Monday, July 24, 2006

An Interesting Conversation

hi guys, i've ran into this chain letter.. figured i might as well share this with you.. here goes..

INTERESTING CONVERSATION

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem Science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new Christian students to stand and.....

PROF: You are a Christian, aren't you, son?
Student: Yes, sir.
PROF: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
PROF: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
PROF: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
PROF: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal Him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? (Student is silent.)
PROF: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
PROF: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
PROF: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...
PROF: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
PROF: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.
PROF: So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)
PROF: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.
PROF: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
PROF: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
PROF: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.
PROF: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
PROF: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
PROF: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
PROF: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
PROF: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
PROF: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
PROF: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light.... But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
PROF: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
PROF: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
PROF: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain? (The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
PROF: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir... The link between man & God is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Tzun!


Jan-jan: One of Sorsogon's sons (at his best?).

GO WEST!



Top pic -Ipe with Fr. dennis Legaspi on top of MT. San Jacinto in Palm Springs, california. Fr. dennis was one of our mentors at olps and the one who suggested our graduation theme from Robert Frost's "the road less travelled". bottom pic -Ipe, having a holiday at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Ipe works in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a graduate of PMA...before that he was our platoon leader ( tama baya?) back at olps, where his leadership skills were first noticed and developed ...pasaway pan-o an mga cadete....teka parang naka-tikas pahinga ka da sa pic ...hehe

Thursday, July 13, 2006

jamot's visit





jamot's visit in singapore. one glass lang ng complimentary red wine medyo mapula na ako. It's been a year since I last saw jamot in Singapore.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Para wara mutu-mutu






Francis Nicolas' recent pics. Spot the difference.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Whatever happened to....






Some not so recent pics of our classmates.....Aldin during NCAA days- he was a varsity player of Letran...Jamie on a holiday in Lucena and Owen- playing the guitar..Now he resides in Elgin, Illinois....

Monday, July 03, 2006

El retiro



We spent our last retreat in el retiro. We were young, naughty and can never hide the admiration for Michael Jackson. Look at the socks MJ must have been very popular in the nineties... I still dont have an idea why their heads are inside the frames again.

days before graduation.


Got this pic from Fr. Totep. He is standing second from the right. dont know why his head is inside a frame, same with Fr. Jugene, standing at the left most side. ( seated from left: lester, me, raymond, gary, gerard, Rommel and andy)( standing from left: fr. jugene, Owen, fr. Rj, Ipe, Roy, Ronald, Wendell, Alex, Ruden, Jamie, Tom, Aldin, Rhalen, Fr. Totep and JP) FYI: Fr. Totep is the new spiritual director of OLP Minor Seminary.