I had been in a debate with the “intellectuals” and “leaders” of the local atheist community. Well, I’d hardly call it a debate. It was more like… I don’t know, it was all very surreal. It was like having an argument with uncontrollable lunatic in a mental institution. It brings to mind the slogan on a tee shirt my brother told me about. “I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.” Only, I actually did.

To be truthful, it was fun, in a perverse way.

The whole debacle involved myself and another member of our mailing list on one side and the “intellectual” on the other.

It began with several people questioning the motives of some people who had been able to gain acceptance as a branch of the Center for Inquiry in the Philippines. From the CFI’s website:

The purpose of the Center for Inquiry is to promote and defend reason, science, and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. The Center for Inquiry is a transnational nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that encourages evidence-based inquiry into science, pseudoscience, medicine and health, religion, ethics, secularism, and society. The Center for Inquiry is not affiliated with, nor does it promote, any political party or political ideology.

Through education, research, publishing, and social services, it seeks to present affirmative alternatives based on scientific naturalism. The Center is also interested in providing rational ethical alternatives to the reigning paranormal and religious systems of belief, and in developing communities where like-minded individuals can meet and share experiences.

Initially, there were several triumphant announcements of the acceptance. Many people wanted to participate. Shortly thereafter, there came a combative statement against religion from one of the “leaders” of this group. In a nutshell, it called for the overthrow of the local church so that we could take over leadership of the country.

Eh?

This was followed by inquiries from members of the community as to what the actual agenda of the CFI - Philippines was and questions with regards to how it seemed to go against the principles of the CFI, itself. Surprisingly, these inquiries were met with disdain and rejection. The Center for Inquiry, Philippines, apparently, does not appreciate inquiry. All the discussions ended with the “president” saying something to the effect of, “The CFI has given me the authority to run CFI, Philippines as I see fit.”

Naturally, many of us questioned whether that included going against the set agenda of the CFI. The end result, this “president” left the mailing list crying like a baby… literally.

In comes his mentor. Who begins attacking those of us who questioned the CFI Philippines, saying we were picking on the president, who was supposedly, very “intelligent.”

Sorry, I saw absolutely no evidence of this in his ramblings. Neither did anyone else.

So we began expressing our views on this point. Upon which time, said mentor and another, supposedly, “intellectual” began replying with emails written in enormous, bold fonts attacking the catholic church and accusing the rest of us of being theists.

We’d reply with calm, coherent responses and be answered with more rants along the same lines. Any request for calm would elicit more rants along the same lines.

At no point did this other “leader” and “intellectual” provide a straight, coherent answer. I have to say, he’s appears to be a lunatic in my views. He left absolutely everything unanswered. All his replies were the rantings of a crazy man. All attacking the catholic church for no reason whatsoever. He, at times, provided corny, lame quotes in an attempt to be witty. Everything he wrote though, brought down the level of respect for him by a mile.

At this juncture, anyone who was participating in the list had already expressed how disillusioned they were with CFI Philippines.

His last response on the subject was an email who’s subject was “Hey Ramon - Fuck you too” (please note that I never cussed at him and the mail came right after another one who’s subject was “Hey M-Y - fuck you!”). A very profound statement from a self-proclaimed “intellectual.”

The message in his email?

Hey Ramon, You are full of religious shit!

When I never even mentioned religion in any of my arguments.

The guy is totally insane, I think. Apparently, the title of “intellectual” was given to him only by himself. Nobody would be able to deduce that, otherwise.

Finally, in comes leader number three. Now, this guy, he’s level-headed, rational and composed. He’s calmed down the fire. The damage is done, though. I now know what it’s going to be like in the CFI Philippines, as does everybody else. I think it’s a doomed venture. If leader number three (notice, no more quotes) can turn things around, that would be beneficial. But he’s already said he’s going to keep the two loonies around, so that’s hopeless.

The actions of the two “leaders” are a shame to rational thinking. They proudly wear the label, yet don’t abide by it. It is embarrassing to be affiliated with them. They never defended reason, they rejected all inquiry, they denounced all evidence. All they wanted to do was attack the catholic church, and they couldn’t even do that credibly.

All empty talk. Pathetic.

Let’s see what leader number three can do about it. If he can’t get the CFI Philippines functioning in a sane manner. It’s going to fail before it can even start.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 6:13 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.