Why Christianity Fails

This is the opening statement of Christopher Hitchens on debate(religion vs. atheism) against Alister McGrath on October 11, 2007.

Manifesto ng Tunay na Lalake

Manifesto ng Tunay na Lalake

1. Ang tunay na lalake ay di natutulog.
2. Ang tunay na lalake ay di nagte-text-back, maliban na lang kung papasahan ng load. Gayunpaman, laging malabo ang kanyang mga sagot.
   
3. Ang tunay na lalake ay laging may extra rice.
   
4. Ang tunay na lalake ay hindi vegetarian.
5. Ang tunay na lalake ay walang abs.
6. Ang tunay na lalake ay hindi sumasayaw.
   
7. Ang tunay na lalake ay umaamin ng pagkakamali sa kapwa tunay na lalake.
   
8. Ang tunay na lalake ay laging may tae sa brief.
9. Ang tunay na lalake ay di naghuhugas ng pinagkainan o nagliligpit ng kanyang mga gamit dahil may babaeng gagawa noon para sa kanya. Mas lalong nagiging tunay ang pagkalalake kung di niya kilala o di niya maalala ang pangalan ng babae.
10. Ang tunay na lalake ay di nagsisimba.

Tunay kaba na lalake?

Problem of Evil

I always hear during Sundays in our Church (*when I go with my family) other church members/leaders/pastors/evangelists shout "God is good all the time! All the time God is good!" I can't really understand how they end up shouting that phrase. I guess they are not that aware of what is really happening in this world. Maybe they only see the good things in this world OR maybe they consider a certain tragedy or suffering as "good".

I mean look at the news in TV, we always hear about floods killing tens to hundreds of people, plane crashing, rape, abortion, diseases, storms, wars, and other kinds of sufferings. Would these tell us that a good, loving, moral, and powerful God exist? How can there be a loving, moral, and powerful God if evil and suffering exist?

Whither is God during these times? (Assuming GOd exists as believers claim) I am sure that some believers tried to contact or connect or pray to God for some assistance and help but where was God? Or is there really some one powerful, loving, and moral up there that listens to the cries of the dying and suffering people below? If God is powerful then he can prevent evil and sufferings like floods, diseases, storms, wars, rape, and the like. But he was never there (although some believes he was). If God is moral and loving then he will not allow (or at least prevent some of) these evil and suffering. But he didn't. If God is worth of worship then, again, he will not or at least prevent some of the evil and suffering.

I can only think of three possible answers to the question above. Either (a) God don't exist, (b) God exist but he is not loving and powerful, or (c) God exist and he is loving and powerful but don't want to help. You know what item (a) means. Items (b) and (c) would tell us that God (Christian) is not worth of worship. Simple as that.


*Yes, I go to Church once in a while. But I go not because I worship or praise or or believe or love God.

This is the time in my life where everything is falling apart and at the same time it's all coming together. Just like when beautiful people drive ugly cars. Just like when pretty people crush ugly cars.

Pacman Dilemma

I found this interesting topic at the Freethinkers Forum (yahoo group) about Pacquiao's prayers.

John P. wrote:

If you will notice, Paquiao always starts and ends his match with a prayer, and he wins his match most of the times. So just asking...How will you point out to the Filipinos a certain "godless" philosophy like Secular Humanism for example in relation with Paquiao?

Does the prayers really helped Pacquiao win most of his fights? Is that really the reason why he won most of his fights? As a freethinker, I really don't believe that the Pacquiao's prayers helped him win most of his fights. His prayers have got nothing to do in winning his fights. I (and others like me) believe that Pacquiao won most of his fights because of his talent and training. Not because of his prayers. Imagine if Manny will not train 2-3 months before his next fight and just rely on prayers. Do you think Manny will win? Well you know the answer. Also, there are other boxers out there who pray before (and after) their fights but they are not champions like Manny. ( Maybe God have other 'divine' plans for these boxers?? Well, who are we to question God's plans right??* LOL).

All in all, prayers really don't have 'powers' or divine intervention something by a sky daddy up there. Yes it could motivate or give confidence to others but believe me, it is not the prayer. It is with the person. No one really listens up there. It is better to give the credits to yourself and others who helped and worked hard rather than to the non-existing sky daddy up there.



*sarcastic reply of one of the member @ the forum/yahoo group

Church issues new prayer on swine flu

MANILA, May 2, 2009—A new prayer posted at the Church of Manila website aims to help avert the spread of swine flu in the country.

The “Oratio Imperata on swine flu” at www.rcam.org urges the faithful to pray in order to spare Filipinos of the disease that has already claimed many lives in Mexico and threatens to spread throughout the world.

[Credit to the original source. Read the full (absurd)news here.]

This is really absurd and stupid because one can't really heal/minimize/eliminate this outbreak by hoping that sky daddy will hear and pity them.

Boooorrrinnnggg....

Well the title is self explanatory. I'm kinda bored right now. I am looking for something new to do aside from Internet and chess and music and DVD. Since I got bored reading, I will present here some of the things that made me busy lately (although these things also bore me sometimes) while waiting for S's to call me for my training.

As of now I am reading Paulo Coelho's The Devil and Ms. Prym and I am not yet done with it. I have to rest my eyes for a while first before I continue reading it. Hopefully I can finish the book this weekend. The story is (so far) great. I like the characters because they are kinda weird and unusual. The novel tries to answer the question "Are people bad?". Also it kinda presents the problem of evil and I am guessing I will encounter theodicies somewhere in the end. The one thing why I like this book is because I can really relate (well I guess we all can) to the situation of the main character.

Aside from that book above, I am also reading Atheist Universe by David Mills at Scribd.com. I really don't know if the copies of the books there are legit. I just started Chapter 3, God of the Gaps: Does the Universe Show Evidence of Design. Chapters 1 (Interview with an Atheist) and Chapter 2 (Origin of the Universe: Natural or Supernatural) are both good and easy to understand. I really learned a lot especially in Chapter 2 (this chapter is a little scien-cy) wherein David Mills explains some of the basic ideas of the Law of the Conservation of Mass-Energy.

Lastly, I am watching The Office Seasons 1 and 2 and Two and a Half Men Season 1. I bought these just last week (pirated of course). The Office is a mockumentary about life in a mid-sized suboffice paper merchants in a bleak British industiral town, where manager David Brent thinks he's the coolest, funniest, and most popular boss ever(from the back of the pirated DVD). But he isn't really. In fact, his employees think of him as the opposite of these things. The Two and a Half Men on the other hand is a little better and funny than The Office. But the copy I bought is defective (duh pirated). I only enjoyed the first 12 or so episodes of season 1.

So these are the three things that keeps me busy lately (well aside from my daily chess and Facebook and E-mail). I may have a lot of things going on while waiting but I easily get bored with these things. Grrr... Boring...