Religious Beliefs
Miracles
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – August 28, 2021
Religious people, especially Christians, Jews, and Islam, believe in miracles. Miracles to them happen as a result of their religion, unlike science that doesn't believe in miracles.
The Google dictionary defines miracles as anything or any event that is not explicable "by natural or scientific laws and is considered to be the work of a divine." But religion doesn't have enough supplies of miracles to eliminate the coronavirus.
Science, on the other hand, accepts its limitation to completely cure todays pandemics. Millions of COVID-19 deaths have already been reported in spite of being fully vaccinated, including friends, classmates, and students that go unreported. But this number also includes those who were not vaccinated.
If both science and religion cannot cure us, it can only mean one thing: We're on our own. It's either God sent this pandemic to us or tolerated millions of deaths committed by humans as payment of the original sin committed by the First Couple.
Asking for a Sign
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – June 3, 2021
During the Holy Eucharist I attended on May 16, I found myself asking for a sign again. Lo and behold, I received the sign a week later. Lessons I learned when asking for a sign from above. Ask earnestly. Don't ever expect to receive a response. In fact, you might not receive any sign at all. Also, don't promise anything, in return for the favor. Don't even think about it. The Lord of Creation can never be bribed.
The Holy Eucharist I was attending was the interment of my brother-in- law and the sign I was asking was BLOOD, which I didn't know why. It was just the first thing that passed through my being.
July Has Been Disturbing!
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – July 8, 2021
The month of July has not been so good to me, it seems. I've been barraged by a lot of intruders and hackers out to control and demolish my Facebook. I've blocked all of them, but they kept on coming back. I don't know how they were able to unblock themselves from my account.
The worst thing they have done is that they are using the names of my FB friends for their nefarious interests. I saw a lot of names who are my FB followers. It's highly possible that you're one of them.
It's possible that some of these hackers and intruders are not aware that their identities have been hacked because I know them to be also my FB friends. Please know that I'm not the one doing this.
My name has also been tagged several times together with a lot of other names and sent to the wild. I guess these are the trolls, memes, and bots I've been talking in my posts and in my books.
So, Guys, if one day you will no longer see my posts, I'm already out of circulation, courtesy of my hackers.
But I really hope that the FB administrators can have a serious look on this. I know I often get out of bounce.
Welcome to the Month of July!
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – July 1, 2021
July is the seventh month of the year named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar, it being the month of his birth.
What are some of the interesting things that are celebrated in July?
1. July seems to be the month dedicated to freedom, independence, and celebrations of country and culture.
2. In horoscope, if your baby is born between July 23rd and 31st then he or she is a Leo. Leos are loyal, confident, and full of charisma, which is no doubt why the sign is represented by the regal lion.
3. Astrologers have said that July 7 is a better day for looking backward and reuniting with old friends since the planet Mercury will appear to be moving backwards (retrograde).
4. International Joke Day. Today’s the day to tell all of your jokes—good and bad—to spread some laughter and cheer.
5. Pandemonium Day. Between a hectic work schedule, chores, family time, and much- needed alone time, do something you normally wouldn't do to create a pandemonium in your family or society in a prankster fashion.
6. Today is the day to celebrate the simple things in life. Take a walk in nature. Listen to the birds. Enjoy a conversation. Spend a little more time to enjoy your food during meals. Just slow down and take stock of what really matters to you.
7. July is the time to spend more time alone in solitude and reflection ruminating about ourself: our purpose and role, our future, our responsibilities.
So, Guys, while being funny and entertaining this month, let's be introspective and take a stock of our life. Let's carefully think about something in order to make a decision about what to do with the remaining days of our life.
Happy Birthday to all who were born in the month of July.
Jokes can kill or animate us
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – June 24, 2021
But some dislike others who can't accept jokes. Jokes coming from them though are just fine with them. Yet, jokes coming from others are taboo, feeling they are being alluded to. But they don't mind sending jokes to others at will. I do the same to them by entering into their innermost sanctuary. Then, things begin to go haywire.
Relationship is always two-way. You entertain me with your jokes, I entertain you with my jokes. If I accept your jokes and you accept mine, we entertain each other with jokes.
Sooner or later, the joke becomes the bond that entertains us together as one. There's no more distinction between the entertainer and the entertained. Everything is a joke.
But, while I may like your jokes, if you don't like my jokes, I look stupid and insane. So are you. We become both stupid and insane to each other.
Soon, stupidity and insanity become our mark of life and existence. No-one can now distinguish who is stupid and insane. Everything is just stupid and insane.
What has been interior to each of us had been exteriorized by our ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Then, the whole world now becomes stupid and insane. It all started as a joke and somebody started it.
So, be careful with jokes. Jokes can make us happy or make us feel stupid and insane.
It's Joketime ...
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. – July 2, 2021
Before we go into more serious matters this month, let's splurge ourselves with jokes. Some jokes here are true, others are not, and a few are even outrageous and offensive to others.
Let's enjoy them just the same. Those of you, like me, who are not born in July, may be offended because these jokes can blow our mind out of our wits and sanity. But we cannot have the full one Julian calendar if we miss going through the month of July.
July is the fourth 31 days of the year. It is positioned at the center, the fulcrum that balances January, March, May on the left and August, October, and December on the right. Life is, in fact, about balancing our sanity and insanity, our normality and abnormality, our perfections and imperfections, our bad and good, our angels and demons, as well as our heaven and hell.
July is the time we can tell all our jokes—good and bad—to spread some hilarious laughter and cheers. It gives us also the opportunity to tell pandemonium jokes and do something we normally wouldn't do in our family or society in a prankster fashion.
But these jokes are not mine. They are a collection told by others, whose authorship I dared not bother to verify. But, whether they are moral and ethical or immoral and unethical, July is allowing them since this is his month.
Why Do We Commit Evil?
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - December 1, 2020
Something to ponder. We say that God is omnipresent and is also present in us. Then, if we are conscious of this, it is but natural for us to act, behave, and live like God. But why do we commit evil? Simple. We allow evil to reign in us. We cannot blame God, Satan, or others. We have only ourselves to blame. Sadly, the line dividing what is good and evil is becoming blurred in us.
Adopting Religious Teachings and Practices
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - June 15, 2022
If I do Buddhist yoga and practice some of its teachings, will that make me a Buddhist? If I attend and participate in the rituals performed by Hindus in their Ashrams, will that make me a Hindu?
In like manner, when I attend and participate in the liturgical services of the Jews, will it make me a Jew? If I participate in the prayers and recollections of Islam, will that make me a Muslim.
Above all, when I attend the Holy Eucharist and receive holy communion, will that make me a Catholic?
On the other hand, if I go beyond all religious beliefs, will I become an atheist or agnostic? Or will that act of transcendence make me abandon all religious beliefs and simply become an omniest?
Or, when I commune with Nature, the moons, planets, stars, and galaxies, will that make me a Pantheist or Panentheist?
Just asking questions.
Anyway, whatever judgement you will render on me, I have participated in all of the rituals and imbibed many of the above teachings and beliefs.
Applying Catholic Principles in Politics
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - February 27, 2022
From Google, the term "Catholic" originates from the late Middle English: from Old French catholique or late Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikos ‘universal’, from kata ‘in respect of’ + holos ‘whole’.
To be Catholic then means to be universal, holistic, and cosmic. To pursue its ideals, a Catholic needs to be local too. The mission could be to spread Christ's teachings as they are embodied in Christian Social Doctrines or more specifically those contained in the Papal Social Encyclicals.
Being a resident of a predominantly Christian country and raised as a Catholic might be a good take-off point. And I cannot help but refer to the Mystical Body of Christ popularized by Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi in 1943.
Yes, the membership of the Mystical Body of Christ is categorized into three parts: (a) the Church Suffering; (b) the Church Triumphant; and (c) the Church Militant.
We on Earth—laity and religious—are members of the Church Militant. Christ makes use of our body, brain, and mind to continue his act of creation and salvation. Thus, we use our feet to move forward and explore new paths and unchartered territories to spread the good news.
But we cannot just all be feet. Others will have to play the role of the other organs of the mystical body of Christ: lungs, heart, kidney, liver as well as the five physical senses of sight, touch, scent, hearing, and taste.
During the height of activism, for example, some were heavily taking the role of feet and arms in trying to resuscitate the diminishing influence of the teachings of the Church, in particular, the papal social encyclicals.
Other Christian militants were playing the role of the right arm to clear the way of all the obstacles that hindered the application of Christian Social Doctrines, especially those with respect to human rights, justice, peace, ecological destruction, nuclear build up, and corruption.
Anytime the situation demanded, one had to be always ready even to use guns and roses, just like during the Middle Ages when the Christian militia, Holy Crusaders, Templars, and Christian vigilantes killed all the infidels that came their way, if only to protect the people in their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Still others play the role of the left hand to defend the people. Like a good boxer, the Christian militants during those times used their right hand for offense and their left hand for defense, warding off any blows from the opponents.
This was the Church militants during those dark ages, where the members were labelled as revolutionaries, terrorists, agent provocateurs, rebels, no permanent addresses and were the favorite targets of the government and the military across the globe.
The Church militants were pushed to go underground, hiding in deep forest ranges or in caves, not to retreat and surrender, but to re-group, re-plan, and re-energize so they could make their strong presence felt in the urban areas every now and then.
Today, the struggle continues, but the form and degree of militancy have changed. It's still aggressive and relentless but no longer violent. The members of the Mystical Body of Christ are active in the areas of:
(a) electoral politics;
(b) curriculum and instruction;
(c) greening Planet Earth;
(d) promoting peace, justice, and integrity of creation;
(e) empowering the youth and women;
(f) pastoral ministry;
(g) community organizing; and
(h) publications, marketing, and communications.
And, yes, we are today’s Christian militants, all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, doing everything “Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam” ("For the Greater Glory of God").
The reason why I am born here in this part of the world, i.e., the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, is to bear witness to the teachings of Jesus as enunciated in the Papal Encyclicals.
As an educator, I gladly oblige myself morally to preach Jesus's message of love and peace to the people across the globe through education and to perform my responsibilities responsibly as befit devotees and disciples of Christ.
My favorite encyclicals are the following:
1. Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII 1891: on property, industrialization, socialism, laissez-faire capitalism.
2. Pacem in Terris, John XXIII 1963: on social issues--peace, human rights, common good.
3. Humanae Vitae, Paul 1968: on artificial contraception.
4. Redemptor Hominis, John Paul II 1979: on communism, but not mentioning Marxism.
5. Fides et Ratio, John Paul II 1998: science and religion
6. Laudato Si, Pope Francis 2015: Care for Our Common Home--ecology
I was also using the following publications:
1. Christian Democracy & Social Market Economy 1993. Leopoldo J. Dejillas. Available at the Logos Publication in Catholic Trade.
2. Role of Political Parties in Government and Society 1995: Jose de Venecia, Wilfrido Villacorta, Michael Mastura, Paul Kevenhoester, Leopoldo J. Dejillas)
3. Economic Policy and the Market Economy 1996: Ronald Clapham, Leopoldo J. Dejillas).
4. Towards a Strong and Stable Market Economy in the Philippines: The Philippine Experience 1996 (Ronald Clapham, Cielito Habito, Margarito Teves, Cayetano Paderanga, Jr., Milwida Guevara (Fiscal), Mahar Mangahas, Defense Sec Jose T. Almonte, Leopoldo J. Dejillas). Available at La Solidaridad Bookstore in Padre Faura and owned by one of our national artists, the late F. Sionil Jose.
Plus my five cosmic books below:
1. Cosmic Origins (2017)
2. The Future of Humanity from the perspective of Quantum Physics (2018)
3. Exploring the Cosmos Within Me (2019)
4. Is There Meaning to our Life and Existence (2020)
5. Surviving the Past Two Years of Global Pandemic (2021)
So, wish us all luck, guys! We are all members of Christ's Mystical Body performing diverse functions.
Let's Go Global
Paul J. Dejillas, Ph.D. - October 23, 2020
I am a member of the International Christian-Muslim Democrats. Sadly, this worldwide movement was only used as a deodorant by ungrateful politicians. Their minions serve crooked propagators than the idea that sparks the people's imagination. But you cannot kill a sublime idea, especially about Christian and Muslim beliefs, whose adherents constitute more than half of the world's population.
Paganism
Aug 6, 2016
PAGANISM CAME FIRST BEFORE TODAY'S WORLD MAJOR RELIGIONS CAME TO BE. THEY DOMINATED OUR ANCIENT ANCESTOR'S BELIEFS. IN FACT, IT WAS THE ONLY BELIEF AT THAT TIME THOUGH MANIFESTED IN VARIOUS FORMS DEPENDING ON WHO AND HOW MANY SPIRITS, GODS, OR GODDESSES THEY WORSHIPPED.
A pagan is defined as "a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main religions." Because of this, he is pejoratively labelled as a heathen, infidel, or idolater. Indigenous Peoples belong to this category and their religion or belief is called Paganism.
SADLY, TODAY PAGANS ARE IGNORED AND MARGINALIZED IN SOCIETY-- GEOGRAPHICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, POLITICALLY, SOCIALLY, AND CULTURALLY--AND WE LEARN TO ACCEPT THIS MODE OF SOCIAL ARRANGEMENT.
BUT WHO IS THE REAL CULPRIT? THE WORLD'S FIVE MAJOR RELIGIONS THAT ARE ALL VYING FOR POWER AND DOMINANCE TODAY? OR IS IT THE LAISSEZ-FAIRE CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PURSUED IN THE GUISE OF RELIGION??
YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE...
FROM THE LENS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES:
Aug 11, 2016
THE "WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW" PRESERVE AND KEEP ALIVE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF "THE LEGEND, STORIES, CULTURE RITUALS, AND MYTHS, AND ALL THE ANCIENT TRIBAL CUSTOMS." IT WILL BE THIS KNOWLEDGE THAT "WE SHALL AGAIN RETURN TO 'HARMONY' WITH NATURE, MOTHER EARTH, AND MANKIND. IT WILL BE WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE THAT WE SHALL FIND OUR 'KEY TO OUR SURVIVAL.'"