Today’s top ten offer some new perspectives on religion.  Is it me or is secularism gaining ground? Check out the analysis on UK’s Equality Bill and Gordon Brown’s secularist government. Because the majority of MPs are not politically aligned with any church, sex ed bills and equal rights for homosexuals were passed, and no church has major influence on legislation.  Amazing, isn’t it?

“The unique feature of Gordon Brown’s government is not its economic incompetence. Rather, it is doctrinaire secularism. For the first time in British history, no one sitting around the Cabinet table holds traditional Christian views that defy the liberal consensus on social issues or sexual morality.”

Send your stories via The News Thread or the comments.  Theme suggestions are also welcome.

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Gay church blessings and a crisis of faith (via The Telegraph) link – Brilliant analysis of secularism in the UK and how it has allowed for certain bills to pass

3D BIBLE MOVIE IN THE WORKS!!! (via Deadline New York, Gawker) link

Pope’s brother: sexual abuse at choir school not discussed (via inquirer.net) link

“Koran says – you’re free in your religion” – Muslim cleric (via RT) link – Cleric issues fatwa against terrorism; insists ‘fatwa’ was mistranslated and does not mean ‘holy war’

Which came first – religion or the brain? (via Eurekalert) link – Press release on new book proposing that the brain needs religion; here is a good interview of the author by Mcleans link

Pope’s path to sainthood delayed by miracle doubts (via The Telegraph) link – Pope John Paul II is not a faith healer after all!

Funeral flap: religion and free speech rights (via wired.com) link - Apparently some bigots want the government to uphold their (alleged) free-speech right to disrespect funerals of homosexuals

Violence in Nigeria – food not faith (via The Guardian) link - Analysis on the murders in Jos

6 questions for an atheist undercover in an evangelical church (via The Huffington Post) link

Oregon faith healers get 16 months for son’s death (via AP) link – Faith healing could lead to negligent homicide!

Warning: For those who haven’t seen this episode yet, spoiler alert!

This is the first, and hopefully won’t be the last, of a series of short reviews I’ll try doing each week for ‘The Big Bang Theory’.

This week The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) episode ‘The Einstein Approximation’ came out,  and is the 14th episode of the show’s 3rd season.
Let me just start this quick and short review of the episode by further stating what the guys there and I have in common, apart from the quite obvious facts that we’re all geeks/nerds by heart.
Even before TBBT, I’ve admired and idolized Einstein myself, because of his great mental feats (which were of course, backed up by other physical theories and experiments at his time). Great because by just the power of his mind Einstein was able to revolutionize our lives and the 20th century, paving ways for faster transportation, not to mention telecommunication and computing, which drove and is still driving the information revolution today. And of course, so much more benefits which we more or less take for granted in our daily lives. In fact, Einstein is oftentimes synonymous with the word ‘genius’.
Einstein was also very much interested in philosophy and politics, not just physics. He’s written several books, articles, letters to people outside the scientific community. He also has a quirky sense of humor, as seen from this  picture of him. At first I thought this photo of Einstein was edited. But as it turns out it was really him, tongue hanging out and all.  It was at the time he was making fun of people taking pictures of him. Great stuff.

Of course Einstein is not without criticisms. Great and accomplished a scientist he maybe, history tells us he left much to be desired when it came to being a father or a husband.

Now, back to the episode review of TBBT. At this point I shall establish a partially objective, partially subjective point system of each episode relative to the earlier 2 seasons (which I have watched at least 2 times…) and a number of judging criteria.

This episode is a classic Sheldon episode, which is great in itself. Again we expected lots of ‘weird’ humor: Sheldon’s ability to complicate relatively simple things, as well as him belittling his friends, most noticeably Penny. Hilarious stuff once again. Bravo to TBBT production team.
Not a lot of scifi or comic book references were made though. But lines such as:

Howard: How long has he been stuck? (referring to Sheldon)
Leonard: Umm…intellectually about 30 hours, emotionally about 29 years.

And

Howard: Have you tried rebooting him? (referring to Sheldon)
Leonard: No I think it’s a firmware problem.

Are classics. 

The part where Leonard and Sheldon were arguing inside the ‘ball play room’, with Sheldon going ‘bazinga’ everytime, was also hilarious.

Sheldon, and of course the rest of ‘the guys’ are fans of Einstein no doubt. Sheldon of course thinks he’s at the same level with Einstein so he tries to do what Einstein did in order to come at the epiphany that is the special theory of relativity: to work for a menial job so he can occupy his basal ganglia with a routine task so he can apparently free his pre-frontal cortex to solve his physics problem.

Another classic moment in this episode is the guest starring of Yeardley Smith, the not so well known voice actor behind the famous cartoon character Lisa Simpson (yes, of ‘The Simpsons’ fame). Absolutely entertaining piece of the episode.

Another classic dialog is again with Sheldon and Penny:

Penny: What are you doing here?
Sheldon: A reasonable question. I asked myself, what is the most mind-numbing, pedestrian job conceivable? And 3 answers came to mind: toll booth attendant, an Apple Store “Genius”, and “What Penny does”. Now, since I don’t like touching other people’s coins, and I refuse to contribute to the devaluation of the word “genius”, here I am (meaning at the cheesecake factory).

Lines like these make me think of the real meaning and application of LOL. 

I suppose myself and those guys, as well as the show’s production team, can’t help cracking jokes at Apple. 

Overall I’d give this episode the following scores:

* reference to sci-fi, comic books, and other geek/nerd pop culture: 6/10

* reference to physics and other fields of science: 9/10

* dialog humor factor: 9/10

* techie/technology factor: 8/10

which gives an overall score of: 8/10

Article originally published here.

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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:

Read the full story

I struggled how to write this review thinking how I can judge the movie independent of the book.   Eventually I accepted the fact that there is no other view that I can offer except that of a reader.  As a film Angels and Demons is a failure.

Yes it retained the usual elements; the murders; the stories of persecutions in history including the occasional unsolicited historical trivia coming from Robert Langdon. Of course they also retained secret codes and historically inspired puzzles.  Unfortunately, as great as the aforesaid elements may be they are not the heart and soul of the story.

The heart and soul of the story is challenging the status quo and perhaps unbeknownst to filmmakers it lay in two characters, Leonardo Vetra and the Pope. Both are priests and both are also pro-science which in real life is far from the norm.

Leonardo Vetra in the movie is Silvano Bentivoglio, partner to Vittoria Vetra.  After the character discovered antimatter he was murdered just 5 minutes into the film.  The Pope on the other hand is just dead.  Both he and the movie version of Leonardo were mentioned only verbally in the end.  Without any physical embodiment who they are and what they stood for was forgettable.

With the story’s theme of science versus religion, these two characters carried the argument at least for the book.  They do not strike anyone as the stereotypical priests and neither are they the villain.  Their beauty is that the credibility to stand in both sides of the argument with equal force.

But what really highlighted them was that they have families. Vittoria Vetra was an adopted daughter of Leonardo which in the movie was reduced to a research partner in Silvano.  The Pope was a deeply pious man who loved a woman and longed for a child.   That ambivalence was what drove him to love science especially he availed of in vitro fertilization.  To be part a father without violating the law of chastity was for him heaven sent.

Is it possible for science to explain God?   Is it right for a Pope to have fathered a child even without the sex?  Are they entirely wrong or are they entirely right?  Wrong or right, nothing truly makes you think than a controversial idea.

Without them all Angels and Demons the movie had are the extremes: the scientist who bit off more than he could chew or the religious zealot who could not accept the encroachment of modern science into what was during the middle ages their domain.   Obviously there is not much of a choice.  The attempt to verbally express the good qualities of science and religion which the two characters would have been effective in embodying was drowned in the murders, persecutions, and secret codes.

While those are indeed great elements to have any story can have murder.   History books have stories of persecutions and historically they can be more accurate.  Puzzles don’t make it special.  But how many stories dared challenge the status quo.  The true heart and soul of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon is challenging Christianity and it went away along with the disappearance of Vetra and the Pope in the film.

As it is, Angels and Demons is a no brainer because it requires literally no brains.  It also answers the question why the church and religious groups did not put up a fight against its release.  The film is a tour of Rome and the Vatican City; it is an expensive way to kiss ass, nothing more.

While I agree that in most cases a film should have leeway in deviating from the book, however, that is no excuse from changing the essence of the story all together.  That is why Angels and Demons is a failure.

Also seen in my blog