Come on there are also several teachers in SHS-X and in UP who impose their beliefs and call it scientific beliefs even if such theories were never really proven and even if some of the scientists who formulated such theories took back what they said before they died. (I’ve made a research on this.) Its disappointing to see professors and teachers who sneer down at students just because they believe in creation.

Bottom line is there will always be a bunch of opinionated people who think that they are always right.

Funny thing is some of them are here. I see your names in a lot of blogsites and boy you sure have opinions for everything. :p

Regards to all,

Dr. Iggy Agbayani

Bakit, ano nga rin ba ang nawawala sa inyo kapag may dasal sa flag cem? I mean, kayo nga dapat yung hindi maapektuhan dahil hindi naman kayo naniniwala dun eh? eh di don’t pray. you guys can opt not to naman eh.

To Paula:

What I’m really very proud of about pisay is the fact that the teachers show you their grading sheets everytime you’d ask them why you’re grade turn out the way it did. Seriously.
There are many ways on how a teacher grades. Sa pisay, most of the time, objective yun. ikaw gagawa g grades mo. i’m sure you know that. pwera na lang yung mga recitation parts. tama si ate frances, maraming factors sa paggrade. malamang hindi dahil sa paniniwala mo kaya ganun yung grade niya sayo. or hindi lang dahil dun. tama si ate frances, kung feeling mo may discrimination nga talaga, write a letter to her or to the admin. address the problem. tapos baka maliwanagan ka pa ng lalo sa kung bakit ganun yung treatment niya sayo.

so we sued him.

Well, every dollar bears the words “in God we trust.” Now how about that?

When I was in Pisay what I actually appreciated from the prayer was how students were able to say express concerns for themselves and for the school in through the public utterance of their own prayer — be it a prayer to the Catholic God, the Evangelical God, the muslim God or (if it happens, to Huitzilopochtli, to the moon, or to the devil). The most memorable one was the prayer after the whole poisoning incident. Gee, even if I were atheist, I would have appreciated the prayer for our schoolmate-victim.

I don’t think they’re forced into embracing a belief in God through the routine prayer. Hello??? How many students do I see not listening to what’s going onstage! And most of the time, what enters the left ear, exits through the right… hahaha. Okay, that’s not so funny.

It’s sad that atheists have a bad rep, it really shouldn’t be that way. Well, I was an ORI volunteer for a few years and I never saw atheists as evil or inferior. Different doesn’t mean evil or inferior. My students of both ORI and English would know that.

If prayer would be abolished from the flag sem and any other government routine, I would have no problem with that as long as we are still allowed to practice our own beliefs on campus.

Paula: As your former teacher, I think there are many factors to consider when it comes to grading you– it depends on the subject and your performance. You are really one of the most colorful personalities in your batch! Anyway, what was the subject of that teacher ba? Kung totoo na may discrimination yan, please write a letter to that teacher and the admin so that she can learn from this even if it’s in retrospect.

That just underscores the need for Pisay to be a safe space to all kinds of creeds. I mean, on a personal level, atheists might be accepted by their equals, but obviously there’s some form of institutional discrimination that has no place in a non-sectarian school.

Ano nga ba ang mawawala sa mga Kristiyano kung walang dasal sa flag ceremony? E di dasal na lang kayo on your own.

“sigurado naman ako (at kagagraduate ko palang sa eskuwelahan na iyan) na WALANG TEACHER sa pisay na namimilit na makisama ka sa isang relihiyon.”
To Kuya Ryan, I know you remember me from Himig. I have encountered teachers in some subjects who never took my academic performance into much consideration when they found out I was an atheist in my first half of HS. That particular teacher never gave me a grade of more than 1.75 in her subject, despite the fact that I had deserved, meritocratically speaking, much more. She also didn’t open as much opportunities, both within the school and outside, for me in that subject, simply because I was vocal about my being an atheist.

When she found out that I had toned down and had chosen a particular sect of the faith, she finally gave me credit for my academic performance.
Now tell me that isn’t a teacher forcing a student into a particular faith?

Tsaka kahit naman po ilagay niyo yung pangalan ng school, pwede ba, naunahan na yung nagsulat nito ng newsbreak magazine dahil naglabas na sila ng ganyang article na, btw, wala masyadong basis.
***

Anyway, before anything else, I come from the Philippine Science High School, an active member of the PSHS-Student Catholic Association (SCA), and I belong to the batch that just graduated this year and was, well, labeled as the most God-fearing of all batches.

Yup. God-fearing people exist even in a non-sectarian school. Seriously. I mean, that should be obvious since this is still the Philippines right? But we did have atheists with us in our batch. At accepted sila. Buong-buo. Walang pangmamaliit.

Now this is my opinion. The school does not break any “laws” or whatever because EVERYTHING still remains optional. The problem with the atheists in Pisay is they are in a constant pursuit to obliterate everything that has got to do with religion or God in our school. Gusto nila kasi, wag mag-pray, wag magtatag ng mga religious orgs, at kung anu-ano pa.

Ang lagi na lang nilang hindi napapansin, the ADMINISTRATION refrains from imposing anything at all. Period.

Meaning, they can opt not to pray during the flag ceremonies. Pwede naman eh. Habang nagdadasal yung ibang estudyante, e di tumunganga ka lang. Tutal, kung atheist nga siyang talaga, magiging napakadali nun. Kung iba naman relihiyon mo, e di magdasal ka sa ibang paraan. The non-catholics do not do the sign of the cross and as a sign of respect to that, the prayer leaders do not say “In the name of the father..” anymore. Dasal lang talaga. Kung may iba kang paraan o kung hindi ka naniniwala, MALAYA kang gawin ang gusto mo. May prayer time bilang pasintabi sa mga naniniwala na dapat simulan nila yung linggo nila ng isang dasal.

Ang problema kasi ang paradigm lang yung atheists eh. Since paniniwala ng atheists na hindi dapat magdasal, dapat wag na lang magdasal. Eh pano yung mga hindi atheists? Panu kung sila yung magreklamo sa napaka-atheistang eskuwelahan na hindi man lang sila binibigyan ng panahon para simulan yung linggo nila ng isang dasal?

Tapos yung issue nung teachers. So? Alam kong alam ng estudyante na yan, more than anything, na parang UP lang ang Pisay: may kalayaan. Kaya nga kahit yung orgs estudyante lang nagpapatakbo ng lahat eh. Kung talagang atheist siya, he would opt to tell the teacher na: “ma’am, I don’t believe in what you’re teaching. sori but can i leave?” ganun kasimple. sigurado naman ako (at kagagraduate ko palang sa eskuwelahan na iyan) na WALANG TEACHER sa pisay na namimilit na makisama ka sa isang relihiyon. Oo, vocal sila about their beliefs, but if you have yours, does that really matter? I mean, kaya nga itinuturo sa values education na “you should live in harmony with those who have different beliefs”, di ba? Kahit sabihin pa nating may “influence” na pwedeng mangyari, well, kung maiimpluwensiyahan ka, hindi talaga buo ang paniniwala mo bilang atheist na walang Diyos.

Ang malaking tanong ko lang sa nagsulat nito, why did you not include in your essay your “attempts” to tell your teachers that you do not believe in such? That would have made the essay more convincing. Maybe because the attempts did not exist?

I mean, you even want to be an “unknown” rather than tell the whole world that this is what you believe in. Kung gusto mo nga talagang bigyang puwang ka ng eskuwelahan sa mga paniniwala mo, e di ipahayag mo kung ano ang pinaniniwalaan mo at PANINDIGAN mo. Hindi yung magpapaka-unknown ka. Para mo kasing ipinapalabas na ikinakahiya mong maging atheist. Be proud that you are one if that’s what you believe.

Last, non-sectarian pa rin ang Pisay. Minsan kasi, nakakalimutan nating tingnan ang mga bagay sa isang mas malawak na perpektibo kaya nagiging kawawa tuloy ang mga inaakusahan natin.

yun lang.

You stated that you’re Catholic. But I certainly wouldn’t know what an atheist would find as spiritual.

———–
Going back to Anonymous guy’s article; he stated that “God before country? Sure, but only if you’re Christian.”

As if he is stating that no followers of other religions could possibly put God over country.

(But without necessarily admitting that prayer before national anthem means God over country, does national anthem before prayer means country over God?)

“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.”

What is Anonymous guy’s religion anyway since he implies a belief in “eternal damnation”?