The Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society will be three years old in 2014. In one’s perspective, this is still very young, like a puppy on its stage of discovering its boundaries and possibilities. But in the Philippines, the non religious movement, with a united face, organized structure and an outspoken force, can no longer be ignored.
At the beginning of a new year, many of us seek for new ways, changes in life, rethinking one’s personal goals and values in life. A new year is like a new chance. We look back at the past, reflect and conclude at what we would like to change or strengthen. We learn from mistakes and prepare for new experiences. Where religion fine tunes its followers on their one sided values, humanism regards and respects the individual values, as they differ in importance from person to person. Our society is flooded with materialism based on the fact that people have more consumer debts than ever. During the so called Christmas time, we can see people running and hunting for the newest mobile phones, tablets or other updated items offered in glance and glory to the public. The big downfall comes when installments can not be paid, sudden illness robs the already weakened financial situation, or job loss cuts a deep notch in the well programmed budget plan. Maybe we should use the new year to look beyond the dictates of society and popular expectations. We should lean back and inhale the present time, a result of billions of years of evolution. When it comes to the point of addressing the belonging together of Atheism / Agnosticism and Humanism, it will highlight the human values. Being self centered is not excluded from the non religious. But when it comes to Humanism, it will start to affect our surrounding. There is a clear difference between carrying one’s life in one's own hands and being selfish. A self determined life does not disregard other humans. It just allows a person to make his own decision. A selfish person disregards his surrounding to favor himself. As Atheists and Agnostics, we are not remotely controlled by the so called divine instructions, but we lead our lives as if it’s the only one, with an earth and time based regard and responsibility, as we know that there is no universal forgiveness, no after life, nor a divinity that will clean up the mess to put things in place. A person living in a compound can always throw his rubbish over the wall. This will affect his neighbors or the outside environment. Maybe over time, the water will become polluted, rats will take over the area, and sicknesses will spread. But as long as the person’s compound is clean, the selfish person won’t mind. Meanwhile, the self determined person is aware of his or her freedom to build a life he or she will feel happy to be in, but that person is also aware of the fact that his neighbor has the same right. With this, he or she will seek to protect his or her fellow human next door. This will provide a peaceful life for everyone and develop human creativity on how to get rid of the wastes produced. In a world with strong religious influence, wastes will be thrown from one side to the other. These wastes manifest in a form of war, discrimination, hate, further human rights abuses and the squandering of human resources. In a world where gods are competing against each other through human interpretations and claims of course; where one god is acting as a real estate agent, the other as a conqueror of the world, the next as the killer of minorities and suppressor of women, a self determined life will not be accessible for millions of people. As long as the selfishness of religion and its representatives gets hold of politics and communities, it will keep its “compounds” clean, empowered and enriched by its followers who live the life of someone else's ideas instead of carrying their life into their own hands.
The concept of living in a “free society” should be understood correctly as freedom can be misused and misunderstood. The freedom of consumption can lead to a prison within, a swamp that is hard to escape from. Allowing religion to build walls around ones self while living in a free society is like allowing another force to use the same freedom to legally enslave or at least limit that person. “Live without fear. Think without delusion” is a phrase that we prominently printed on our PATAS shirts and tarps because we think that nobody deserves to be led by fear, and nobody should be restricted in one's thoughts.
I would like to inspire the thought of renewal, the endurance to not look away from challenging issues, the impulse to be self determined. It is never too late or too early. People make changes at the age of 70 as they do at 17. Age, gender or geographical location does not matter. It only matters to those people who tell you it matters because they are following a personal reason by doing that. Black people are discriminated against because of prejudices. Same prejudices happen to gays, lesbians, women and other citizens and races even decades after the end of certain practices such as slavery. I would really like to motivate everyone to break these chains holding many of us back in the middle ages. How can we develop and enjoy the 21st century if we are not standing in the present with both feet? Leaving one foot behind will leave us struggling to fight the “ghosts” of the past, or in the worse case, dealing with them as if they were still real and valid.
Many have forgotten that we as human beings have rights that we should all have. What did the innocent children do that they had to die in the many religious motivated wars when there were shot in the frontlines, not being able to receive their rights as human beings, in terms of “being”, “being present”, “being alive”, “being a part of”? What did the homosexual person do that he or she is now found executed because of just having another natural color? What did the woman do that she had to be persecuted by a sharia law just because she also wants to vote or drive a car, instead of just being a human being? What did the “Albino” child do that he had to be murdered due to claims of witchcraft?
PATAS Inc is ready to go and grow, let go and get hold of what the present holds for us. Non religious people form the third biggest group in the world, hence we are not far away from taking the top spot one day. Are you ready to pull your second leg from the swamp of the past into the shining 21st century? You are not alone.
Welcome to the successful movement of PATAS Inc 2014. Welcome to you.
Thomas Fleckner (PATAS inc CEO)
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