RSVP on Facebook

Agenda:

* Storytelling: 2010 Election day adventures
* Discussion: Boundaries — Is someone in a boyfriend – girlfriend relationship off-limits?
* Debate: Democracy — Does voting make a difference?
* Brainstorming: What can we do to get our writers to write more?
* Pseudo-Support group: 1-minute-share-anything round

Photo by Richard Grimaldo / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

As the votes start to get tallied for one of the biggest elections in Philippine history, Filipinos are already in an uproar over the projected results. The second place position of the convicted plunderer and ousted president, Joseph Estrada, in the presidential race has people all over the country scratching their heads in sheer incredulity. And though the predicted landslide victory of Noynoy Aquino has some in rapture, others have been overtaken by pessimism, with the impending defeat of their bets. In the face of seemingly bleak prospects, Filipinos once again turn to God.

While the Appointed Son of God Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy’s “next president” continues to slip in the polls and the hope of the Evangelical right wing, Eddie Villanueva, braces for another multimillion peso rout, prayers still continue to stream from people hoping that the Creator of the entire universe will make good on the promises they had imagined made to them. To be fair, the Lord of all seems to have delivered good news to the Iglesia Ni Cristo in spades.

Incompetent candidates seem to have flooded the top ranks of the election results and there is no other way to rectify this situation with an omnibenevolent God than to say that “He has a plan” — the glorious exemplar of non-thinking that appears at the end of every wild theodicean goose chase.

“Lord, Ikaw na bahala.”

“Jesus, take care of the Philippines”

“I will accept the will of God.”

These are some professions of faith one would find through a cursory look at a Facebook or Twitter feed as we wait for the final results from COMELEC. Apart from a classic depiction of the Filipino at a loss, grasping for any semblance of control, however illusory, these prayers are thinly-veiled admonishments by the religious against people who didn’t follow their will. Behind the ostensible humility portrayed by each of these declarations is a believer bewildered and disappointed that their focused psychic intentions appear to have no sway over the direction of the universe.

Prayer permits people to think that they are doing everything in their power to turn the tide without leaving the election coverage on television. Faith that, whatever happens, God will work things out in the end has replaced critical thought and activism. It has allowed people to compromise on platforms and ideologies in favor of celebrity and facade. For as long as people rely on the year-round Santa Claus to fix everything, we will remain mired in the society that we deserve — one with Congressman Manny Pacquiao on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Although the event is on May 28, please RSVP soon, because we need to send the organizers a list of participants from our group on or before May 14. See you there!

***

Dear Filipino Freethinkers,

Warm greetings!

The Department of Health–Philippine National AIDS Council and TLF SHARE Collective, Inc. are coordinating the 27^th AIDS Candlelight Memorial with the theme “Many Lights for Human Rights: Remember, Honor and Act”. The event aims to (1) increase awareness on HIV/AIDS; (2) to foster solidarity and support between and among different communities, NGOs, support groups and other stakeholders in addressing HIV/AIDS issues; (3) to promote respect and uphold the dignity of persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families; (4) to mobilize communities and individuals towards achieving a participatory and meaningful engagement; (5) to remember and honor Filipinos who passed away due to HIV/AIDS and to support those who are affected.

This event shall gather key stakeholders in the HIV and AIDS response–public and private organizations, faith-based groups, health, social welfare, labor, commerce and industry as well as civil society and local communities representing the most at risk and vulnerable populations.

In this regard, we would like to invite your organization on the said event on May 28, 2010 (Friday); 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Remedios Circle and Rajah Sulayman Park, Malate, Manila.

Thank you very much for your support.

Yours,

Mr. Anastacio M. Marasigan

Executive Director

TLF SHARE Collective, Inc.

…

It is a common warning that when drinking, one should avoid any talk on religion or politics because that’s a recipe for disaster. These topics are very personal to some people, and if someone criticizes their deity or candidate – add to that the effects of alcohol to everyone - it is often just a matter of time before a drunken remark is taken the wrong way by the drunk listener, leading to more hostile exchanges that won’t be limited to words.

Interestingly, religion, politics, and alcohol have one thing in common: they get people drunk. The religious followers get drunk on the promise of salvation and wellbeing amid all their problems – while the religious leaders get drunk with power. The political followers get drunk on the promise of an end to corruption and poverty – while the political leaders get drunk with power.

And of course, if there’s the intoxication, sometimes there’s also the hangover. This may exclude the deeply religious who never ‘sobered up’ until they died, but oftentimes the faithful are sooner or later confronted with the problem of evil and gratuitous pain, and many suffer from cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile this with the existence of a loving and powerful deity. On the other hand, when politicians fail to deliver their promises, their supporters wake up with a splitting headache to an ugly reality.

On May 10 many will get drunk with hope - hope for a better government and a better life. A lot is at stake here and there are forces trying to jeopardize this hope, so people get emotional and wary at the same time. And this is where the liquor ban makes sense because you wouldn’t want to add any more intoxication to all the excitement.

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DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in this article represent the views of the author ‘innerminds‘ and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of www.filipinofreethinkers.org.

Sinisterspark’s reportedly busy with her studies, so I’ll be filling in with the weekly news items until things settle down. Aside from the usual reports of the Catholic Church’s misogyny, I’ve picked up several interesting interesting bits of science news.

Stephen Hawking explains that while aliens may exist, he doubts that it will play out link First Contact scenario many sci-fi buffs have theorized. Hawking instead alludes to what happened to the Native Americans when Christopher Columbus first landed in America. That is, the alien species may be less than friendly, and could given their superior tech, would not bode well for our race.

Where's Will Smith when you need him?

Also make sure to check out the opinion piece by JulietEcho on the Friendly Atheist regarding premarital sex, and the study on the effects of charismatic leaders on your ability to think rationally. Yes, it’s official: Listening to the likes of Eli Soriano makes you dumber.

Make sure to submit any interesting updates over at the News Thread over at the forums, and wish sinister well on her studies!

=========================

Stephen Hawking: Aliens may exist, but do we really want to meet them? (via Yahoo news) Link

Hypocrisy: Anti-gay activist on vacation with “rent boy” (via Miami New Times) Link

Vatican on the prowl for feminazi nuns in Washington state (via KUOW.org) Link

Giant robot baby terrorizes China. No, this is not from The Onion (via CNET) Link

Law Professor Lawrence Lessig’s Op-Ed on his first-hand experience on the Catholic Church blocking legal actions against sex offenders (via NY Times) Link

What’s Wrong with Premarital Sex? (via Friendly Atheist) Link

Blasphemy! College students draw stick figures of the prophet Mohammed (via Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers) Link

Karma: Alternative meds promoter Gary Null ODs on his own product (via NY Daily News) Link

Boobquake aftershocks: Iranian women gives event positive reception (via Blag Hag) Link

Study shows that being exposed to charismatic religious leaders shuts down rational thought (via New Scientist) Link

When religious leaders endorse political candidates, there is an implied underlying assumption that they are ‘merely’ announcing the will of God to the people. And underlying that assumption is the unstated premise that these leaders are true recipients of divine revelation, hence, they appoint themselves as “Messengers of God”.

Although I have already quoted it before, I guess it doesn’t hurt to revisit what the deists have to say about ‘revelation’:

Revelation: The act of revealing or of making known. In the religious sense, revelation usually means divine revelation. This is meaningless, since revelation can only be revelation in the first instance. For example, if God revealed something to me, that would be a divine revelation to me. If I then told someone else what God told me it would be mere hearsay to the person I tell. If that person believed what I said, they would not be putting their trust in God, but in me, believing what I told them was actually true.

Unfortunately, a lot of people do not seem to appreciate this. They take their leaders’ words in good faith – as the true word of God – because who would dare use the name of God in vain?

Now I can’t help but wonder what would happen if the candidate a certain minister is endorsing does not win. Will this undermine the will of God – or just the preacher’s status as recipient of divine revelation?

Possibly neither. Just as the Problem of Evil never really succeeded in sowing skepticism in the minds of people who believe in an all-powerful and loving God, unfulfilled prophecies will probably do little damage to these evangelists’ credibility – at least among their followers. If they were able to come up with sophisticated theodicies whose logical fallacies escape even the supposedly smart people, it doesn’t seem like a leap of faith to imagine that they are already crafting “divine answers” in case their endorsements do not fare well on election day.

* * * * *

DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in this article represent the views of the author ‘innerminds‘ and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of www.filipinofreethinkers.org.

Facebook event page

(written by Beatriz Torre)

Sunday, May 2, 2010
5:00pm – 11:00pm
Metropolitan Community Church Quezon City, 56 Mindanao Avenue, Quezon City

PRIDE & ACCEPTANCE
The 2010 Flower Pride Parade / LGBT Flores de Mayo.

Flores de Mayo celebrates the harvest season and pays tribute to the saints and marian folklore. The mainstream Catholic church claims exclusive franchise on this event and opposes the participation of gay men and transgendered Filipinos as Floreses. In 2008, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said, “It is very disgusting that we see gays as the center of attraction in the Santacruzan, which is supposed to be religious in nature as this is for our love of the Virgin Mary. If we continue doing this, we are not giving praises to the Virgin Mary; we become instruments in destroying this sacred devotion.”

However, LGBT Filipinos and their allies continue to resist the Church’s homophobia and heteronormativity, and assert the right to participate in the Flores de Mayo.

Progay Philippines and the Metropolitan Community Church of Quezon City are working together to hold this Sunday’s queer Flores de Mayo. This event aims to encourage creative Pride celebrations that promote acceptance of LGBT citizenship.

In lieu of our regular meet-up, the Filipino Freethinkers are invited to participate in this queer Flores de Mayo. [update: There will still be a regular meetup on May 2.] As allies of the groups and individuals who assert their rights in the face of religious dogma, we can show our support for this effort in a number of ways:

(1) Help design one of the arkos that will be used in the procession.

(2) Help carry the arkos during the parade itself. This can be done by people of any sexual orientation and any gender identity. Up to 20 volunteers are needed for this.

(3) Watch and cheer as the parade goes by, maybe with a few counter-placards ready in case rabid anti-LGBT fundies show up.

Volunteers who would like to help design an arko can go to MCCQC in the afternoon/evening of Saturday, May 1 (after the FF-UPD chapter meetup). Those who want to help carry the arkos or support the parade itself can go to MCCQC on Sunday, May 2 at around 7 pm. Fancy gowns, tiaras, and barong Tagalogs are NOT required–you’re free to wear whatever you like.

If you want to help design or carry the arkos, PLEASE inform us by posting a comment on this event’s wall along with your RSVP. We need to know how many of us are volunteering, especially for those who will carry the arkos. Also, if you have ideas for placards to show our support for the event or to counter anti-LGBT fundies, do share!

The LGBTQIA Flores de Mayo this Sunday is another opportunity to go beyond our coffeeshop-comfort zone and try our hand at social action. Let’s be freethinkers against homophobic religious dogma and allies for pride and acceptance.

*For more information on this Pride event, please contact Rev. Ceejay Agbayani, moderator and pastor of MCC Quezon City (rev.ceejay@yahoo.com) or Mr. Oscar Atadero (oscar_atadero@yahoo.com). For location, type “Metropolitan Community Church” in the Search box of this website http://www.wiki-maps.com/manila/lid/mindanao-avenue

Facebook event page

Agenda:

* Storytelling: Have you ever debated a family member about religion?
* Discussion: What kind of activism do you think is best?
* Shoptalk: Pedantry — Should you tell someone their
grammar/pronunciation/usage is wrong?
* Debate: Which should our education system focus on improving: Filipino or English?
* Pseudo-Support group: 1-minute-share-anything round

After the meetup those who are supporting the LGBT Flores de Mayo can go there together. Those who aren’t can have dinner/drinks as usual. And sorry for the late invite. See you tomorrow!