Saturday, April 11, 2009

Holy Week

One tradition in the Philippines is the commemoration of Holy Week. It's a tradition passed through the generations but looking at it from another point of view, some of the practices observed during the commemoration seems to be irrational.

One of this is the abstinence from meat. Though scientifically speaking, this may be good for the heath but the question is, "What's the connection between abstinence from meet and the Holy Week?" and "Why it should be observed during the said period?" I've interviewed some who practice this and got the same answer - "We're doing it because it's a practice observed by the older generations."

What's the sense of doing something without understanding its purpose? If there is really a reason for observing this, then it should be passed together with the practice itself. I'm not against the practice itself but, what's happening is, the tradition lives but the essence does not. In such cases, the tradition is somehow disrespected and at the same time, those who practice it are just putting themselves at the state of suffering because they are refraining from eating something that they like without even knowing the reason.

Another practice is what they call penitensya (not sure about the spelling). Though it is done by few groups and individuals, it's still worth the attention. Those who practice this use a net or a rope with unevenly cut tiles or anything sharp. They repeatedly hit their back until the blood literally flows on their back. Some even have themselves crucified.

They say that going through the same suffering experienced by Christ, sins would be forgiven and they will be cleansed. What they won't accept is the fact that this practice does not bring any gain except for it being a tourist attraction. Those who practice it actually put themselves into health hazards which includes wound infection and tetanus.

Lastly, the most illogical practice would be refraining from doing wrong deeds during Good Friday.

"What's wrong with this?" that may be the question of some of you. But to my opinion, this is an act of fooling one's self and others. Those who practice this do so only for that specific day and after that they slip back to their usual way of life, which includes committing the same sins.

Refraining from wrong deeds should be done throughout our lives and not only on a certain day. This may sound ideal but impossible. Though, we should do our best to refrain from committing sin and instead, try to do good things. Starting this does not require a special day. This could always be done anytime as long as the will and determination is there.

To wrap up things, we should always remember to understand the reason behind every tradition that we observe. Otherwise, the practice would be worthless and even disrespectful, not only to those who started it but also to the tradition itself.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

HELLO WORLD!

This blog is dedicated for the purpose of giving commentary on certain social issues that affect the the lives of Filipinos. This encompasses hobbies, perception, thinking, traditions of Filipinos.

For those who would find the contents of this blog to be offensive, I'm sorry but this is intended to open the mind of some of our countrymen, who are blinded by baseless beliefs and poisoned ideology. Articles that would be posted here would be based on observations and logic. If you find these things to be offensive please notify me. I would be glad to hear it from you.

This blog would be updating once in a while, whenever I find something interesting to discus.