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The following summary of a December 2002 article “A Moral Suggestion” from disenchanted.com hints at the misconceptions the author has about Judeo-Christian thought and belief:

Think morals come from The Ten Commandments? Human behavior may be complex, but it’s been following the same set of hard-wired moral instincts since way before Moses came down from the mountain.

Indeed, further down the article, the writer states: “God said Thou shalt not kill, and so it was recognized by law, and while it was certainly good, it has also come to instill the sense that morals originated with the Bible, and from that a horrible misconception: without the Bible, there would be no morals.” This reveals the author’s ignorance of what Paul says in Romans 2:15, where he wrote that Gentiles who know nothing of Moses or Jesus nonetheless show by their deeds “that the requirements of the Law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.”¹

To the writer’s credit, he also criticizes the post-modernist view that morality varies across different societal groups but are still equally valid. But he makes the mistake of lumping post-modernism and religion together by asserting that both are wrong to assume that people are blank slates who receive their morality from external forces (post-modernism:society; religion:Ten Commandments). Again, clearly from Paul’s passage cited above, Judeo-Christian thought holds that “natural law” is written on people’s hearts without prior exposure to any dogmatic presentation.

The author then extends the concept of culture as not an exclusively external factor but manifests itself internally as well. As hard-wired beings, our behavior, he suggests, is determined by codified culture in our genes. Interestingly, by citing a list of common behaviors found across human tribes both civilized and isolated, he actually concedes “that every one of the Ten Commandments are represented” in one form of another. He then questions why if we’re genetically hard-wired “does murder, rape, theft and cheating happen anyway?” What follows next are evolutionistic rationalizations that ultimately say that “our hard-wired moral directives are weak because sometimes you have to cheat, steal and kill in order to avoid being cheated, burgled and murdered.” I think he may be alluding to what we call our fallen state, don’t you think?

I wished the author had thoroughly researched the tenets of Christianity and what the Bible says on matters of moral law and the fallen state of man. By resorting to using misconceptions about Christianity as fodder for criticism, he missed an opportunity to see that the Bible addresses the very questions he asks.

[via rebeccablood.com]

Microsoft is taking the concept of the “toilet seat” Clamshell iBook a little further. MS is apparently developing a portable toilet complete with waterproof plasma screen and keyboard for surfing while doing your “business.” It is dubbed the “iLoo.” This, from the same maker of the “Explorer”, a recliner for lazy web surfers.

Ok, since I just appropriated material from one of the forums I visit regularly, I think I’ll do it again. The following is from a post of mine in thepinoy.com on the practice of saying Po and Opo as a sign of respect for Filipino elders. Po (or ho) is something you tag on to a sentence when addressing older Pinoys. Opo (or oho), a variation on oo - the Filipino word for “yes,” is also used when addressing elders.

Personally, as kids growing up in Manila, we were never taught to say “Po” or “Opo.” It was never really emphasized. I never even called my older sisters “Ate.” I called them by their first names. I did address my parents as “Papa” and “Mama.”

Now that I’m older, I’ve taught myself to say “Po” and “Opo” thanks mainly to the influence of my wife. I’ve had to learn to use them with my parents-in-law and other Filipino elders in general. In fact, I’ve started using them with my parents as awkward as it may have sounded in the beginning. They only deserve to be treated with that type of respect, whether or not they have instilled it in us.

Now what puzzles me (and irks me somewhat) is when folks, especially those in Filipino-run stores (I live in the States) who don’t look any younger than me and oftentimes look a few years older than me, address me with “Po,” “Ho,” and “Opo.” Now is this a presumption of age on their part or simply a sign of courtesy given to a customer, no matter what age?

What started out as a poll at PhilMUG to find out members’ ages turned into a full-on nostalgic trip-down-memory-lane for the mostly thirty-something folk. Stuff like what Japanese robot show was shown on what day and which pilot controlled which robot were discussed (my favorite was Daimos). People reminisced about ’60s and ’70s American shows that were broadcasted in the Philippines like:

• Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
• Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl
• Mightor
• Herculoids
• Gigantor
• Sealab 2020
• The Funny Company
• Bugaloos
• Gulliver’s Travels (the cartoon)
• Moby Dick (the cartoon)
• Wacky Races
• Land of the Lost
• Alakazam
• Starsky and Hutch
• Six Million Dollar Man
• Night Gallery (w/Rod Serling)
• Space:1999
• Sixth Sense
• Time Tunnel
• Combat!
• Wild Wild West

I just watched an amazing African-American woman in full diva regalia sing opera at the “Showtime at the Apollo.” Boos greeted her initially but she was given a standing ovation at the end of her performance. Needless to say she won the Amateur Contest. She shocked it! A first for Apollo for sure.