en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4450661 Comments by okeechobeeman http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/12/21/rh-divorce-and-other-divisive-bills/#IDComment535693556 The Roman Catholic Church is certainly not a democracy so they have no concept of democracy. It's a dictatorship and it has always been their way for centuries. Catholic dogma endured in the Philippines because Filipinos early on, uneducated and superstitious, had been forced to swallow it through the threat of eternal fire. Priests were looked at as earthly representatives of God and Filipinos believed it. We were forced to address them as "Father" because that automatically puts us in a level much lower than them. Hopefully we Filipinos of the 21st century will finally wake up and see our country without the choke hold of the Vatican. Fri, 4 Jan 2013 17:36:18 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/12/21/rh-divorce-and-other-divisive-bills/#IDComment535693556 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/12/22/the-bishops-you-vote-for/#IDComment529733548 And let us not forget that these Filipino bishops are controlled by their handlers at the Vatican, mostly Italians. Their big boss is a German, I'm sure every Flipino knows this. All of them foreigners most of whom never set foot on Philippine soil. We Filipinos should never forget that about 120 years ago thousands of our ancestors died trying to rid our country of foreign rule -- the Spaniards and the Americans to be specific. But little did we realize that another foreign power had taken residence deep within the Filipino society and the Filipino psyche, and this is the Vatican, which is located in the heart of Rome, Italy. For 500 years this foreign power ruled and controlled the lives of Filipinos, and this is still being felt today. We can be freethinkers, atheists, or agnostics, but are we patriots? Do we possess love of country? Love of our people? What is our purpose in life as freethinkers? We learned about Bonifacio, del Pilar, Aguinaldo, but we never learned about the thousands nameless Filipino patriots who gave up their lives to expel foreigners from our soil. And here we are, in the 21st century, still being ruled by a foreign power. What are we going to do as freethinkers? Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:02:00 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/12/22/the-bishops-you-vote-for/#IDComment529733548 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/10/11/the-strange-case-of-rizal-and-catholic-dogma/#IDComment466933842 In Dr. Rizal's book, there is a dinner party and Father Damaso attends with or without invitation (I don't recall which). He sits at the head of the table where the host should have been seated. He tries to dominate the gathering, making it known his disapproval of the marriage between Ybarra and Maria Clara (Damaso's daughter by rape). This part of Rizal's book shows the attempt by the Catholic church to dominate the Filipino family and society as a whole. Damaso is the symbol of the Catholic church in this story. Damaso is also not a Filipino and he would do anything to stop the marriage of his daughter, a meztisa, to an indio. A touch of racism against the "dumb indios". Anyway, dominating the Filipino family has always been the mission of the Catholic church in the Philippines. (Why do we address priests as "Father"?) Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:28:25 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/10/11/the-strange-case-of-rizal-and-catholic-dogma/#IDComment466933842 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/09/prayer-is-no-substitute-for-actually-doing-shit/#IDComment341874173 About 75% of the 94 million Filipinos are either living in poverty or walking the tightrope into poverty. They have no hope nor anyone to turn to for deliverance but god. Praying is essential in their lives to ease the pain of hunger, despair and hopelessness. The Philippines has reached a point where the country's resources is so depleted that it cannot provide anymore to sustain the population. The more fortunate ones are able to leave the country and work in foreign lands to support their families back home. The less fortunate ones are left behind with their prayers to god. I see some of you come from well-to-do families and have the luxury of prayer-less lives. If Filipinos will not sympathize nor help to ease the sufferings of your fellow Filipinos, then please do not take away the only thing that your less fortunate brothers and sisters have to ease their sufferings. Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:52:15 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/09/prayer-is-no-substitute-for-actually-doing-shit/#IDComment341874173 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment336990660 I don't see your reply, Garrick Bercero. I would like to see it please. Thank you. Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:29:33 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment336990660 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment336987676 A group of academics in the USA did an experiment wherein a number of black, white and Asian babies where shown toys that were dark-colored and toys that were light-colored. All the babies seemed to prefer playing toys that were light-colored. The reason for this is because their eyes picked up more reflected light coming from the light-colored toys. Now these babies had no concept of beauty, race, history or culture. They simply chose the lighter-colored toys because their eyes were more attracted to it, or that they could see it better. If you put a dark-skinned person and a light-skinned person in a dark room and slowly turn up the dimmer switch, which person will you see first? Your eyes will be more attracted to the light that bounces off that person's skin. The same concept is true if you take a pair of pretty identical twin girls and color one hair black and the other blonde. Your eyes will surely be more "attracted" to the one who is blonde. She is actually no more prettier because they are both identical twins. Such is the nature of the human eye. Filipino women surely have the right to make themselves beautiful in any way they want to be beautiful. For years they have been putting make up on to give themselves rosy cheeks, or elongating their eyelashes to highlight their eyes, or putting on red lipsticks on their brown lips. Some have even been sporting brown hair, just like white women coloring their hair blonde to be more attractive. For sure white imperialism can be blamed for the Filipino fixation for white skin because for more than 400 years Filipinos had associated the Caucasian face with authority and divinity. The Spanish, Americans and the Vatican had ruled our lives down to whether or not we can eat pork chops on Fridays. The Spanish and the Americans are gone but the Italians and Germans of the Vatican are still here telling us how to live our lives when they never even set foot on Philippine soil. This is the real issue of the gullibility and credulousness of Filipinos. We readily absorb anything that the white man says. We Filipinos can color our skin white as much as we want but we have to expel the white master from our psyche. Jesus is not Caucasian. The Virgin Mary is not caucasian. I doubt if God himself is one. The Pope is not a disciple of Christ and he is not holy just because he wears a robe and he is German or Polish. This is our national disgrace and we have to face it and reverse it by re-embracing our roots as an Asian nation and re-embracing our ancestors who sacrificed dearly to expel control of our lives by foreigners such as those at the Vatican. Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:24:07 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment336987676 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment333184711 The human eye is naturally "attracted" to light-colored objects. First of all the main function of the human eye is to detect light, mostly reflected light. A white-colored car is easier to see than a black-colored car at night. This is because the white surface of the white car reflects more light than the black car. This is true as well with light-colored skin and dark-colored skin. We tend to be more readily "attracted" to light-colored skin because more light bounces off its surface whereas light is absorbed in dark-colored skin. This is the scientific explanation of why humans are more "attracted" to white skin. It is not cultural. It is natural or biological in nature and it has absolutely nothing to do with white European people. This means that the Filipino flirtations with lighter skin in order to be more "attractive" is excusable. Fri, 6 Apr 2012 16:50:42 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment333184711 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment333144798 Believe me this article was not written as a compliment to Filipinos' obsession with white skin. This article is a sarcasm to this disgraceful habit that we Filipinos display for all the world to see--our worship of the Caucasian face. It's already the 21st century and we Filipinos still believe that god, Jesus and the virgin Mary are white Caucasians. Look at their pictures that are hanging on your walls. We readily bow down to any Caucasian missionary that shows up on our doorstep and embrace whatever religion they sell us. We Filipinos believe that the Pope is holy just because he wears a robe and he is German or Polish! Our ancestors sacrificed dearly to wake us up from this nightmare of foreign domination of our lives and yet we still cannot survive without the meddling of the Italians at the Vatican. We are a gullible people and foreigners will continue to take advantage of this. Let us face and admit to this disgrace together and perhaps work together to build a new Filipino identity that is devoid of these foreign domination. Let us rebuild a 100% Filipino culture that we can be proud of for once in our history and so that our Asian brothers and sisters can finally respect us, and most importantly so that we can gain dignity for ourselves and our children. Fri, 6 Apr 2012 15:41:23 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/04/04/on-being-white-in-a-brown-nation/#IDComment333144798 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/20/filipinos-for-secular-government/#IDComment326551186 Sorry, Red Tani. Active members of the priesthood should NEVER be allowed to run for public office because this destroys the very foundation of the Philippine Constitution. Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:51:27 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/20/filipinos-for-secular-government/#IDComment326551186 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/20/filipinos-for-secular-government/#IDComment326547355 Free speech is freedom to express one's opinion. Extortion or intimidation is not. Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:44:37 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/20/filipinos-for-secular-government/#IDComment326547355 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/20/filipinos-for-secular-government/#IDComment326538254 If excommunication is used to blackmail modern educated Filipino politicians, then the Philippines is still in the Middle Ages. This is hard to believe happening in the 21st century. What has the Catholic Church ever accomplished in the Philippines, anyway? They never contributed in the country's prosperity. They are supposed to be the source and guardians of morality but there is nothing to brag about. Instead they meddle in the affairs of the state. I say the Catholic Church should step back and look at its track record in the Philippines. 400 years or so of catholicism never produced anything that is helpful to the country's welfare. (Please don't tell me they saved many, many Filipino souls). Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:28:54 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/09/20/filipinos-for-secular-government/#IDComment326538254 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/03/20/atheist-spring/#IDComment322822951 I am glad that free-thinking had taken root in our country. Every Filipino has the right to think the way he/she wants as a personal choice. The era of forced doctrines is over. The courage to choose to believe anyway you want is finally here. I always believe that the young free-thinkers hold the future of this country. Centuries of thinking based on doctrines imposed by foreigners had turned our country into a land of little lost children who "needed guidance" throughout their lives. The Spaniards, the Americans, and the Vatican had taken a toll on our culture and identity as an Asian people. The Vatican, and its arm the Roman Catholic Church, had single-handedly erased our indigenous culture and replaced it with one that worships the West, its culture and its religion. It is a brave new world in our country and it would even be braver if we free-thinkers, atheists, and even non-atheists--Filipinos all--can join together and rid our country and our lives of these foreign interferences. The Vatican alone had been in our country for well over 400 years now but never contributed in our prosperity nor our morality, particulary the type of morality that presidents and politicians should display. It is time for this foreign entity to go or it is time for it to get taxed for its investments in our country. Witnesses, Anglicans, Mormons and the rest of those foreign-run churches have no more places in our Filipino lives. Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:39:37 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/03/20/atheist-spring/#IDComment322822951 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment322050880 First it is important to know what type of organization the Roman Catholic Church is: 1. It employs a lot of people worlwide (priests, bishops, etc). The number of bishops alone is about 3,000. These people do not absolve sins and save souls for free. They have everyday needs just like we less perfect people do. They are paid for their services. They also have health insurance coverage and pensions when they retire. Alas they too get sick and get old. The Vatican needs billions of dollars to pay for all of these. The coins you put in the basket at Sunday mass or the rosaries you buy cannot pay for these. (On a side note, I suspect that the reason for the celibacy requirement is to keep the expenses low. 10,000 priests who get married all of a sudden and have kids will surely triple, quaruple, googuple, the RCC expenses.) In the Phil, and other countries, the RCC acts like a corporation with non-profit religious status, thus tax-exempt. The RCC needs revenue just like any other business to stay afloat. 2. The Vatican controls a big chunk of the Philippine economy... Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:38:57 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment322050880 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment321265941 But they do have plenty of power. In the old days kings would bow down to the Pope and beg for papal blessings and support. Today in the Phil alone the Vatican has great influence on governmental policies not just spiritually but financially as well. Every Filipino president MUST be a catholic or the people will not vote for him or her. Estrada, Arroyo, Marcos, etc, these brave symbols of Filipino morality had to have the backing of the church. Historians suspect that the Catholic church was behind the execution of Dr. Jose Rizal because they found that Dr. Rizal was too smart and too brave to be an indio and too daring to accuse the church of imperfection. The catholic church is very powerful in the Phil and this is undisputable. Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:59:56 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment321265941 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment320571713 We must put an end to Filipino submissiveness to these foreigners and it is the duty of every Filipino to accomplish this for the sake of the future of our country. Your faith in Jesus can never be attacked by anyone (a smart atheist respects other people's beliefs while a dumb atheist engages in religious arguments knowing full well that he can never win). I'm not your enemy, dboncan, and I am impressed by your fighting spirit. We need Filipinos like you on our side, your people's side, to elevate us, promote a pure Filipino identity that we can be proud of, and to gain self-respect as well as respect from our Asian brothers and sisters. We need to rid our country and rid our lives of anymore foreign control and there is a very peaceful, respectable way to do this that will also prove to be financially beneficial to our country. Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:13:48 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment320571713 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment320570306 The Vatican was a very powerful entity. Some kings were made only with its blessings. The fear of excommunication also ruled the minds of every Catholics. Fear was its greatest asset. We can see this in our own country right now. If your are defending your faith in Jesus Christ then I will defend it with you. But if your are defending your loyalty and devotion to a foreign entity, the Vatican and its arm the Roman Catholic Church, then you are on your own because this is indefensible and unforgiveable. It is an affront to our ancestors who sacrificed greatly to rid our country of foreign control. It is an insult to our people who had been treated like lost children by these foreigners for 400 years or so. Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:11:39 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment320570306 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment319829987 Infallibility and impeccability go hand in hand and both produce a false, oftentimes twisted, sense of perfection. Infallibility is something that is adopted and not given. Many regimes adopted the doctrine of infallibility a recent one being Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, which gave him a god-like status. Establishments that adopt this doctrine are inherently dictatorial Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:59:06 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment319829987 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment319608791 And yet it never made the Philippines a better place even after 400 years or so. Our main source of "moral values" never made our country the most morally upright people in Asia. Instead it made Filipinos the most loyal subjects of the Vatican, a foreign entity. You are a great example, dboncan. You are very loyal to the RCC, to the Vatican. But is it your faith in Jesus that you are defending, or is it your membership to the RCC? The two are really very different concepts. Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:41:07 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment319608791 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment319593709 Yes she stands after 2000 years the reason being she owns so much land that people rely on. In the Phil alone the Vatican at one time was the largest land owner. I think the biggest reason that the RCC still stands for so long is because the faithful could not tell the difference between faith in Jesus Christ and membership to the RCC anymore. Filipinos have a lot of faith in Jesus Christ that they are actually the ones who bring Jesus into the Roman Catholic Church. We Filipinos SHOULD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between Faith in Jesus and being a subject of the Vatican. Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:13:38 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment319593709 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment317746173 It proves that the Catholic doctrine is fallible after all and that the church is ruled by men who make mistakes just like the rest of us, or that the only difference between us and these men of the cloth is actually just the cloth itself. They should adapt their teachings to make it acceptable to the modern mind and relevant to the modern world, specifically to the modern Philippines which had been struggling for the last 400 years to catch up with the rest of Asia despite the massive presence of god in our country. Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:04:19 +0000 http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2012/02/27/contraception-corona-and-unimpeachable-dogma/#IDComment317746173