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February 1, 2009 was the first day that the members of the Pinoy Atheists mailing list met up at Starbucks Shangri-La. It was a potentially tense environment. One of the biggest cliches regarding putting atheists together in one room is the idea that herding atheists is like herding cats. Atheists, agnostics or anyone who chooses to exercise his or her ability for freethought would likely have a harder time finding common ground. The first few online exchanges were really contentious, but fortunately, it all worked out in the end.

Red Tani (the current president of the Filipino Freethinkers) barged into the mailing list with a lot of attitude – something that was both threatening and annoying to long-time members who weren’t even regularly meeting despite being around for years. Red had a vision to make the group more pro-active and politically-relevant. He wanted to take the discussion away from the echo chamber of an atheist-only organization into the public sphere. Continue Reading »

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If you’ve been to this blog before, you would probably know by now that I;m really into music. Over the past decade I’ve tried to diversify my musical knowledge by listening to different kinds of music from all over the world and as much as possible, from different genres. While my last.fm account sure gives away what I like to listen to the most, I do try to keep an open mind when it comes to music. I’m now into a lot of kinds of tunes – from rock to metal to even dance and even a bit of *gasp* jazz.

I started writing a new *hopefully* recurring feature post on Filipino Freethinkers called Freethinker Music Weekly – a column wherein I’ll share bands who have written songs relevant to the freethinker experience (just in case somebody cares). The featured genre for the first installment is metal and hard rock.

If you’re interested to see what I came up, please head on to the site by clicking the link. Feel free to add me on last.fm if you have an account. It’s also great to learn new stuff from the musical quirks of other people.

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A martyr for secularism died just a few hours ago and I could not be more moved with what just happened to a fine civil servant who was willing to stick with a very principled stance in a relatively volatile country. For all intents and purposes, Pakistan is still a state that is still reeling from numerous political upheavals and violence brought about by its rugged geography and tense societal structures. Continue Reading »

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Here we ago again. Preparations are now being done for the next Filipino Freethinkers Forum.

Ryan has already set up the registration page so head out to Filipino Freethinkers’ official website.

Where: a conference room in Ateneo (Katipunan) (ISO building near Xavier and Bellarmine bldg.)
When: 2-6PM – Saturday, March 28, 2009
What: Filipino Freethinkers Forum 2

“Practical Freethinking: Freethinkers in an Unfree World”
The problems freethinkers face in Filipino society and
the alternative solutions to cope or deal with it Continue Reading »

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It’s finally here! After weeks of planning and organizing, the First Filipino Freethinkers forum will be held on Saturday afternoon (February 28, 2009 1-4PM) at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street’s U-View Theater. Registration for the event is still on going, but due to the logistical limitations of the venue, we are limited to a capacity of around 65. The forum itself is free and snacks will be served.

It would be a great chance to touch base and get to know fellow freethinkers. This should be a welcome opportunity for people who have never met another freethinker in his lifetime. Circumstances and statistics have made us live in relative isolation so I do hope that you freethinkers out there would recognize the chance that this event presents.

How to get to the venue:

The venue is in Bonifacio High Street – two rows of specialty shops near Serendra and Market! Market!. It’s reachable by any of the following major roads – Kalayaan Flyover (from Quezon City) or McKinley Road (from Makati) or C-5 (from South Manila).

Some members would be coming from different parts  of the city so if you want to organize a carpool, you may coordinate with the other attendees via the Filipino Freethinkers Mailing List.

To get to Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street by public transport, you may take the MRT to the Ayala Avenue station. Once there, cross EDSA and look for the bus/jeepney terminal near the Shell station. From there, you may take a bus/jeep bound for Market! Market!

For those overseas or in other parts of the country

You may also catch the event via live stream on the Filipino Freethinkers channel on Justin.tv. Keep in mind that the event is scheduled on February 28, 2009 1-4PM +0800 GMT.

If you can’t log in at that time, we would also be uploading the forum over Youtube.

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This will probably go down as one of the most successful freethinkers event ever – which is really good considering this is the first one! I arrived ten minutes before the call time, but there were already six people at the venue. Considering that it took all of one week to organize this, I think our main mover Ryan, deserves all the credit. Thanks to his efforts and perseverance, twenty-six (26!) freethinkers from various philosophical backgrounds – atheism, agnosticism, secular humanism, deism and those who would rather not label themselves — were able to meet and share their philosophical journeys and experiences. The original guest list was actually closed after it reached 20 so it was such a surprise to see six other people in the event.

Carl: It’s all this guy’s fault!

As expected, freethinkers love to talk. In fact, I took a back seat during this event and just enjoyed being a silent observer for most of the time, throwing one liners to perk up the discussion every now and then. I invited two friends (Dustin and Carl) who were really into it! I wasn’t expecting them to be that passionate. I was really proud to be a part of this gathering. Words won’t do justice the way I feel about the unexpected turnout.

Bloggers were well represented – from grand daddies John and  Heathen Dan to younglings like myself, Tess,  Mike, Patrick, Max, Lalon, Tania and Ryan. There will be more events in the future so if you think you’ll enjoy expressing your free thought  in a friendly and non-threatening environment, you are welcome to join us. There will be more events like this in the future.

It was great to see Tess and Lalon again. There are a lot atheists/agnostics in the mainstream blogging community but most are apathetic to the value of forwarding secularism. Some of them are even downright hostile to people to speak up against the hegemony. It was refreshing that these two had the time to pitch their two cents in a  big group like this.

I’ve been exchanging comments with Max, Mike and Dan through this blog and e-mail so it was great to finally meet them! And just as I had suspected, they are older.

The other people who attended were those who I’ve met on Plurk, the Pinoy Atheists’ mailing list and lurkers from various freethinker blogs.

I am so proud.

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