FIRST SAY:
Freedom of religion means you are free to believe what you want. It does not mean you are free to force others to believe as you do. So, yes, it does mean freedom from religion as well. Not as in, I am free to never hear about it or see it, but I am free from having it forced upon me. So, put up billboards, have giant crosses on your own property, engage in conversation with people that are willing to talk; all that is fine. Trying to put your religious beliefs into the public school system curriculum or outlaw behaviors that your religion doesn't like; no, that is not OK.
Flat taxes benefit the wealthy and keep the poor poor. Progressive taxes are appropriate if you want to stop lords and ladies and serfs from re-emerging. If you like the old feudal system, then sure, flat taxes are a way to get back there.
Regarding charities: consider Scientology. How you feel about what Scientology is doing to people. Taking their money and teaching them about Thetans that they must expunge from themselves, etc. Is that a charitable act? Should they get a tax break for doing that? Regardless of the answer, where is the line? How do you determine what is and what isn't charity?
Teaching people to accept without evidence and to believe without question is a bad thing.
—luneunion said on Quora, commenting on Christopher Hitchens’ statements.
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In the sunny and balmy and cool landscape called Baguio City, there is a racket that continues to this day and the Catholic Church is saying, “it’s not us.”
In a social media post, the Diocese of Baguio said it had learned of the presence of a “group of men in white robes (in white clergy cassocks)” moving around the city asking for donations.
“Lay Faithful are asking whether it is a Roman Catholic Group. No. The group is not affiliated to any Diocese or Religious Congregation or Institute of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines,” said the Baguio Diocese.
The Diocese warns the city-mountain flock against a group reportedly going around the City of Pines seeking financial assistance, saying the group is not affiliated with the Catholic Church.
Reports said the group of donation-collectors is reportedly asking for donations from individuals, business establishments, private firms, and government offices.
The Baguio Diocese attached in the social media post a purported letter of the group calling itself “Filipino Katoliko.”
The letter said the group is supposedly raising funds for the construction of their new church in Bigaan, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur.
The group also said the funds to be raised will be used for the renovation of different church buildings in different areas of Mindanao.
These Jesus Christ-believing missionaries from Mindanao will go as far north as Baguio to collect donations for their churches or chapels. You cannot blame them, there is freedom of religion in the Philippines.
But truth to tell, freedom of religion includes the freedom not to believe in it.
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Eid’l Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is one of two important holy days in Islam. The other one is the Eid al-Fitr, or the Feast of Breaking the Fast. Both are regular holidays in the Philippines.
When asked about the origin of Eid al-Adha, Muhammad, the propher of Islam, is reported to have said, “It is a tradition that has come down to us from Abraham.” Islamic books say the Feast of the Sacrifice originates from the historic event when Prophet Abraham was commanded by god in a dream vision to sacrifice his son, Ishmail.
Not only Islam, but the two other Abrahamic religions subscribe to this story. Only in the case of the Catholic faith, particularly their Old Testament, the father was named Abraham but the son was named Isaac. This discrepancy alone leads one to believe that the tale is untrue.
And so Ishmail/Isaac carried the twigs and firewood on his shoulder, wondering why they were not carrying a lamb or anything to offer as sacrifice to god. He realized that that he will be the sacrifice, and since god commanded it, his father Abraham had to kill him. The boy even silently accepted his fate.
But when Abraham was about to strike his son dead, an angel appeared and told Abraham that god did not mean to order such murder. It was proved that Abraham was willing to kill his son if god wishes it that way.
I do not wish to comment on this story, only to say that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared June 17, Monday as a regular holiday to give way for the observance of Eid’l Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice.
Proclamation No. 579 signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on June 4 stated that Eid’l Adha is one of the two greatest feasts of Islam. The proclamation also stated that the declaration of regular holiday on June 17 was made upon the recommendation of the National Commission on Filipinos based on the 1445 Hijrah Islamic Lunar Calendar.
Under Republic Act No. 9848, the 10th day of Zhul Hijja, the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar, is a national holiday for the observance of Eid’l Adha, with a movable date.
Now, the question that’s begging to be aired is this: if the Feast of the Sacrifice is common to the Muslim and Christian faith, why is the law that mandates its observance geared only for Islamic celebration?
I thought this is a nation whose population is 85 percent Roman Catholic? Is this because Muslim Filipinos care more for Abraham’s showing of faith in their god than the majority of Filipinos Catholics do?
Why is the Feast of the Sacrifice a Muslim holiday or celebration under our laws, and Catholics and other Christians who also believe in it are left in the sidelines.
Just asking.
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