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They did it again. And I’m angry.
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Excerpt of an article in Inquirer:
“For an official of the Roman Catholic Church, the commission of a homosexual act is the real issue behind the rectal surgery in Cebu City that exploded into a scandal on YouTube.
Msgr. Achilles Dakay, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu, Wednesday said the doctors and nurses who had made fun of an anesthetized male patient in the operation room of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and uploaded a video of the surgery on YouTube should not be blamed solely for the scandal.
“We are asking everyone not to forget or to bypass the main issue: the wrong act of a guy with another man,” Dakay said in an interview over the Church-run Radio Veritas. “People are not talking about what happened before the operation—the homosexual act that was done very badly.”
(by Margaux Ortiz, Philippine Daily Inquirer. First posted 04:48:00 04/24/2008)
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First of all, let’s state the obvious: the Catholic Church is ignorant, backwards, arrogant, bigoted, delusional, and false.
The “commission of a homosexual act” is NOT the issue behind the scandal. For this dumb priest to even say that it is, means he’s just not paying attention. Senile much?
His assertion that the doctors and nurses who made fun of the operation, captured a video of the operation, and humiliated the patient on the internet, should not be blamed makes clear the bigotry and distorted values of the Catholic Church.
They are quite accepting of people who ridicule the different, tolerant of oppression as long as it is directed toward people with other values, and praising of those who do evil, immoral, and unconscionable acts as long as they wear God’s cross.
We must not believe the Church when they preach compassion for the sick for the simple reason that IT IS NOT TRUE. They don’t believe that, they may think they believe that but in their hearts they will condemn the next AIDS patient they see, maybe for homosexuality or for having sex at all.
If the Catholic Church believes what it believes and continues to spew their disgusting opinions in our society, then it is a lie when they say they value the dignity of peoples. What they value are their bigotry, hatred, and this scripture from the medieval period they use to back up their bigotry and hatred with.
By the way, these are the names of the people who are involved in the “canister scandal”, count the Monsignor as one of these despicable creatures.
Dr. Philips Leo Arias
Dr. Angelo Alinawagan
Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo
Nursing Attendant Rosemarie Villareal
Nurse Carmiña Sapio
and Msgr. Achilles Dakay
Posted by JJGarcia in Pinoy atheists.
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In my case it was not a conscious decision. It’s more like a rope that was slowly snapping thread by thread until one particular day when my mind was a bit busier than normal tackling the usual questions of the day (why evil? why poverty? why life is unfair? why many priests and bishops seem stupid or lying or ignorant? why? why? why?), the rope snapped completely - I “realized” that the existence of “god” and the hypotheses that are built around this “god” was what was distorting the picture of reality. That the reality that supposes the existence of such a being is an illusion we created; the universe doesn’t care and it doesn’t need a “god” to explain many things we - I - already knew. I wasn’t particularly examining the evidence for or against “god”. I was looking at the world trying to make some sense out of what I see and accept as obvious but I wasn’t being satisfied with the “standard” answers that were so far given me by the Truth authorities. I was trying to unintentionally systematize my thoughts and ideas by trying to resolve the fundamental issues not knowing what it would lead me to. I wasn’t even thinking that I was weighing “god” and the arguments for or against it. Then I crossed the line - it’s “god” itself that was muddling things. I didn’t know “god”, I was only made to believe it. At least that’s how I remember it.
I remember feeling proud and happy about my big “discovery”. 
How did you “decide” to become an atheist?
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I came back from the meet-up about two hours ago. It was as expected a lot of fun. I met two new people both Japanese. It’s unusual in the sense that most Japanese people I suspect are not into religion and consequently irreligion should not be a big deal with Japan being a country teeming with heathens. All in all, seven people attended. I almost couldn’t make it though as when I was leaving work, something urgent came up - a production problem. I was just too happy after I got hold of the morning support guy in the US to take over n look after the problem even if it’s a Tokyo- local issue.
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Last Sunday evening, I chanced upon this lady selling religious merchandise just outside the Akabane Catholic Church in north Tokyo. I decided to hang out here after coming from work and for thirty minutes I watched her sell magic Catholic stuffs like rosaries, statuettes, and banners. She said that the rosaries were blessed at Baclaran Church and that they bring all kinds of luck - mas gaganda ang guhit ng palad mo - according to one of her sales pitch. The bracelet even had a proper method of removing from the wrist by slowly sliding it instead of stretching it. But I thought, maybe it’s because if you stretch it, it may snap due to poor quality in both material and craftsmanship as usually is the case. Listening to her gives an impression of how Pinoys combine elements of traditional native superstition and pseudo-science with the cult that is Catholicism. And judging from the attention and appreciation by the buyers, gives the impression that the masa is also so well into it. For example, she said the beads of the rosary have powers which is not much different from magic crystals while saying the statuettes improve the lines of your palm combines elements of palmistry with Catholic garbage. Believe it or not, they sell like cupcakes! That’s how gullible our church-going kababayans here are.
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When one is exposed to an act that supposedly showcases self-sacrifice and love that seeks nothing in return, it’s easy to get lost in the melodrama and forget the nuances of the entire situation. Who wouldn’t be moved at the thought of someone you don’t know willingly suffering through hours of flagellation and a brutal crucifixion? Who wouldn’t be humbled when someone regarded as superior voluntarily gives up the position to just be up to the mercy of crazed men?
Millions. Yes, those were rhetorical questions, but once you really take a step back from this overly romanticized lie fabricated by people from two thousand years ago, it would be clear that the logic that they used was clearly flawed if not terribly lacking. The idea of having a nobleman choosing to take of his fancy garb along with his status to be subject to the worst that man could dish out is touching to say the least, but one factor is different here. That nobleman is a mere human. He did not choose to be put into that situation and sacrificing himself for the supposed greater good were decisions that he made based on the limited variables that he could control.
Let’s try it this way then.
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We have new banners just in case you would like to link us. Just click on this link to see them.
Enjoy!
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Today the 12th of February marks the 199th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. Darwin is arguably the most important naturalist who has ever lived. He has shown us that we are products of a natural process and not by some magical power of god. This is why unlike the other giants of science like Einstein and Galileo, Darwin continues to be demonized by religious fanatics. Darwin’s ideas are the most powerful there is in exposing the lies and myths that religions seek to perpetuate. In the book What Evolution Is by Ernst Mayr, he enumerated five theories of evolution that Darwin postulated:
1) The nonconstancy of species (the basic theory of evolution)
2) The descent of all organisms from common ancestors (branching evolution)
3) The gradualness of evolution (no saltations, no discontinuities)
4) The multiplication of species (the origin of diversity)
5) Natural selection
Although new ideas and new facts have been discovered in the last century and a half since Darwin published his most important work, Origin Of Species, the above five theories have withstood the assault of scientific thinking but instead reinforced by new discoveries. We owe it to this great man the answer to one of man’s most important question: Where did we come from? We are not specially created by some cosmic being somewhere. The human species is, like any other extant species, but a leaf in the great Tree Of Life.
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The following is an exceprt from my reply in a public forum when somebody asked me what do I think about bible quotes directed towards me.
The bible is full of interesting things. It has many good things and a lot of bad things. In it the merciful god of the OT waged genocide and murder, at one point drowning the whole of creation except for one family and select pairs of species. My position is that the bible, specially the OT, is a work of bad fiction. The NT is a lot better specially the four gospels. If we ignore the fantastic and the fabulous stories and sub-stories in it, I can agree that Jesus Christ is one of the most noblest characters ever (invented by man). The morality that he teaches is one of humility and love and caring for our neighbors. Obviously, and as is shown by participants in this forum including myself, he is a hard act to follow so to speak. There are great stories in the bible and my favorite is the story of Joseph who was sold by his brothers as a slave to the Egyptians and soon became the second most powerful person in all of Egypt. Then there is Moses. Together with his commander-in-chief god were vicious and wicked characters. Upon instruction from god, Moses committed acts that pales the achievements of a modern day war criminal (see Numbers). My point is, I cannot believe that a merciful and benevolent god inspired the Old Testament so either god was malevolent or the bible was the product of a barbaric time. For me, there can only be one conclusion. If there indeed is a benevolent and merciful god, then this book cannot be his inspiration. If you quote the bible to me, it has the effect of quoting, for example The Outsider of Albert Camus. It’s a work of fiction so it must be taken with a pinch of salt. Sure it can send me thinking but not at all seriously. There may be some truths in it, and there are lots of good things in it as well specially when it doesn’t talk about miracles or angels or heaven or hell, and this is what makes it worth more than another work of fiction is. In short, it doesn’t have the intended effect on me. (No offense to Mang Renato) I take what I think is good on its own merit alone (like “the truth will set you free”) and ignore those that don’t make sense or make only nonsense.
They said the most effective weapon against the bible is the bible itself. Read the bible and see for yourself what it really is. It’s not fit for reading by impressionable children and should be rated PG13.
Here is a good start: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm
The Qu’ran is not any better.
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