3 years ago, 26 freethinkers met for the first time in Shangri-la Starbucks to talk about reason, science, and secularism. Since then, we’ve been pretty busy:

• We’ve spread freethought on social media through Twitter (over 3,000 followers), Facebook (over 3,000 group members and almost 10,000 fans), and our website, which has almost a thousand posts, has been viewed more than half a million times, and has won the overall prize at the recent Globe Tatt Awards. (And don’t forget our forum, Tumblr, and YouTube pages, too.)
• We’ve presented the freethinker’s perspective — on secularism, skepticism, and the RH Bill — through our appearances and interviews on AM and FM radio; and both local and foreign TV.
• We’ve hosted more than a hundred events — meetups, forums, a film fest, and an excommunication party — in Metro Manila and Davao; and in our university chapters in UP Diliman, UP Manila, and DLSU.
• We’ve helped educate students on freethought and secularism, giving interviews and answering questions for homework and research papers; delivering talks and participating in panel discussions; and providing a forum for learning and discussion through our university chapters.
• We’ve become advocates and activists, mobilizing creative demonstrations for causes we believe in: fighting for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill and refuting irrational arguments against it; walking (and running) with our LGBT allies and distracting the bigots who bother them; reminding people to guard their freedom of speech from opponents who cry blasphemy and call for censorship.

And we don’t intend to stop. Just this January, we’ve presented at the World Debate Forum in Ateneo, lectured at UP Diliman and Philippine Science High School, and guested on Bottomline with Boy Abunda. (The episode will air this Saturday (Feb. 4) at 11:45PM on ABSCBN, with a replay on Sunday at 1 PM on ANC.)

To celebrate all this, we’re organizing our third forum, tentatively titled “Filipino Freethinkers Turns Three.” It will be held on March 3, 2012, a Saturday, and will probably be a whole-day event. Be sure to save the date; details will soon follow.

If you want to celebrate in advance, the best way to do so is to attend our meetup this weekend, the first of many we’ll have in our fourth year.

3 years ago

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This Saturday’s meetup, we’ll be discussing the following topics:

1) Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is seeking medical treatment abroad, causing questions of the right of a citizen to travel.

2) At the recent National Youth Day held by members of the Catholic Church, Fr. Falvie Feldas said that the Church was losing influence among the youth in the information age, and encouraged the remaining faithful youth to go online. Is his claim about the youth becoming less involved with the Church correct? What does this mean for society?

3) United Colors of Benneton came out with its new Unhate ad campaign featuring world leaders kissing, including the pope kissing an imam. Does it go too far? Or not far enough?

Here are their corresponding links, for your reference:

• Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Right to Travel
• Is the Church losing influence over the youth?
• New Benneton Ad Campaign

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at Congo Grill (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

• Newbies are welcome.
• Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
• There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
• Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
• You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
• You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.

Location: Starbucks, Anson’s (across The Podium), ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City (Google map)
Date: Saturday, November 5, 2011
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

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This Saturday’s meetup, we’re having a toast for Christopher Hitchens as part of the Hitchens video project! We’ll also be discussing the following topics:

1) The population as the human species total hits 7 billion. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

2) There’s trouble in the psychology community with a noted scientist being found out to be a fraud.

3) Back here at home, a Pinoy Big Brother contestant is apparently an atheist—we’ll be discussing religion in Pinoy TV.

Here are their corresponding links, for your reference:

• A Toast for Christopher Hitchens
• Population Hits 7 Billion
• Data Forgery in Science
• Religion in Pinoy TV

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at Congo Grill (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

• Newbies are welcome.
• Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
• There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
• Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
• You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
• You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.

We’re getting organized — or at least more organized — and we’ll be re-aligning our goals and strategy to get better results. But before we can talk about new goals and better results, let’s review what we’ve achieved so far.

Here are some highlights:

1. We’ve spread freethought on social media through Twitter (almost 3,000 followers), Facebook (almost 3,000 group members and over 8,000 fans), and our website, which has almost a thousand posts, has been viewed more than half a million times, and has won the overall prize at the recent Globe Tatt Awards. (And don’t forget our forum, Tumblr, and YouTube pages, too.)
2. We’ve presented the freethinker’s perspective — on secularism, skepticism, and the RH Bill — through our appearances and interviews on AM and FM radio; and both local and foreign TV.
3. We’ve hosted more than a hundred events — meetups, forums, a film fest, and an excommunication party — in Metro Manila and Davao; and in our university chapters in UP Diliman, UP Manila, and DLSU.
4. We’ve helped educate students on freethought and secularism, giving interviews and answering questions for homework and research papers; delivering talks and participating in panel discussions; and providing a forum for learning and discussion through our university chapters.
5. We’ve become advocates and activists, mobilizing creative demonstrations for causes we believe in: fighting for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill and refuting irrational arguments against it; walking (and running) with our LGBT allies and distracting the bigots who bother them; reminding people to guard their freedom of speech from opponents who cry blasphemy and call for censorship.

We achieved all this keeping our original vision and mission in mind:

Vision:

Long-term: Freethinkers can live in a Philippines free from all forms of violence, discrimination, and prejudice, their rights and freedoms fully protected by a government in which their opinions are fairly and adequately represented.

Short-term: Freethinkers can easily get in touch with fellow freethinkers to enjoy online and offline activities wherever they live and whatever their cultural or socioeconomic background.

Mission:

PROMOTION: Promote freethought, science, and reason online (websites, blogs, wikis, and forums) and offline (magazine, radio, and TV) with a positive, non-adversarial approach.
PUBLISHING: Publish materials for freethinkers such as newsletters (monthly), magazines (quarterly), and books (yearly).
EDUCATION: Create a freethought library where freethinkers can donate, lend, and borrow books, movies, and other freethought media.
EVENTS: Sponsor and organize events for freethinkers such as meetups, forums, talks, workshops, and film showings.
FINANCE: Raise money for the above purposes through donations, grants, membership fees (maybe when we’re formal), and merchandise sales.

You’ll notice that result 5 (advocacy and activism) was not part of our original vision and mission. Should we revise the vision – mission so that it’s included? Are there other goals and objectives you’d like to see in there? Or are there goals and objectives you don’t want FF to be involved in?

We’ll discuss all this and more at a general assembly we’re planning this November. Before then, let us know what you think by contacting us or leaving a comment below.

Thank you so much for all your support, and we welcome you to become even more involved in FF. With so much irrationality and bigotry in our country, we need all the help we can get.

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We’re having our meetup on a Sunday this week in Pasig City at the Starbucks in Anson’s. We’ll be discussing the new taxes that are looming for residents in Quezon City. The city will be using the tax hike to help squatters find new homes. Also, there’s a new archbishop in town and the Philippine Daily Inquirer is complaining that people don’t care. Do you care? A tragic accident left a 2 year old girl dying on the street as 19 passersby ignore her. Saving her could have meant paying for her full recovery. What would you have done?

• Quezon City socialized housing tax hike
• There’s a new Manila archbishop, do you care? Inquirer thinks you should!
• Would you help a dying stranger if it risked paying for their full recovery?

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at Congo Grill (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

• Newbies are welcome.
• Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
• There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
• Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
• You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
• You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.

Location: Starbucks, Anson’s (Across The Podium), ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City (Google map)
Date: Saturday, October 8, 2011
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

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We’re back in Pasig at the Starbucks in Anson’s for this Saturday’s meetup. Technology visionary Steve Jobs died this week, while the protests at Wall Street in New York rage on. Teachers’ Day was also just this past week; tell us some stories about your favorite and not-so-favorite teachers and how they changed how you think.

Discussion Topics:
- Occupy Wall Street
- Blasphemy Day Contest
- Teachers’ Day: Stories About Your Teachers
- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at Congo Grill (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

* Newbies are welcome.
* Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
* There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
* Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
* You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
* You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.

Carl Sagan once had to argue for the inclusion of visible light cameras on the Voyager spacecraft. It was deemed by NASA as wasteful since they’d only be able to record that narrow band of light visible to humans. But Sagan insisted on it. He knew that the images it would take would inspire a new generation of scientists to make even greater discoveries.

The endeavor of popularizing science is definitely a daunting one. Our culture has made science look cold and unromantic. Even science undergrads regularly call out any application of scientific reasoning to everyday events as nosebleed-inducing.

It is this sad culture of anti-intellectualism that projects like the Mind Museum aim to correct.

Finishing construction at Bonifacio Global City early next year, the Mind Museum will have 250 exhibits and five galleries, each specializing in a field of science—from the origins of the universe to the technology of one of its inhabitants.

We at Filipino Freethinkers support the vision of the Mind Museum to promote science among the general public. Because of this, we have sponsored an element on their Periodic Table Exhibit—element 87, Francium.  Like a freethinker in a Catholic country, Francium is one of the rarest naturally-occurring elements and, like the Filipino Freethinkers, has virtually no commercial application. Plus, we [Fr]eethinkers liked having [Fr] to ourselves, Breaking Bad style.

Help build The Mind Museum and sponsor some of the exhibits. Apart from the Periodic Table Exhibit, donors can also sponsor stars and even galaxies. Help inspire the next generation of scientists and freethinkers.

(Images from Mind Museum and Wikipedia)

Location: Starbucks on Tomas Morato (Google map)

Date: Sunday, July 17, 2011

Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

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Discussion Topics

1. Are zoos ethical?
2. The Senate’s reaction to the PCSO investigation
3. The validity/effectiveness of public protest
4. Elevator action: Feminism, sexism, and everything in between

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at a nearby location. Text the number below if you’re catching up. If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

* Newbies are welcome.
* Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
* There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
* Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
* You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
* You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks Tomas Morato.

Sir,

While the forum was open to the public, the event and consequently any lectures or material therein are our sole property. While we did not give due warning to anyone recording the event, we did not authorize any of them to be posted publicly either. The right to deny this permission lies solely at our discretion and not yours. Your organization was not given any permission to post them in your website. It is unfortunate that you would prefer to elevate this into a legal matter rather than accede to our demand. As such, I am writing you once again to ask you to consider your position.

Sincerely,

Ricardo Boncan
Secretary”

What follows is our official response.

Dear Sir,

After careful consideration of your demands to take down videos and transcripts from the “Women Speak: Medical and Legal Truths about the RH Bill” symposium held last 30 April 2011, we must, once again, respectfully refuse. We have consulted our legal team at length about this matter and we believe that the information we had posted on our website, with the proper attribution to its source, does not constitute copyright infringement.

Like you, we only seek to spread the “truths” about the RH bill — all versions of it and to make them available to everyone, so that they will have the tools necessary to make an independent and informed choice. We believe that this freedom of information is essential for our democracy, especially for our country, famed for the People Power Revolution that successfully overthrew the repressive Marcos regime. This freedom of information should apply to any issue of public concern, whether it be social, political, or economic, and is a necessary ingredient in our continuous quest to become a politically mature and informed citizenry.

Once again, for the reasons stated above, we cannot take down the transcripts and videos that your organization had publicly shared during the symposium, for the sake of providing said information openly and freely to the public, like you had intended.

Sincerely,

Red Tani
President, Filipino Freethinkers

Kenneth Keng
RH Advocacy Director, Filipino Freethinkers

and

The Editorial Staff of filipinofreethinkers.org

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter and its accompanying concern. Kindly allow us to note however that your organization’s event was advertised as free and open to the public. We attended it openly, identifying ourselves as being from the Filipino Freethinkers through our tshirts before the event, giving our names and organization during the open forum segment, and later in conversations with other attendees and the lecturers themselves after the event. We went intending to listen to other people’s opinions and evaluate information that your lecturers presented as factual during both their presentations and as indicated in the title of the event itself. During the event we were recording openly and in full view, along with several others in attendance.

Our members conducted themselves in this manner not for profit but in the interest of providing the public with information. Given freedom of the press and mass media to disseminate matters of public concern, of which the Reproductive Health Bill is surely one, it is our belief that we are not violating the law but are in fact doing a service to the Filipino people by duly providing them with information on both sides of the current RH controversy.

It is for these reasons that after having given due consideration to your concerns and consulting with our legal team, we are respectfully refusing to give in to your demands.

Allow us here to reiterate our ongoing stance that there remains a need to continue a respectful and fact-based discussion on the RH Bill. We at Filipino Freethinkers believe that keeping an open, honest discussion on RH and other matters of public policy benefits both sides.

We therefore wish to ask your good organization to help all involved in public policy issues to arrive at, as you put it in the title of your event, the real ‘Truths’. We would like to ask that Defensores Fidei do its part to propagate discussion rather than end it by resorting to threats.

Sincerely,

Red Tani
President, Filipino Freethinkers

and

The Editorial Staff of filipinofreethinkers.org

Original Letter From Defensores Fidei:

Dear Sir,

It has been brought to our attention that  transcripts and videos of “Women Speak: Medical and Legal Truths about the RH Bill”, a symposium organized by Defensores Fidei and the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord at SM Megamall on April 30, 2011, have been posted at the website of your organization (at http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2011/05/02/tastebuds-tsunamis-and-the-thorough-twisting-of-truth-a-recap-of-the-anti-rh-forum-at-sm-megamall-1-of-2-parts/ and related links) without the permission of the lecturers and the event organizers.

Please be reminded that according to Article 172 (c) of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, “lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral delivery, whether or not reduced in writing or other material form” are works protected by copyright, and pursuant to Section 177 of the same Code, only the copyright holder has the right to carry out, authorize, or prevent the reproduction,  publication , or communication of the work to the public.  Anyone who would violate such rights would incur civil, administrative, and criminal liabilities.

Thus, formal demand is hereby made on your organization to remove the aforementioned transcripts and videos from your website, and to refrain from further unauthorized publication of the said materials on your website.  Should you fail to heed our just demand, our organization will be constrained to take the proper legal actions to protect our rights.

For your guidance.

Sincerely,

Gerry Castro
Chairman
Defensores Fidei Foundation