Atheista -

According to this speaker tabs list, I was the best speaker for the Manila Inter-varsities held at St. Paul last Thursday. Though it’s great to be acknowledged as an individual, I would have really preferred to have fought tooth and nail for the championship. Unfortunately, my team was a victim of a confluence of nasty circumstances that made us under perform during the third round. That sent us to the exit, basically. Despite sweeping the first two rounds, a lackluster round three score of a whopping ZERO kept us out of the finals. A lot of people felt that the decision was somehow weird, but I’m at peace with the round. We could’ve done better – had we known our matter on reality-based modeling shows (THBT women should celebrate reality-based modeling shows), we would’ve surely made the finals. Oh well.

Just the same, I’m proud of my teammate Robert for performing really well in this last tournament. The scores didn’t reflect how well we worked together but we’ll even do better if we were teamed up again in the future. It was debating along side you. If we get paired up for the World Championships, I’m sure we’re going to be fine.

DLSU B won the championship. Twenty-eight teams of two took part in the event. Each team had two members each. Around 30 adjudicators also participated. The participating schools included College of Saint Benilde, Colegio San Juan de Letran, De Lasalle University – Manila, Lyceum of the Philippines, Mapua Institute of Technology, San Beda College, University of the Philippines – Diliman and the University of the Philippines – Manila.

The speaker tabs.xls

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Last weekend, Gibbs Cadiz was once again generous enough to give me two tickets to a one-night-only performance of Art. This is the third time I went to the theater due to Gibbs’ kindness - the first two occasions being for the comedy ZsaZsa Zaturnah and Batang Rizal. Going in to the event, I knew little about the show that I was about to watch. All that I had figured out was that Ricky Davao, Michael de Mesa and The Dawn frontman Jett Pangan will be playing a big role in the play. Other than that, I was pretty much in the dark. The fact that it was a Tony Award-winning show did play a big part in convincing me that I should watch the play though.

Fortunately, Art did not disappoint. Translated in Filipino, Yasmina Reza’s comedy about three friends in different stages of the lives captured the universal theme of friendship and compromise. Mar (Jett Pangan) caused a stir when he made a fuss about how one of his friends (Serge, played by Michael de Mesa) bought a two hundred thousand peso painting. What was the painting like? It’s like this.

Did you see that? Haha. To borrow Mar’s words, the painting has white lines over a white background. Yes, all that for two hundred thousand pesos. Serge is an established dermatologist but according to Mar, he was still in no position to pursue whimsical procurements of post-modern art. It’s very interesting how Mar (an engineer by profession) chooses to overstep the boundaries of autonomy and choice by openly and often times rudely criticizing Serge for something that he did on his own volition. Mar reflected a quality that some of our friends have – those that routinely police us to make sure that we do what they think is right and sensible even if it’s already your prerogative. Here’s the painting again:

To Mar, the painting was a piece of shit. He felt so strongly about it that he went as far as laughing in Serge’s face and mocking him for being ripped off. The eminent doctor of course rattled off his insights about art and the value of his aesthetic philosophy in a defensive and condescending tone. We are all so familiar with this type of behavior (heck, even I engage in this sort of practice from time to time). When people seem to not see the purpose and significance of the choices and actions that we do, those being ridiculed often talk down to the unwashed and unsophisticated masses to further prove that we are far superior and evolved compared to their primitive way of thinking.

It’s a start contrast. One is cunning and manipulative who puts on a seemingly diplomatic front to further agitate his adversary. The other is a brash and frank trash talker who leaves nothing to the imagination. And oh, did I mention that these two were friends?

Things are further complicated when the group’s token YES-man enters the scene. Jun (Ricky Davao) is someone most successful people would judge as someone who failed to fulfill his potential. Unlike his two friends, Jun has had a rocky word record. Despite of his already advancing age, he has yet to find stability in terms of keeping a job and financial security. To this day, he is still very dependent on his mother for a lot of his monetary and emotional needs. This is probably why Jun turned out this way. He has lost so much self-esteem and self-confidence to the point that he no longer has his own say. Through the years of emotional and psychological trauma, he has been reduced to someone who simply agrees to what his superiors will tell him.

After talking separately with Mar and Serge, Jun has unwittingly misled both that he was on their side. Jun admired the painting and also conceded to Serge that Mar has already lost his sense of humor. Unfortunately, Jun said virtually the opposite during his conversations with Mar.

I’d like to take this opportunity to share the painting once more…

When all three of them ended up in the same room, all hell break lose. If making white lies, saying half truths, dishing out sarcasm and discussing past events were Olympic events, Serge, Mar and Jun would have given the country our first Olympic gold medal. And yes, all of this was because of a single painting!

With two stubborn professionals already jockeying for position in the arena of moral ascendancy and intellectual superiority and one malleable and impressionable loser with a history of nervous breakdowns, the whole shebang about the painting takes the backseat as the discussion meanders to personal histories of unsophistication, one’s general disapproval for someone else’s spouse and an over-blown analysis of how the act of wafting cigarette smoke can be correlated to poor breeding and bad manners. It’s a riot!

And yes, they’re friends. Just like in real life, people have their own quirks. Some are easily swayed by fads and trends while some are biased towards empiricism. Some would go the extra mile just to keep the peace while some will rattle cages and ruffle feathers without any hesitation. With Art, the interplay of personalities and characters are further nuanced. It makes one wonder, do friends choose each other or do they stick together just because they’re the ones who could tolerate the other?

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Last week, the now-thin and die-hard fan of the [read: Christianity's] Only Begotten Son, Ganns Deen, listed the ten blogs that he looks forward to reading. Of course, the fact that my blog was one of the choices doesn’t come as a surprise. Haha. Ganns, I commend you for your impeccable taste and eye for talent!

Anyway, considering that Ganns has already gone the affirmative action route by picking blogs owned by Atheists (read: 2!) and people of religious orientation alike, I’ll choose to take a different approach and instead focus on a demographic of bloggers that most of my readers are not that fond of reading blogs written in an Atheist perspective. Honestly, the very reason why I choose not to make this blog a full-blown advocacy blog is largely contingent on what I see on other Atheist blogs. After some time, advocacy blogs are reduced to mere syndication pages of Atheism-related content. Eventually, the very person behind the blog is lost to the various stories lifted from various publications around the world. Though blogs of this nature are amazingly informative, it’s sad when the humanity and humaneness of the blogger is diminished.

As much as possible, I’d like to see the personality behind the blog. In the end, that is the thing that matters most – that extra element that would create distinction between blogs of similar niches. You may blogging about the same issues, but the treatment and analysis may be worlds apart.

I know some of these bloggers are even more popular than myself, but I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with dishing out a few compliments. Some of them are not even aware that I read their blogs. Of course, this is in no particular order.

1. Friendly Atheist – Hermant Mehta is as good as it gets. His resume can definitely speak for itself, but the light, non-threatening feel that his writing exudes is perfect for promoting productive and substantial discourse among his readers – may they be Atheist or people of faith. I’m about three decades away from acquiring his level of self-control and candor. Aside from holding leadership positions in organizations that promote secularism, Hermant is also the author of I Sold My Soul On E-Bay.

2. Basa Pa – What list wouldn’t be complete without one of the Philippine Blog Community’s most-linked and most enigmatic personalities? The blogger formerly-known-as-basangpanaginip is now blogging at a dot com of his own and everything is going on schedule. Each post made by Michael can be described by one word – comprehensive. From the looks of it, he really spends time in researching his subject matter. Just like Hermant, he can also dissect issues quite exhaustively. His courage in standing up against the raging bigots of the Philippine Blogging Community while keeping utmost tact (more than what they deserved if you ask me) is simply amazing.

 3. Tess Termulo – Come to think of it, my blog and Tess has a lot in common – we tend to post a healthy amount of personal entries along with relevant socio-political articles with implications in either the health care delivery system of the country or the freedoms of people to express themselves and the things they believe in. It also doesn’t hurt that we both post occasional medical nuggets that are hopefully educational or at least entertaining to the non-Harisson-Internal-Medicine-Volumes-1&2-reading crowd.

4. Atheocracy -  You can literally feel the passion bleeding out of the words that he writes. Each character, each term exudes a level of pointedness that may feel abrasive despite the relative care in the choice of words. He has mastered the subtle and inexact science of making you care about an issue without resorting to sensationalism.

5. Teen Atheist – Oh, the angst of youth! The blog comes at you like a freight train, but after the initial salvo of aggression has passed, any able adjudicator can definitely see that viable and substantial points lie within the argumentation. She’s a relatively new blogger so it will be interesting how she’ll develop into her own. I would like to think that I’ve mellowed out somewhat since I started last year – I wonder how long it’ll take for that to happen to her.

6. Arcis Logos – He’s impressive – impressive enough to make me think about hosting him @ atheista. I’m really proud to be hosting this guy. Sometimes, I wonder what would’ve I happened if I started blogging about atheism as early as he is now. I’m sure reading his blog is a close approximation already.

 7. Helga Weber – Here’s a perfect example of an atheist who can live among the… others. :p  Whatever Helga blogs about, it’s almost surely a good read. Helga has a way with words. She can get away with unbelievable levels of self-promotion and self-deprecation that will NOT work if someone else tried them.

8. Joyful Chicken – Hands down, JC is the single-most offensive blogger I know. I can’t stand his politically-incorrect comments.  Behave!

 9. Life Without Faith – It’s funny, informative and at the same time still very substantial. The analysis may sometimes be tongue-in-cheek, but the author always drives the point home. This blog exemplifies my idea of unique presentation and perspectives. Even if you’ve read the story somewhere else, the take and analysis is still thought-provoking and outside the box.

 10. Micketymoc - Save the best for last. :p

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It’s always interesting and exciting to deal with intelligent young people in high schools – especially those who are vocal and very willing to fight for what they believe in with much gusto and of course, logical substantiation. I received an email with an attached article. The sender has expressed his/her intent to remain anonymous.

The article is lifted (i.e. copy and pasted) from the original document with minimal changes to conceal the real name of the school in question.

HEAVEN, HELL AND SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL X

by: Anonymous

Every week in Science High School X begins with the flag ceremony, where the students hold a prayer, sing the national anthem, recite the Panatang Makabayan, hear the announcements made, sing the school hymn, and leave wearing their IDs properly, in that order. Now, is there anything wrong with this scenario?

If you answered no, think again. Here’s a hint: Article II, Section 6 of the Constitution states, “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”

Hint Number 2: Science High School X is a government institution.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, there are two things wrong with the above scenario. First is that we actually have a prayer. Secondly, the prayer comes before the national anthem. God before country? Sure, but only if you’re Christian.

According to statistics, you probably are. 94 percent of Filipinos are Christian, 84 percent are Roman Catholic (CountriesQuest.com, 2003). Regardless, this doesn’t make prayer during the flag ceremony, or other mandatory Catholic activities held here, right. Science High School X is defined as a non-sectarian school, meaning no particular religion is practiced here during school hours. This does not mean that organizations such as PCORI and SCA are against the law; in fact, I’m all for students being given the option to practice religious activities on their own time. What I am against, however, is if, oh, say, every student in the school, Christian or otherwise, was made to pray at the start of every school week. Hypothetically speaking.

I have this teacher. He’s a nice guy, and more importantly, he’s efficient at what he does. This teacher makes us all pray in class every meeting, which, in this particular instance, puts him on my steadily lengthening “against” list. He explained to our class that regardless of this school’s non-sectarian policy, he makes us pray to, and I quote, “teach [us] moral values.” I might not get how standing up for 45 seconds with hands clasped teaches us moral values, but if Teacher says it does, then we should do it. A little discrimination against non-Catholics to teach everyone moral values? Good deal!

Another teacher of mine from last year made God and prayer a topic in her subject for an entire quarter. She told us that it was her mission to teach us all how to pray. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and suspect that she feels that it’s her mission because those of us who haven’t been exposed to God don’t know any better and thus need her guidance. As a morally upstanding and virtuous Christian, it is her responsibility to lead us away from eternal damnation. Makes sense, right? After all, it is the same reasoning used by Catholics when they, you know, burned witches in the 17th century.

Call it antidisestablishmentarianism. Call it “teaching moral values.” Call it saving the souls of the poor non-believers who don’t know any better. Call it what you will. It’s still inconsiderate towards non-Catholics, and it’s still against the law.

Each religion believes that it is the absolute on morals and justice. Since Catholicism is the predominant religion in this country, it has established itself as the absolute, considering all other religions to be misguided to some degree. Thus, everyone who goes against any of the Ten Commandments is a sinner, even though the Constitution only goes by two: as comedian Bill Maher so elegantly put it, “I won’t slaughter you, and don’t take my shit.” Homosexuality, premarital sex, absence at the Holy Mass, failure to pray, and drawing Muhammad in an unflattering way are not sins just because some religion says they are.

My point is that these teachers aren’t saving anyone by forcing us to do unnecessary religious practices. Last time I checked, Science High School X was still a non-sectarian institution, so these teachers can introduce us to their wonderful religion some other time. For now, as long as we Science High School X scholars don’t kill, steal, or God forbid, cheat, I think we’re pretty safe from being subject to eternal damnation anytime soon.

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Two days ago, I visited my third year Filipino teacher. Word quickly spread that she was confined somewhere in Manila due to her long-standing heart condition. The pathology was first diagnosed back in 2000 after consulting her physician due to easy fatiguability and slight dyspnea (difficulty in breathing). Apparently, it wasn’t an acute disease process. My teacher had rheumatic heart disease and her mitral valve (the bicuspid valve) was already damaged (stenosis AND regurgitation). She probably got it as a young girl and the symptoms only revealed themselves shortly after she turned 40.

The other members of the faculty tried to help her by organizing a raffle to raise funds for her mitral valve replacement. Though the effort was largely successful, she had her qualms about going under the knife.

Early this week, she had a hard time breathing. Her family brought her to the Emergnecy Room of PGH. Fortunately, she’s doing much better now thanks to the superb management of eminent cardiologist, Dr. Antonio Dans. The doctors are now currently figuring out their next step. Surgery’s definitely on the table, but it hasn’t been determined yet whether the best option is to go for a valve replacement or an interventional cardiology/radiology procedure.

Regardless of the choice, both operations will cost a lot – think six figures. That is why those who can give (especially us UP Rural High School alumni) should chip in a little something if we can. Our donations can go a long way. Bank accounts are currently being made to accommodate donations from all over the world, but since the account numbers are not yet certain, I am also willing to serve as a point man for the people who would like to get in touch with the people who are behind the fund-raising activities. I will post the pertinent details of this UPRHS-wide effort as soon as they are available.

Ma’am Advincula is currently confined at room 647 Bed 1 at the Philippine General Hospital. She is good spirits and is doing well. She is awaiting her doctors’ decision regarding the definitive management for her ailment. If you’re just in the area, I’m sure she will appreciate your visit.

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While I was browsing some other atheist blogs last night (here, here and here), I was able to see a long list that was scrolling in one of the sidebars. Apparently, Mojoey has been steadily building a strong and formidable listing of blogs that follow an Atheist or Agnostic leaning.

I signed up immediately and lo and behold, I was expedtiously added to the list. Mojoey even announced that I was the 400th member of his Atheist Blog Roll. Hurray! Thanks Mojoey!

400 blogs eh? I’m sure I’ll get to see more than a handful of excellently written blogs in this bunch!

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