Faith and Reason

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new Christian students to stand and.....

Professor: You are a Christian, aren't you, son?
Student : Yes, sir.
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student : Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student : Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)
Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student :Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student :Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student : No , sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it sir.. The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

A Beginning...

    I was
walking along the beach, gliding my feet along the sand. Enjoying the warm
earthy feeling it gave. I looked beyond the horizon, searching for that
sailboat that was always there. I did not find it. It must’ve gone beyond the
horizon, beyond where my eye can see.

Yes,
perhaps beyond where my eye can see.

    I have
always likened myself to a sailboat. I am a drifter, going aimlessly to where
the wind takes me, to where the waves push me. To where, ah, and that is always
the question – to where?

    I focused my
thought upon the seagulls, gliding ever so smoothly in the air, not a single
strand of flaw in their flight. It was in truth a picture of perfection -- but
perfect to what degree of perfection? I know nothing of this world it seems.
Understanding not what drives men to seek for more, to strive for more.

Maybe that
hunger is beyond my understanding.

Ah, perhaps
nature is the only thing that is perfect.

In its
beauty and grandiosity, in its darkness and mystery, is the epitome of the
perfect circle of nature.

    The flowers
blooming in the fields in spring, leaves falling in autumn, the lake freezing
in winter, and the puddles drying up in summer. The worms being eaten by the
birds, the birds being eaten by other predators, and still those predators
being eaten by much larger ones; and when those larger predators die, their
bodies decompose, returning once more to earth, and the worms, the worms are
the ones who’ll be there, to start it all again. (to be cont.) 

Teachers Are Like Spiderman, Too

            Joseph Landy begins the book with a very appropriate question: Why
teach? Because your parents said so? Because teaching is a profession where you
can sate your hunger for large crowds listening to you? Indeed, why teach? As
if the answer wasn’t obvious enough for those brave few who do decide to become
a teacher, Landy asks again, why teach? And if you answered along the lines of
“financial gains,” then sadly, teaching is not for you. For surely, there are
jobs out there that can pay you better and reward you better (financially) than
a lifetime of teaching can ever match. But that is not to say that teaching has
no rewards, nor any pay. : ) In fact, it can even be more rewarding than any
job you’ll ever have, IF – you love teaching.

Landy gives us teachers (old &
new, and those hoping to be) tips and strategies on how to become a much more
effective teacher. He calls it, “staying alive in the classroom.” Albeit a
picture of a battlefield comes to mind, where generals and commanders alike
(teachers and principals) fall amidst the volley of cannons (student
misbehaviours) and bullets (scathing remarks – of everyone), screaming: until
my last breath!

Most important of Landy’s tips were
these two things. First was his emphasis on continual growth, second his
postscript about teachers having a great power in influencing others and
changing the world. His first advice was more on the
intellectual/skills/knowledge aspect of the teacher. It was an advice on how to
avoid ruts in teaching. In teaching you have to study, in studying you have to
learn, in learning you have to be taught. Never stop learning. Just because
you’ve achieved that post as department head, or perhaps chief executive of
something (CEOs), doesn’t mean you don’t need to study anymore. The more you
have to study further, as the more is expected from you. Likewise, being a
teacher does not only mean you are the only one teaching. It is a two-way
street. Learn from your students, and learn well. For whatever they will teach
you will be a thousand more precious than whatever speck of knowledge you may
have gained in your formal education. Nothing beats wisdom than wisdom gained
from experience.

Teachers are earth-movers. They move
the world in ways unseen. Your students might be tomorrow’s leaders or despots.
We teachers shape the world, and the price for that responsibility is high.
Just imagine if Aristotle had no mentor like Plato, or Plato no teacher like
Socrates, what would the world be like without these brilliant people’s ideas?
What would the world be like if only Hitler was taught compassion and mercy?
What would the world be like if the greatest teacher (Jesus) on earth was never
born?

So an ounce of caution for
would-be-teachers: treat yourselves like a struck match. Handled and cultivated
correctly, your fire can influence others and create a conflagration of change
for the better. Abused and underestimated, your fire can torch down empires and
burn nations to the ground. If we can change the life of one small child, then
surely we can change the world.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Burn,
burn! ‘Coz somewhere, someone might die of cold if you stop burning.

The Beauty of a Paradox

I have a sadness. So compelling it drives me to be still. No world can move me, no tears can. No word can touch me, no face can. A sadness so compelling it drives me to be sad. A life so meaningless that it can only be called a void. A void no one can fill.

I long so much to be understood.

Why does it have to be that I need to succeed in typical things to be happy in a typical way?

I am happy in my sadness. In my world of grayness, I can only imagine the sorrows of black and white , and color loving people. Yes, they might feel joy, but in extreme joy there can only be extreme pain. And I can only remember so much as when I felt the same. So many things to be hurtful, yet so few to rejoice about.

Perhaps I have been catharized, dulled to the very end of my bones, numbed to the very sense of which I enjoyed. Yes. Perhaps I have been turned into granite. Unfeeling for so long.

Or am I?

In my grayness lies my safety. To feel neither joy nor pain. I am free, it seems; of the typical troubles of humanity. That endless search for eutopia and everything it holds dear. I have overtaken everyone in the race and gotten to the finish line first.

No one here.

Not a single soul in sight.

Have they all taken the wrong path, or am I the one who lost my way?

I can't be wrong. My assumptions of the universe can only be so true.

That time is a circle, and we are our own creators. That time does not end but goes back to the beginning. And in that beginning, we are our own creators. We created time, and we created space.

But I seem to forget that in the gloriousness of my solution lies the dillema. If everything comes to a circle, where does it all start? In a timeline that goes around, you cannot insert something that is not already there.

But that is the beauty of paradoxes.

It cannot be answered, but you can spend your whole life trying to.

Or you can sit here with me in my grayness and ponder:

Is there any other color here besides gray?

Destiny and Reality

These are my posts from two different threads. One asking if I believe in destiny, and one asking what is reality for me.

Two things so unlike, yet not really so.

Read on to find out.

For those people saying that we make our own destiny, by destiny's definition alone, how can you make it? When it is defined as: an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future. So if it will inevitably happen in the future, how can you make it? Even without you doing anything, whatever your destiny may be, would still happen. This is also the same with people saying that they believe in destiny but they also believe in free will. That is a lot of bull. You cannot believe in two things that means the exact opposite of each other. You cannot have a life where you have free will, and you have destiny. It's only either you have free will, or you have destiny. I believe in the matrix mantra that: free will is an illusion made to control us. It would seem that in our life, we are somehow in control, that we somehow have the choice of what to do and what not to do, or where to go with our life, but the sad truth is: all these "seeming choices" presented to us are mere illusion. As the fact proves that, even before we were born, we have already been encoded with everything that we would be using in our life. Our DNA that determines our physical, mental characteristics, our attitudes and beliefs develop without our concious control. Events in our life shaped it. And we neither choose to be a paranoid jealous wife, or a passive husband. Just like in the case of Neo, it was inborn in him that he would always choose LOVE above any other ideals. Thus when presented with a choice, he always chooses LOVE. In that aspect, free will or choice becomes immaterial. Even your choosing is not important because it is already known what your choice would be. The idea of free will was made to make us believe that we are free. When in fact, fate and cruel circumstance would always rule our lives. I ask this of you, is it your free will now that you are reading this thread, browsing this forum, reading what I have written here? Is it?

Reality is what we perceive of it.
In the confine of our limited senses:
seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, smelling, and thinking
what we perceive and believe as true, is.
How are we to say what is real and what is not beyond what we can perceive?
That we may live in a "matrix world," is immaterial, because we'll never know that for sure.
As a philosopher once said, how are we to know the dream of a dream of a dream?
If one day you woke up from a dream of being a butterfly only to wake up a little later discovering you are a butterfly dreaming you were a man, what would you do?
Would you still believe then the reality of things around you?

What is sure is that we were given with the capacity to think, but that capacity is limited. It could never encompass the vastness of the universe, nor invent another sense of perception not given to us.

What is and what isn't are the same. They're mysteries beyond our grasps.

Malas!

I want to post this very humorous but very enlightening article that i found in one of the forums that I visit regularly . I hope all of you learn something from this, even amidst your smiles and expressions of: "Oo nga no?"

AUTHOR : ANONYMOUS

WHAT'S the big deal when Lapu-Lapu killed Magellan in 1521? Nothing much really. During Lapu-Lapu's time, Mactan was strictly tribal.Think small.There were no big ideas such as nationalism or geopolitics. Lapu-Lapu was simply, the local siga-siga and Magellan was the culture-shocked Westerner, a native first-timer in the exotic east. We lionize Lapu-Lapu as a hero and nationalist. Ang totoo, mayabang lang si Lapu-Lapu. But his defeat of a foreign invader, did not make a Filipino nation. The timing was wrong. And don't you believe that bull that Spanish explorers came to find spices of the East to improve the taste of their bland cuisine. Their hidden agenda was to spread their kingdom through colonization, the euphemism for land grabbing.

During the 333 years of Spanish rule (1565-1898),hundreds of rebellions were waged by native firebrands in many parts of the archipelago. None succeeded. Our rebels were either cau ght, garotted, or simply ignored by the Commandante as nuisances. Puro malas!
The execution of Rizal in 1896 was a traumatic experience for Filipinos.Those who read Rizal's Fili and Noli were incensed by the abuses of the church and state regime of the Spaniards. Emotions ran high, from Aparri to Jolo. The critical mass needed for nationhood was formed. At last we could rebel as a people, as a nation.
The Katipunan did their battle heroics, originally led by the firebrand Bonifacio and later on by the crafty Aguinaldo. With more Katipunan charges (Sugod mga Kapatid),freedom seemed possible.
Between 1897 and 1899, stealth, betrayal, and skullduggery bedeviled our prospect for independence. The Aguinaldo and Bonifacio factions engaged in an ugly infighting (the talangka mentality) resulting in the execution of Bonifacio.
Meantime, an American Admiral named Dewey (not Dewey Dee, the fast one) entered Manila Bay and defeated a luckluster Spanish navy. Aguinaldo reneged on the pact of Biak na bato. He resumed the revolution by proclaiming the Philippine Independence in Kawit.
Meanwhile, American and Spanish soldiers held a "moromoro" battle in Intramuros with the Spaniards surrendering. Aguinaldo's republic and his KKK patriots were left out and ignored. Naisahan tayo. Minalas na naman.
The Filipino-American War broke out. Tall American soldiers looking like Clark Gable chased and battled the outlawed Filipino revolutionaries, ending in the capture of Aguinaldo in Isabela. Thanks to the mercenaries from Macabebe. This was the mother of all kamalasan. At that time, our population was 8 million. The gap between the rich and the poor was estimated at 30% middle-class and rich, 70% low-class and rural poor.
During the Commonwealth period (1901-1941), which followed, there were lots of learning on democratic principles, its structure and governance. Technology transfers were done on Constitutional Rights, Public Education, Transportation, Health, International Trade and Industrialization. The Americans turned out to be good tutors. Filipinos also went crazy over American brand products like Libby's corned beef and Portola sardines, Hershey's Kisses and Wrigley's chewing gum, Camel cigarettes and Model T Ford for the hacienderos of Pampanga and Iloilo.
Hollywood films made Pinoy males fantasize on JeaN Harlow, Betty Grable, and Mae West. Thus, Filipino colonial mentality began. We fondly called this period Peace Time. By the way, American troops massacred innocent people in Balanguiga. Mga hayup din pala!
1941. Disaster! World War II! After attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army invaded our country defeating the combined American and Filipino forces (USAFFE). General McArthur, the proud and handsome Army chief, fled to Australia at the height of the battle. For four miserable years we suffered the sadism of the Japanese militarists rule. Torture, famine, and death were for us, the order of the day. Kawawa. Malas na malas!
The American forces returned in 1945 to liberate the country. McArthur. General superiority complex himself, sporting Ray Ban sunglasses and corncob pipe swaggered back to Manila. Piqued at his humiliation in 1941, McArthur ordered the bombing and shelling of Manila till kingdom come. The whole-wide expanse South of Pasig - from Post Office to Vito Cruz, including all of Intramuros - was pulverized. Manila was the most destroyed city of World War II next to Tokyo. Our culture, our heritage, and historical assets (s even beautiful churches in Intramuros, hundreds of elegant Art Deco and neo-classical architecture in Paco) were sacrificed recklessly and completely erased from the face of the earth. Sayang na sayang!
In 1946, we gained our Independence from the Americans. We were a free nation at last. We had enough exposure and lessons on how to govern a democratic country, the first in Asia. Our population was 17 million. The dollar exchange was US$1 to P2. But there was still no peace from 1947 to 1966. A widespread communist rebellion led by Taruc, the Lava brothers, and its armed guerillas called Hukbalahap waged bloody war with government troops. Filipinos killed kapwa Filipinos. Malas na naman!
Our politicians and bureaucrats learned to engage in graft and corruption (What are we in power for?) - such as the war surplus bribery, the Tambobong wheeler-dealing and the Namarco scam. Talo!
Six presidents were elected to manage the country from 1947 to 1972, under the democratic system. They were Presidents Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, and Marcos. Economists looked back to the decades of the 50s and 60s as the best year of the Philippine economy, surpassing Asian countries. The nostalgia was naiveté, a useless ego-tripping. The gap between the rich and the poor remained big. 30% middle-class and rich, 70% low-class, rural and urban poor. We were 27 million people. US$1 was to P4.

During the late 60's, the Maoist communists led by Commander Dante intensified its drive to overthrow the government. Marcos added fuel to the fire by creating a communist spook. Violence and mayhem rule the streets.The youth went up in arms! Martial Law was declared in 1972 and Marcos became dictator. Freedom of assembly and expression went out of the window. What followed were years of dictatorial abuse, crony capitalism, shackle free enterprise, near economic collapse and a demoralized middle class.The gap between the rich (30%) and poor (70%)remained in a quagmire.Pareho rin pala ang situation. Our population was 40 million. Exchange rate was US$1 to P7. Kawawang kawawa! Malas na malas!

In 1983, Ninoy Aquino, Marcos' exiled arch rival,was assassinated upon his return. Push came to shove. Cardinal Sin egged on the people on to protest. Outrage, self-pity, shame and fury raged and rumbled like a tidal wave, culminating in the incredible People Power Revolution. The very sick and obstinate Marcos fled (hijacked by Americans from Clark) to Hawaii (sounds like Paoay) where he died. His alleged millions of stolen dollars intact and unresolved. Up to now...
Peso to dollar exchange is now P20 to $1.

But People Power was our shining glory! The whole world applauded our saintly courage, our dignified defiance, our bloodless solution to expel a dictator. We were the toast of all freedom-loving countries, the envy of all oppressed people. In 1986, we placed Cory Aquino, Ninoy's widow, in Malacañang. She was virtuous, sincere and full of good intentions for the country.
But what happens? Coup attempts by Honasan, power struggle, political squabbles, and the infighting for juicy deals harassed the amateur Cory presidency. So nothing happened. No progress took place. The economy was still bad. The poor suffered more and more. Sure we got democracy back on its feet. But the Filipino resolve didn't happen. People Power pala was ningas cogon power. Sayang na sayang! Tha gap between the rich and the poor remained at 30% (middle-class and rich), 70% (lower-class and rural/urban poor). Exchange rate was US$1 to P25. We were 55 million people.
In 1992, Cory's choice, Fidel Ramos, West Pointer, soldier, and hero of the People Power won the presidency. He had the bearing, the single mindedness and the vision to bring the country to a tiger economy status. Ramos was a terrific salesman of the Philippines to the world. He was able to hype a climate of an economic ground. He removed barriers to progress. He was an apostle of privatization. His mantra was, less government, more private sector! Fidel hit the right note and the economy went on a roll. Fidel wanted to run for reelection but failed to swing the cha-cha (an idiotic acronym for Constitutional Cha nge) so he could run again.
In 1997, the Asian economic crises struck, triggered by a balloons burst of the hyper speculative Bangkok economy. The financial debacle created a disastrous effects in the investment institutions of Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Taiwan. All the Ramos gains evaporated into thin air. Malas na naman! The poor, specially Mang Pandoy, were poorer than ever.
1998 was showbiz time! The Erap para sa mahirap show opened to the chagrin of Makati Business Club. Pasensya na po kayo, mga elitists. Democracy is also weird. The choice of the masa must be respected. Catastrophe! Chavit Singson exploded jueteng bombs! For days on end, a nation sick in the stomach, sat through primetime TV aghast at watching the bizarre drama of alleged bribery, gambling, drunkenness, womanizing, deceit, and corruption. A lantern-jawed witness and a sexy intelligence "asset" hogged the witness stand. Viewing the scandals on TV was like watching dogs mating in the public square. It's embarrassing but you can't take your eyes off them. The impeachment trial serialized on TV was riveting. The defense lawyers, some wearing a canine sneer (ngiting aso) insulted our intelligence often. (Lokohin n'yo ang lelang n'yo). The whole country was stinking to high heavens. The prosecution produced its own witnesses Clarissa Ocampo, Emma Lim, Carmencita Itchon and many others. Idols with feet of clay fell crashing into the dust. Those who voted against opening the enveloped were legalese, procedural, and sounding intellectually brilliant. Also heartless and thick-skinned. They couldn't fathom the heartbeat of the nation. Cardinal Sin, aging and sickly, called the people again. It was People Power II! Same humongous and collective umbrage, same brinkmanship, and same staccato prayers! Generals Reyes and Villanueva simply joined the mammoth EDSA crowd. No US jets from Clark this time. Erap was out! Gloria was in!
Hope springs eternal. Malacañang regained its honor and dignity. Protocol was observed. Absurdity was gone. Grammatical English was back.

2001. More catastrophies! The peso plummeted to a horrifying P51 to US$1. The Abu Sayyaf (extremist ideologues? Or mindless barbarians) were into kidnapping and terrorism, gaining worldwide notoriety. Businesses are still closing shop. Thousands of workers are being retrenched. Prices of food and gasoline are very high. (Galunggong is P80 per kilo!) Our streets became permanent garbage dumps. Maggots multiply to spread disease. Our communities stink. Again, the whole nation was witnessing sickening crimes attributed to people in the government. Talo na naman! We are now 75 million people but the gap between the rich, 30% (middle-class and rich), 70%(lower class and rural/urban poor ) remains the same for one century.
When will this end? It's been more than 350 years since Lapu's-Lapu's victory, 100 years since Rizal martyrdom and we're nowhere as a people, as a nation. Malas pa rin!
Some wise guy said the Filipino is a damaged culture. Bully! And what do you call other foreigners. They used slaves in their plantations, and landgrabbed from the natives! What should we call such culture? Predatory Culture? Bully Culture? What about another country? How many countries did it put under the barrel of its gunships, so they could gloat that the sun never sets on their empire?" What shall we call this culture? Sahib culture? Gunga Din culture? C'mon, give us a break!
We Filipinos have strengths and endear ing values. We are Christians, God-fearing, and peace-loving. We are patient and tolerant (matiisin to a fault). We are musical. We sing our blues away. We have a sense of humor. (We concoct and text Imelda hyperboles and Erap malapropism.) We learn fast because we are bilingual and highly educated. We've got thousands of MBA's and PhD's in economics and management from AIM, WHARTON, HARVARD, UCLA, etc (most of them now overseas). We've got a surplus of technocrats for nation-building. We want to work if there are vacancies. We want to go into business if we have the capital. We want to obey the law if the law is being enforced. We want to live and die here, if there is peace and order.

But, but, and but. We have many shortcomings. We are immature in our politics. Given a choice on whom to elect: a handsome pabling movie star or an honest and brilliant political scientist, we'll vote for the movie star. No brainer tayo dito. Talo! We have many stupidities. Like dogs, we pee (Bawal umihi dito) on walls and tires. Our driving is suicidal. Our service quality is inferior. Clerks at City Hall act arrogant. Sales ladies at department stores don't know their product
features. Tourists get mugged by thugs in uniform. Police lay traps so they can catch you and ask for bribe.

What's wrong with us? We don't have a great leader and good governance. In Singapore, Lee Kwan Yu did it. The constituency profile is similar to Filipinos. Admittedly, this country is impossible, tiresome, and frustrating. But it's the only country we've got. We live and die here. Will we ever see the dawn?

Dios na mahabagin, Kailan pa kaya? Ubos na ang aming luha. Katog na ang aming mga tuhod. Tuyot na ang aming utak. Hingal na ang aming puso.
Dios na mahabagin, isalba Mo po kami. Hindi po kami talunan. At lalo pong hindi kami tanga. Sunod-sunod lang po ang malas.