 |
 |
| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| The God of Silence
By Antonio C. Abaya Written Sept. 10, 2007 For the Standard Today, September 11 issue Or The Silence of God. The titles are interchangeable, as they apply to the spiritual torment of Mother Teresa, who is one step away from being canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. According to some 40 letters written by her to different persons over a span of 66 years before her death in 1997, Mother Teresa was tormented by doubts about the existence of God. These letters have been compiled in a book recently published by Doubleday, Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the �Saint of Calcutta �, excerpts of which were published in the cover story of Time magazine, Sept. 03 issue. �Such deep longing for God and �repulsed, empty. No faith, no love, no zeal. [The saving of Souls] holds no attraction. Heaven means nothing. Pray for me please, that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything��.� (1956) �What do I labor for? If there be no God � there can be no Soul. If there is no Soul, then Jesus � You are also not true��� (1959) �Tell me, Father, why is there so much pain and darkness in my soul?� To. Fr. Lawrence Picachy. (1959) �This means nothing to me, because I do not have Him.� After receiving �an important prize in the Philippines in the 1960s.� �If I ever become a Saint�I will surely be one of �darkness.� I will continually be absent from Heaven�.� (1962) �Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and emptiness are so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear�the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak� Letter to a confidant, Fr. Michael van der Peet (1979) �Inside it is all dark and feeling that I am totally cut off from God�� To a priest. (1985). �Where is my Faith � even deep down right in, there is nothing but emptiness and darkness � my God � how painful is this unknown pain. I have no Faith � I dare not utter the words and thoughts that crowd in my heart � and make me suffer untold agony�So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover themselves�because of the blasphemy.. �If there be God � please forgive me � When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven � there is such convincing emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul. I am told God loves me---and yet the reality of darkness and coldness is so great that nothing touches my soul--- I call, I cling, I want � and there is no one to answer. No One on whom I can cling � no, no One - Alone��.Letter to Jesus. (undated) The imagery and language that poured out of her spiritual torment � emptiness, darkness, silence in the void � suggest that Mother Teresa may have watched and was deeply disturbed by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman�s classic metaphysical film The Seventh Seal, which was released in 1956. (See my article Resurrection, April 08, 2007) In it, a Swedish knight � Antonius Blok - returns home from the Crusades in the 14th century, physically exhausted by the ordeal, emotionally drained of his idealisms, and spiritually tormented by the apparent absence of God.. (He returns to a Europe ravaged by the Black Death which kills millions in its path, despite the fervent prayers of the faithful.). Death � theatrically represented by a figure with a chalky white face and wrapped in a black cape � is about to claim him, when Antonius challenges him to a game of chess, to gain time for him to �perform one significant act.� Death agrees, and their story unfolds. In a village chapel, Antonius unburdens himself to a priest in the confessional box. �Is it so hard to conceive God with one�s senses? Why must he hide behind invisible miracles? How are we to believe the believers when we don�t believe ourselves? What will become of us who want to believe but cannot? �Why cannot I kill God within me? Why does he go on living in a painful, humiliating way? I want to tear Him out of my heart, but he remains a mocking reality, which I cannot get rid of. �I want knowledge. Not belief. Not surmise. But knowledge. I want God to put out His hand, show His face and speak to me. I cry out to Him in the dark, but there seems to be no one there.� Priest: �Perhaps there is no one.� Antonius: Then life is a senseless horror. No man can live with Death and know that everything is nothing. �. Priest: �Most people think neither of Death nor of Nothingness.� Antonius: �Until they stand on the edge of Life and see the Darkness. We make an idol of our fears and call it God�..� The priest, who has all this time kept his face hidden, now shows himself to Antonius. He is none other than Death himself. In another episode in the film that was not mentioned in my article, Antonius Blok and his companion, his hedonistic and rationalist squire Jons, chance upon a group of soldiers preparing to burn at stake a girl who has been accused of being a witch. As the flames consume the girl, Jons asks Antonius:: �What does she see, milord? Who will look after that child? The angels? God? Satan? Emptiness? Emptiness, milord.� Antonius protests: �It cannot be!� Jons insists: �Look into her eyes, milord. Her poor mind is making a discovery. Emptiness, milord, emptiness under the moon!� Antonius cries out in anguish: �No!!!� The Seventh Seal is the only film I have ever watched twice in one sitting, the first time I saw it, and I have watched it more than 20 times since. Perhaps Mother Teresa also did. *****. ***** INEVITABLY, Death claimed Ingmar Bergman, last month, as it also did Luciano Pavarotti, this month.. But it does not matter. They had each performed their �one significant act� and had thereby transcended Death and attained immortality. Bergman through the metaphysical and psychological explorations in his films that expanded our appreciation of the human condition. Pavarotti through the undiluted joy that his magnificent voice generated in every human heart that welcomed it. Mother Teresa also performed her �one significant act� by redefining the meaning of saintliness. After her, saints may no longer be recognized by the voices that they claim to have heard or the visions that they claim to have seen, but only by the intensity of the life that they have lived in the service of others, especially those who have been forgotten and abandoned. Thus saintliness becomes secularized, freed of the exclusivist confines of dogma and ritual which are often narrow and unforgiving, and becomes grounded instead in a common humanity.***** . Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �The God of Silence� More Reactions to �Is it for Real?� Letter from a Fan On Barack Obama On Politicians who did not get rich (IMPORTANT ADVISORY: Effective immediately, please send all reactions to [email protected], to avoid the recent epidemic of bouncing emails.) Tony, There is no sainthood without suffering. Christ set a precedence by suffering and dying on the Cross. This goes for all of us mortals, including Mother Teresa, who once said: "The Lord did not call me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful.". St. Joan of Arc went through fire for her faith. And who can explain all this? Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, said "What the Catholic Church has taught me is that, in the long run, it is all a mystery." It is all a mystery. Amen. Virgilio Gonzales, (by email), California , Sept. 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, I believe that God gave a test to Mother Teresa. God would like to know how deep her faith to Him and how long will it last. Sometimes the carrying of the cruz will last a lifetime if you are really His follower. My grandfather told me long time ago, that this is where FAITH comes into play. Take care and best regards. Agustin Bacalso, (by email), Sept. 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww After a death of a great individual come philosophers, analyst, interpreters and perhaps journalist trying to display doubts and questions to its subject. Let it be known that a Man's deeds are his prayers. Unfortunately the subject is dead and could no longer answer all skeptisms. I am a Catholic (also a sinner) but I trully desire to see Mother Theresa to be canonize a Saint, a model, a hero of the poor and an image of Gods intentions. Nonoy Ramos, (by email), Pennsylvania , Sept. 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony! Do you know where I can still get a copy of The Seventh Seal? I would love to see it as I've heard so much about it (mostly from your articles.) Thanks � Jo (Hilado-Guevara), Sept.11, 2007 (Jo, if you are going to Hong Kong or Singapore soon, you can pick it up there. Or you can order it from amazon.com, but have it sent to a friend�s or a relative�s US address, never by post to a Philippine address. It will just get stolen here. Sometimes your favorite Maranaw vendors would have it. Most of the time, they don�t. In HK, you can get it at the HMV shop in Kowloon or at Tower Records in Hong Kong island. Tony) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Many times ordinary and mortal beings who embraced Christianity doubted the omnipresent attribute of GOD when they are at their lowest point of existence. Those who have given HIM up believe that He is just around ready to respond to a 911 (distress) call. They do not miss HIM nor manifest signs of spiritual craving. It only shows Mother Theresa was an ordinary and mortal human being who has found Jesus. In contrast to rotten politicians and celebrities who begin to discover God and invoke HIS name publicly only after they have been accused of misdeeds and incarcerated for bad behavior .ERAP, Paris Hilton, Manuel Noriega (of Panama), to name a few. Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, (by email), New York City , Sept. 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Based solely on your article, I am quite surprised that not a single verse was quoted from the Bible by Mother Teresa. All the doubts of Mother Teresa are answered in the Bible. Many times in the past I, too, doubted the existence of God. But I went back to Him and believe in Him. If Jesus Christ did not come to earth, die, and rise from the dead, Christianity is meaningless. But He did. Life is meaningful if we follow Christ's teachings. The biggest difference between the beliefs of most Catholics and evangelical Protestants is the former's belief in salvation by good works while the latter's belief is salvation by faith. (The doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants do not interest me at all. ACA) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." All we need is to accept that we are sinners, repent, ask for forgiveness from God, and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. It is not through good works, otherwise His death on the cross would be useless if we would be earning our salvation through good works. The question Tony, is, will you go to heaven when you die? If you have any doubts about going to heaven, then you have a problem. All the things you have done on earth would be meaningless. (That�s an arrogant supposition on your part, which I resent. ACA) Hector Tarrazona, (by email), Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww One obviously valid inference I draw from the agony and the torment both Mother Teresa and Antonius Blok went through is that each had come to the painful and devastating conclusion that for them their Christian God did not exist. Mariano Patalinjug, (by email), Yonkers , NY , Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, There are none so blind as those who will not see.....He answers...in quiet little nothingness of our daily human life.. Joel Magsaysay, (by email), Silang, Cavite , Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Very nicely written piece. I also was deeply affected by "The Seventh Seal" all those years ago. I have until recently let matters of faith sit in that nebulous area of my being that neither says "yes" nor "no". My concern has been primarily on the impact that belief has on individual actions, and the record is not good. The recent spate of books on the subject of faith, brought about partly by the suicide bombings, has permitted me as I grow older to re-evaluate my position on the matter. But perhaps that is for another day. Thanks for writing the piece and for including the direct quotes of the long-suffering woman, who it turns out carried in her the essence of humanity, if not godliness. Frank Holz, (by email), Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, If there is God, there is us. If we do not exist, still there is God. There must be an author for everything, a song, a script, a road, a house, a man, a mountain, an earth, the solar system, the universe. Some one must be responsible for all these. Many call the author GOD. Rex Rivera, (by email), Gen. Santos City, Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Great article!!! Is this film available on DVD? Chuck (Agustin), (by email), Sept. 12, 2007 President, National Defense College of the Philippines (Yes, Chuck. See my reply above to Jo Guevara-Hilado. Tony) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Mother Teresa was the real deal. In her brief temporal existence, she showed what it means to be human by doing service to the poor and down-trodden, without being constrained by the abstract concepts of heaven and hell. Sincerely, Auggie Surtida, (by email), Tigbauan, Iloilo , Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Bro Tony, You wrote:. "Mother Teresa also performed her �one significant act� by redefining the meaning of saintliness. After her, saints may no longer be recognized by the voices that they claim to have heard or the visions that they claim to have seen, but only by the intensity of the life that they have lived in the service of others, especially those who have been forgotten and abandoned." This hits the nail on the head! Congratulations for putting it into words. God bless. Lennie Dela Rosa, (by email), Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir, I have a question for you I hope you don't mind me asking. Aren't you agnostic? May I recommend the book of Richard Dawkins entitled 'The God Delusion' for your perusal. Thanks. Jun Valenzuela, (by email), Naga City , Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished) Hi Ric, In my book, Mother Teresa is truly a �saint�� meaning �a particularly good person, one who is kind and patient in dealing with difficult people or situations�. By the way, Oscar Wilde wrote that, �The only difference between a saint and a sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.� You may want to expound on that. Nonoy, Sept. 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I can only surmise what Mother Teresa went through were all temptations. She was tortured by her own lack of faith. Or was it because she sought to be rewarded with God's vision and direct and personal communications, for had she not done more than what is beyond one's capabilities? Satan used her doubts to win her. I can see from her pains that she knew Him but felt that she had done great things enough to deserve being shown His Face. I have seen life in all its beauty and ugliness and I have the different faces of death and I felt God's presence in all of them. Pura Flor Isleta, (by email), Sept. 13, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony; You speculate on the effect that The Seventh Seal might have had on Mother Teresa. I wonder what it had on you that impelled you to view it over and over again. Vic Lim, (by email), Sept. 13, 2007 Asian Institute of Management wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Your piece on Mother Teresa was not only eloquent but very insightful. Mother Teresa is indeed the paradigm of today's saint. Luke (Abaya), (by email), Thunder Bay , Ont. , Canada , Sept. 13, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I heard from someone that Man made God. Is it true or false? They say there's no evidence of the existence. The world is here before you were born. Everybody born and died as usual in a cycle. Roy Querol, (by email), Sept. 13, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: I profess not being a very religious man and in my life time have surfed lightly over liturgy, The bible, mass and theology thru practice and readings to supplement my devotion to God like most Filipino men. So, in reading your article and others written here in the states over the torment Mother Theresa had suffered over a span of 40 years was utterly surprising but also a complete mystery to me. For days I wrestled with the question as to why she did experience it; here she was walking the path to canonization and eventual sainthood. I also reflected this torment personally that if she was experiencing these agonies, why not a mortal like me who needs the lesson most? Then the light bulb hit me! The mystery, the agony and the ecstasy! Even the Son of God on the eleventh hour on the cross cried "Father why have Thou forsaken me?" It is very clear that our detachment from God obviously is an affirmation of great gift. It is only from feeling empty, repulsion, alienation from God that we learn to gauge and measure His importance in our lives. Godspeed, Oscar Apostol, (by email), Roseville , CA , Sept. 13, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir, While Mother Teresa took care of multitudes of people, who took care of her? Who consoled her, advised her, listened to her wailings? Even leaders need their spiritual advisers and emotional sofas. To find God, you need to see it in a child, a perfect creation full of wonder and innocence. But as we grow older, we can find God in COMMUNITY, be that a community of believers, practitioners, and those who share the same ethics. I think that if Mother Teresa had something like a Gawad Kalinga or CFC (even with the split) supporting her and caring for her psychosocial needs, her doubts about God, even if they recurred, would have been tempered. The silence she spoke of reflects aloneness. Why was Mother Tereasa alone? Hecky Villanueva, (by email), Tucson , Arizona , Sept. 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, You wrote:: �Mother Teresa also performed her �one significant act� by redefining the meaning of saintliness. After her, saints may no longer be recognized by the voices that they claim to have heard or the visions that they claim to have seen, but only by the intensity of the life that they have lived in the service of others, especially those who have been forgotten and abandoned.� Great insight! If only we all learned the same lesson from her life as you have written (bold italics mine) then we may have heaven on earth. Regards. Guillermo "Chito" Prat, (by email), Davao City , Sept. 14, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Letter from a Fan Dear Mr. Abaya: First of all, I'd like you to know that I have been reading your column for a long time now and I have also heard your daily commentaries on the radio, what - maybe 4 to 5 years ago over an AM (if I'm not mistaken it was aired over DZMM) (DWIZ. ACA) station. But to tell you the truth, sir, I prefer your writings more than your broadcasting - especially in Tagalog, where I could sense some difficulty in translating your English mode into the local vernacular. Since Manila Standard (now Manila Standard Today) has been my choice newspaper for maybe two decades now I have always come across your columns and I always enjoyed them; but if I am correct, you were not part of the original team of columnists that included Emil Jurado, who I believe is the only one left of the original group. I share your love for history, politics and economics. Many a times your column is a source of important information on subjects that I am not quite accustomed or familiar with. Your story of your travel across Italy and some other countries in Europe (was it France ) (It was through 13 countries in Europe . ACA) on a scooter was really fascinating. Also, your historical and thematic dissection of the Da Vinci Code, the Literati and the Holy Grail phenomena was indeed very interesting and an eye-opener for me. But your historical writings are indeed the best because, as a lover of history myself, I know they are credible because of your dedication to nuance and flair for accuracy. I cannot remember everything that you wrote on history but as I have already mentioned they were done with thoughtful exposition, erudition, sophistication and truly intellectual. Your column today truly is remarkable. Although it is not exactly historical, your essay on Mother Teresa's agonizing struggle on her spirituality and faith was indeed insightful and profound. In this context, I also want to share what I read on a biography of Martin Luther having the same experience. Luther termed the sense or feeling when faith or belief in God seems to be "slipping away" as the "dark night of the soul" which is an excruciatingly lonely, agonizing experience by men of both intelligence and faith. St. Augustine also, I believe, had these moments. Peter might have felt the same way when he denied Jesus - or was it just fear and cowardice. Perhaps people who are both spiritual and intellectual are more prone to be affected by these moments of extreme loneliness and despair. I reckon that the bishop whose writings are found on top of your column (in the Op-Ed page of the Manila Standard Today) may have also experienced the same, but on second thought I don't believe so because he is way too political to be disturbed. Just read the last paragraph of his column today (September 11) and you will discern the callused soul within - no matter how hard he tries, he can never be a Cardinal Sin. For me, he will just remain what he is: a charlatan priest. What irresponsibility - a bishop at that. I'm not against Erap but he actually exonerated Erap - EXPLICITLY. Although you are an Atenean, and I am a La Sallite (they call it La Sallian now) through and through (from grade school to graduate school), I have no choice but to commend your prolific and intelligent writings on any subject, unlike many columnists who just write again and again on the current popular developmental trends and globalization jargon of the World Bank and the United Nations. Your piece on the article ostensibly written by a doctor of philosophy comparing the Philippine and Japanese economies was great and the concepts and arguments you have laid out were powerful and logical that it walloped the silly analogy that writer has posited - although I have not read that article of his. And coming from you I could only surmise how badly written it was. But it was rather elementary, uninteresting and utterly irrelevant to compare the two economies and your historical citations were much too strong. I enjoyed how you walloped and destroyed his thesis. I am teaching Political Science, Citizenship and Governance and Politics and Governance at the De La Salle University - the school you have always chided and made fun of. But I'll forgive you for that Mr. Abaya because I am a fan of yours and your quintessential writings make up for your discreet meanness. After all, who wants to pick up a fight against a renaissance man? I remember how you slyly and painfully squirmed your way in defending yourself in one of your columns after you disparaged and hit us bad in an earlier column. (Have you read my article �My Favorite La Sallite,� Dec. 17, 2006? ACA) But that's normal for an Atenean and as I have said, your wit and your talent are mitigating factors that somewhat soften the blow and whether we like it or not La Salle and Ateneo would always be competitors. The other day, you beat us again in a close game but, as they say, Ateneo may have won that battle but the UAAP war is still raging on. To conclude, you have mentioned about the Ingmar Bergman film. "The Seventh Seal", forgive my ignorance sir but is there a book on which that movie is based on? I hope I can get a copy of that film or a book if there is one. (The film is not based on a novel. It is based on an original screenplay written by Bergman himself. It is available in a collection of Bergman screenplays, but I bought my copy decades ago. Check with amazon. com if it is still available. ACA) Before I get too patronizing, let me thank you sir for sustaining knowledge in our midst (because as an educator I can painfully sense its slow erosion) and please continue writing on eclectic subjects of interest for the benefit of those who still want to learn and discover. Best regards and wishing you the best of health and success in all your endeavors. Sincerely, Gerardo V. Eusebio, (by email), Las Pinas City, Sept. 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �Is it for Real?� (Sept. 04, 2007) Hi Tony, I think you should also include the work of Couples for Christ and Gawad Kalinga in improving the economy of the Philippines , with the millions of dollars it is bringing home to build houses for the poor. Thanks. Gerry S. Fernando,.(by email), Vancouver , BC , Canada , Sept. 15, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Mr. Tony, For the millions of OFWs to be truly called the modern heroes, why don�t they vouch for a renewed paying of income tax? The Philippine Congress could enact a new bill requiring OFWs to pay a reasonable percentage of their gross income as tax, of course with some exemptions for lower incomes. They�ve been enjoying tax free income for years it�s about time to pay the dues. This small gesture will take a long way in helping the economy. Regards, Napoleon P. Serrano, (by email), Dhahran , Saudi Arabia , Sept. 16, 2007 OFW wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, UNDP�s Human Development Reports using social and economic indicators show a nation�s development compared with those of others. Among 177 countries and territories in 1997 and 1998, the Philippines ranked no. 77, but this dropped to no. 83-85 in 2000-2006. Other indicators may show a better or worse Philippines . For example, �We could abandon gross national product (GNP) as an indicator of economic well-being; it suggests to the consumer that our economies need take no account of sustainability. In the United States, per capita GNP rose by 49% during 1976-98, whereas per capita �genuine progress� (the economy's output with environmental and social costs subtracted and added weight given to education, health, etc.) declined by 30%� (Myers N. 2000. Sustainable consumption. Science 287:2419). Best regards, Flor Lacanilao, (by email), Sept. 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww On Politicians who did not get rich Dear Tony, This is in relation to the reaction of Dr. Nestor P. Baylon of New York with regards to first-time politicians who run for Governor or higher who did not become rich or even poorer after their term. There are still politicians even today who are honest and incorruptible where Filipinos fails to see or recognize. Although my brother, the late Atty. Adolfo V. Celera run for Congress but did not win in the early '60's, he was appointed by the late President Diosdado Macapagal as Administrator of the Motor Vehicles Office (MVO), now LTO. The position then is equivalent to Commissioner. Yet he is as poor as when he was a practicing lawyer, as he has to sell his karag-karag (second hand) car (Ford) just to have fares for his family back to the province. Thanks and more power. Bert Celera, (by email), Sept. 18, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww "Dear Tony. I hope you can name a first- time politician in the Philippines who ran for governorship and higher, who completed his/her term, and ended up much poorer than when he/she first "served" If you could name me one, let's submit that name to the Guinness Book of Record. I am dying to see who that unique person is. Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, (by email), New York City , Sept. 09, 2007 (Arsenio Lacson, who was mayor of Manila in the 1950s, may have died poorer than when he began his term. When he died, his house on M. Earnshaw St. in Sampaloc, was repossessed by the lending bank as his widow could not afford to pay the monthly amortizations. ACA)" Tony, In response to this: Senator Rene Saguisag. He may not be poorer, but he is definitely not any richer. He didn't want to run for another term when he could as incumbent at that time. Aurora Pijuan, (by email), Sept. 16, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww On Barack Obama? Dear Mr. Abaya: I received the article below recently and it reminded me of your piece on Pakistan last August 16. Thought you might find it relevant. Thanks for keeping me on your mailing list as I enjoy your articles tremendously. They do not always echo my own sentiments but are nevertheless thought-provoking and informative. Best wishes, David de Padua, (by email), August 28, 2007 Who is Barack Obama? A U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu , Hawaii , to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black Muslim from Nyangoma-Kogel , Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white atheist from Wichita , Kansas . Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a radical Muslim from Indonesia . When Obama was six years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a Muslim school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school." Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education. Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta . Wahabism is the radical teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when seeking a major public office in the United States , Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I think (Barack Obama) would make an ideal U.S. President at such a time of crisis for the United States ...and the world. If my thoughts as a U.S. citizen - who fought and whose ansestors fought for our freedom - may be heard in your open forum, I think Barak Obama would be a most timely next president of the United States . I say this because the exposure to Muslim culture of Barak Obama, would provide my great country with urgently needed insight to deal with America 's greatest enemy at this time, and our only real hope for peace. The lack of international/ and cultural/religious understanding of President Bush has led the United States on a collision course, not only with the Mujslim world but other countries East, West, North and South as well. R. Stager, (by email), Quezon City , Aug. 28, 2007 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |