Philosophy, God, and Honesty

Fear, Vengeance, and Conformity

Some of us had the misfortune of questioning the existence of God. I say misfortune because questioning the existence of God can cause stress and anxiety, but more importantly, a loss of innocence. One wished one had not been too aware of the contradiction between what people believe in and what they do. They believe in a God that is all good, and that teaches to do good even to our enemies. Yet, those same believers do the very opposite as soon as they step out of the church. One wished one had not been aware of the discrepancy. For that leads to other questions that could threaten their peace of mind.

For instance, one asks: "Why do I have to go to mass? It does not make sense to me. We follow those rituals and people kneel and mutter words 'Our Father who art in heaven...' without truly understanding the meaning."

One observes that people go to mass because it is Sunday, and we, Filipinos, are predominantly Catholic; and not going to mass will cause bad karma.

One observes people praying for their safety, and the assurance that their future would be exactly what they had prayed for: protection from murderers, untimely accidents; and financial stability. If they are into lottery, they pray hard to win $20,000,000 at least that could secure their financial for the rest of their lives.

One observes that the priests and religious laymen claim to have a special access to God's mind: they know, with great certainty, what God has in His mind. And, given that, they privileged themselves with the power to command loyalty from their own fellowmen. They are also sure that other religions are inferior to the Catholic faith that they lambast the non-Chrisitian for not accepting Jesus Christ as their one and only savior.

You turn on the t.v. to a channel you did not intend. But, you stay on for awhile because the t.v. evangelist was talking about how God can provide you the money you could have ever dreamed for, if only you pray for it. Seek and shall be yours. Ask for money from God, you'll get it.

You notice, too, that many of those who take religion seriously are those who are 'young at heart'. They feel their body aching every day. Gone were the days when they could jump and feel no pain. Pain reminds them of their frailty, of their mortality. "Life is short', they say, 'but I do not want to believe that this earthly life is all there is. There must be something else, something beyond the grave"

In other words, you notice that people believe in angels and devils and in a supreme god out of fear, vengeance, and conformity. And, you wished that you had not been too aware of this. Innocence is sweet, and peaceful. Yes, you feel physical pain when you accidentally trip and fall to the ground; but you don't lose sleep over it because 'it's a small thing'. You can recover from it. However, the loss of innocence targets your heart and mind. The pain you feel is not physical, but emotional and mental. It does not go away that easily. Sometimes, it does not go away. For some, it never does. That's because you, too, once believed out of fear, vengeance, and conformity. You should have been like 'everybody else.'

Philosophical explanations

 Why does 'everybody else' believe in a god the way he or she does? Let's begin understanding why 'everybody else' believes in a god out of fear, vengeance, and conformity.

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970) was a mathematician, logician, political theorist, educationist, ethicist, and a social critic. He is an atheist, who once was a Christian believer. In his book, Free Man's Worship, he writes:

Bertrand Russell

Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes....A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.

People cannot bear not knowing what the future would be. It is true that people are aware of the fact that they cannot know the future. Their mortality and human frailty reminds them time and again the size of their brain. And, it is this reminder that they experience their greatest fear of the Unknown. "What lies in the future? No, what really lies in the future? I know that I don't know, but I want to know." Religion provides the consolation they desire, not the truth.

Sigmund Freud

Another thinker, with a scientific background, explains this phenomenon. The founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856 -1939), delves deeper into the recesses of the human mind, and discovers the Unconsciousness. Freud argues that much of what we consciously do is determined by the workings of the unconsciousness. Freud claims that our so called good intentions are greatly influenced by our most basic instincts, namely, sex and aggression. In his book, Totem and Taboo, Freud theorizes the origins of religion. The father of a tribe, whose sons envy the father's access to the tribe's women, plans out to overwhelm and kill him. Despite their success, the sons fail to fulfill their desire to emulate their father, due to competition amongst themselves. Thus, religion arises out of frustration - to emulate their father - and guilt - for killing the father. The process is the same for all societies, be they Western or Eastern. Eventually, in the face of helplessness and guilt, mankind creates a god. In Freud's view, the 'created' God is a projection of the unconscious mind. This explanation is based on Freud's observation of children who feel helpless and guilty, and who needed a figure (figure of authority) to protect them from harsh reality. Religion, in other words, is a childish delusion.

To put Freud's theory in another way: all of us, as children, experienced fear in something that we do not know. We also experience things and people who can harm us. Our only means of survival is throw ourselves to our father, who appears to us children as the most powerful, most admirable being in the world. As we grow up, although we still admire and love and respect our fathers, we have outgrown the father. But we have never outgrown our fear of the Unknown. We feel the awesome power of the storm, the earthquake, death. We seek a more powerful figure of authority, a father figure, the creator of these natural events. Isn't it a surprise why god is considered a male?

Is there a way out?

Despite these philosophical attempts at explaining our 'weekly' observations of people who cling to god; who go to mass every Sunday; who don't practice what they preach, is there a way for you, the reader, to free yourself from fear, and to believe in a god? That is, is it possible for one not to fear the unknown and be able to believe in a god? Is god real, not a creation of one's mind? Is there a god apart from me?

But, why believe in a god? Many, like Bertrand Russell, reason that one should not believe in a god for religion oppresses his individuality, his freedom to be what he can be. Should one decide not to believe in a god, just because he does not want to be oppressed? Should we bet on God's existence?

Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662) a Christian apologist argues that, if reason fails you to make up your mind on whether or not to believe in God, then let us wager. He writes:

Blaise Pascal

But there is an eternity of life and happiness. And this being so, if there were an infinity of chances, of which one only would be for you, you would still be right in wagering one to win two, and you would act stupidly, being obliged to play, by refusing to stake one life against three at a game in which out of an infinity of chances there is one for you, if there were an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain. But there is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. It is all divided; wherever the infinite is and there is not an infinity of chances of loss against that of gain, there is no time to hesitate, you must give all...

What have you got to lose if you decide to believe in God? If you decide not to believe in God, and should God exists, you lose everything, including immortality of life. If you decide not to believe in God, and should there be no God, then you lose nothing. Believe in God, and there is a god, then you win everything, including immortality of life, and a chance to live in heaven.

Being Honest

As for me, I'm not entirely sure that this is the way out. This would not give the peace of mind that I am looking for. So, let me propose what I think is a way out. Here is the situation.

Say that I believe in a God because I am afraid for myself, I seek God's punishment for those who wronged, and because many people believe in God. Say that I also believe in a God on the basis of a wager. I die. I become a soul. I see myself rising out of the body, rising higher and higher, and I see Peter at the gate. I greet him, but he greets me with book of my life. All that I have done Peter knows, is written in that book. Peter smiles. He looks up and says, " You have bet on God's existence. You believed that you believe in Him, because you are afraid for yourself. And, you follow the rules just as anyone would knowing that he's being watched. In other words, you are not honest in your belief." Am I then barred from entering through the gates of heaven because I have been dishonest? I'll leave that for you to decide.

In another situation, much as I tried, I could not get myself to believe in God, for that would be dishonest. I die. There is heaven. There is God. There is Peter waiting for me at the gates of heaven. He greets me, then he reads the records of my life. Peter knows that I don't believe in God. But, Peter also knows that I have been fiercely honest with myself. If peter admires honest people, he should allow me to go through the gates of heaven. But, does he? I'll leave that for you to decide.

Philosophy and the issue of God

It would have been a nice ending to our spiritual journey if there indeed is a God, and I have been honest about believing in a supreme being. But that would be wishful thinking on our part. We are serious. We took up this issue because it matters a lot to us. Unlike the others who question God out of anger or resentment, we decided to take up the issue because we desire to know. We may not come to know THE Truth, but at least we are sincere, because we are driven by our desire for truth.

No one, not even philosophers can decide for you. However, the philosophical spirit can show you how to decide. Philosophy, the love of wisdom, is also the desire of and for truth. It's all we got to stay honest and dignified. It builds character and wisdom. It overcomes fear and inauthenticity. Your only reward (and consolation) in taking up the philosophical attitude is that you have done your best in being honest with, and true to, yourself. This is just the beginning.

Deadly Oneness of Truth

Should we still be insisting on - what more, be believing in - the absoluteness of truth? Could we ever arrive at one conclusion so everyone could finally live in peace with one another? Or, were we all destined to wage war for all eternity until the there is only one man left standing? Is such a notion of truth dangerous?

'Deadly' Truth 

Truth, it was said, is One and Absolute, and independent of the knower. Truth, of this kind, depends not on what the knower thinks it is or should be. The knower, to know the truth, must align himself to it. He must be ready to receive its light. Truth, it was conceived, is timeless and quite objective. However, only a few are privileged to know such a truth. And they announced it to the 'underprivileged' which make up the great majority of the human population.

The 'underprivileged many' was attracted to such a notion of truth. So intense were their emotions that they believed to have seen the Truth. Truth, they argue, is on their side. And, they would insist on it, even wage a holy war if need be. Indeed they have waged holy wars amongst nations, communities and in their neighbourhood. Such is the social and political consequence of believing in the notion that Truth is the One and the Absolute.

It’s not a matter of (a) fact

Truth, many believe, is a fact to which they add: it is an undeniable fact. But, that's confusing the two terms.

Is it a fact that a big, unusual looking bone an evidence of evolution? Sure, if you’re a paleontologist or a believer in the theory of evolution. To someone who does not share your belief, the big unusual looking bone is not a proof of evolution. If two or more persons see the same thing in two different ways, then there is a distinction between a fact and a truth. Let me explain.

Truth is not equated to a fact, and vice versa. Something becomes a fact when it fits into the story you believe in. Something is true because it intensifies your involvement in the story, your story. It is the story that causes a fact to rise up and present itself as true. This is the power of the story for it gives birth to the notion of truth. There is no truth outside a story. Without a story we would not be able to make sense of the world and the things that happen in it. We could not utter the word 'truth'. (A world, interestingly, is created through and by a story.)

Tell Stories, not the truth

The conflict between individuals and groups then is not a quarrel about whether truth is absolute or relative. The conflict, which oftentimes ends in violence, is the failure on our part to realize that what’s being told is a story. Can you say that a story is (the) truth?  After reading a book of fiction, and remarking that 'it is so true',  are you then not enlightened? Someone's story expresses your story, and deepens and widens the quality of your story, your life. And, it does without telling the truth. Stories try to make sense of it all in the midst of chaos.Without a story, life would be meaningless, bereft of hope. 

Just as there are many communities there are many stories. Stories are meant to be told and to be listened, to, and the chance to acquire deeper appreciation and understanding of the world and ourselves.

When was the last time you listened to a story?

God and Theory of Evolution: Can they co-exist?

To say that 2 or more things coexist with one another is to assume that they're both on the same level. Oil and water don't mix, but they coexist. They're both natural products. People of different religion can be said to coexist. Despite the differences in beliefs and practices, they live in harmony within a city such as Toronto. 

But what about God and the idea that living things evolve from previous living things now extinct? Well that depends on what you mean by those terms, especially the term 'God'. Let's first look at what science and scientists do.
Scientists study the behavior of things in nature. They busy themselves only with problems and issues that can be verified to be true or false. Scientists study what can be observed by the naked eye or what can be inferred from observations and experiments. Paleontologists, for instance, study bones of extinct animals; and although they may find some similarities with the ones that are living, as scientists, they cannot jump to the conclusion that there indeed was an evolution. Evolution is a theory. As such, it cannot be proven. But, unlike creationism, evolution theory has a stronger explanatory power. Unfortunately, it has been treated by many scientists and laymen alike as if it were a scientific fact that can be observed by the naked eye. If that were so, then there would not have been a debate between defenders of evolution and creationism (which is another theory).

What then is the use of a theory if it is not a scientific fact? A theory is used to make sense of the facts gathered and studied. However, to be true to the spirit of science, scientists should be ready to let go of a theory when there are too many facts that will eventually contradict it. But, so far, there aren't that many facts that could damage the theory of evolution.

What about the term 'God'? As you probably are aware, there are many notions of God. The mystics' notion of God is so different from the ordinary man's notion of God that the ordinary man, except the mystic and highly developed spiritual persons, wouldn't even be able to recognize it as his God. This is so because the God for the mystics can't be talked about it. God has no name. But more surprisingly, God is not even a being. For a being to be a being, a being is limited and defined. And if anything can be defined, it can be given a name and possibly be studied. Mystics believe that we can only infer what God is, but not directly know what God is. Note that language is always talking about or is referring to being. We use 'is' in all our sentences. Peter IS tall. Peter IS there, Peter IS sad. But what can be said about God? Language cannot talk about God as God without corrupting the essence. Mystics are mostly quiet about God when asked what HE IS. The best that language (or, human beings) can do to refer to God is to say that "God who is not a being, is the ground of all beings for them to exist".

The other notion of God is the literal one that many believe God to be. He is being that lives above earth (in heaven); is seated on a throne; is all powerful, all knowing (knows the past, the present, and the future all in one instant); is spirit; and does special favors to those who believe in Him. And, he has a gender. He loves, can get angry and jealous at times; and creates the world at a certain time and place. And since He is endowed with perfect knowledge of things, living and non living, there is no need for him to revise what He has created a long time ago. Whatever He creates is perfect. With such a notion of God, there can be no room for a theory of evolution. If you believe in such a God, there can be no coexistence between God and the theory of evolution. You'll have to side with creationism.

There are many more notions of God. For instance, pantheism, a metaphysical belief that God is All, as All is God; and, panentheism, the belief that God is in All as All is in God. That is, God is immanent in things (hence, things are mirrors of God); while God is not identifiable with one or any of the things. For God is the ultimate source of things, God transcends things. That is, God is beyond things.

Surely, the pantheistic or the panentheistic or even the mystic's notion of God will have no problem with the theory of evolution. It can be said that, since God is not a Being (but the Ground of beings for beings to even exist), then natural things that evolved exist because God is their Ground. Or, the ever evolving of things (to come) is an expression of the creativity of God who is forever creating. However - and it is for this reason that debates on this issue will never be resolved - compatibilities between the layman's notion of God and theory of evolution will forever be a case of oil and water: they don't mix; but unlike these natural things, they can't coexist. What do you think?

Forgive, but don’t Forget!

We have come across the phrase, ‘Forgive and Forget’. We forgive, but if we mistakenly think that forgetting is a part of forgiving, then we’re in for a big surprise. To forget is to lose the memory of our past actions and experiences. If we lose that, we are bound to repeat them, again and again. Forgiving demands that we remember not only of what we have forgiven, but also of the past. Forgiving however demands that we do not chain ourselves to the past. To chain ourselves to the past is to be attached. Forgiving is to let go of attachment. Forgiving is detachment. Forgiving is to let go of the past without forgetting. By forgetting, we do not necessarily let go of the past. We just don’t remember. We become chained to it. And, if we don’t remember, then we are likely to be attached to it. We re-enter the loop of hate, jealousy, prejudices, unforgiveness, etc.

Perhaps, we thought that forgiving is also to forget because we mistakenly associate forgetting with the act of letting it go, letting it be. But, as said earlier, through forgetting, we do not remember of past attachments; and so we are most likely, in the future, to be attached to that which we have miserably forgotten.

What do you think?

The Spiritual Meaning of Poverty

It is Easier For a Camel to Go Through the Eye of a Needle Than For a Rich Man to Enter the Kingdom

I have often thought about this quotation, and wondered why a rich man would have a very difficult time entering the kingdom of God. In order to get to the meaning of this lesson, let us try to understand the meaning of being rich.

There are several definitions of the word 'rich'. But for the sake of time and brevity, let me focus on a particular definition of the word in order to extract the meaning of the above quote. 'Rich', according to the dictionary, is defined as "having abundant possessions and especially material wealth." A man is said to be rich if he has an abundance of money that could buy properties and cars, that could afford him to travel anytime he wants, and so forth. With all these luxuries that money can buy, one desires to stay rich as long as he can. Such a man is full of himself, full of ego because he is attached to material things. He not only craves for wealth, but also for the continuity of wealth. In other words, a rich man is not satisfied with he has, but he yearns to stay rich or be richer than he already is. The more he craves, the more he is filled with his ego. The more he is filled with his ego, the more he is said to be selfish. And as he stays on being selfish, the more he is attached to his material wealth.

How then does he view his family, i.e., his wife, his son and his daughter? As a rich man, he is a victim of attachment to his own self. Anything or any person that is of value - added value - to his ego, is an extension of his self. This only means that he is emotionally attached only to his self. He looks upon his son as an extension of his self. Therefore, he desires that his son to be like him, and possibly to continue his financial empire. His daughter, he insists, must be married to a man just as rich has he is - or even richer - in order to secure his wealth. His wife: yes, she is one of the many rewards of his being rich. A rich man is full of himself, attached to his self, that he has a difficult time treating persons as they are, for who they are. Things and persons are valuable if only they feed the rich man's ego. A rich man, therefore, understands nothing of love for love entails treating and respecting people as they are.

It is no wonder that Christ spoke of the poor so favorably. A poor man, who is the opposite of the rich man, is not, in my opinion, to be understood as one who has little or no money. A man who has little money may yet be attached to whatever he has, and be just as full of his self as the rich man is. A 'poor' man, on the contrary, is a man who has no attachment to things or persons. And because he has no attachment to things or persons, he is empty of his self, of his ego. He is unselfish. (A 'poor' man may have wealth, but is not attached to it.) A 'poor' man lives not for his self, but primarily for others; and therefore a 'poor' man is not full of himself, of his ego. A 'poor' man, therefore understands the meaning of love for he treats and respect the others for who they are. He yearns for people to realize their potentialities, and therefore is involved in their lives just as Christ was. Only those, who have no attachment to things and persons, are poor. And only those poor in spirit can enter the kingdom of God.

As the Father should be to his Child

Daughter: Dad, I was going around with my friends during Halloween

Father: Yes, I know. Did you have a nice time?

Daughter: Yes, I did, until …

Father: What had happened?

Daughter: I lost your camera.

She was crying at that point. It was not a cheap camera. The father saw how remorseful she was.

Daughter: I deserve to be punished. Will you punish me?

Father embraced his daughter and asked: “Do you really feel bad for losing my camera?”

Daughter: Yes. Very bad.

Father: I request one thing from you.

Daughter, expecting to be punished, was not prepared for what the Father said to her:


I want you to regain your trust in yourself to handle important things. It's more important than losing the camera.


How would you handle this situation?

Jesus was "Out of Touch with Reality"

Of all the teachings of Jesus Christ, the very best and the one that gives life to all his teachings and practices, is “Love Thy Enemy.”

Love your God, he says, with all one’s heart and mind and soul. To do so, you should also love your enemy. Otherwise, it is meaningless and hypocritical of you.

"They" say: Love your neighbor. That’s easy because your neighbor shares the same likes and dislikes (perhaps, even biases and prejudices). No effort in linking up with her. But, if there's no effort, then there's little or no moral value in loving a neighbor. Former US president Bush and Bin Laden love their kinds, but hate their enemies.

Loving your enemy is the greatest act of love - following Jesus's line of thinking and life. It demands that you put aside your biases and prejudices, and reach out to the one who holds different views and beliefs. In that case, Loving one’s enemy is an extreme act of self sacrifice, for love is an expression of self sacrifice.

If you truly love God, then the best way to show that is to love one’s enemy. But, if you think that’s too idealistic, too impractical - way out of touch with reality - too idiotic, then stop pretending to believe in Jesus Christ. He's way out of touch with reality; and you claim not to be.

Or, is he?

Who is out of touch with reality, Jesus or you?

I didn't want to blog

I really didn't want to blog, but I also didn't like the feeling of stashing my notes somewhere in the hard drive, and no one - like me - to share with. I would be missing something if someone like me didn't share his thoughts about living the way I would have wanted to think about living.


This blog is not just about my experience. They are philosophical reflections or re-examination of the meaning of living. The meaning of living covers a very wide area. Meaning of living encompasses my relationship with humans, environment, the 'Ground' of being, the effects technology and social events have on my way of thinking, believing and feeling.


This blog is not for everyone. It's for those who have traversed similar paths towards examining and re-examining life as it is lived, and thoughts as they are lived out. I do not claim to have the answers to, nor the insight into the nature of, Truth. Write I must. Think I must. If I do otherwise, I will be tortured by regrets for not doing what I have to do at least for myself.


These ideas that I put down are not permanent - although I sense that they're right. In time, they will have to be revisited, re-examined.