What's Da Buzz?

First off, let me get something really clear. Like many Filipinos, I am conservative. By the definitions of the USA or “the West”, most Filipinos are conservative in dress, social issues, conduct around family, and financial matters. It is our culture and our heritage. Life in the Philippines teaches you to be tough and financially tight. When poverty is sky high, you learn to make do and value what you have.

Am I a Catholic? No, I am not. I am a Christian. I believe in what is said in the Bible. But there is a key point to be made here.

My faith is not determined by the opinions of others but by the facts and lessons proven in the Bible. Doctrine of any denomination is a collection of opinions of people. Doctrine can never replace what the Bible says. Also, following doctrine or the declarations of people has led to many bad events in the past.

The Crusades were launched by the Papacy before the general population was literate and had access to the Bible. Those Crusades did not conform to the teachings of the Bible but of the opinions of the leaders of the Papacy back then. This is a difficult thing for some who are not Christians to comprehend. Christianity is not defined by the actions of the people but by the content and instructions found in the Bible.

There are a few facts of life one must remember though.

1.

People will lie, deceive, or distort any facts if it can give them control over people for power, wealth or fame. We must always be on our guard against manipulators. They come from all areas of life including the religious world, business world, politics, entertainment, medical and more.
2.

Unless you can unconditionally trust, understand and communicate with someone (spouse is preferred), you have to figure out what are the facts and opinions on your own. Depending on someone else to tell you leaves you open for deception.
3.

The Bible was not written in English. I cannot read the Ancient Hebrew & Greek. Combine that with the knowledge of most Filipinos that languages rarely translate over completely means studying the Bible brings with it some challenges. There are some books to assist but there are limits to translation of a book when you are not able to view the writings in the context of the times they were written in. (I wasn’t there.)

Following the teachings in the Bible is the biggest test of Reading Comprehension. You have to follow what the intent of the author is and not insert your own opinion. I’ve been practicing on that form of test for an exam and that is my number one problem.

It is also a major problem in the USA o kahit sa ibang bansa. The population is taught to value opinions over facts. The public schools teach Evolution while empirical evidence says it is impossible. My hubby can give a major presentation going into that. He sums it up by saying “Before the first person was here, there was no one here to observe how things came about. No observational info means science stops as that is the first step. It is all belief.” We weren’t there so it is all a guess. We don’t know the answer and have no way of knowing. You choose what to believe in.

I know what I believe. I also know it is hard to pass the reading comprehension test of the Bible much less stop my own ego enough to follow it. But it holds up to real science and historical facts. I’ll go with the proven facts and do my best to understand and live the

Basic

Instructions

Before

Leaving

Earth manual.

The more I learn on what is actually factual as opposed to the blatant opinions and distortions of information; the more I’m prone to getting rid of cable TV. On the Internet, you know you can’t trust half or more of the information posted as being factual because so much is opinion based.

That is part of the joy of living in the world these days. It is quite challenging to separate fact from opinion especially with all of the intentional misinformation and disinformation. Whatever happened to honesty is the best policy? Oh well.

One of the intriguing stories out there was about a guy whose skin turned blue. In the news articles and TV stations, colloidal silver was blamed as the cause. However, it turns out that the Blue Man may very well be a fraud. Unfortunately, this is nothing surprising as lying for money and manipulating others has become so common.

So did colloidal silver have anything to do with the guy’s condition? Yes as a targeted topic to try to discredit through the mass media. Otherwise, the answer is no as the links above go into the details. The guy did this to himself intentionally.

Take a guess what industry would benefit from the bad press. If you said pharmaceutical, you would be correct. Now who pays for those commercial slots on those TV stations?  Oh yeah, plenty of them are about drugs you are supposed to ask your doctor about. Hmm, is that a coincidence? Nah, it is not at all. Of course, pharmaceutical companies would never use their advertising dollar leverage on a media source. Yah, right.

Anah

Tayong mga Pinoy or Filipinos normally try to remain courteous and respectful in how we conduct ourselves. However, I sometimes find myself to be in a bit of a bind. So I will throw it out there to all of you to see what you do when confronted with a similar problem.

It may be your mother-in-law, an aunt or as it is in my case, my hubby, who makes something to eat that after I try it I just do not like it. My normal method is to not say much and just eat a portion of it. However, my hubby has long picked up on this as has my daughter. She will do the same thing that I do. Unfortunately, Goryo knows that it means he has to eat nearly the entire dish by himself for however long it takes him to eat all of the leftovers.

What do you do when faced with food you just do not like?

Live well,

Anah