. And the meeting was held in Starbucks – WOAH! And to think of it, my family is quite contented with a Nescafe Coffee Stick. It only cost 2 pesos per stick compare to one order of Starbucks coffee. Is it P175.00 per order? I don’t know, I only drink weak coffee.
Majority of the participants were “yuppies” (young professionals), rich kids and what ever…I just assume they’re rich. Anybody who can afford a 100 peso coffee must be rich.
So that made me think. Is freethought only for the affluent? Is freethought synonymous with guys who graduated from prestigious schools and universities, to those who are successful in life, for those people with cars and are able to dine on fancy restaurants? Is freethought only a vice of well-off individuals just to exercise their bored minds? How about the poor, the destitute, the miserable and the hopeless, can they afford to be freethinkers?
Pragmatism is the philosophy of the poor man. He seems to believe things that have use for him. I sometimes wonder why I become a freethinker in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, my atheism was not fueled by hate of life. Life is not fair, but I don’t blame it to a so-called “Supreme Intelligence”. Maybe I’m a different case…one in a million perhaps. But not every poor people in manila share my enthusiasm with philosophy and science.
It is really impossible to philosophize with an empty stomach, what more in believing that there is no God. Do you think a poor man will have the luxury of time to do some research regarding science and philosophy?
Speaking of research, books are expensive and education is too costly. Poor folks will use their resources more on food. The sad news is that majority of people in the Philippines is below poverty line and because of this world wide economic crisis we are now facing, it is expected to double.
In this situation, what’s use of freethought?
For some people, and especially the poor, this is where religion sets in. religion thrives in a world of crisis. When people become desperate they start to look and cling to any support they can find – even invisible ones. So how can you tell them that they are being used by people who mastered the art of selling God?
I still believe that somewhere in Payatas, Tondo or those shanties in BASECO Compound, someone there is just like a freethinker like me. He may now be writing his thoughts on a piece of paper…he doesn’t have a computer, he can’t afford it. I wonder if people in his community listen to what he says. Christians may say that he is just angry at God because of his miserable life. Poor people are mostly ignored or not taken seriously. I imagine him getting his information from books that are sold cheap in Recto, books that were published in the 60’s and 70’s, too obsolete in modern standards.
Does he sometimes stop from his back-breaking labor to wonder if his arguments are correct or if there’s a new idea that entered his mind? Does he also look in the Internet if he can spare P15.00 from his small salary? Do he also analyzed religious revelations of they are true? How does he handle the idea of having no after-life, which he is doom to live in a miserable existence? Does he also think he’s alone?
Freethought may be expensive but thinking is priceless. It is a matter of cooperation within the Filipino freethinking community to reach to such sad individuals. I believe that social stratification is not a hindrance if the freethinkers’ vision also caters love and camaraderie.
As a freethinker my goal must be realistic so I can reach my hand on a different world- the world without luxury, where hopes and false hopes thrive. This is the world of the impoverished where self-pity becomes a thick haze that blocks the vision of progress. Where pragmatism narrows objective world-view, minds are clouded by distrust and apathy and where poverty limits dreams and aspiration.
Unfortunately there are freethinkers that are trapped in this kind of world, and these are the kind of freethinkers I would like to reach out to.
Until next time,
John the Atheist
Unknown to the participants of the First Filipino Freethinkers Forum that was held last Sunday (February 1)at the Shang, I have to walk from Novaliches, Quezon City all the way to Shangri-La Plaza just to attend it.. That was a four hour walk non-stop. And the meeting was held in Starbucks – WOAH! And to think of it, my family is quite contented with a Nescafe Coffee Stick. It only cost 2 pesos per stick compare to one order of Starbucks coffee. Is it P175.00 per order? I don’t know, I only drink weak coffee.
Majority of the participants were “yuppies” (young professionals), rich kids and what ever…I just assume they’re rich. Anybody who can afford a 100 peso coffee must be rich.
So that made me think. Is freethought only for the affluent? Is freethought synonymous with guys who graduated from prestigious schools and universities, to those who are successful in life, for those people with cars and are able to dine on fancy restaurants? Is freethought only a vice of well-off individuals just to exercise their bored minds? How about the poor, the destitute, the miserable and the hopeless, can they afford to be freethinkers?
Pragmatism is the philosophy of the poor man. He seems to believe things that have use for him. I sometimes wonder why I become a freethinker in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, my atheism was not fueled by hate of life. Life is not fair, but I don’t blame it to a so-called “Supreme Intelligence”. Maybe I’m a different case…one in a million perhaps. But not every poor people in manila share my enthusiasm with philosophy and science.
It is really impossible to philosophize with an empty stomach, what more in believing that there is no God. Do you think a poor man will have the luxury of time to do some research regarding science and philosophy?
Speaking of research, books are expensive and education is too costly. Poor folks will use their resources more on food. The sad news is that majority of people in the Philippines is below poverty line and because of this world wide economic crisis we are now facing, it is expected to double.
In this situation, what’s use of freethought?
For some people, and especially the poor, this is where religion sets in. religion thrives in a world of crisis. When people become desperate they start to look and cling to any support they can find – even invisible ones. So how can you tell them that they are being used by people who mastered the art of selling God?
I still believe that somewhere in Payatas, Tondo or those shanties in BASECO Compound, someone there is just like a freethinker like me. He may now be writing his thoughts on a piece of paper…he doesn’t have a computer, he can’t afford it. I wonder if people in his community listen to what he says. Christians may say that he is just angry at God because of his miserable life. Poor people are mostly ignored or not taken seriously. I imagine him getting his information from books that are sold cheap in Recto, books that were published in the 60’s and 70’s, too obsolete in modern standards.
Does he sometimes stop from his back-breaking labor to wonder if his arguments are correct or if there’s a new idea that entered his mind? Does he also look in the Internet if he can spare P15.00 from his small salary? Do he also analyzed religious revelations of they are true? How does he handle the idea of having no after-life, which he is doom to live in a miserable existence? Does he also think he’s alone?
Freethought may be expensive but thinking is priceless. It is a matter of cooperation within the Filipino freethinking community to reach to such sad individuals. I believe that social stratification is not a hindrance if the freethinkers’ vision also caters love and camaraderie.
As a freethinker my goal must be realistic so I can reach my hand on a different world- the world without luxury, where hopes and false hopes thrive. This is the world of the impoverished where self-pity becomes a thick haze that blocks the vision of progress. Where pragmatism narrows objective world-view, minds are clouded by distrust and apathy and where poverty limits dreams and aspiration.
Unfortunately there are freethinkers that are trapped in this kind of world, and these are the kind of freethinkers I would like to reach out to.
Until next time,
John the Atheist
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Unknowable?
A friend of mine from L.U. told me that our mind is surrounded by three forces – the knowable, the unknown and the unknowable. Everybody has an idea what is known, right? And we all ponder the unknown. But the unknowable will remain…er…unknowable. God and mysticism belong to the unknowable.
“Ding-an-sich”
This theistic pretext is not new. Time immemorial, the mystics believe that anything that transcends human understanding is unknowable. That’s what they call the limitation of the scope of human knowledge and for them this will always remain close.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) argued that human knowledge has limits. In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant reorganized traditional metaphysical duality between noumena (reality) and phenomena (appearance). Noumena are the nature of “things in themselves” (ding-an-sich). They are considered to be unknowable. Empirical application can only work on the world of phenomena. Beyond it empiricism will just lead to contradictions, fallacies and paradoxes.
Kingdom of God.
The world of noumena is the void kingdom of the unexplainable God. Here is also where supernatural and mysticism thrives. This is God’s refuge against the inquiries of the skeptics. That’s why believers say that God is shrouded by mystery. According to classical theism, God is transcendent. He is beyond human knowledge and mysticism is a small peek, a taste of the unknowable that will only connect man to the idea of God. This is the knowledge of something beyond the scope of man’s intellectual comprehension.
Yet Christians will knock at your door to talk to you about the unknowable God and the Bible tells us that man was created by God from His image and likeness. Strange isn’t it?
If it’s unknowable, then how did the mystics know that it exists? According to Nathan Branden, “To claim that a thing is unknowable, one must first know that it exist – but then one already has knowledge of it, to that extent.”
The German idealist G.W.F. Hegel (1771-1831) rejected Kant’s thing-in-itself and his noumenal world by arguing that Kant’s claim of the unknowable was a clear contradiction of Kant’s limit of knowledge. To claim the existence of the unknowable is to claim knowledge of the unknowable, in which case it cannot be unknowable.
The concept of a so-called “unknowable” or limits of knowledge is nothing but a product of languid minds and the realm of the noumena is just a wonderland where God and believers can hide from the closing gap of intellectual scrutiny.
Until next time.
John the Atheist
“Ding-an-sich”
This theistic pretext is not new. Time immemorial, the mystics believe that anything that transcends human understanding is unknowable. That’s what they call the limitation of the scope of human knowledge and for them this will always remain close.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) argued that human knowledge has limits. In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant reorganized traditional metaphysical duality between noumena (reality) and phenomena (appearance). Noumena are the nature of “things in themselves” (ding-an-sich). They are considered to be unknowable. Empirical application can only work on the world of phenomena. Beyond it empiricism will just lead to contradictions, fallacies and paradoxes.
Kingdom of God.
The world of noumena is the void kingdom of the unexplainable God. Here is also where supernatural and mysticism thrives. This is God’s refuge against the inquiries of the skeptics. That’s why believers say that God is shrouded by mystery. According to classical theism, God is transcendent. He is beyond human knowledge and mysticism is a small peek, a taste of the unknowable that will only connect man to the idea of God. This is the knowledge of something beyond the scope of man’s intellectual comprehension.
Yet Christians will knock at your door to talk to you about the unknowable God and the Bible tells us that man was created by God from His image and likeness. Strange isn’t it?
If it’s unknowable, then how did the mystics know that it exists? According to Nathan Branden, “To claim that a thing is unknowable, one must first know that it exist – but then one already has knowledge of it, to that extent.”
The German idealist G.W.F. Hegel (1771-1831) rejected Kant’s thing-in-itself and his noumenal world by arguing that Kant’s claim of the unknowable was a clear contradiction of Kant’s limit of knowledge. To claim the existence of the unknowable is to claim knowledge of the unknowable, in which case it cannot be unknowable.
The concept of a so-called “unknowable” or limits of knowledge is nothing but a product of languid minds and the realm of the noumena is just a wonderland where God and believers can hide from the closing gap of intellectual scrutiny.
Until next time.
John the Atheist
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Meeting with the Filipino Freethinkers
It was a thousand mix-up feeling, a sort of emotional explosion, that’s how I sum up what I felt on the First Filipino Freethinkers Forum (or F4) meet-up that was held in The Shang last February 1, 2009.
Frankly I never thought it was possible. Damn! If I was still a Christian I might even say it’s a miracle.Before I begin, I would like to thank the following people for making the F4 meet-up possible: Geri ( I never thought you are capable of this kind of endeavor and have believe most of those negative comments about you in L.U. Forgive me from doubting you man!). Also thank you very much Redtani and Bej, you guys are great!
The meet-up was quite informal…but what do you expect on “first times” huh? We did more time introducing ourselves…but I think those introductions are very important. Getting to know each other is the most vital part in every meet-up.
The meet-up is a blend of atheists, agnostics and there are even deists in the group. There is also a “point-laugh” atheist (That’s new…). Majority is non-militant when it comes to religion… that’s fine with me.
I’ve notice the increase of female atheists. Well…if Christians prohibits women in speaking in church, freethinkers allows it – women has a lot to say. Speaking of women, there was even an Iranian lady in the group. I think her name is Rani and she’s cool.
I was very impressed on how Redtani handled the group. I was also moved on the lecture about group making courtesy of a certain “Arnord”. Sayang…if this Arnold guy was in every secular humanist meeting in Makati, everything has run smoothly.
(*sigh*).
Frankly I never thought it was possible. Damn! If I was still a Christian I might even say it’s a miracle.Before I begin, I would like to thank the following people for making the F4 meet-up possible: Geri ( I never thought you are capable of this kind of endeavor and have believe most of those negative comments about you in L.U. Forgive me from doubting you man!). Also thank you very much Redtani and Bej, you guys are great!
The meet-up was quite informal…but what do you expect on “first times” huh? We did more time introducing ourselves…but I think those introductions are very important. Getting to know each other is the most vital part in every meet-up.
The meet-up is a blend of atheists, agnostics and there are even deists in the group. There is also a “point-laugh” atheist (That’s new…). Majority is non-militant when it comes to religion… that’s fine with me.
I’ve notice the increase of female atheists. Well…if Christians prohibits women in speaking in church, freethinkers allows it – women has a lot to say. Speaking of women, there was even an Iranian lady in the group. I think her name is Rani and she’s cool.
I was very impressed on how Redtani handled the group. I was also moved on the lecture about group making courtesy of a certain “Arnord”. Sayang…if this Arnold guy was in every secular humanist meeting in Makati, everything has run smoothly.
(*sigh*).
Monday, February 02, 2009
It's a success!!!
Here are some pictures of the First Filipino Freethinker Forum Meet-up that transpired yesterday (February 1, 2009) @ Starbucks, Shangri-La Mall EDSA, Philippines.
Yep...this is history in the making!
Wow! It was even featured by no other than Hermant Mehta in his blog! This meet-up will never become posible without Redtani and Benj from the Pinoy Atheists group. Kudos to you guys!!!
Click here for more photos.
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