Apparently Willie Revillame is giving away P100,000. That’s a lot of money, and in the right hands it could do a lot of good, but instead it’s joining almost 1.5 million pesos put together by Senators, other personalities and lay people for, of all things, cars. Cars for bishops.

Macalintal and former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza are leading the fund raising drive in support of seven bishops who bought utility vehicles from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office donations in 2009…

Macalintal said they are looking at seeking donations from Catholic parishioners to raise P8.2 million, the amount that the prelates received from the state-run lottery.

So let me get this straight:

1. They ask for money.
2. They receive money they know they shouldn’t have.
3. They buy cars.
4. They get called out on their hypocrisy.
5. They return the cars.
6. They get money?

God damn I chose the wrong line of work!

Now I’ve seen a fair share of envelopes passed around the office or classroom – for a classmate whose father died, for a colleague who lost everything he owned to Ondoy, for a friend who had cancer – and none of them were for a reason as shallow as “because I had to return my car.” There are a lot of people who need real help, a lot of severely underfunded charities, a lot of dilapidated public schools and hospitals, and compared to them – hell, compared to anything – buying a half dozen SUV’s for some bishops just doesn’t seem like a worthy cause at all.

Of course, if people like Willie Revillame and other personalities want to donate their own money to this fund, it’s entirely their choice. They are private citizens, and as long as there is no violation of church/state separation going on they are free to do with their money as they please. I just hope that before handing them the money, Willie makes the bishops do a little dance first.

(Image taken from Single Father at Work)

You might remember Pope Benedict’s statements last December blaming the past child rape on the 70′s culture, with the “tu quoque” argument that the “context of the times” somehow justified it because, to paraphrase, “everyone was doing it.” Well now the Church has a genuine study to back them up.

Two weeks ago the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York released a report “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010″ that supported the Pope’s statement. It concluded that the majority of the child rapes occurred during the 60′s and 70′s, which was “consistent with the rise in other types of “deviant” behavior, such as drug use and crime” and that “perceptions of “normal” sexual behavior are not stable over time, nor are laws governing the sexual behavior that is considered wrong.” The study seems to suggest that child rape was somehow normal during the hippie revolution and is no longer considered acceptable these days, which is why reports are now coming in decades after the crimes.

The study goes on to say that most “pedo-priests” aren’t actually pedophiles because “pedophilia is defined as the sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Yet, the data on priests show that 22 percent of victims were age ten and under, while the majority of victims were pubescent or postpubescent.”

Well then, they’re not all pedophiles after all, so I guess that makes it okay.

You’d think a five-year study into child-raping priests by a College of Criminal Justice would sound more like it was on the side of actual justice than trying to make excuses for the Catholic Church, until you count the number of times the word “Catholic” appears in the donors list. This study, commissioned by the The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is nothing more than another example of the old Catholic doctrine “Downplay the sin, protect the sinner, screw the victim.”

The study can be downloaded from here. A good review about how this report is worthless and dangerous can be found here.

After having been shoved and shouted at last night by pro-life Catholics who call the RH Bill and modern contraception the road that leads straight to death, I may be forgiven for taking the headline “Pope says condoms may be OK in some circumstances” as a joke, especially since the cited circumstance is to prevent the transmission of HIV. After all, this is the same Pope who condemned the use of condoms even in AIDS-ravaged Africa, from the same Church whose self-proclaimed “real” members just hours ago handed out pamphlets that claimed that condoms helped the spread of AIDS. How on earth could condom use ever be justified?

Apparently, if you’re a male prostitute.

Of course, since the Catholic Church is still opposed to contraceptives as a means to prevent pregnancy, we must take it to mean that this justification only applies to male prostitutes whose use of condoms does not affect any potential for procreation.

That’s right, gay prostitutes.

In so many roundabout words the Pope says in a an upcoming book that he thinks it’s a good idea for gay prostitutes to wear condoms, because “the intention of reducing the risk of infection” is “a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility”, but maintains that for Africa, abstinence is the only sure way to combat HIV/AIDS. This begs the question of course of whether the circumstance of monogamous married couples where one spouse is infected are offered the same leniency as male prostitutes, or because using a condom still prevents the potential for conception we are meant to understand that the official Catholic stance remains; condoms are still outright forbidden.

This double standard Pope Benedict seems to have adopted in favor of the protection of male prostitutes and their clients seems all the more sickening in the face of the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases in Africa and around the world. It makes me wonder, perhaps with some amusement, if this was brought about by a rising number of HIV/AIDS cases among the clergy.

A few hours ago, outside the Manila Cathedral, pro-life activists gave out a couple of leaflets attacking the RH Bill. They are attached below for your enjoyment/irritation; click to view in all their falsehood.

For the benefit of our non-Filipino readers, we’ve taken the liberty of translating a few sections:

The RH Bill No. 96 of Congressman Lagman and any version of it is the road that leads straight to DEATH!

2. What is the Reproductive Health Bill 96?
a. The use of contraception (abortifacients – condoms, pills, IUDs, etc.) endangers the health of mothers and children. This results in:

• Cancer
• causes heart attacks and stroke
• the mother and newborn child will have disabilities and health problems like psychological disorders of the mother and abnormalities in the child.

The spread of AIDS – according to the strongest universal evidence, widespread condom usage leads to the increased spreading of AIDS due to complacence as regards to the dangers of negligent intercourse.

Why is there the desire to pass the RH-Bill?
Capitalists who benefit from the producing and distributing of contraceptives use money and dirty politics.

It is just this sort of misinformation the poor are subject to every day, and when the Church itself preaches this to their flock they are sadly compelled to believe.

Simon Singh writes:

This week is the first anniversary of the report Free Speech is Not for Sale, which highlighted the oppressive nature of English libel law. In short, the law is extremely hostile to writers, while being unreasonably friendly towards powerful corporations and individuals who want to silence critics.

The English libel law is particularly dangerous for bloggers, who are generally not backed by publishers, and who can end up being sued in London regardless of where the blog was posted. The internet allows bloggers to reach a global audience, but it also allows the High Court in London to have a global reach.

You can read more about the peculiar and grossly unfair nature of English libel law at the website of the Libel Reform Campaign. You will see that the campaign is not calling for the removal of libel law, but for a libel law that is fair and which would allow writers a reasonable opportunity to express their opinion and then defend it.

The good news is that the British Government has made a commitment to draft a bill that will reform libel, but it is essential that bloggers and their readers send a strong signal to politicians so that they follow through on this promise. You can do this by joining me and over 50,000 others who have signed the libel reform petition at
www.libelreform.org/sign

Remember, you can sign the petition whatever your nationality and wherever you live. Indeed, signatories from overseas remind British politicians that the English libel law is out of step with the rest of the free world.

If you have already signed the petition, then please encourage friends, family and colleagues to sign up. Moreover, if you have your own blog, you can join hundreds of other bloggers by posting this blog on your own site. There is a real chance that bloggers could help change the most censorious libel law in the democratic world.

We must speak out to defend free speech. Please sign the petition for libel reform at www.libelreform.org/sign

It’s short notice, but if you’re a Cebuano Freethinker, or any Freethinker currently in Cebu, you’re invited to the First FF Cebu Chapter Meet-up!

Date: Saturday, April 17
Time: 2pm to 6pm.
Place: Starbucks, Ayala Center Cebu

Agenda: Anything goes.

There’s never a shortage of interesting topics for a First Meet-up; introduce yourselves, tell the story of your journey to enlightenment, share what it’s like being a Freethinker in a city built around a rotting cross.

RSVP at the Facebook event page

Robert Sapolsky, renowned neurobiologist, explains how we are not as unique in the animal kingdom as we like to think.

Begin at the 4:50 mark; it’s a long intro, but a very enlightening lecture.

Congratulations Igme, on winning our first ever Essay Writing Contest!

For those who were unable to attend the last meet-up, Igme was awarded for his article Children’s Choice. The decision was reached after factoring in the votes garnered, the original contest criteria and the fact that it was an actual essay (sorry, poets).

The prize, Dawkins’ The Greatest Show On Earth – The Evidence For Evolution, was awarded last Sunday, the 10th of January, in the year of His Noodliness, two thousand and ten.

Also handed out last Sunday was a surprise prize, for most valuable blogger, awarded to PinoyAtheist with 42 (forty two?!) posts! The purpose of this contest was to get members writing more about what it means to be a Filipino Freethinker, and for well after the contest period ended, John has been consistently writing about just that.

Two prizes awarded, two winners well deserved, one contest finally over. We can now start work on a second contest, in time for the first year anniversary of FF.

What contest would you join? What prize would you like to win?

With Mikong’s winter solstice visit to Davao kicking off our first ever regional meetup, I figured I could do the same when I go home to Cebu later this December. And if you’re going home to your province this season as well, why not do the same too?

This is a challenge to FF members going home for the holidays — meet at least one other Filipino freethinker in your area. Whether reaching existing members who haven’t been to our Manila meet-ups or spreading the good news that is FF to Filipino freethinkers who had no idea we exist, the goal is to get in touch with at least one other disbeliever.

And this isn’t just a challenge for members visiting the provinces either. If you’re not from Manila and have been looking for a local meet-up, get one organized yourself!

I’m sure there will be tons to talk about. The state of freethought in the country or in your province, personal stories about living in a Catholic nation where separation of Church and State is almost nonexistent, surviving Christmas among religions friends and family, plans and projects of FF and ideas of what more can be done.

And, of course, the possibility of setting up an actual regional chapter of FF.

We can provide an FF tabletop logo for members who are up to the challenge, which you can set up on your coffee table or on the bar, wherever you choose to organize, but filling up the seats will be up to you. Post a query on our forums, mailing list or in the comments below. Look up old classmates who once questioned their religion. Google your town for existing freethought circles, or send meet-up invites to mailing lists of friends and family. It doesn’t take much to organize a regional meet-up, and this challenge hopes to demonstrate that. Just you and one other person, and FF will have taken that first step in your province.

Oh, and take pictures. We do love pictures.

.. 1095 – At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade, declaring holy war against the Muslims who had occupied the Holy Land, beginning the first of at least nine Crusades. “The Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, although campaigns were also waged against pagan Slavs, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes.”

.. 1895 – Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death. The awards for the sciences – physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine – remain widely considered to be the more prestigious award one can receive in those fields.

.. 1978 – Assassination of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, “the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet.” The killing was regarded by many as a hate crime.

.. 2009 – First day of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim celebration of one man’s willingness to kill his son for no other reason than his God told him to.

Okay, so last meet-up it was brought to my attention that members did not realize that they had 15 votes to give away for this contest, which would probably explain the low vote count.

So, due to popular demand, voting has been reopened for a second round. Note that the votes made during the first round still count, and you’re still allowed to vote for a particular post just once. (But you can vote for up to 15 posts!)

Fifteen, if you didn’t catch that. 15. Labinlima. Quince. 十五. 열다섯. δεκαπέντε. חמשעסר.

As usual, you can find the list of entries here. The Vote link can be found in the author box at the bottom of each post. The time limit this time is two weeks, to give everyone enough time to read through everything.

On a separate note, what do you think our next contest should be?

Top 5 votes as of 11 am, Nov 18. 25 hours until voting ends.

Tomorrow is the last day of voting and turnout thus far has been quite low. And since we’re eager to get our other contests started, voting with not be extended for this one. If we don’t have enough votes by 24:00 tomorrow, the decision will be left entirely to the judges.

You can find the list of entries here, and you can vote for the entries you like by clicking the Vote link at the bottom.

Remember, prayers don’t win contests, votes do.

Well I finally got around to finalizing the entries to our very extended Essay Writing Contest, and the judges sure have their work cut out for them. We have 66 entries, listed in alphabetical order below, and while they’re an absolute delight to read through, the sheer volume of them is enough to make me wish I had made this a haiku writing contest.

But just who are these poor judges who have to read through each of them again and vote, you ask? Why, you of course!

That’s right folks, elections have come early and you get to help choose the winner of our first Essay Writing Contest. Here are the mechanics:

• Each of the articles below will display a “Vote” link at the bottom of the page. Click this link to cast a vote for the post.
• Registered users can vote for up to 15 articles, but must vote only once for each. Be honest; His Noodliness is watching.
• You have one week to vote, after which the top articles will be shortlisted for our first FF magazine publication.
• Editors will then vote for the winning article from the shortlist.

You are free to vote any way you feel, but we recommend the following criteria:

• Subject and Relevance (35 points) – subject matter must be of interest to readers, and must be relevant to freethought (optional: in the Philippine setting)
• Organization and Accuracy (25) – work must follow a central idea, and all facts stated must be accurate. i.e. avoid ranting, and cite sources when possible.
• Style and Soundness of reasoning (25) – work must be written in a manner that makes readers want to read on, and hopefully agree with your sentiment
• Overall coolness (15) – bonus points for blowing our minds.

Now get voting. There are no lesser evils here.

1. A Scientific Bible? by pinoyatheist
2. A Valuable Lesson by Ryan Tani
3. According to Bacon by pinoyatheist
4. An atheist learns from a dog by pinoyatheist
5. Angels and Demons by igme
6. Ashes to Ashes…dust to dust. by pinoyatheist
7. Atheistic Spirituality by pinoyatheist
8. Belief, non-belief, and homosexuality by f241vc15
9. Book Review : The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by wes
10. Brainwashing with consent by pinoyatheist
11. Can you justify by mere faith? by pinoyatheist
12. Children’s Choice by igme
13. Chiz’s “pasang awa” project gets failing grade by Ryan Tani
14. Congressmen Contra-RH Bill by Geri Villas
15. Cory’s Legacy by wes
16. Couple’s Choice by igme
17. Creating “Creations” by pinoyatheist
18. Devastated by Ondoy? Congrats: You just passed Calculus! by Ryan Tani
19. Diet for Christians: Less Spam, More Meat by Ryan Tani
20. Does God Exist? Video Campaign — Refuted by Geri Villas
21. Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Wella
22. Faithful Dad, Faithless Dad by Ryan Tani
23. Falling In Love: The Physics Of Attraction by f241vc15
24. Fear of Meeting ff Folks by AnnThrop
25. Forsaken by Sathepine
26. Free Thinkers Political Watch Out by justinaquino
27. Freethinkers in the Philippines? by pinoyatheist
28. Freethought Poetry: Mothers by f241vc15
29. Ghosts by Tania Arpa
30. How to Oppose the RH Bill by Geri Villas
31. I Just Want Him Safe by Sathepine
32. I Killed My Guardian Angel – Is That OK? by yodz
33. Is Writing Rationally Irrational? by wes
34. Jesus and the Fig Tree by pinoyatheist
35. Judas, the Traitor? by igme
36. Just Like Rabbits by pinoyatheist
37. L2MF Post #02: On Courage, Industry, and Honesty by InfoLibertarian
38. L2MF Post #03: On Church Offerings and Charitable Donations by InfoLibertarian
39. Letters to My Father, Post #01 by InfoLibertarian
40. Liars and Friars by Ryan Tani
41. Of things concerning rock, paper, scissors, and other weapons by f241vc15
42. On Religion and Tolerance by pinoyatheist
43. On the Church’s NFP-only stance: The case of Texas by Twin-Skies
44. Philippine Historians’ Dilemma: What is Philippine Culture? by justinaquino
45. Review: Spring Awakening by wes
46. Sacrifice by igme
47. Sina B1 at B2: A conversation on contraception by Ryan Tani
48. Societal Health: the More Heathenly, the More Heavenly by Ryan Tani
49. Sorry guys, I’m reconverting… by f241vc15
50. Spare the Rod and SAVE the Child by Ryan Tani
51. Spiritual Enlightenment by Gerard Baula
52. The Birds and the Bees and the Hymens and the Mens by Ryan Tani
53. The Boss by innerminds
54. The Flaws of Science (?) by Harmless
55. The Problem with Superstitions. by pinoyatheist
56. The Theocracy Of Ed Panlilio by Geri Villas
57. Time and Life by innerminds
58. Towards healthier skepticism: Correlation does not imply causation by f241vc15
59. Viral Religion by Archer
60. We need more Catholics like this… by Twin-Skies
61. What The Faith — The Baldy, the Babes, and the Bears by Ryan Tani
62. When Death Hangs Above Your Head by pinoyatheist
63. Why People Worship Money by innerminds
64. Why volunteer? by Tania Arpa
65. Will to be Whole by Sathepine
66. Would You Like A Secular Philippines? by Benj

Note: A few of them might not be essays, but have been included as entries nontheless. If you have submissions that are not listed, please leave a comment and we will update the list.

posted on behalf of Gerard Baula (solvictus)

Have you ever sought enlightenment to feel that forgotten glorious experience in your soul? Of course, you have. But how did you know about enlightenment? Why search for it if you have never experience it? You see, enlightenment did not just pop out from nowhere. It had a history of development. In ancient times, we discovered and worshipped gods and goddesses. We carried our beliefs until one belief took over another one. Let us fast forward to the time when Romans ruled the lands. With their pope, they colonized and converted the barbarians and the outcasts to their religion. They said that we have to do this and that, pray like this, not like that, and the like. They manipulated our beliefs and thoughts. But when a major event – the Vatican Council II (the 21st general/ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church which took place between October 11, 1962 and December 8, 1965) – occurred, our beliefs and thoughts were free. We started shouting our questions to the world. Our conscience and way of thinking slowly changed. We sought ways and sources to attain these answers for our questions. Our focus of thoughts changed. From spirituality to science and/or vice versa, we searched for those answers. Then, we started to improve science and choose a spirituality to lean on. Yet it does not stop there. As you breathe now, everything changes even if you are not aware of it. Maybe at this moment, you have questions in mind or, somewhere in the distant future, you will find something to seek. From the birth of this planet or of this universe, we have only stayed here for just a short time. We are like animals, always hungry, but hungry for knowledge. Yet, as obvious as it is, our changes have never stopped and our need continues to grow. That is why enlightenment, especially spiritual enlightenment, is sought to satiate our hunger for the answers we seek. Spiritual enlightenment is more important for me because mental enlightenment can be accomplished through the sciences. While spiritual enlightenment can be achieved through personal reflections, strategic planning, and extensive social support. These are like the parts of a living plant.

Reflection is important because it is the root of interest and planning is the stem. To uphold all of this, social support, like oxygen and water, must be present. Thus, enlightenment is the flower, the fruit of patience and hardship. How can I ever be influenced by the fragrance of the flower if there is no flower? However, as I was a loner, I had so much time to reflect on my life and my questions of it. So, I reflected on my personality and on my attitude. I wonder what should be changed and not be changed. So, my life would be easier on me and how I prayed for it. Yet reality detaches me from these dreams – these reflections. Then I really experienced life as it is – full of successes and failures. My experiences of God and my religion gave me desire to attain spiritual enlightenment because I needed specific answers. I wanted to understand God. Possibilities are limitless but to name a few, I can be a priest and I can let my life serve the Lord until I can grasp what he likes me to do. I can research for these answers in bibles, works and other forms. Alternatively, I can just quit and see my answers at the gates of Heaven by waiting for my life to expire or I will shorten my life. However, what this enlightenment will do to me is unknown. I think it will ease my mind and caress my heart to a higher place. It will lead me to some place where I am superior to the unenlightened. All of these gave me the interest to pursue spiritual enlightenment. I feel a need for it. It is like my last meal before I die.

If you have the reason to attain enlightenment, then you must know how. Strategic planning is the first step in attaining spiritual enlightenment. So, we can arrange our thoughts and unite them to one. We are mortals and we are limited in some factors. One of them is time. Time limits our life. Time was created by early man to schedule his daily life. For us, enlightenment seekers, we need it to schedule our progress and with another factor, maturity, we know our level of thinking. This tells us that our views might be difficult to achieve while some persons need just to pursue some small goals to attain their spiritual enlightenment. The length we have to go through can be determined in our pace of development. This might be due to our interest or our willingness to go through what should we do from one level to another. The things to be done are the most important. Thoughts are useless if it will not be acted out and/or be applied in our actions. Be devoted. It maintains interest and refrains us from falling even when we are failing. It is the life support of our interest. Another important act you should do is to pray. Praying refreshes one’s status. It heals the poison of temper and gives an optimistic mind. It stretches the muscles of your spirit and cools the fire in the mind. Knowing is necessary to understand where we are and what development we are in. It determines where or what our source of sorrow is, if taken seriously. It is an action – a path – taken by one. For it takes one to know one. Never will it take one to know two. To know one’s self is to be oneself. Once you know the source of sorrow, it should be eliminated. If it can be created, it can be eliminated. This elimination must be done quickly because sources of sorrow may appear and disappear unexpectedly. If done quickly, we will have immunity towards it the next time the source of sorrow will appear. No man is an island, as the saying goes. We need to have other views and open our minds to other things but some views are not that effective. Before using other perspectives, we should test them and make sure their results are good. Once done, we can apply them to the daily decisions in our lives. Again, acting our thoughts will prove that our beliefs are useful. It will give us the opportunities to move on. We must flow like the wind and must not rot in the deep. For God has given us a gift to act and it would be failing to accept it when we do not use it.

My extensive social support upheld the roads I passed by and, I know, you have your own supports. People are such great helpers and they gave me more views in life in spite of the views I originally have. Man’s outlook on life gave me an idea that there are other ways of thought different from mine. With that, they achieved with their beliefs and they were successful at it. It really inspired me to see that they achieved what they conceived. It is a great act that they have told the world what they will do and they have done it. Books, another external influence, opened my eyes and my mind to a world full of amazing things and simple wonders. Books of evolution tell me man and spirit are changing and developing to a higher level of energy but both are in a different pace. A higher level of energy also means higher consciousness that means the level of thoughts is advanced and the spirit is freer. For example, the spirit can change from a sorrowful to a glorious state of feeling and it can detach from the body – which is a materialistic object. Surroundings can affect a person’s life from neonate to old-aged. A harsh surrounding can make a person be aggressive towards other people and can be a training ground for criminals while a serene surrounding can make a person light-hearted and merciful. Surroundings are like music. They can really change a person’s mood and aura through the rhythm and beat. If people find themselves spiritually inadequate, they start searching for an answer that will satiate the emptiness of their life.

Attaining spiritual enlightenment is a momentous event and can be viewed as a model for people who want to be enlightened. It would be a great opportunity to achieve enlightenment because it is only been successful to few who have lived to have it. It is so great because, again, time limits us from doing or acquiring it. Attaining it would signify that man or a part of man has reached a certain point that tells us that enlightenment is easier to achieve than in the past. It would mean that any mortal has the right to be enlightened. It also tells us man continues to develop and that enlightenment is just one of the steps in attaining the last evolution of man.