The Role of Artists and the Importance of Art

In the previous posts there were significantly relevant videos presented. Three have shown scenes from the Mel Gibson movie the Passion of the Christ in contrast with the scenes of modern day frat-related violence. Another was about the poor children of the slum areas of the Philippines joining Lord Jesus Christ in supper. These young souls, if left uncared for by an insensitive privileged class, could someday become the next wave of young warriors of warring gangs as depicted in the Filipino movie Tribu. Yet another video has shown the efforts initiated by Gawad Kalinga to help solve this problem along with the culture of violence among fraternities by allowing fratmen to immerse themselves and help the poor in the real-life situation in slum areas where grassroots-gangs usually thrive.

The first person to be gravely affected by tragedies befalling children is the mother. In one video the mother of Cris Mendez was seen grieving for the death of her son. Just like Blessed Mary and any mother for that matter who had seen the doom of their children as a result of all forms of life's excesses the mothers of the victims of frat violence experience deep sorrow and pain. A mother's tears paint the picture of the loss of a son and the long years of hardships endured since the baby was conceived in the womb to mold the child into a young adult..

It is my desire to present these recorded images from the past and present realities to knock on the hearts and conscience of violent fratmen and those who are content of doing nothing to help solve these problems. Some of them who are still locked in the continuing culture of violence, as presented by the I-Witness Documentaries series - Brod Is Thicker Than Water , (watch more related videos on the links provided on the right-hand side of this page) lamented about the sad effects of frat violence and hatred and expressed helplessness in their captivity to the kind of culture of hatred that they have inherited from their frat elders forcefully instilled into them during initiations and indoctrinations.

To me they, who are still captives of this evil part of their tradition, need to see the bigger picture of society to be able to desensitize themselves from their violent culture and open their hearts and minds to the spiritual, social and moral problems at hand and to help and work to find genuine solutions.

Movies and multi-media are vehicles for works of art. And artists have a role to play as expressed in the following quotes:

When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.-- John F. Kennedy

To the artist is sometimes granted a sudden, transient insight which serves in this matter for experience. A flash, and where previously the brain held a dead fact, the soul grasps a living truth! At moments we are all artists. -- Arnold Bennett

In a certain sense every creative person is a reformer, but this does not mean that he must be in his work a propagandist for good roads, shorter hours, and a low tariff. All these are excellent things, but they need not be the concern of the artist. -- Heywood Broun

The artist has one function--to affirm and glorify life. -- W. Edward Brown

The defining function of the artist is to cherish consciousness. -- Max Eastman

In the artist's recreation of the world we are enabled to see the world. -- John W. Gardner

Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things, things that seem to be irreconcilable, and put them together in a frame to give them some kind of shape and meaning. -- Katherine Anne Porter

The artist should be a seeing-eye dog for a myopic civilization. -- Jacob Getlar Smith

I am an artist. I am here to live out loud. -- Emile Zola

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. John F. Kennedy

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President John F. Kennedy: Remarks at Amherst College, October 26, 1963

The following is an excerpt from a speech given by President John F. Kennedy on October 26, 1963 at Amherst College in Massachusetts, in honor of the poet Robert Frost...

If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. And as Mr. MacLeish once remarked of poets, there is nothing worse for our trade than to be in style. In free society art is not a weapon and it does not belong to the spheres of polemic and ideology. Artists are not engineers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society--in it, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites the fate of Robert Frost's hired man, the fate of having "nothing to look backward to with pride, and nothing to look forward to with hope." Continue here....

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Additional thoughts...(in 2010)

The above quotes are from people whose beliefs vary. Spiritual beliefs and doctrines and the basis of each of these could affect people's mindsets that lead to their actions and therefore it is very important that they need to be discerned. People may try their brand of solving many of the worlds problems by utilizing art and art forms guided by man's philosophies yet all these will fall short if they remove the Source of True Wisdom from the scene and the reality of the sinful nature of man.

Artists must have deep discernment especially about spiritual matters. A true Christian who happens to be an artist must work under the guidance of the Almighty God the Father through the Holy Spirit and grow in the true Christian faith through time with the help of the real brothers and sisters in Christ who possess the gifts of the Holy Spirit especially, in this case, about spiritual discernment.

Since time immemorial artists and craftsmen used their talents not only in every day matters but also in practices involving religion. But in true Christianity deep discernment is very important in obedience of the 2nd Commandment , a very important teaching in the Holy Bible supported by the many verses warning against the sins of idolatry.

As an example, I mentioned the movie the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson in my articles here just to drive my point regarding the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ for our redemption and the extreme difficulties he went through for our sake in stark contrast to the fraternity culture of hazing and violence (as a means to assure the loyalty of would-be members to their brotherhood). The movie the Passion of the Christ showed too much torture and blood yet this portrayal is just to show, in my opinion, that Lord Jesus Christ's sufferings, the torture he went through, his death and resurrection have the holy reward waiting in the Eternal Kingdom while the frat culture of violence of all forms have nothing holy and life in eternal happiness, peace and contentment to promise.

Yet, in my journey in deeply discerning this importance of art and the role of artists I did deep research regarding the evangelical Bible-based Christian faith and have came across the following writings:

1. The Poison in the Passion by Terry Watkins
2. Problems With The Passion of The Christ
3. The Passion of the Christ — a Film by Mel Gibson
4. Mel Gibson’s Film: THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
5.The Passion of Christ: Mel Gibson's Vivid Deception

In much deeper analysis, the practice of idolatry and the deceptive means by which doctrines of men are promoted to mislead the multitude of people to deviate from true Biblical teachings that would eventually lead them into the sins of idolatry inevitably spawn spiritual blindness the product of which are all forms of iniquity and confusion about right and wrong including, in this case, the fraternity culture of violence.

It is therefore very important to view the current problem of society (in my country the Philippines) regarding fraternity culture of violence in the light of the Holy Bible as the real source of Wisdom and Truth that will effectively and genuinely set the captives free. It is therefore necessary for young people to give time and study the Holy Bible seriously and deeply and, with the guidance of the Almighty God the Father with His grace, discern all things.


"31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
http://kingjbible.com/john/8.htm

"4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
http://kingjbible.com/luke/4-1.htm

"28For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

29O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!"
http://kingjbible.com/deuteronomy/32-1.htm

104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:104

10A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.
Proverbs 17:10

TRIBU goes to Baguio City!!!

The Man behind the Table of Hope

Hapag ng Pag-asa Exhibit

Sa Kambas ng Lipunan - In Society's Canvas

CNN News Story on Glenbrook North Hazing

The Reason - Hoobastank - Passion Of The Christ

Psalm 103:8-17 says, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children.”

THE RIGHT SACRIFICE ( passion of the christ )

Gang War - Bloods VS Crips

So what's the difference between these men and the fratmen of UP?

THE RIGHT SACRIFICE (Passion of the Christ- In Christ Alone)

NO MATTER HOW GOOD AND NOBLE ARE THE INTENTIONS OF FRATERNITIES THEIR VIOLENT FRUITS AND THE TRAIL OF DEATHS ONLY SHOW THAT THEY ARE FIGHTING THE WRONG BATTLE IN THE WRONG BATTLEFIELD. THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT LIFE IS A STRUGGLE WHEREIN UNSEEN SPIRITUAL FORCES THAT ARE LEGIONS BELONGING TO THE EVIL ONE, ARE CONSTANTLY AT WAR WITH GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY'S ANGELS FOR THE SOULS OF MEN.

NOT UNLESS THESE MEN WILL WAKE UP AND STRIVE FOR SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT THE SENSELESS DEATHS AND STUPID WARS WILL CONTINUE AND WILL END IN A LOOSE-LOOSE SITUATION.

UP FratWar

Actual hazing caught on video(Is it APO) XxX

I-Witness Documentaries - Brod Is Thicker Than Water - 3

I-Witness Documentaries - Brod Is Thicker Than Water - 2

I-Witness Documentaries - Brod Is Thicker Than Water - 1

GOOD WORKS OKAY BUT...

It is okay to admire fraternities that have worked to make positive contributions to society. Civic and charitable groups have done that. What is abhorrent is the cycle and culture of violence as a result of bitter competitions between frats caused by and/or resulting in hatred, envy and jealousy. This culture starts from violent hazings and indoctrinations. And that is what fraternities must be concerned about and work to totally eradicate.

The good works of one frat could be the object of envy and hatred by the other and so the cycle of violence continues especially when these groups have bitter and bloody rivalry or fight for supremacy all these years. A lesson from what happened to Cain and Abel has to be reflected upon here.

I have seen quite a number of these efforts of frats to have positive projects in the past while I was still in UP Diliman. Sad to say, what destroys their good image is the shallowness of their purpose because if these good deeds were only done to make the group look good to entice more prospective recruits to join without totally forgetting all past conflicts and hatred or forgiving their enemies, then all these good works will be for nothing and thus likened to a dream castle built on sand.

One cannot be proud to proclaim to the whole world of having done good to others while the families of their victims and enemies continue to grieve especially with the thought that the culture of violence wasn't successfully eradicated all these years. The deaths, as recorded in UP and elsewhere especially in Mandaue City, could attest to that. And this is not a dirt to be swept under the carpet while guests come to party and celebrate the good deeds.

What fratmen must do is to go back to the basics of their faith, especially Christians, because it is written that we have to forgive and love our enemies.

There is hope. There is faith. There is love.

The question is, can a Christian fratman, for example, allow his frat brothers to attack, maim and kill fellow Christians belonging to a rival frat just because he has sworn allegiance and loyalty to his fraternity? Can a true Christian and believer in God the Father Almighty allow himself to be part of these groups that sow terror in and out of school and university campuses?

Shallow cosmetics will surely fade one day and reveal the rottenness inside if these groups will just be concerned about what will make them look good from the outside without working for real, genuine change...especially if they forget the statutes of God the Father Almighty.

If fraternities, because they are so organized, disciplined and have common noble principles to serve God Almighty, country, family and fraternity, were successful in policing their ranks and living-up to their ideals, then our country will have a lot lesser criminality, corruption and all forms of moral decay and most especially less spiritual blindness. They must also understand that fratmen belonging to other frats are their countrymen too belonging to the same faith and to whom they pledged to serve.

If the prerequisites of joining these groups could be elevated from merely barbaric and violent means of gaining a person's loyalty to living up to the requirements of a true believer in God the Father Almighty then there is no need of physical hazing or initiation. Instead, the fratman must become a lifetime neophyte in the spiritual and moral gauntlet that is life and fighting to endure till the end against all forms of evils such as corruption, drug addiction, immorality, bigotry, adultery, etc., etc., etc. as a true believer in God the Almighty Father.

It is written "spare the rod and spoil the child." The Holy Scriptures is full of lessons to be had for parents to mold their sons into better men of God the Almighty Father. Therefore there is no need for a paddle to spoil the man!

With the ongoing and sometimes dormant bloody conflicts between frats, there seems to be no sign of a way out of this mess. But it is written, "God the Father Almighty will make a way when there seems to be no way" And to find the way is to...

SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.

THE (WILLING?) GLADIATORS

Inspired by no less than the famous Juan Luna I opted to use part of his award winning painting the SPOLIARIUM in this piece of art THE WRONG SACRIFICE to leave a significant imprint of our famous countryman's struggle into the minds of viewers and to drive a strong point by drawing their attention, especially my countrymen, on two things:

First is, Juan Luna, as an artist, intellectual and patriot, made an effort during his time to show what Filipinos can do in the Western culture-dominated age and region of the world. By using his talent and by winning prestigious awards he was able to raise the status of his countrymen from mere subjects of Spain at that time to equals in terms of human capabilities and intellect. His was not only a struggle for independence but for excellence as well.

In The Art of Juan Luna, Eric Torres wrote:

In Rome , Luna imbibed the classical spirit of Michelangelo and Raphael and worked hard---for eight months---on an immense canvas which measure roughly 4 x 7 meters. The painting, which now hangs in the hall of Flags, Department of Foreign Affairs, a gift from the Spanish government in 1958, is the Spoliarium. This was to be his entity at the Madrid Exposition of 1884.

It was an immediate sensation. It won not only the highest possible honor, the first of three Gold Medals, but also enthusiastic notice in the newspaper columns of Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris. Many of the notices were extravagant raves. Here is a sampling taken at random:

"The largest work, the most frightful, the most discussed work of the Exposition."
"It is more than a painting, it is a book, a poem."
"It is something more than the mere mechanism of genius, of the art composition. . . Luna is a thinker."

"The superior qualities of Luna are: as an artist, his ambition to produce great designs; to subdue the multitude with the resources of the highest class in art; serious and rough, not with vile adulations from the pencil nor of color in beautiful lines; as a painter, his energetic style, broad and noble, truthful and on occasion fantastic."

"A giant of art, a kind of Hercules, that enters furiously leveling down all the gods with blows from his club, bringing in a new art, full of ideas and forms, carrying a Spartan soul and the brush of Michelangelo.
More than sixty years did Michelangelo study!
How many years did Luna study? Six! Let us wait."

Such adulation is a bit lavish, you say. But his was heady wine to the Filipinos in Europe.

Second is, more than a hundred and twenty years after Juan Luna painted the SPOLIARIUM as a statement against human rights abuses of the ancient times, his countrymen seems to be doing a lot of abhorrent things to their fellow Filipinos today that only the heartless citizens of ancient times could have done to helpless gladiators as objects of entertainment and spectacle.

By borrowing the images of gladiators in the painting the SPOLIARIUM, I wanted to highlight the ongoing senseless killings victimizing a number of people since the concept of frat brotherhood borrowed from the West was introduced here in the Philippines. And to think that these young men are students and promising leaders and would-be professionals of our country makes one feel sorry to the wasted lives. These talented, young people who are luckily standing above the rest by the privilege of having education in the country's premier universities die as victims in senseless frat conflicts.

Torres further wrote:

No wonder the Filipino community in Madrid went wild with joy. The double victory called for a celebration, and a banquet was held at the Café Inglés, to which were invited some European friends. On this occasion, Rizal delivered his speech extolling the two winners to such majestic heights that today it is difficult to criticize the works of Luna and Hidalgo without inviting the censure of conservative admirers of their kind of painting. Rizal interpreted the Spoliarium as a symbol of "our social, moral, and political life: humanity unredeemed, reason and aspiration in open fight with prejudice, fanaticism, and injustice."


On another occasion, Lopez-Jaena likewise read political implications in the Spoliarium, as follows: "For me, if there is something grand, something sublime, in the Spoliarium, it is because behind the canvas, behind the painted figures . . . there floats the living image of the Filipino people sighing its misfortune. Because. . . the Philippines is nothing more than a real Spoliarium with all its horrors."

Indeed, by what violent fratmen were doing all these years, "the Philippines is nothing more than a real Spoliarium with all its horrors."

Now the question remains... with the sick concept of brotherhood (as evidenced by violent hazings and rumbles resulting in deaths of fratmen and civilians or even policemen) borrowed from the West how many promising Lunas, Hidalgos or even Rizals, Mabinis and Bonifacios have died in those students that fell victims of frat violence?

The difference between those real gladiators depicted in Juan Luna's painting and the fratmen of today is that the former were helpless slaves fighting to the death to quench the thirst of the mob for bloodbath whereas the fratmen of today are willing warriors under oath to their brotherhood but sadly "enslaved" by the culture of violence to preserve the kind of questionable brotherhood that they have. Worst, they died in the time when the country is experiencing freedom and democracy and with all the moral and spiritual guidance of Christianity and Islam.

Questionable it is because, despite their noble intentions and the goodness of all their ideals and principles, they seem to have clearly deviated away from these moral and spiritual guidelines to police their ranks and weed out all those excesses what with the trail of rotten and bloody fruits that they have produced. In fact, with their constitutions surely espousing love for God, for country, and for family and fraternity there should have been full control over their wayward brods that start trouble especially because other fratmen are their countrymen too of which they are being trained and initiated to serve.

After the establishment of the first fraternity in the Philippines at the University of the Philippines there now exists a list of frat-related deaths. It is also very alarming that from 1990 to the year 2000 alone there were a total of 6 deaths in UP. With UP as the role model of other universities to which chapters of these fraternities were gradually established through the years and have inspired the formation of new Greek-lettered groups, there also exists a likewise alarming bloody trail of frat-related violence. The recent clashes in Mandaue City since January 2007 alone saw the death toll from frat-related violence to be rising, prompting this place to be called the frat war city.


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"Like a common malady, violence reaches into all cracks and fissures of society. Our families are torn or destroyed by violence. Fear of violence is paralyzing our communities, and the celebration of violence in much of the music and videogame industry is poisoning the hearts and minds of our children. Almost invariably, when the causes of violence are being discussed, one group blames the other: the federal government focuses blame for violence on the entertainment industry; the media shifts the blame onto the consumers; teachers and many members of the clergy try to hold parents responsible for the proclivity for violence among their children."

- Countering A "Culture Of Violence." Can It Be Done? by Viktoria Hertling

Read more:
The Art of Juan Luna by Eric Torres
The Debate About the Origins of Gladiatorial Games by Titus Pullo Lupus
Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research by Steven J. Kirsh
Gladiators: Heroes of the Roman Amphitheatre by Professor Kathleen Coleman
Roman Gladiatorial Games, Roger Dunkle author of site
Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome by Donald G. Kyle

Confronting a Culture of Violence, U. S. Bishops' Pastoral (Nov. 1994)

THE HOME

The Home

The growth of a person begins at home where parents and all the members of the family each play an important role in molding the baby into a young adolescent who will soon grow ready to face the outer world. In this painting the home is represented by the blue area shaped somewhat like a house.

Blue symbolizes peace and calmness because the home is supposed to be the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual sanctuary to its family members and the fortress against outside threats. But the obvious appearance of cracks revealing the red chaotic areas show the existence of imperfections within the home where the presence of serious family problems affect the overall growth of the child and shape his behavior. These internal problems come in different forms and where the taste of violence at the very young age could gravely interfere with and influence the child's over-all character. But for those who have experienced real family love and true spirituality the story is positively different.

The basic molding of the child in the home determines how he could easily be influenced by outside factors. Once the family is not intact and where the parents themselves become the reason for the young kid to look for attention and love elsewhere these young souls will be easy prey to groups like gangs and brotherhoods.

Fraternities are comprised of men who pledged respect to their leader and the leader's word becomes the law. The failure of the father, as the head of the home, to educate well his sons of what being a real man is, in the yardstick of God the Father Almighty, will result in fathers themselves becoming weak and inutile role models to their young kids who are easily impressed by mythical heroes. And it is in the fraternity that these young men derive their strength and see the head as a really strong man and those successful professional frat alumni as role models.

In the current crisis in the Philippines where a lot of kids are either without a father or a mother, or where the parents are away working, the effects of this imbalance on the emotional health of the kids have proven to be destructive. The helpless, jobless father who is left at home with the kids while the mother is away abroad affects not only the self-esteem of the man but also his resistance to temptations by the opposite sex, especially if the practice of having mistresses becomes an accepted social norm. And the violent results of infidelity where the husband beats a nagging and jealous wife transforms a young innocent boy into a bitter juvenile delinquent.

This sad combination of unwanted realities becomes a ripe breeding atmosphere for disillusioned and confused kids who might find answers or outlets for their anger elsewhere. And once they enter the brotherhoods and become addicted to alcohol and drugs another soul in a sorry state add to the army of warlike fratmen.

The above illustration is just one of the many stories that add fuel to the current problem of this violent frat culture. It all begins in how the parents, especially the father, succeeded or have failed to teach their children.

On the other hand, kids from good families with strong homes and spiritual backgrounds may have just been enticed by the promises of recruiting groups of men or sadly, been forced into accepting in becoming neophytes when placed in situations they cannot refuse. But then again the strength of one's spirituality is in question here because a young man with very firm spiritual beliefs will not fall prey into these dubious groups.

The task to solve the culture of violence must therefore start from the home where true spirituality and real love becomes the strong and unwavering foundation.

THE SCALE OF JUSTICE

The Scale Of Justice

Yesterday was the last Sunday of the BAR exams. The revelry of the examinees, including an old man, and their families and friends was really a celebration. But what was more pleasing to see on TV and online news was the absence of unwanted headlines and stories about frat violence right after the BAR exams.

Usually BAR exams, especially the last Sunday, are some of the worst spectacles in the history of the Philippines. There the fratmen from different fraternities gather and show their strength to support their brods taking the exams and ready to do battle almost reminiscent of the Roman colessium. There you will find all sorts of "circus" where fratmen, drunk or probably high on drugs, meet their bitter rivals. There you will hear them shout their battle cries and all slogans of pride mixed with dirty words as if the more rowdier they are the more feared they become. And worst, when their egos rise faster up into their heads than the cooler breeze of conscience the fists, stones, rocks, bottles and even cellular phones or laptops will fly just to be sure they could score hard against their "enemies".

The question is...what kinds of future lawyers and judges will they become? By the strength of their numbers and their long history in the country's law schools and by learning their influence especially in the government and in the halls of justice the thinking man could surely measure the extent of moral corruption in society as these 'brothers" have most probably sworn more loyalty to their "brotherhood" than to their service to the country. Worst is if their codes of secrecy contribute to the obstruction of justice all these years despite the fact that they are believers of a Supreme and Eternal God as stated in their group's constitution.

Once power is in the hands of these groups that finally achieved a certain level of strength and influence in the highest echelons of the government and private businesses the scale of justice will surely be tilted in their favor.

In a paper by CARLA D. PRATT titled "SHOULD KLANSMEN BE LAWYERS? RACISM AS AN ETHICAL BARRIER TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION", she highlighted a biblical passage that needs to be pondered upon by fratmen and law students alike:

Matthew 6:24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other.

Her insightful paper could also serve as a mirror to fratmen and law students alike to see and examine the unholy marriage between being a lawyer (or judge or a man of high and sensitive position) and being a fratman at the same time should the noble ideals of these brotherhoods become inutile as it becomes buried in the slime of growing moral bankruptcy as evidenced by the culture of violence dominating their existence all these years.

Could somebody please do a similar paper to be titled "SHOULD FRATMEN BE LAWYERS? FRATERNITY DISCRIMINATION AS AN ETHICAL BARRIER TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION"?

In the painting THE WRONG SACRIFICE I attached the tilted Scale of Justice to the paddle, where the names of the dead victims (In UP alone) of frat violence are inscribed, because the clear control of fratmen lawyers and justices to our country's legal system is in question.

As a stern reminder and warning, God the Father Almighty's justice is fair! He is all-seeing and all-knowing and knows what we keep in secret. He hears the cries of the oppressed but gives time for people to repent. No one can hide from His Divine brand of Justice. The oppressed will be comforted and the oppressors will shudder in fear. His justice will come in His own perfect time.

Lord Jesus Christ prayed: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they're doing"

THE SYMBOLS

The following are the symbols that were incorporated in the painting THE WRONG SACRIFICE:


1. The Home
2. The Faith
3. The Baby And The Mother's Hands
4. The Neophyte
5. The Blindfold
6. The Crown Of Laurel, Questions Marks And Maggots
7. The Skeleton
8. The Shield, The Skull And Bones And The Halo
9. The Jagged-Edged Sword
10. The Paddle, The Death List And The Scythe - A Wrong Cross To Carry
11. The Inverted Cross
12. The Warrior's War-Torn Helmet And The Devil
13. The Watch, The Tie And The Suit
14. The Blood Red Cape
15. The Scale Of Justice
16. The Greek And Roman Alphabets
17. The Ring, The Coins and The Chain
18. The Gladiators (From The Spoliarium Of Juan Luna)
19. The Angry Hero And The Sad Hero
20. The Philippine Flag And The Threat To Peace
21. The Helplessly Hidden Sun And The Three Lost Stars

Note: while I am still writing the meaning behind each symbol you are invited to locate them in the painting and interpret them. Joel E. Ferraris

A CERTAIN SIGNIFICANCE?

I cannot explain why my path and that of the running priest Bro. Robert Reyes were destined to meet in Hong Kong. I cannot fathom why we conceptualized and discussed this piece of art at the Excelsior Hotel while we were waiting to meet actor Cesar Montano who once played the role of Rizal in a movie about the hero and who is himself an artist. But I know that Hong Kong is a significant place in our country's history when Dr. Jose Rizal practiced his profession here and where the Philippine flag was sewn here too. But I soon realized, to my surprise, that the meaning of the word "excelsior", which incidentally fall under the Latin and Greek phrases, is "Higher, more elevated" and the other meaning is "slender*, *curved wood shavings used especially for packing."

In my own interpretation, the significance of the struggle of the Filipino people during the time of Dr. Jose Rizal is now being recreated in a certain way in another time but with a different reality when the oppressors are not foreign anymore but domestic. The threat of that second world war is gone during these times of peace but many forms of silent wars are threatening the peace enjoyed by the country under a democracy today.

Today a lot of overseas Filipino workers are here abroad working and suffering while their hard-earned dollars they pump into our economy. I have seen them suffer and the whole world sees the tired Filipina domestic helpers lie scattered on sidewalks during their weekend day-offs while the well-heeled pass by. Today they are called heroes while their kids, without hands-on parental care and warmth of the parents touch, are the harbingers of havoc and mayhem in school campuses just because they decided to fight their stupid wars and continue to nurture that evil culture of fraternity violence. These young men are likened to the 300 merciless warriors adding to the agony and passion of Christ.

It is very sad to think that the very few people privileged to have really good education and might someday hold the reigns of our government are allowing themselves to be trained with the culture of violence, deception and thirst for supremacy and power in their make-shift war laboratories and battlefields in our countries campuses.

Equally significant is that the Philippine flag was sewn here in Hong Kong then. But now some elements of this national symbol that were depicted in my painting, The Wrong Sacrifice, which is also produced here in Hong Kong, show a badly tattered representation of the blue area because our own faults as a "free" people has silently infected our peace like cancer.

The solution to our people's existing problems cannot be solved by violent means but by concerned people-turned-servants of God the Father Almighty humbling themselves to Him who is high above there for us to be able to elevate our countrymen to a better status as true believers. And it was the example of a humble carpenter's true and real obedience to His Father's will that we need to emulate.

And this message has to be delivered fast by a running priest to our people's hearts and minds...especially those who are deeply influenced by the Greeks and the Romans of olden times.

May our Almighty God the Father be praised! All glory belongs to Him!

THE WRONG SACRIFICE

THE WRONG SACRIFICE
The Artist's Statement
By Joel Eugenio Epistola Ferraris

Introduction

"A picture paints a thousand words", so the saying goes, and this painting is rich with symbols describing the fraternity culture and its intricate but bloody history tainted with the culture of violence and death. And through the years since the Philippines saw the first of this kind of Western-inspired brotherhoods, with their mostly Greek and a few Roman influences, a trail of deaths and serious physical and psychological injuries that has left deeper physical, emotional and psychological scars to victims and their families along its warpath has silently but gravely affected the already suffering Filipino nation.

While the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal dreamed of the youth becoming role models like him to help the fatherland, while Bonifacio used violence to fight the more violent colonizers and while the painter Juan Luna powerfully depicted the insanity of violence and the atrocities of man against his neighbor through his painting the Spoliarium, there is a more compelling reason to be had in the Christian faith which clearly teaches the real way of sacrificing one's life as a sign of love for the One True God the Father Almighty and for fellowmen.

Sadly, fraternity men, locked in and blinded by the vicious cycle of hatred and vengeance all these years, turned a blind eye on the real meaning of Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross although ours is a predominantly Christian nation.

An illustration of the comparison between these two contrasting principles could be seen in the movie 300 and the Passion of Christ. In 300 the tribe trains hard beginning at a very young age in the ways of survival by perfecting the art of combat and to kill mercilessly is to ensure that fear, as a powerful weapon, will be felt by the enemy. On the other hand, Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed everything that He had, including His pride and dignity, up to the point of accepting death. The Spartans used violence to preserve the freedom of the tribe while the Lord Jesus Christ absorbed all violent acts and all the pain for the freedom of the soul. Those hardened warriors reacted by human nature while the Son of Man fought human nature. The former fought and died for an earthly, short-lived kingdom while the latter was preparing and showing the way for an eternal Kingdom. And Lord Jesus Christ knows and is the Son of the Supreme Creator who is Holy, Living and Eternal.

I am a survivor of the culture of violence of fraternities in my ten long years of stay in and out of the University of the Philippines Visayas and Diliman combined from 1976 until 1986 and I know the nature of this problem. I for one have failed my father in his dream for me to graduate and become an architect. This in turn gravely affected my family especially my siblings. We are all artists and we see the beauty of life juxtaposed over the insanity and the rottenness in this world and in people's lives. We hardly live through our art but we use art to let people understand their weaknesses and the means to reach the Source of their real inner strength.

Now as an artist I have presented a visual analysis in this painting, supported by literature, to serve as a clear representation of an abstract social and spiritual disease in contrast to the sick "patient" who refuses to be healed and how a lot of factors at play here affect one another. I have survived not because of my ability to resist viciousness with viciousness but because, unknown to others, I have my faith in the Almighty God the Father that eventually helped me out of that quagmire. It was my prayers to Him that saved me.

Thank God the Father Almighty that it did not reached the point that I have to take another man's life... or me being maimed or incarcerated...for me to be able to attain enlightenment. I just prayed every time we had rumbles then when I was still in UP Diliman that He will see to it that I will not hurt others or will not be hurt myself. And I prayed to Him one day in 1988 and said "enough of this evil life!... Please help me". Unknown to my frat brothers I was entering the point of enlightenment even before I left the university for good. And I'm sure other fratmen did too.

I have known violence long before I first joined our fraternity in 1976. In my elementary school years I was bullied several times by the sons of the rich and the sons of the poor alike. But I never fought back. Instead, I cried. But I soon realized that I have in me a gift from God the Father Almighty that worked as an effective tool to make the bullies forget their unfavorable behavior and befriended me - ART. They asked me many times to help them in their assignments which required my talent.

The same is true today. In the hope of giving answers to this lingering and stubborn problem of frat violence in our country where neither the academic community, the religious groups nor those in the legal professions were able to solve I pray that through art, coupled with the right explanation about the Will of the Almighty God the Father, there will be a solution.

Art could be a tool for understanding or, sadly, an addiction to idolatry clouding the minds from the real essence of Christianity. It could serve as a medicine to heal one's innermost being by serving as visual aids to further explain and elaborately describe God the Father Almighty's message instead of these objects of religion merely becoming vehicles of idolatry.

I for one do not approve of religious objects to be venerated or used in worship because although in our country there is an abundant supply of these relics still there is rampant immorality, corruption and apostasy where the culture of fraternity violence is one of them. Instead I agree to use visual aids such as films, like the Passion of Christ, to deliver effectively the message of the Gospels more clearly to an audience to make them understand rather than push them backwards into spiritual ignorance. That instead of hating, maiming and killing their neighbors, while hand-made idols are being paraded around with utmost care, they should instead love their neighbors the way Lord Jesus Christ loved His disciples. And moreover, there is a clear difference between the purpose of a place of worship without objects of idolatry and libraries fully equipped with tools for education.

Let the people be educated in the school libraries and see all the visual aids to fill-up their thirst for understanding and let them go to the places of worship devoid of idolatrous objects to enable them to concentrate their worship, adoration and love for an unseen Holy and Living Eternal God the Father Almighty. And let them understand that there is no need for insane and vicious competition at the expense of the lives and the future of others when in fact they can have the things that they need in life once they have successfully established their strong link with our Almighty God and Father who will open the floodgates of Heaven for them.

Allow me to describe this painting through a story by using the many symbols incorporated on it. I will focus on men because they compose the fraternities and most of all because men are supposed to be not only the heads of their family as a unit of society but as servants of an Almighty God and Father.

In the ongoing issue about the effects of fraternity violence and the much-awaited favorable response of fraternity members there is no assurance that all will go well and smoothly especially when it comes to justice for those who died in all the fraternity-related incidents. But as I have experienced in my life, plus the testimonies of other trouble-weary fratmen from other groups that I met all these years, there exists a silent undercurrent of sentiments amongst us longing for change. It is this kind of awakening that fratmen and those who support the fraternity culture of violence need to help others save themselves too. But this will not succeed without the grace from and guidance of our Almighty God and Father.

It is written, "He will make a way when there seems to be no way." So our initial action must be forgiveness. The movie CRASH has a lot of examples to derive very good lessons from which are clear expressions of the Gospels about love in the book of Corinthians. If only we were slow to anger we didn't have any regrets now. If only the voice of the spiritually wise amongst us triumphed above the wicked who perpetuate the culture of violence there will be no cowardly acts now and in the future.

The University of the Philippines Administration have tried several formulas all these years to solve the problem of fraternity menace in the UP System. That includes the Inter-Frat Council, the Ambassadors for Peace and the immersion to Gawad Kalinga. But sadly all these efforts failed to offer any firm and effective solution. Fraternities will make all sorts of creative means to continue and make the brotherhood alive and exist not only because men are born with free will or UP is a venue for free exchange of ideas but also because men will always want a sense of belonging and love that they might not have found in their respective homes. But let us not forget that the real solution will only come if and only if people will accept our Almighty God the Father's invitation for genuine change that will start from within each person.

Let us therefore not forget these lines from Matthew 7: 1-5...

¹"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

⁴How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Next: THE SYMBOLS

ATTENTION FRESHMEN!!!

Hazing is not only a serious issue in the Philippines. Overseas, especially in the US, the years of fraternity hazing-related deaths and all ensuing bloody and fatal fraternity conflicts continue to be a cause of alarm.

Here is one of the useful links that could help first year students understand fraternity hazings well before they become lured into a fatal trap:

http://www.hazing.cornell.edu/index.html

Cornell University in the US has provided useful guidelines and warnings about hazing in this link above.

In the Philippines, despite the Anti-Hazing Law, fraternities continue to recruit members to replenish their "army" in their ongoing fratwars that lie dormant for some time only to resurface again. There is therefore a need for a system other than the internet blogs that needs to be formalized to educate the public, especially students, about the relevance and the evils of the fraternity system and how to reform them if it cannot be totally eradicated. This additional source of education could become new subjects or new course of utmost priority in our country's schools.

The Death Of A Child - The Grief Of The Parents: A Lifetime Journey

The title above was taken from an article on the link in the last part of this topic.

Here are my own reflections:

As a fratman myself, ever since the issue about frat violence came into the picture even as I was still a student, I have deeply reflected on it in my moments of solitude. My two sons and daughter are still very young. Every time I and my wife lull them to sleep after our family prayer time each and every night I look at their sleeping faces one by one. Truly, I fear for their future especially that the culture of violence, in many forms not only among fraternities but in all sectors of society, are like demons ready to devour another victim.

But are parents in control of events? Are they the author of life? Do they have the power to take away the Breath of Life?

As parents I and my wife are the ones personally giving spiritual guidance to our children. We started with the Ten Commandments given by God the Father Almighty to Moses, the Two Great Commandments given by Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples and the New Commandment He taught them before He was crucified. The connection between all these thirteen commandments makes a very strong spiritual foundation for children to equip them in their life to face this world.

God the Father Almighty will make a way when there seems to be no way...if one will strongly have faith in and obedience to Him.

In the course of these debates whether to abolish hazing in particular or even fraternities in general just to eradicate the culture of violence, what comes to mind is the general mentality of Filipinos in supporting this evil culture all these years.

If you are in a room full of people watching the fights of Pacquiao and all those boxers you will begin to question these viewers' spirituality or the lack of it once they start cheering for their "idol" who are in pain and deep pressure in this modern day gladiatorial combat. Subliminally, there is still this culture of blood lust in people disguised behind the shallow cosmetics called sports. But if you listen to their cheers they will shout unspeakable abhorrent and unChristian battle cries like "hit him! hit him, f__k!, t___na!", etc.

What comes to mind here is the teaching of Lord Jesus Christ regarding adultery...

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).

The same could be true with violence. The fact that hatred for an enemy boxer by a group of people or fratmen against their rivals could start a web of violence is already an act of murder in one's heart. And when I went to the US last year I heard stories from our countrymen how the rivalry between the Filipinos and Mexicans because of boxing sparked violent conflicts between these two Christian races.

This means that there is a need to overhaul the whole system of the Filipino mentality and focus on one's spirituality because being religious is a lot different from having a deep sense of spiritual enlightenment.

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Watch the video of a father in grief here

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Children are not supposed to die...Parents expect to see their children grow and mature. Ultimately, parents expect to die and leave their children behind...This is the natural course of life events, the life cycle continuing as it should. The loss of a child is the loss of innocence, the death of the most vulnerable and dependent. The death of a child signifies the loss of the future, of hopes and dreams, of new strength, and of perfection. - Arnold and Gemma 1994, iv, 9, 39

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When a parent dies, you lose your past; when a child dies, you lose your future. - Anonymous

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This space is with me all the time it seems. Sometimes the empty space is so real I can almost touch it. I can almost see it. It gets so big sometimes that I can't see anything else. - Arnold and Gemma 1983, 56

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A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. But...there is no word for a parent who loses a child, that's how awful the loss is! - Neugeboren 1976, 154

Read more

The Death Of A Child - The Grief Of The Parents: A Lifetime Journey

CLOUDED CONSCIENCE, BLINDED BRAINS AND HARDENED HEARTS

I could still recall the cries of people on TV as the wide media exposure brought the whole saga of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that triggered that dreadful Boxing Day Tsunami into our living rooms. Earlier that month of December a previous series of calamities wreaked havoc in the Philippines. A super typhoon was among the four typhoons that lashed the Philippine territory in a span of three weeks according to reports.

Unknown to the whole country, another frat conflict almost succeeded to claim its victims in UP Diliman in the early part of that same month . A frat brother of mine sent an email that they were once again attacked by a bitter rival frat. What my Brods did was a "cowardly act" in the eyes of the enemy when they evaded the attackers and ran away. This has been their practice for a long time since the issue about frat violence was and still continues to be widely debated within our fraternity, especially because we have five frat brothers now in jail.

As an alumnus I tried hard to awaken them spiritually and exhorted them to avoid trouble because if their hearts are sincere for change the angels of God the Father Almighty will come to protect them as He did all these years in my life and that of my family.

All these years I was pondering...what was in the minds of those members of that aggressor frat who attacked my brods. Were they not aware that the country was still in a lot of mess and mourning for the many deaths in the Quezon Province alone because of the super typhoon?

Where were their conscience when a lot of people were trying to help and gather help for the victims of those calamities? Are their hearts too hardened to understand that committing a collective crime, even if they try to justify this as revenge or whatever, is evil? Besides, our country is, and even until now, is suffering from a lot of problems.

I'm not so sure what happened next after that incident inside the campus. But the whole UP community, as recorded in some blogs, is witness to whatever conflicts that had happened or are still happening there between rival fraternities despite the fact that the Indian Ocean Tsunami taught a lot of lessons to people in warring areas hit by that tragedy. That calamity even compelled me to write A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER soon after after my sister told me of her prophetic dream before it happened.

Fratmen...try to examine if your conscience are clouded, if your brains are blinded or if your hearts are hardened. There are a lot of problems that this world is suffering from and your God-given intellect, talents and strength are supposed to contribute to offer those much-needed remedies.

It is not a cowardly act to avoid trouble. What is cowardly is if you cannot control yourself against wrongdoing...because just in case you have committed a grave act, either you are caught or go Scott-free, you will tremble like a coward.

So please wake-up!

Thanks to GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY...from a survivor (part 1)

A lot of people do not realize the personal struggles of fratmen. Mine is unique but I'm sure that all have come to a point when they realized a lot of things and have reformed. To others, it could be too late.

I will start my story as a fratman here and how I was able to survive 10 long years in and out of the university. It is to give you a glimpse of my own struggles in there where the young are supposed to be trained as future leaders of our society.

This is not to justify the existence and present culture of fraternities. Rather, this to help all people, especially fratmen, realize that they have missed and overlooked a lot of things.

MY CHILDHOOD

I was born in Iloilo City from a family of artists. As the eldest in the family, I was given more attention and privilege. I was just an average student who never had experienced a fight since I was a child. If there was, I was the one bullied and I just cried. The bullies are of two kinds. The sons of the rich and the sons of the poor. I am from a poor family and I was bullied. But because of my art the bullies befriended me and asked me to draw for them. I became their friend.

My grandmother was a very religious woman. She was the one who introduced me the Holy Bible and always brought me to the Cathedral to attend two masses -one in Latin and one in Hiligaynon. Bored, I counted the pews each time we go to church.

But this grandma of mine was also a strong woman. She was the one who spent for my Karate and Kung Fu training. But I never had a fight all those years. What I have learned in martial arts was just used as a form of discipline and exercise. Besides, Bruce Lee was so famous and the idol of almost all. Later I found myself always sparring in our high school gym with my two classmates. One became my frat brother but he's more courageous than me.

Still, I never had experienced a fight. I only hit the concrete columns with my palms and arms every time I and my "master" go around downtown. Besides I never bullied anyone because I am loved by my parents. I was the model for my siblings, especially in art.

I have no plans then where to study for my degree. I want to be an artist so Fine Arts was my first choice. But my Dad said there's more money in Architecture.

One day Dad brought me to the University of the Philippines. I took the exam and passed. But I never planned nor wanted to study there. It was his choice for me. And during that enrolment time that someone approached me to join the frat.

To be continued...