In the Name of

October 9, 2017 6:47 PM (+8 GMT)
Bacolod City, Philippines

There once was a zealous Christian and an atheist who one day were trying to rally on a point on which idea should prevail. The atheist provided a point on how he did things by following his moral obligations with the contemplation
provided to him by his conscience. On the other hand, the zealous Christian expanded all his thoughts based on a bible covered in red leather that he was holding in his hand while proclaiming verse after verse.

The conversation, or rather the argument, went on for hours… choking on their saliva, gasping for words they tried to scratch at the back of their minds. It went on such that even the spectators did not have the strength to have their ears up for the two gentlemen. But every battle does have an end, may it be sport, deadly or sly. And on the last part, the atheist burst out an emotion he was keeping inside of him for the last two hours. As the zealous Christian kept on repeating on certain moral obligations built on the fundamentals of the ten commandments, the atheist then exclaimed, “I’d rather listen to myself than be a slave to a talking burning bush!”

Funny it may seem, but arguments like this become a taboo in society. The idea of questioning a prominent belief is so superficial that it creates an aura of discomfort to most people who would listen to it. Hence, people of the religious sector would have the independence to share all their thoughts about what they believe in whether it may be factual, experience-based, highly hypothetical or entirely hypocritical.

These people comprise 86% of the country. In a democratic state, fair it may seem to suggest, the majority
wins though they may not always be right. In all terms, that can be acknowledged as idealism, belief, rights and privileges.

A massive group of people, imprisoned to a ready-made social and religious construct, working their souls out to attain a certain kind of goodness which they cannot find in themselves, so rely on a symbol of hope and salvation. The moment they take out the plugs of the father, the eye patch of the son, and the chains of the holy spirit will be the time when they would realize that all it needs to uplift themselves is to listen to other people’s sentiments and opinions. All it would take is to see the idea of salvation by looking at people with compassion.

To work hand-in-hand without disgust and discrimination is the path to contentment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chaychelle Yeoj Rigby, born in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, but raised and
gain awareness in Bacolod City. An undergraduate of Bachelor of Arts in
Political Science in University of St. La Salle.

Chaychelle loves poetry, sports, beer, and cigarettes.