Is there really Evil in the first place.

My first interpretation of Estrella Alfon's Magnificence, I must say, is far from what we have discussed in class. The first time I read it, the theme and idea I thought it revolved around is the special relationship and bond between a mother and a daughter. The last thing I would have thought is that it is actually an allusion, a response to the Genesis' story of the Fall of Adam and Eve, which it really is.

This is actually hard for me to say. Even if I am a Catholic, I must admit that I myself do not truly understand all the teachings of the religion I belong to. There are still many questions that I found no answer for. I cannot even be biased about this since I am truly passionate about knowing many things and knowledge itself, just like the many philosophers I read about and admire.

However, I have always liked challenging myself. I also tried to come up with my own answers to the questions that Alfon has raised through her response to the Genesis story. The two stories, Magnificenc and the Fall of Adam and Eve, were very similar in many ways but Alfon missed many important aspects of the characters and events in the Genesis story that kind of misleads the readers:

1. First, the Mother flawed but she was not aware of what the kind of person Vicente really was, for she really is a person, still. God, however, is a perfect Being, omnipotent, omniscient. He would not be perfect if He did not really know everything. So He does. He put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because He loves Adam and Eve, and He wants to give them choice to follow and love him back and not make them His mere puppets. The mother, on the other hand, did not have the same awareness as God.
2. The little boy and little girl did not really have the choice that Adam and Eve had.
3. We cannot really say that there really is evil in the first place. I would say that it is only a term to describe absence of goodness. And we can't really say that Adam and Eve eating the fruit does not really give an account to say that there was ignorance and knowledge then, which is presupposed by Alfon. Knowing evil is not a knowledge because it's just a consequence of something that is in the absence of good.

There were many more missing points, but it would be too long to pin point each. However, I would like to conclude by saying that we cannot question that story in such a way that we are using only our limited knowledge. Being a believer of a notion of God, I believe there are things that we cannot fully fathom or comprehend. We now live in a world wherein we know what is good and evil, and this is what we are used to. Knowing this has become a part of our routine and habit in this world. Therefore, we cannot really judge what life would have been if we did not have this knowledge. Let's not look at the Biblical story only in the context of our time and situation. We would say that life would have sucked if we did not know what was good and evil, and it would have exposed us to even more evil. But what if the act of choosing to know what is good and evil is actually choosing to renounce goodness, thus making us see its absence, that which is evil?

The Potential to be Unselfish

This week in HUMALIT, we played a group game. We were divided into 5 groups, then we were assigned to 5 other boats. The groups would then vote for which group will get to the shore and which group will eliminate one of the people aboard their ship.

Basically, this game symbolizes the story of The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas in many aspects. First, the goal of the game was something positive - to survive shipwreck. It is just like the situation in Omelas; the goal of the people of the city is to gain prosperity, wealth, and peace for the city. However, the other aspect of the game which is sacrificing some individuals who had to jump out the boat to save the other people, is also visible in Omelas. For the sake of the majority of the people in Omelas, an innocent life of a child must be sacrificed. This single child must be deprived of the prosperity and wealth that the majority of the citizens of Omelas experience.

I answered in our paper that it is not worth it at all, to sacrifice an innocent child for the many, that it cannot be for the "greater good" if there is one, even just one, who is hurt and done evil to. However, through this game, i have realized that that point of view has become an ideal, an impossibility. It seems that humans are all willing to sacrifice other people just to give themselves what they want and need, that humans are selfish in nature. Everyone else in the class was willing to compete not only to get to the other side and survive, but also to beat each other for the sake of the plus points. Truly, we live in a world that lives by the saying "dog eat dog".  

No matter how great my ideals are, I am continuously being beaten by the innate instinct of selfishness in me... And it makes me sad. That is why, I am posing a challenge to myself and to my other fellow human beings: if selfishness truly is our nature, then let us defy nature. It might seem impossible, but then again, it seemed impossible for everyone to step on the moon and Neil Armstrong defied that common belief. An impossibility remains an impossibility, a potentiality remains a potentiality, an ideal remains an ideal, if we do not try and act to reach it. I think that in the end, we form our nature and reality. So why not try to start now and defy our nature of selfishness?

The Leap of Faith - Take it.

       Although I do not fully agree with some of the messages that James Joyce's Araby conveys, I would admit that it is crafted very well, for unlike many stories today, “there is more to it than meets the eye”. I always found allegories quite spectacular, for it transcends these mere words into an idea that is indirectly, creatively, imaginatively, and entertainingly told.

       Araby uses a coming-of-age short story to express his views on religion, particularly the Roman Catholicism. He uses Mangan's sister to show that the Church is manipulating and taking advantage of the people only for its own benefit, when in the end, they will experience what the narrator had – the 'epiphany' or the feeling of disappointment and anguish after realizing that they were founding themselves on false hopes.

       I will repeat that Araby is very well-crafted and creative, and it truly deserves a title of being good literature. However, I would not agree with the opinions of the author. He expressed that this idea of religion or 'faith' is there only to put you up high then let you go to fall hard on the floor. Based on my personal experience and what close friends tell me, yes, 'faith' does bring you down sometimes. Yet, unlike the perspective of Joyce, things do not end there, unless you give up easily. I think that's what faith really is about. The idea of faith would become silly and pointless if it always assures happiness and positive things. In terms of faith, there will be challenges, downs, and even doubts, but that's part of the whole idea itself. Actually, if you do not easily give up on 'faith', you can even experience yet again another 'epiphany', but this time, instead of a negative one, it is the one that will bring you back up from your first fall. And that faith is what keeps me living because in this life, we will always fall, we will always trip... But I always try to keep the faith that I will somehow stand back up again. And that is what religion is for me.

       Yes, I know and admit that my explanation's clarity and creativity is nowhere near to the art of Araby, but I think I have made my point. I disagree but appreciate the story and the message of the story. Yet, I would say that in faith and religion, it will always be a matter of perspective. It will always be up to us to see them in a negative fashion, just like Joyce, or in a more optimistic way the way that I do. And what's wrong in trying to be more positive even if it's not sure, right? Saying 'no' does not make things unreal... So I would say, let's take the leap of faith. 

      Let me end this short reflection with what this cute little puppy has to say: