So you find yourself in a movie theater watching the third installment of the Twilight series and find yourself totally entranced by the deeply moving love triangle between the story’s perennially co-dependent heroine, the brooding matinee-idol vampire that glitters, and the equally moody werewolf who just can’t keep his shirt on.

Caught up in the layers-upon-layers of deeply philosophical underpinnings of the story, you can’t help but ponder upon life’s most sublime existential questions like what is love? what is true happiness? Am I Team-Edward or Team-Jacob?

Ahhh, the eternal questions to life’s greatest mysteries….

So you wonder where all these thoughts come from… what is it about vampires that capture the rapt attention of people everywhere to the point of irrational devotion?

Hmmm… fictional undead dude that rose from the dead with super-powers beyond that of mortal men… where have I heard that before…

Oh riiiiight… him….

Need more proof that they’re actually quite similar? Then here’s the :

Top 10 List Why Jesus and Vampires are Alike

1. Loosely based on historical figures
2. The tale gets passed on from generation to generation, each time adding a twist to the original tale until it becomes larger than life.
3. Very popular in pop-culture. Every year or so, there’s bound to be another re-hashed movie or best-seller about him. Ranges from the teeny-bopper, “cool” versions popular with younger crowd to the bloodier, more R-rated versions. (and it can’t get any more bloodier than Mel Gibson’s version).  Anne Rice even wrote a book about him/them.
4. Came back from the grave as an immortal undead with super-powers
5. Only reveals his true nature to a select few, preferably those he’s already gotten under his thrall
6. Can’t enter uninvited into your house (or heart)
7. Allergic to crosses, prefers not to be impaled with or into woody stuff but in the official storyline gets staked anyway.
8. Likes to be called “prince”, though one prefers the moniker of “prince of peace”, the other likes the title “prince of darkness”.
9. Keeps flying critters as pets which usually come out on special occasions or when specifically summoned. One like doves, the other prefers bats.
10. Has his own rabid fan-base. Don’t mess with his fans, they can appear to be all nice and normal, but say one bad thing about their master and they bare their fangsssss…

- O -

Need more food for thought? Even vampire lore in general, when you think about it, sounds awfully close to Christian beliefs, so here’s the follow-up list :

Top 10 List Why Vampire Lore is like Christianity

Lore states that you too can have eternal life. When you die, the master has the power to bring you back to life

Your salvation is dependent on you consuming the blood of your benefactor in a special ritual

You are not automatically born as one, you have to be converted into one via special rites

There is a strict code of obedience to one’s sire

Minions like to mind control more hapless victims by using their brainwashing powers

Usually has warring sub-factions which recruits humans to use as pawns or cannon-fodder

Hates other supernatural beings (like witches, warlocks, werewolves)

Despite claims to having a lot of supernatural abilities, nothing really ever gets scientifically proven or recorded.

They only reveal themselves to the public when an apocalyptic battle is about to occur, otherwise they only leave traces of unproven tales and rumors in history.

The “good” guys are usually required to practice total and complete abstinence. The “bad” guys are often portrayed as bestial brutes who can’t suppress their instinctive urges, there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground either way.

- O -

But there are alternatives to Stephanie Meyer’s bunch of mormon-inspired “vegan” vampires in the small screen. The closest approximation would be the other teeny-bopper favorite The Vampire Diaries. Though it still falls into Cliche No.10 of  “good vampire totally abstaining from human blood and the bad vampire sucking everyone in sight” (aka. the PG-13 cutesy metaphor for pre-marital sex), its one redeeming value is that the heroine Elena Gilbert is no wimpy Bella Swan (who in Book 1, upon seeing how rich Edward was, thought of quitting school altogether and living with Edward in a state of co-dependent bliss… obviously, growing up to be a self-successful, independent and liberated woman was never part of Bella’s long term goals).

- O -

But another rung up the vampire band-wagon is HBO’s True Blood (now on its 3rd season!). Based on Charlaine Harris’ series of novels set in the south, the spunky heroine Sookie Stackhouse played by X-Men’s Anna Paquin is a force to be reckoned with. Even though she’s no Buffy, she holds her own against the things that go bump in the night.  This is one gritty series that isn’t afraid to dip into controversy.

It deals with diverse, socially-relevant issues like interracial relationships, bigotry, xenophobia, and the like. And unlike the usual vampire stories, the twist here is that instead of  protecting people from the monsters, religious people are the ones doing the oppressing. Some see this as an allegory of religious persecution against gay people. There are several hints in the show which mirror this sad reality with clever twists like  “God Hates Fangs” (God Hates Fags) and “Coming out of the coffin” (coming out of the closet).

In this world, they have found a viable blood substitute – True Blood, which is the namesake of the show. Vampires have no need to prey on humans and are now trying to get accepted into mainstream society.  But people still fear what is different and stoking the flames of paranoia and hatred are the religious zealots who are using scriptures to justify the eradication of all vampires… good or bad.

In a pivotal episode, the protagonists seek an audience with the Queen of the vampires who let them in on a little secret…

“They’re still waiting for the god who’ll come…”

“Does he ever come?”

“Of course not…  gods only exist in the minds of men, like money and morality”

- O -

Author’s addendum: Whoops, forgot to acknowledge the help of everyone who pitched in ideas to complete the Top 10 lists, many thanks to Den, Johnster, Mack, and Mr. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, hehe… though you guys are all dyed-in-the-wool, church-going Catholics, you never fail to surprise me on how far your sparkling wit can actually break into actual heretical humor… see you all guys in Hell, hehe

Today is the feast of St. John the Baptist. And with our very own city of San Juan being named after the saint whose claim to fame is splashing other people with water, it’s no surprise that his feast day here is celebrated in the wettest way possible.

This year’s celebration seems to have been leveled up ten-fold. Whereas in the past few years, we would only see a few locals with their pails of water and garden hoses gleefully “baptizing” passers-by with water, this year we have actual firetrucks in every street corner literally deluging motorists and commuters alike in a torrential baptismal frenzy. With that much water power, one would almost hope that it would be enough to wash away all the evils in the country like Noah’s great flood. But alas, not even the might of Ondoy was enough to cleanse this nation of ours. So on we go with our lives, having no arks… yet still able to endure any amount of flooding that comes our way.

The first firetruck

Only in the Philippines will you see the government deploying all their firetrucks for merry-making (and making hapless commuter’s live miserable). Never mind if there was an actual emergency and all their firetrucks are out of water and stuck in the middle of the immovable crowd. After all, we are a christian nation and god will protect us. All it takes is a prayer to make everything better. In the meantime, the local royalty of the fiefdom of San Juan is much too busy celebrating their across-the-board win in the recently concluded elections. Their old mayor has just been promoted to congress and another family member takes his place in their own little kingdom. Enough reason to crank the celebration to the max. San Juan will not be outdone by Makati’s recent celebratory fanfare. What it lacks in budget, it will make up for in sheer chutzpah.

Yes, Filipinos really know how to party. Just like that those annoying neighbors who love the crank up their drunken karaoke parties till the wee hours of the morning. And its that same insensitivity that shows just how mature we are when it comes to merry-making. Sure, everyone’s having the time of their lives but what about those poor commuters who are just passing by on their way to work? Did anybody bother to ask them whether they’d actually want to participate in all the drenching? Did the revelers think of how those poor office workers will fare when they reach their offices soaking wet? Folks, this is not a simple sprinkling of water you can just air-dry in a few minutes, these guys are using actual fire hoses turned on full blast. The pressure alone from one of these babies will knock you off your feet, not to mention make you look like you swam to work. And if you think going to work with wet clothes suck, think of those carrying important documents that’s now reduced to wet rags.

The second firetruck

It’s a weird blend of one-third merry-making, one-third religious festival, and one-third politically-sponsored thank-you party. And just like its religious origins, things have a way to getting out of hand. People just get so caught up with the flow of things that they forget to even consider the collateral damage. Did the organizers think that everyone passing by is prepared for it and is a willing participant? Did they prepare alternate routes for those not in the mood to participate? You don’t get a choice. It gets shoved in your face whether you like it or not… just like religion. Most people didn’t have a choice of whether to get baptized or not since its done when they were still babies, they don’t get a choice of whether to get soaked when passing by San Juan, and they don’t get a choice whether they even agree with church-influenced national policies. Don’t have the same conservative views on sex as the Catholics? Tough. Think divorce is a feasible option in certain situations? Too bad. Don’t find anything wrong with same-sex marriage? Better luck next time. Feeling a bit more liberal with family planning, with contraceptives, sex-education? Sorry, no RH Bill for you still. It really doesn’t matter if you’re OK with it or not, whether you’re even christian or not, as long as the church has its way with Philippine politics, only church opinions matter and everyone has to play along.

Just like the deluge of today’s San Juan Day celebrations, the meaning of secularization in the Philippines has been washed way… in a torrent of baptizing water… coming from the hose of a government-owned firetruck.

Looking for a more practical way to help your fellow human beings instead “praying” for them to get well? Good thoughts and well wishes may be well and good but for an unfortunate few, more concrete help will be more appreciated than magically wishing for them to get well.

June is statistically one of the low seasons for blood bank supplies, thus the annual awareness campaign for the need for more people to step up to the challenge of giving something of themselves… literally.

The 2010 global campaign focuses on Young Donors, with the slogan “New blood for the world”. It hopes that a new generation of idealistic and motivated voluntary unpaid blood donors will form a pool that provides the safest blood possible for use wherever and whenever it is needed to save life.

source: http://www.who.int/worldblooddonorday/en/

Some excerpts from Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang:

Young blood is what we need. We need a new breed of heroes. That’s why we say a blood donor is a hero. It’s so nice to see young people giving blood as it is a testament of the hope and future of our National Blood Program and a reflection of the kind of society we have today given the challenges we face. We are still a country of good-hearted, volunteer blood donors.

Blood donation is not dramatic and requires no grandstanding. It is plain and simple but with a great desire to lend a helping hand to someone without the lights and the camera. In blood donation, you never outdo, outwit and outlast anybody to become the hero you wanted to be. It’s only true when you want to be the sole survivor in the world!

Every second, someone in the world needs blood. Majority of the world’s population do not have access to safe blood and it can only be provided by blood donors who will voluntary and willingly donate their precious blood to save a life — a life of a mother giving birth, a victim of certain accident, a boy who is suffering  from leukemia, a child with dengue or a father who is undergoing open heart surgery.

Millions of people owe their lives to people who are not personally acquainted to them in one way or another – these are the people who give their blood freely and without hesitation, without asking anything in return.

In the Philippines, 9 out of 10 Filipinos will need blood sometime in their lives. With the demand for blood increasing every day and with its shelf life of 35 days, it is important that blood donation becomes a regular custom in the Philippines especially among the youth.

source: http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/secgen.aspx

Blood is life. And it’s the best gift you could ever give because more often than not, its a matter of life-and-death.  It’s not just a gift of blood, it’s a gift of life. One simply can’t rely on prayers to God to help make people get well because well, frankly, he’s been slouching off lately, and we’re in short supply of miracles nowadays. So it’s up to us then to make a difference because in the end, it’s people that help other people (… and don’t let the Objectivists tell you otherwise… altruism is good)

comic strip courtesy of: Least I Could Do

For more information:

• World Health Organization – World Blood Donor Day 2010
• World Blood Donor Day – Official Site
• Philippine National Red Cross – How to Donate Blood

[Author’s note: This is part 2  in a series of articles written primarily as a sort of online workshop-slash-discussion hook to get writers and authors in our organization or those with similar interests to share writing tips, techniques, and style guides with others. Feel free to pitch in and throw your own two-cents on how to improve your craft.]

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Series List:

Part 1 -Writing a Social Commentary

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Preface

This article describes in greater detail the ‘Research Paper’ mode of writing as introduced in Part 1. As the name implies, it is more fact-based and makes heavy use of citations from other sources to support the writer’s chosen thesis. It is the most formal of the three and is closest to the prose format prescribed in the academe. But since this is a blog post, some room for informality may be allowed to cede to the writer’s artistic discretion.

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Do Your Homework

A good article of this genre consolidates news and data from may different quality sources, giving readers the highlights and other pertinent selections from the source material that is relevant to the over-arcing topic. Of course, you have to be well read on the topic first so you can choose from the best sources. Different news sources, authors, and reporters all have personal biases or approach the issue from different angles so you have to do a good deal of comparison beforehand. Like shopping, resist the urge to go with the first thing you see. There are many good news aggregator sites like Google News or news cooperatives like the Associated Press website can help the intrepid researcher with a lot of the legwork. Since you get to read news off different contributing sources using aggregator sites like these, it’ll be easier for you to see which details are real facts and which ones are just exaggerated opinions.

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Where’d You Get That From?

Citations should be done properly not only to avoid issues of plagiarism but also to allow the responsible reader to check the credentials of the sources used or to read more on the background details if they so choose. As such, an ethical writer shouldn’t cherry-pick or quote-mine selected passage off his or her source and use it out of context. Sources should be quoted or paraphrased in the spirit in which it was originally intended by the original writer; unless specifically mentioned otherwise by the referring author. You have the right to dispute or challenge the source material’s claims later on, but do give the original author the courtesy of not mutating his thoughts beyond recognition and still attribute it to him just to give yourself a false sense of being backed by “authoritative sources”.

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Connect the Dots

Another hallmark of a good article of this type is bringing out trends from different sources. For example, it would help readers see a holistic view of the issue if you would research not only on current events relating to the topic but also provide a bit of history or background story as well. That way, readers who aren’t familiar with the topic can appreciate the whole picture. By narrating to your audience pertinent bits of events as it unfolds in time, you’re connecting the dots while helping paint a macro view of the situation. A good historian knows that events are never isolated occurrences. Something led to them or exacerbated the situation. And by drawing a fairly comprehensive time-line of events, you’re showing readers the *whole* truth, not some distorted half-truth that merely suited to illustrate your point. It’s easy to paint someone as the “villain” of the story when you cut to the part where this group of people all of a sudden decides to mount an unprovoked attacked against someone else. There is no such thing as an unprovoked attack. For things to escalate to the point of violence, there is always a series of events that pushed one side past the tipping point. So it’s your job as the freethinking researcher to not only see it through the end, but also to start your narration at the point where things started to matter.

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Fitting Square Pegs into Round Holes

The biggest pitfall in consolidating different sources is making connections that aren’t there.  There are a bunch of logical fallacies you can fall for so make it clear as to the nature of the relationship between different pieces of information you are putting together. By implying, or worse, explicitly citing connections that aren’t there, you run the risk of intellectual dishonesty. If there is no direct causality between A and B, don’t imply that there is. There is nothing more irksome than pretending coincidence is scientific fact. Your arguments will only appear shaky and people with half a brain can spot bullshit a mile away (unless they share similar delusions)

Sure you want compelling data to support your claims or quotations from famous personalities to back up your sentiments but if you mangle it too much… to the point where the statistics already tell a totally different story, then your piece ceases to be a journalistic endeavor and is reduced to mere propaganda.

So that’s all for now, more to follow. And if you care to share with other readers your favorite reliable news sources, please do post links to them below in the comments section.

One of the primary objectives of this blog is to encourage people to express what’s on their mind when it comes to socially relevant and often controversial news and current events. After all, the right to free (but responsible) speech is a most cherished right of any democratic society. It’s when good people do [or say, or write] nothing that evil triumphs. Though that statement may seem a tad bit too melodramatic, it has a ring of truth to it. Media today is full of differing and oftentimes opposing opinions. Each one has a different agenda it is pushing. Often times, it’s the loudest, most oft repeated sentiments that stick in people’s minds. A clever jingle here, a celebrity endorsement there… that’s good marketing savvy.

But what about those tiny voices that still have something sensible to say? How do they make their voices heard? It is our hope that sites like this will give that chance to aspiring writers who care enough to make the effort to write about the ills plaguing our society today so people will take notice and open lines of productive dialogue. Sure, we may not always agree with each other, but now pertinent issues are brought out into the open. We’ll know how other people feel about certain issues, whether there are others who share the same sentiments or take a totally different stand from ours.

But of course before such exchange of ideas can start, a good writer has to open up the topic with a well-written intro on the issue. Hopefully, these series of articles aimed at developing a responsible writer will help everyone come up with their own future posts.

So we begin with lesson one. After you’ve decided on a good topic that piques your interest (and hopefully everyone else’s), you have to decide on the tone. Most social commentaries fall in either one or a combination of any of these three:



1. The Research Paper – Everyone’s familiar with this one from school. It requires the most elbow grease and preparation of the three because of the research work involved but it’s also the most informative. It’s usually composed of a distillation of different sources ranging from news articles, wikis, or even someone else’s blog post.  Don’t forget to cite your sources properly and do your due diligence to ensure that your sources are credible. It won’t help your case if you just quote-mine data from dubious sources to support your arguments. Those type of bullshit are easy to spot by intelligent readers and will just make you lose credibility altogether.

If your source document is long or technical, do your readers a big favor and summarize the highlights for them else their eyes might just glaze over upon seeing the voluminous amount of text and just might skip it altogether. You don’t have the luxury of a captive audience and your work is not required reading on any syllabus so part of your job as a writer is to keep the interest level up.

2. The Opinion Piece – This is more an appeal to emotions. It can range from an in-depth analysis on what’s wrong with the world to a frustrated rant on what pissed you off lately. It doesn’t require as much researching as the latter; all you need is a good critical eye and a talent for self-expression.  And because it’s more reliant on emotions rather than intellect, it has the potential for greater reader impact.

It’s great for human-interest stories and informal personal-opinion essays but great care has to be given not to fall into the trap of irrationality. Since you’ll be relying more on philosophical arguments rather than facts like in #1, it’s easy to be tempted to use faulty reasoning or bad metaphors. Be frank but fair. Nobody likes a whiner or a faultfinder. If you must complain about something, make sure you end in a positive note by suggesting ways to solve the problem. As they say, be part of the solution, not the problem.

The best advice I could give before publishing essays of this type is to either let a level-headed friend give his two cents or sleep on it after finishing the first draft then do a final edit the next day before publishing it publicly. You may find that with a cooler head, you can be your own best editor. I know a lot of people who later regretted posting something written in the heat of the moment. When it’s already on the net, it can sometimes be hard to take back. It may look like a masterpiece of self-expression for you today, but if you take another look at it next time, it just might make you wonder what was going on in your mind when you wrote that. Remember the cardinal rule of writing – write in white heat, edit in cold blood.

3. The Humor Post – humor is oftentimes ephemeral. Sometimes it depends on the timing, sometimes on the delivery. More so for humor writing. The most common type of humor used in the genre of social commentary is the satire. One can use humor to accentuate faults by exaggerating or by putting it in a different perspective. Coupled with a dose of irony or clever wordplay, it’s easy to find something funny in even the most serious of issues.

There’s a fine line between funny and offensive and it’s what separates the true comic genius from the lame wannabes. Social commentators like Colbert and John Stewart have perfected the art of political satire in their respective shows. Late night talk show hosts like Leno and Letterman have likewise made a living out of poking fun at sensitive issues. In the online world, theonion.com and landoverbaptist.org have a good track record of satire done right. Even cartoons like South Park and the Simpsons made a name for themselves by playing political incorrectness to the hilt. But as Drawn Together [the Movie] has said – in the end, it has to make a point. It won’t work if you’re just making fun of something at someone’s expense just for the sake of getting a few laughs, you’ll just end up looking like a douchebag. The best satire makes people realize how shallow something is. If done correctly, it’s a win-win situation for you, you get to entertain and make a point at the same time.

[Author's note: Just a word of warning before I end, satire is especially tricky when played to a Filipino audience. There’s a big chance they won’t get the humor and end up going all up-in-arms about some racially offensive slur that they just can’t take. I don’t know if we’re just culturally thin-skinned (balat-sibuyas) or that local noontime shows and low-brow comedy movies have successfully devolved our national sense of humor to the point that we can only find green jokes and toilet humor funny. We have lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. Sure, we can laugh at ugly people or gay people but the minute you even try to make a joke about mail-order brides or OFW’s, be prepared for a shit-storm of public outrage. Never mind if there’s a nugget of truth to it, there are just some things we can’t admit to ourselves as a nation. You have been warned.]

So that’s lesson one in a nutshell. Hopefully we can get a whole series of articles geared towards giving out writing advice for the aspiring freethinking author. I’ll try to post a few good examples for each type when I get the chance.

Any [constructive] comments and suggestions are welcome.

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

-Imagine, John Lennon

If you happen to catch this week’s episode of Glee, it featured a classic song from the 70’s whose message still rings true till this day. I am, of course, referring to John Lennon’s immortal masterpiece, Imagine. Yet three decades have passed since the song was first penned and the problems Lennon saw during his time still plague us today.

The local headlines of the past few weeks are a clear sign of how little progress we’ve made since Lennon’s time. Conservatives are still battling liberals over the fate of the RH Bill, gay people still being denied rightful representation by the COMELEC, political clans murdering each other… we still haven’t learned to live as one… perhaps we never will.

When the song first came out, it drew heavy criticism for singling out “country” and “religion” as the chief causes of human suffering. It was branded anti-establishment, heretical, and unpatriotic… like much of the rest of the early freethinking concepts of the hippie generation. But perhaps it was just the bitter truth that a lot of us are afraid to accept, that for all the security and structure these two concepts have provide people across generations, history also shows how much they have also divided us.

People were never really given the privilege of staying neutral. There was always the pressure to make everyone choose a side, Pick a political party, a religion, or a nationality. The world then, as it is now, lost the middle ground. It now operates along tribal lines. Loyalty has supplanted humanity as the primary virtue. To kill, or be killed for an ideal… that is now the greatest honor one can accomplish.

The divisive nature of religion, race, ideology, political affiliation, and a host of other polarities still pit tribe against tribe, neighbor against neighbor, and brother against brother. People still haven’t found a way to look past each other’s differences. It’s like we will never run out of ways to divide ourselves into, no matter how shallow or superficial.

Muslim against Christian, believer against non-believer, conservatives versus liberals, gay versus straight, man versus woman, the have’s versus the have-not’s… take your pick, choose a side, and fight till your dying breath. Lives have been ruined, or worse, ended, because of such man-made differences.

Of all the living things on earth, only people found the time and energy to fight for such abstractions as these… things that we ourselves invented for no other purpose than to draw imaginary lines between ourselves. It makes one wonder if we truly are the most evolved species on this planet. True, we are on top of the food chain, but we don’t seem to find it fit to share our lofty perch with our fellow human beings. There is always the constant struggle to push each other off the edge, trying to label each other as something different, or worse, inferior to ourselves.

Instead of embracing the rich diversity of humanity, we try to enforce conformity. We stubbornly insist that our way is the only way. Anyone outside our own little circles needs to be either subjugated or eliminated. When we start thinking that salvation is only the exclusive privilege of the few, that’s when we lose our humanity.

Who’s to say what another thirty years will bring… will that elusive peace be still left to only to our imagination, or will we finally join hands and be as one? Lennon may be right in a lot of things in his song, but maybe its time we stopped being dreamers. The world needs to wake up and take stock of the situation. We will never really all be as one. Each person is unique unto himself; there is no mould for the human spirit. What we need to learn is tolerance, a sense of open-mindedness. We need to realize that people who don’t look, think, dress, or act the way we do aren’t misguided, only different. There is no need to force conversion or conformity, no matter how highly some people might think their way of life is. That is not nobility… that is bigotry. One person’s life is not automatically better than another’s, based solely on who currently hold the status quo. Every minority group, whether due to political, religious, social, or economic reasons, should be afforded the same opportunities to thrive without condemnation as long as it does no harm to others. Why do we constantly feel the need to put others down to make us feel better about ourselves?

Maybe its time to try a better way… maybe its time to build up rather than tear down… to be more accepting rather than judgmental. But I hope I’m not the only one, I hope someday you’ll join us… and the world will live as one.

The Manila run of the Tony-award winning musical Spring Awakening has just come to a conclusion. Even after the cast makes its final bow to the enthusiastic applause of the audience, the impact of the story that they have just brought to life will still linger in the hearts of its viewers. The cast and crew have stepped up to the challenge of giving life to the story first penned by Frank Wedekind way back in 1891 and now updated with a modern, rock-infused musical score by Duncan Sheik. It’s rare to see a local theater group brave enough to showcase such a controversial, risqué topic instead of just another run-of-the-mill feel-good gospel-inspired musical. Even rarer to have the hero of the story be a freethinking atheist.  Sometimes it’s good to push the envelope and get people out of their comfort zones; get everyone to challenge the status quo…

The story of Spring Awakening is more than just about teenage angst and rebellion, it’s a cautionary tale of how badly things can get when the self-appointed morality-police of our times replace knowledge with blind faith, ignorance, and forced obedience. Though the story was originally set in the late 19th century Germany, the issues they face still mirror the same problems we still have today.

The first song sets the tone… mothers shield their children from the realities of life in an attempt to keep them “pure and innocent”. They grow up ignorant of how the world works, dependent on their elders and religion to give their lives direction.

Some pray that, one day, Christ will come a-callin’

They light a candle, and hope that it glows

And some just lie there, crying for him to come and find them

But when he comes, they don’t know how to go

- Mama Who Bore Me (lyrics)

In comes Melchior, the story’s Promethean character who grows disillusioned with the narrow-mindedness of the adults, their obsession with rules to the point of sacrificing free will.

All that’s known

In History, in Science

Overthrown

At school, at home, by blind men

You doubt them,

And soon they bark and hound you

Till everything you say is just another bad about you

All they say

Is ‘Trust in what is written’

Wars are made

And somehow that is wisdom

Thought is suspect

And money is their idol

And nothing is okay unless it’s scripted in their Bible

- All That’s Known (lyrics)

He declares himself an atheist and starts keeping a journal of his thoughts which bears silent testimony of his arduous journey towards intellectual freedom.

But I know

There’s so much more to find

Just in looking through myself, and not at them

Still, I know

To trust my own true mind

And to say there’s a way through this

On I go

To wonder and to learning

Name the stars and know their dark returning

I’m calling

To know the world’s true yearning

The hunger that a child feels for everything they’re shown

- All That’s Known (lyrics)

Unfortunately, it backfires when their teachers discover the notes he gave to his friends containing such forbidden knowledge.

You can ask yourself: Hey, what have I done

You’re just a fly, the ‘little guys’… they kill for fun

Man, you’re fucked if you just freeze up

Can’t do that thing, that keeping still

But, you’re fucked if you speak your mind

- Totally Fucked (lyrics)

The story is full of tragic characters put into impossible situations whose plights are further aggravated by the uncaring adults who are more concerned about saving face and are more than willing to sacrifice the well-being of a few defenseless people to maintain the status quo.

Melchior discovers that his friends have died tragically, victims of societal pressures that they were helpless to defend against from the beginning because the adults have deemed it proper to keep such carnal knowledge away from children. Caught in a no-win situation, Melchior tries to take his own life as well, only to be stopped by the memory of his forgone friends who give him hope to carry on.

Those you’ve known and lost still walk behind you

All alone they linger till they find you

Without them

The world grows dark around you

And nothing is the same until you know that they have found you

Those you’ve pained may carry that still with them

All the same they whisper: All forgiven.

- Those You’ve Known (lyrics)

It’s a story that asks all the important questions that everyone, even today, is still uncomfortable with. Even in today’s so-called modern Philippine society, sex is still taboo as ever; something to be considered dirty and shameful instead of being a natural part of biology. Religion and tradition still enforces archaic rules of propriety that makes people feel uncomfortable with the natural functions of their own bodies. Even something as practical as the RH Bill is met with a rabid resistance from self-appointed guardians of morality. Speaking out against biblical “wisdom” is still frowned upon. And the same sectors of society portrayed in the story (the gay-lesbian community, unwed mothers, atheists, people who aren’t as smart, rich or beautiful) are still second-class citizens. So a century after the story was first written, things really haven’t changed much, have they?

But the story still ends on a hopeful note. We who still carry the spark of freethought within us won’t just give up and die. We will not succumb to the pressures of a bigoted society. We owe it to everyone in the past and present who have suffered at the hands of myopic social and religious judgment to carry on working towards a more accepting, open-minded world.

Still you know

To trust your own true mind

On your way you are not alone

There are those who still know

Now they’ll walk on my arm through the distant night

And I won’t let them stray from my heart

Through the wind, through the dark, through the winter light

I will read all their dreams to the stars

I’ll walk with them now

I’ll call on their names

I’ll see their thoughts are known

- Those You’ve Known (lyrics)

While everyone’s all agog over Dan Brown’s new thriller, this new gem of a book, also hot off the presses, has also quietly reached our shores in hopes of enlightening more than a few eager minds. And as you may have read before on this site, our generous sponsors are giving away two copies of this book:  http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/18/the-filipino-freethinker-and-wtf/

If you guys want to know what’s in store in Dawkin’s new book, read on:

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Tears were shed, speeches were made, and political lines were drawn.

After the dust had settled, all that’s left is to take a step back and ponder on everything that had just happened.

Everyone had his or her own opinions to air. To some, she was a saint; to others, a national hero. But in the heart of it all, Cory was a symbol of the hope for the Filipino people for a better future. Unfortunately, like any other powerful symbol, they can easily be misappropriated for all the wrong reasons.

There will be no shortage of people eager to ride on the attention and support such powerful symbols are getting. Religion has the penchant for elevating noteworthy historical figures into either sainthood or martyrdom, thus claiming for itself every noble, selfless act that person has ever done in his life, no matter what the original intent was.  Whether they were really doing it for themselves, for their family, their country, or for some other ideal, history will be remember their deeds in light of how it served the purpose of a higher being.

Political marketing runs along the same lines, riding on the popularity of someone or something else – be it a celebrity, a controversial figure, or even a tragic victim that has captured public sympathy. Manny Pacquiao was yesterday’s news. He was everyone’s meal ticket a few months back because he represented the Filipino’s fighting spirit and indomitable will. The pambansang kamao that became the pambansang endorser.

But now, the memory of Cory is the hot item of the moment. She embodied the Filipino’s fight against tyranny while maintaining our humanity. A feat, in itself, is admittedly quite impressive even by today’s standards. The fight for freedom is rarely bloodless, as history can attest. Now, more than ever, everyone wants to be associated with her and the glory days of EDSA… the media, the church, aspiring electionables, retailers now mounting product campaigns with the Cory-Ninoy theme, and everyone else in between. Let’s face it; she’s now more bankable dead than even during the height of the EDSA revolution. The dead can’t protest how their name is being used, no matter how over-commercialized or contrary to one’s own personal philosophy. But on the bright side, death has a funny way of re-shaping our perspective on things: we become less stingy with the praises and less critical of someone who’s passed on.

No, I don’t blame Cory for all the political grandstanding being done in her name by the media, politicians, and even her own family. All throughout her political and civilian life, she’s consistently been a very simple person with no illusions of grandeur. She had a role to play, at great personal risk to herself, but she did it nonetheless. She wanted justice for her slain husband; the Filipino people needed a symbol to rally under. It was a mutually beneficial setup and everyone was happy with the outcome. Was she the best sort of leader the country needs? No, she was there simply to prevent those who would do more harm in her place out of office.

Unfortunately, that’s only half of the equation needed to fix this mess. Not only do you have to throw out the bad, you have to replace it with the good. That’s the critical follow-through that has disappointingly been missing in our last few administrations. We know what we don’t like but we don’t know what we like. So we get stuck in this never-ending cycle of replacing crap with even more crap – quantity over quality. Needless to say, it’s a very wasteful system. With each iteration of electing “the lesser evil”, we wait till the corruption gets too obvious before we boot them out of power in yet another sequel to the EDSA revolution. Then we replace them with the same thing, just wrapped up in another package. Then the cycle begins again. We never learn. It’s like a tradition already. Sometimes, I wonder if we are not a nation of masochists, purposing electing bad leaders just so we can re-experience the glory of booting them out of power to re-live the grandeur of People Power over and over again.

And now, with the upcoming elections looming ahead, we again face the unsavory task of selecting “the lesser evil”. Just how less of an evil, we’ll just have to find out and live with our decision…. or mount another People Power revolution. But now with Cory gone, the magic of People Power may have just lost its luster for good.

Let’s face it, writing for a freethinking website often seems like a thankless job. A well thought of article may take anywhere from a whole night, a whole day or maybe more to research, mull over, write, and proofread. Then if and when you do post it, you shouldn’t expect glowing compliments all over like you would when writing an inspirational post in a religious site where you’d be awash with “Amen, brother“, “Bless you!” and “You are doing the Lord’s work” just by quoting a few bible verses and writing about how your prayers were answered. There, you can expect instant gratification and mutual back-patting, not matter how superficial or cliché.

But this is the freethinking crowd we’re talking about here, the trademark qualification being industrial-grade skepticism about everything and an almost pathological urge to debate and dissect everything. I expect no quarter to be given nor do I want one. At least not if I want to preserve my intellectual integrity by writing about what I truly feel and not worry about pleasing my target market. And that’s only worrying about your legitimate reader-base, you still have to worry about the ubiquitous fundamentalist trolls taking pot-shot comments in the shadow of anonymity (yes those same fanatics whose god commanded them to love their neighbors, love their enemies, turn the other cheek, yadda-yadda…) .

It’s a pretty vulnerable position up on that soapbox. Everything to lose and nothing to gain (ok maybe I’m just being a bit over-dramatic, maybe not everything, just your writer’s pride, and the realization that you just wasted that many hours crafting your piece to be ignored or ridiculed). It’s the stark realization that this really is a thankless job, not the writer’s block that continually plagues the writer in me.

Does this sound like whining? Maybe it is. But it’s an honest assessment on the biggest stumbling block I’ve encountered, and perhaps what other potential writers may also feel. I’m relatively new to writing and atheist world and as such, I still haven’t built up that tough layer of epidermis to withstand all the slings and arrows of bad reviews. People like Hitchens, opinionated bastards that they are, may have no problems withstanding their detractors, but that’s part of their job and they get paid for it. This is like voluntarily jumping into the lion’s den.

But why do we still do it? What is this masochistic streak of seemingly irrational behavior that still compels us to write, knowing the outcome is rarely pleasant? It’s because we value truth more than convenience. When everybody else is content to view the world through rose-tinted glasses, we’re the first ones to come out and say “Hey, things are really beginning to suck, and we should be fixing this now!” Its not cynicism, its pragmatism-in-practice.

While the rest of the world is content to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving, taking comfort in the notion that everyone else who may not look like them, dress like them, or act like them are going straight to hell, we’re the ones putting our foot down exclaiming “Now that’s a really screwed-up way of thinking!” Are we being wet blankets? of course! The world needs wet blankets. A wet blanket is the best thing to put out all the fires out there. All those smoking little bonfires that everyone else just seems to ignore even when its right in front of them – discrimination against gender, race, creed, sexual orientation, marital status, not to mention antiquated laws that need to be updated given today’s world. The fires that burned witches ages ago are the same fires that still condemns all the minority groups who are too few to stand up to the juggernaut of superstition-based beliefs.

So go ahead all you Filipino Freethinkers! Let your voices be heard!