Old Entry #14: Last Weekend's (May 9, 2009) Journal Entry

Another old entry here.

And, no, I don't think it's too early for another one.  Why would it be too early for anything written about?  Besides, this was written over two years ago, anyhow.

Do you know how to connect dots?  As early as two years ago, I've been an advocate of the RH Bill.  Well, the entry isn't really about the bill.  It's just mentioned in the course of it.  This does, however, speak of dictatorship defiance and the reality of economic and religious hierarchical influence.

Read all the way through.

This was originally posted on May 15, '09 8:18 PM on Multiply.com.

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William Ramsey Clark, M.A., J.D.  - 66th Attorney General of the U.S.A.

Photo source: media2work.net

May 9, 2009

I just turned my TV off from watching an episode of Inside Iraq on Al Jazeera, my new favorite news channel.

I didn't really plan on watching today’s episode.  I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep the entire afternoon away.  My dad was the one holding the remote control and I feared a sequel to last night’s incident.  Yes, we had a quarrel the previous evening over the television volume while watching the film Incendiary—unreasonable to say the least.  However, we were already fine last night.  I just did not want to take chances.

Our cable provider apparently did not consider Al Jazeera to be a must-watch channel since they placed it on 65, among the free Indian and Middle-Eastern channels where almost no one could care less about.

So, there I was lying down in bed and recklessly allowing my thoughts to wander about.  And while at that, my ears caught the voice of “Inside Iraq’s” host.  (I forgot his name.)  I thought to myself: “Interesting, I’ll listen to this.”  The episode featured Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general.  Initially, I thought it was just gonna be the usual my-opinion-on-the-war interview but I was in for quite a surprise.  Towards the end of the show, I was struck by a question that went something like, “What was the primary motive for the Iraq war?”  Now this was something that warranted an effort to get out of bed.  But just when I was about to stand up, the commercial break came on and I didn't want to sit on a smelly couch while waiting for it to go on again.  So, I remained the way I was: lazily reclining on two huge pillows.

When the show went on again, I had lost all motivation to get up and watch.  I had almost conclusively decided that listening to the conversation would be enough.  The question was reiterated and Clark answered with something like, “the purpose of the war was for dominion and power over the region.”  Wow!  This was one honest man.  The host then retorted, asking why this was Clark’s answer when the US record was not generally colonialist over the past few scores.  “You had the Philippines but then you let it go,” he said.  For that, I knew I had to get up.  Clark stated that the U.S. had invaded more than 70 times over the last century.  Moreover, he said that the reason why the U.S. had let go of our country was because they had no use for us anymore.  Our country’s income was less than 10% of what they needed from us and they just stopped caring.

He went on to say that the war was a human catastrophe of the highest order.  For this, they had spent more on arms than all of the other countries combined—simply because Saddam Hussain did not agree for the U.S. to assume control over them and their oil.

And here we keep asking what the cause of the global economic recession is while conservative Christians repeatedly stab President Obama for his support on Reproductive Health programs.

The Philippines has numerous businesses.  Billion-dollar corporations here stand controlling the nation’s politics with rich people—the nation’s economically powerful minority—competing for the last say.  However, with that said, the most lucrative of these businesses is the Roman Catholic Church.  Yes, you read me right.  Ayala, San Miguel and such other may have the backing of the privileged few, but this corporation, masked behind a façade of religion, controls the meager majority.  The difference is this: Superpower corporations give money to the Philippine government so that they (the companies) get what they want.  Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic church in the Philippines receives money (bribe) to tell the poor masses what the government wants done.

The RC church achieves their end simply by telling everyone that it's in conformity with what God tells us to do.  A load of holy crap!  They do this while telling the masses that the reward would be eternal salvation.  Bloody hell!  They make me laugh!

A couple of months back, people from the congress introduced a Reproductive Health bill to counter overpopulation and the rapid depletion of resources.  However, the church saw this as a threat.  For them, absence of population control means more poor people will be born; and with more poor people, there will be more church-goers praying for economic aleviation.  Smart move, eh?  And where would that put the intelligent few who know what’s good for them?

Thank you for reading.  And likewise, thank you for not reading.

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Of Generation Gaps and Wisdom

Chronological advancement advantage only presupposes possession of greater wisdom.


However, members of a particular generation have a great deal of things to learn from members of another generation--from the older to the younger and, in turn, from the younger to the older.


Listening and Understanding, employing genuine Love and Compassion are the basic keys to achieving Harmonious and Peaceful coexistence.


It is true that the perennial philosophies are matters of broad discussion, which great minds who have existed longer in the present consciousness usually bear more profound credibility to give insight on.


Keep in mind, however, that everything is dynamic and subject to the laws of evolution--most especially when dealing with the subject of knowledge.


In the end, a give-and-take process of insight exchange among various generations will always work best.  No one holds the absolute truth.  Likewise, no one is inherently and absolutely incorrect, either.

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Old Entry #13: I Idolize John Gokongwei, Jr (But...)

Time for another old entry.  Well, I don't know exactly what makes it "time" for one.  I just feel like posting one so that means it's time!

Not much blabber needed for this one.  It has to do with John Gokongwei, Jr as my role model in the field of business and entrepreneurship (although I'm not as hardcore as he is... yet).  It also talks about a very sweet bottled juice drink that his company produces, which, for that matter, I haven't seen in quite a while.

I wonder...  Maybe I was right after all.  Where'd it go?  Wanna know what I'm talking about?  Go ahead and read!

This was originally posted on Apr 6, '09 3:00 AM on Multiply.com.

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If nonsensical blogs annoy you, then stop reading and leave now.

Well, don't say I didn't warn you...

Anyway...

Two years ago, when I was still in Silliman University business school, my dad gave me this book called The Path To Entrepreneurship.  It told the story of how John Gokongwei, Jr constructed his massive business empire.  It divulged how he went from riches-to-rags-to-riches -- how he managed to carve his name in the list of the world's most respected business personalities.

[Note: Such list excludes Donald Trump]

I read the book from cover to cover between breakfast and lunch one nothing-else-to-do Saturday morning.  And believe me, it was inspiring.  You need not be business-minded to appreciate it.  You don't have to take it in as some sort of business scheme textbook.  Let it inspire you the way it should.  The way it did me.

Yes, John Gokongwei, Jr is a well-renown man in business.  Yes, he is a good man.  Yes, he has helped a lot of people.  Yes, he gives job opportunities to thousands and thousands of Filipinos who would otherwise add to NSO's figure of native mendicants.  Yes, he is a role model for all of us who wish to take a similar path in carving our names somewhere.  Yes, yes, yes.

HOWEVER...

I personally do not believe that the bottled juice drink his company sells actually aids in making a person slim down -- or even lose weight at the very least.  It's just way too sweet.  Universal Robina's TV commercial says Fab has some sort of substance that burns fats.  If all those substances that allegedly help burn fats could actually work their way into doing what they could supposedly do, then where does all that sugar go?  It would probably just compensate for the burned fat and nullify the effect.  Or, or all it probably does is add to our body fat substance.

I don't know what the truth is but that's what I think.  I'm not a chemist.  I don't really know.  Who am I to make such judgment.  This is just an opinion, okay?  Don't diss me for this.  It's just that I haven't blogged in a long time and I felt the need to post something.  My apologies.  But, anyway, I still drink it.  I drink it a lot.  It tastes good.  It just seems preposterous to me that something that sweet could actually aid me in slimming down.

I believe in C2's antioxidant content, though.  At least, I'd like to believe -- since I drink it ever so often.  It has a very refreshing tinge to it.  Moreover, it has that reassuring bittersweet taste of green tea leaves that tells me every time I drink it that: "I'm not just drinking some bottle of concoction made from sugar and whatever else.  I'm actually protecting myself from cancer."

[LMAO!]

So, yes, I idolize John Gokongwei, Jr.  However, the idea of Fab doing what the ads say it could do is just plain ridiculous.

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Of Generation Gaps and Social Outlooks

Each new generation rejects a chunk of their predecessors' attitudes as being out of date for modern society.

When will people finally realize that the generational drift extends all the way back to the ancestors who wrote the Bible?

Can you see the transition of it?  From the jealous, repentant, and murderous god of the Old Testament emerges the compassionate and loving god of Christianity in the New Testament.  Take note of how the violence and coercive prohibition mellows down as the Bible progresses from one era of writers to another.  It actually all depends on who's writing the particular book and what the culture is during the time it is written. Everyone should at least use their brains and consider that fact.

Look, don't get me wrong here.  I'm not out to debunk faith and belief in the Bible.  I'm here to to point out usage of the brain in addressing modern society.  Let the Bible be the Bible.  If you live by its teachings, by all means do what you will.  Just don't impose on others.  And you aren't seriously going to do everything it says, are you?  You can't kill people for working on your holy day.  You can't smite people who eat crustaceans.  You can't subjugate women.  No way!

Some actually see what I see and people like us don't enjoy stuff being forcibly and repeatedly hammered on our heads simply because some book says so.  The same goes with concepts regarding race, sexuality, and caste systems.

Generational attitude differences don't only apply to Biblical things; they apply to most everything.  For example:


About RACE and SEXUALITY in relation to marriage

About TECHNOLOGY

I'm not saying we should all just sit back and watch culture get annihilated before our very eyes.  What I'm saying is that we should be open-minded and allow ourselves (outlook and all) to progress with time despite what our traditions have set for us in the last millennium.

It is vital to keep in mind that morality is always subjective.  However, at the core, it is how we address others -- whether beneficial or detrimental to the well-being -- that truly matters.  As for everything else, we should let them be - whether personal judgment is present or absent - unless the particular activity causes harm to the well-being of the greater majority.

It is not for us to intervene on same-sex couples getting married.  It is not for us to dictate what kind of music people must listen to, what books to read, or what things to buy.  Sure, we might not bear appreciation for some things and that's our right.  It is another's right, as well, to hold to his/her own principles.

Of course, for activities that cause global warming and obviously damaging things like collective bigotry and death, it's a different story.  For counter-harmonious mentalities that are injurious to the well-being of peaceful and loving movements and the people involved, we should put up a fight if, upon intelligent scrutiny, we feel that we need to.

Then again, keep your cool.  Let others be if no real harm is done - even if they do things contrary to the faith you profess or the principles that you hold.  Be intelligent about life.  Communicate and move to inform, but never coerce and never employ violence of any kind.  Like Alex Noriega said, "Stay open to new things."

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Bill Maher Nails It

Listen all the way through.

This basically sums up most of my thoughts regarding hypocrite members of the organized denominations of Christianity.  Heck, some denominations are even fully hypocrite in itself without exception.  Need I mention a particular Westboro Baptist Church?  I don't even see it as a real church, to begin with.  It's merely a hate group disguised as a church so they won't have to pay taxes spreading their messages of hate and fundamentalist bigotry to the world.

Anyhow, if you want an overview of this video before going ahead and clicking that huge play button, I'll give you one.  Uhhh... Yes, there's a video down below.

It's about hypocrisy in Christianity.  You know how the Holy Bible speaks of loving the neighbor as one loves one's self?  That isn't practiced in most Christian denominations anymore and this does not exclude Roman Catholicism.  What kind of Christians would rejoice at someone's death?  Where have all Jesus' teachings of love and compassion for one's enemies gone?

I do understand that some churches actually uphold the teachings of Christ and it is left to its followers whether or not they adopt it in their daily lives.  Take note: "some."  Of course, majority of them aren't perfect since there those, whether entire denomination or individual members, that bear this I'm-powerful-and-blessed-and-I-will-be-saved-because-I'm-a-Christian character which irks me so much.  The dire thing in all this is that the Bible is actually self-contradicting and those who see it as infallible just ignore the good stuff and pick out the knick-knacks that they could use in their pursuit of spreading messages of discrimination against those that are different from them.

I accept that Christianity is basically benevolent but, like all other organized religions, the hierarchies that control such churches are the ones to blame for the breeding of discrimination and intolerance within them.

The very thing that triggered this speech was the fact that a lot of Christians reveled at the idea of Osama Bin Laden's death.  Now, I accept that some of Islam's followers are similar in league or even more extreme as fundamentalist Christians.  Islam basically teaches ways of love and peace as much as Christianity does, but much like their western counterpart, most of it is being received with blind eyes and deaf ears by the people who want to use the faith tradition to cater solely to their personal views.  That just puts them in the same footing.  They celebrate each other's demise.  In a world ruled by people like that, everyone would be left blind and toothless!


THIS:  A Roman Catholic clergyman giving a flip-off sign inside the church

IS NO DIFFERENT FROM THIS:  Fred Phelps preaching about hatred towards the LGBT community

OR THIS:  Shirley Phelps-Roper and members of the Westboro Baptist Church-con-hate-group raising placards promoting hatred in streets

OR EVEN THIS:  Masked Palestinian members of Islamic Jihad

The "benevolent" Roman Catholic Church Bishops Carlito Cenzon and Teodoro Bacani should get to see this, too!

You Really Think You're All That, Don't You, Bishop?

“Ito ay isang malinaw na insulto sa ating Civil Code at sa katuruan ng Simbahang Katolika!  Kawawa naman ang mga taong ito!  Wala nang kinikilalang Diyos!  Wala na rin silang paggalang sa kanilang sarili!  Dapat na matigil ang kahibangang ito!  Ang mga nagpakasal at nagkasal ay mayroong mga problema sa pag-iisip."


Translated from Tagalog Filipino to English:

"This is a blatant insult to our Civil Code and to the teachings of the Catholic Church!  These people are pathetic!  They do not recognize God!  They do not even have respect for themselves!  This foolhardiness should stop already!  Those who got married and those that married them have mental problems."

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That, up there, my dear brothers and sisters, is a statement by Most Rev. Carlito Cenzon of the Roman Catholic institution, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), which isn't even worth spelling out to begin with.  Well, just for the sake of those who don't know.

It was obviously provoked by the recent big attention-drawing event in Baguio City, where a local liberal Christian denomination, the Metropolitan Community Church, held a mass same-sex marriage ceremony.

The good bishop felt the need to say something in response to how what they were doing was a so-called insult to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

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Well, Carlito Cenzon, if you felt the need to respond to that, I now feel the need to respond to you!

Bottom line is this:  That marriage ceremony that happened in Baguio of recent had abso-freaking-lutely nothing to do with you!  It wasn't like they got married in a Roman Catholic church.  They got married under the spiritual guidance of their own ministers.  And, newsflash to you!  That made it none of your business.

Why would you say you got insulted in the first place?  It's not like the whole nation is required to conform to your religious standards.  Do you feel THAT powerful just because you're all ordained bishops and because Roman Catholics kiss your hands and give you the best food there is to serve?  And just because you get so lofty a regard by the nation's majority, do you think that gives you the power to stick your nose in other people's affairs?

Also, who the heck are you to say that those people didn't recognize God?  For your information, your church doesn't have a monopoly on God.  No one does!  And you bishops aren't privy to the fullness of God's will either.  I have Lea Salonga to thank for those words.

Furthermore... No self-respect, you say?  Mental problems, you say?  Wow!  What an insinuation!  You not only think you're up there and all-powerful, you even think you're intelligent.  Nice self-regard, Carlito.  Very nice, indeed, especially coming from a person who belongs to an institution that killed thousands and thousands of people during the Inquisition--the same institution that imprisoned Galileo for educating us all about the sun being the center of the solar system--the same institution who killed Joan of Arc and later declared her a saint to vindicate itself.  And yet, you're also an institution that teaches of compassion, respect, kindness, and God's unconditional love for the world.  The likes of you used in the same sentence as "Catholic Church" makes the perfect oxymoron.

Catholic is supposed to mean all-embracing.  Where have your positive principles gone?  You've been mostly about hate and discrimination and intolerance lately.  Your church has a beautiful name.  Too bad it has been stained and decimated irreversibly by the people who run it - the likes of you!

All you now know is church-church-dogma-dogma-hate-hate-discriminate-discriminate-shun-shun-shun, so don't pretend like you're qualified to influence state affairs and the affairs of people whose leagues you're obviously inferior to!  You have the right to comment on things, but, hey, SO DO I!  I respect you for being a human being and I'm not saying these things to demean you.  I'm saying these things to give you a slapping wake-up call and make you realize how low and insipid you're presenting yourself to be and that you don't bear the right to dictate anyone's lives and condemn people's loving ways as foolhardy Godlessness.

By all means, go ahead and preach in your sphere of influence.  Until you turn your face blue and fall down, you can tell your faithful followers that it's wrong to get married to the same sex and tell them they'd go to hell if they do it.  You probably do that all the time already.  However, do it in your own church and in places where you're certain only your followers are nodding.  Don't pretend to be a monarch and impose on the rest of the country as if you're some sort of credible authority whose words the Philippines should abide by.  This isn't the 17th century anymore.

Know your place in society, Carlito.  Go back to your headquarters and stay there living the life of "priestly poverty!"  Play mahjong with your clergy buddies or something.

You are the pathetic one here, Carlos Cenzon!  This also goes to Teodoro Bacani and every single one of you who think the same way.

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P.S.  I'm speaking generally in this entry, but I do recognize the fact that there are members of the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy who are good, right-thinking, and intelligent people.  Also, I didn't cite the institution's past mistakes to demean all its members.  I just mentioned them to provide a reality check to the hierarchy and remind them that the institution isn't (has never been and won't ever be) as perfect as they perceive it to be.

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Of Psychic Powers and a Brief Explanation of the Duality of Good and Evil

Psychic abilities are latent in every single human.  Some are born with it because of heredity, some develop it later in life, and yet, for some, it does not manifest in the present life.  There are factors that tend to awaken these things.

In a long path to spiritual development, for example, as one progresses, these psychic abilities manifest themselves.  However, this is a different topic.  If one chooses to follow spiritual development solely as a path, these powers are largely ignored and only tapped into when they are truly needed.  A concrete example follows.

A disciple of the Buddha had managed to reach a higher point in his quest for spiritual development.  After several hours of meditation, he unlocked the ability to make himself very lightweight. Thus, he was able to walk on water. 

He ran to the Buddha and told him about this.  "Master, Master!  I am now able to walk on water and I no longer need to employ the services of the boatman to cross the river."  Gautama replied, "Why do you pride yourself so?  You could save yourself the energy and benefit the boatman 10 coins if you take his boat to cross."

Yes, these things happen.  However, for most mystics of Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Sufism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and other similar faith traditions and spiritual brotherhoods including some Freemasons who are into deep spiritual studies, developed psychic abilities in the sense of the Pancatantra are termed siddhi and they are disturbances which are not to be focused on because they could end up stagnating development if you put much energy into them rather than your primary purpose.

Let me make it clear once again:  I am not  a Buddhist or a Jain or a Hindu or a Sufi Muslim or anything.  By faith, I practise universal mysticism--communicating with the divine through meditation and prayer.  Theosophy and Anthroposophy are not religions.  They are brotherhoods (or sisterhoods, likewise) of spiritual study and mystic development similar to Freemasonry but serving primarily as schools of thought.

Let's move on.  What is good?  What is evil?

Well, these things are not only culturally determined, although a large chunk of them are founded on predetermined religious principles. However, in the barest sense, for those equipped with appropriate spiritual understanding, each is innately able to discern if something is evil or otherwise good.

Is nature good?

No, nature is not good.  Nature is neutral.  Nature responds to its needs.  It does whatever it is bound by its laws to do.  Good and evil are human principles and as beings with separate and individualized consciousness, we are exempt from the rest of nature in this regard.

Why can some people manipulate nature?  What does that make nature when such things happen?

True, some people can manipulate energy in an arena that is perceived to be of nature.  There really are those potent enough to energize weather and alter the natural course for a while.  Take note, they are altering the natural course to favour one side of the duality.  When this happens, it is not nature anymore.  This is manipulation by a human being and it could be branded as either good or evil depending on the intentions of the one responsible for it. It comes with heavy Karmic consequences, though. One must also take note of that.  Be it good Karma or bad, it will be returned to those responsible.

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