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...

The Divine vs the dreaded domino effect

Some of Lord Jesus Christ's words in the Sermon at the Mount were as follows:

13 - It is you who are the salt of the earth, but if you become insipid and lose your strength; what is there left to give taste to it? It is good for nothing anymore, but to be thrown away, and stamped underfoot.

14 - It is you who are supposed to be the light of the world, a city built on a hill that cannot be hid.

15 - Men do not light a lamp to hide it under a bucket. They put it on a lamp stand where it gives light to all which are in the house.

16 - Therefore, let your light shine like that lamp in the sight of all men, that they may see the beauty in your life, and praise your Father which is in heaven.

Inspired by these verses, here is my story as it represents the Divine domino effect::

In my younger years I was a womanizer. As an artist I belong to a breed of people who easily succumb to the sins of the flesh. In a study conducted it was found that "professional artists and poets have about twice as many sexual partners as those who do not "indulge" in those activities. Some 425 British men and women were surveyed for the report, which has just been published in well-respected academic journal The Proceedings of the Royal Society. You're after numbers: between four and 10 partners for artists, three for what are rather harshly termed "non-creative types".

This habit had been very worrisome for me for a long period of time until one night I found myself looking up to heaven and praying asking God to free me from this captivity. A few weeks later my prayers were answered and I was baptized in the Holy Spirit by a Pastor. It was then that I started calling God in a more complete manner by adding "The Father Almighty" to distinguish Him, the Father of Truth, from satan who is also a god but the father of lies.

My transformation helped me to turn away from that captivity to sin and made my life turn 180 degrees. No more womanizing, no more smoking and not even alcohol to name a few. But that was only the start. I soon realized that, like what I have experienced in the fraternity, my baptism in the Holy Spirit is just the beginning of the long gauntlet that I have to endure till the last breath of my life. It is the true and genuine initiation to become the real man that God the Father Almighty wants men to be. It is a life full of love and obedience to Him and to love ones neighbors, even enemies.

Along the path to holiness are temptations of every kind and in various forms. And since my weakness as an artist is womanizing there came a time that my faith in God the Father Almighty was tested.

I met a young lady, beautiful and sweet. She seem to have liked me because of something that's lacking in her life - a father. She revealed to me her attempt to commit suicide because of a broken family. I am much older than her and I have my wife and two kids. She's an atheist and I'm a Christian.

As the days, weeks and months went by, I reflected on the situation I was in plus the fact that I am bringing the Good News of Salvation to her. One day I decided to give her an advise - that if I really love her as a person it has to be in the Christian perspective and I will not allow her to become a mistress because this will place her into a humiliating situation not only in the eyes of people but most especially in the eyes of God the Father Almighty. My conscience is clean because nothing really happened between us.

I tried to leave that past behind but it bothered me deeply inside because I felt that I betrayed my wife who didn't know the situation. I told some of my male friends, who are also husbands like me, about it. Their advise were "don't tell your wife about it". I understand that they want me to avoid further trouble because women might forgive but will take a verrrrryy lonnnggggg time to forget.

But as the weeks passed by I made a decision to reveal it to my wife. That decision is to ease me of that heavy burden in my conscience and to express my honesty, sincerity and love for her. But most of all to present to God the Father Almighty an offering not to commit the same sin again.

I decided to confess to my wife to make this act a deterrent once another temptation of the same kind attacks me. And although I have to endure repeated resurrections of this case every time we had some arguments I feel relieved that I was able to avoid that problem.

Another deterrent for husbands not to commit adultery is the experience of being beside one's wife all those months of her pregnancy until the very day of the birth of the baby and the post natal care for both the wife and the child.

My wife had a C-Section for three times, which means that I have to take care of her almost all the time up to the point of giving her a bath each day for several weeks just to be sure that the wound will not be infected. I also personally give a bath to our all our kids since they were babies.

Imagine if I gave-in to that temptation. I surely would have had a hard time slicing my body into two to attend to two families, one legal and one illegal... and two sets of children, one legitimate and one illegitimate. So, it was just a matter of strong decision and deep conviction not to succumb to sin!

It just simply being brave to face the problem squarely. It is unlike those fratwars that a lot of cowards pretend to be brave by hiding behind the sheer number of their members in the "battlefield" but are cowards when the numbers on both opposing camps are equal.

The arrows of the evil one continues to fly each and every day. But sincere prayers and dependence on God the Father Almighty by always remembering Him and His statutes each and every minute of the day spares one from all temptations.

As a comparison here is the possible dreaded domino effect:

The recent death of a hazing victim puts in focus a fraternity whose members are in really deep trouble. By having all the power and connections and battery of brilliant lawyers they could always attempt to parry the accusations of anybody or any institution that blame them for this gruesome act.

Lets' focus on the individual fraternity member, a Christian for example. Afraid that he will be incarcerated because of his actual participation, he will start to succumb to the designs of the group to evade the law and therefore become part of an injustice. And as the plot becomes thicker and thicker he, together with the rest of those involved, will dig and hide deeper and deeper within layers upon layers of lies of all forms and shades.

The whole uneasy situation becomes a dreaded domino effect that will haunt the guilty for the rest of his life wherever he goes. Even though he goes Scott-free. he might not repay a debt but one or more in his family will.

To men, especially brilliant lawyers, the absence of concrete evidence is an easy escape from justice. With the power and genius at one's disposal, evidence could always be thrown into oblivion.

Will they continue to ignore the Truth that God the Father Almighty is an all-seeing and an all-knowing Living God"

One can always hide from the blind eyes of a dead-cold, lifeless and helpless venerated religious statue gathering dust in one dark corner. But my God and Almighty Father, the Holy and Living God is waiting to unleash His wrath!

Read more reflections on this article: A CHRISTIAN AWAKENING

Why an oasis?

People are probably wondering why I have chosen the title A Fratman's Oasis for this blog. The reason is this:

Fraternities, especially the ones that are very influential because their alumni are now in power, are giving their members a false sense of abundance in material wealth and connections. A powerful bond, just like the Skull and Bones in the US, of people in top positions makes the worldly material man feel very secured all his lifetime.

This false feeling of security, power and abundance is like a happy, contented walk in a park where all the fruit trees around bear a lot of fruit as he touches them and no one in his tribe feels hungry.

But, even as the world's geniuses and scientists agree or disagree, this world we are living in did not exist without Someone so supreme and all-powerful - our God the Father Almighty. He knows the hearts of men.

The New Commandment that Lord Jesus Christ gave to His disciples to "love one another as I have loved you" is strongly connected to the Two Commandments that He earlier gave them. And these Two Commandments are a summary of the Ten Commandments given to Moses in the Old Testament. The links between these 13 Commandments are not broken.

What I'm trying to say is, that walk in the park could someday, for sure, turn out to be a walk in a vast and desolate desert once man will fall and face his doom as he realized that the temporal and forced sense of security, power and abundance he enjoyed has created an imbalance around him and caused a multitude of people to suffer.

As a group of men become too powerful to feel as if they control the whole world and thus become the heartless masters of their fellowmen, they will be warned by God the Father Almighty through His messengers, to listen to His Words, examine their conscience and repent.

Abraham was warned by the messengers of God the Father Almighty and was instructed to save his cousin Lot from the sure destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But the people of these two places were bound to face their doom!

In our country, as fraternities become so stubborn and callous to the cries of the oppressed and the affected and those who fell victims of these collective stupidity, a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah destruction will come silently into each member fratman or sorority woman who supports this culture of violence once they will not heed the cries of the people for justice, peace and love.

A lot of the affected family and friends of all the victims of frat related violence of all kinds are helplessly crying for justice. God the Father Almighty, the all-seeing and all-knowing God and Supreme Creator. knows and will hear their cries if the stubborn continues to be callous.


I am now living in a place where skyscrapers are towering like the Tower of Babel. But one wealthy billionaire owner of one new magnificent tower just died of cancer. It only shows that money can't buy anything. No! Not even the soul for a sure trip to heaven!

One seminarian during our primary school days taught us a song:

"if religion were a thing that money could buy,

The rich would live

and the poor will die..."

Yeah, religion could be bought... as there are those who even start a new sect to become wealthy. The rich obviously could afford the most beautiful and lavishly decorated statue of any saint to venerate and express their religiosity by just commissioning a struggling artist to do one for them and let the gay decorators to enhance these hand graven idols' look. The poor cannot afford that!

But spiritual enlightenment is not even earned but received as a grace and blessing from God the Father Almighty through His Holy Spirit where the pure of heart and the humble are free to receive this. The poor, and even the rich, are welcome to accept this.

For the poor who has accepted the heavenly wealth, material poverty is a gift because he knows that he has gained an infinite gift of spiritual enlightenment and he will not go hungry because even our master Lord Jesus Christ was poor and was born in a lowly manger.

The humble rich, on the other hand, will sell his property and give to the poor because he too knows that he will have his share of the same infinite wealth as the poor who just received it. In this situation a certain balance is achieved because the heart of the rich and the poor have finally reached a level of equality in the eyes of God the Father Almighty. And they will become real brothers in His eternal family.

A fratman belonging to the violent and abusive fraternity will surely one day face his destruction that will come in many forms and will haunt his conscience. This will come silently, and not even to the knowledge of his frat brothers, for they will be haunted one by one and not even their power, connections and wealth can stop that.

There is one strong reason why they will be haunted and that is by using the name God (if they refer to God the Almighty Father) in vain because their violent actions and their evil fruits contradict the frat code of "for God, for country, for fraternity" and most of all because the True, Eternal and Living God the Father Almighty hates evil of all kinds!

Is the word God in these fraternities' codes only a mere decoration? Or is it with a small "g"? Satan too is a god and he is a murderer! Clearly this evil entity has shown his fangs deeply buried in those fraternities because their evil fruits are so obvious!

This oasis will serve to awaken fratmen from their deep slumber of callousness and apathy to the cries of the nation and will give them life-giving water after that long and weary voyage in the desert of spiritual blindness and ignorance. Upon reaching this point, they will have time to reflect and look at the kind of life that they have lived all those years and, after a process of realization through one's unique humbling experience that will draw one's heart and mind closer to God the Father Almighty, the life traveler will once again continue his journey well-equipped to endure till the end as a faithful servant of God the Father Almighty to help others resist their own evils.

If you really believe in God the Father Almighty, the God of Abraham and of the Jews and Christians alike... and if you really love your frat brothers, help them get out of that dark quagmire and spare yourselves from its sure doom!

For several years I have sent emails to my frat brothers. I am inspired by God the Father Almighty to do so. It appears that they have finally listened because for several years now our fraternity has no rumbles. I told them several times to avoid it and concentrate on their studies, be spiritually enlightened and be ready to serve the nation in truth, sincerity, integrity and honesty. And most of all I want to abolish hazing because the real initiation and passage to manhood is to bravely avoid all forms of temptations from the evil one.

God the Father Almighty loves us. But His kind of love is not happy with evil. Then we better change and be spiritually enlightened to avoid His wrath!

It is written, "You must never give sacred things to dogs, or cast your jewels before pigs, for they will trample them in the mud and turn on you and tear you apart."

I do hope people will be tired of being just merely pigs and dogs.

Kindly read more: A New Look at the Sermon on the Mount

STOP THIS EVIL CYCLE!

Several weeks ago I chanced upon a blog of UP law students as I try to do research about fraternity violence. One student laments about how the people easily forget all those bloody deaths. The message also pointed out that it will take another death of another victim for people to seriously act and stop this evil cycle.

Today I got an email and the message focused on an article written by Prof. Leonor M. Briones. Death in the Family presents us with a cyclical pattern of this evil culture of violence:

1. news breaks out .
2. media provides gory details.
3. family expresses anguish, calls for justice.
4. subject hits public affairs, TV shows and radio programs.
5. UP community holds candle marches .
6. UP frats sign peace accord.
7. after 2 months (at most)…forgotten. The young life snuffed out becomes just another statistic.
8. until the next hazing related death .
9. repeat process from # 1.


Clearly this pattern we see in our universities most probably all over the country, what with the existence and proliferation of fraternities in its campuses, is just part of another bigger cycle which I am afraid to imagine:

1. student enrolls in a university
2. student becomes student leader in campus politics
3. student joins a fraternity
4. student becomes involved in the bloody frat culture of violence with all its evils and deceptions
5. student graduates (luckily if he is alive)
6. student carries the evil frat culture
7. student becomes professional
8. student, now a professional, becomes a politician
9. student join the ranks of his brods in politics
10. back to #1

Okay, we are happy that this student graduated alive. But what is the kind of culture inculcated and forcibly indoctrinated into his mind and heart while undergoing brutal initiation rites? Will he surely become a true gentleman who will fight to keep right when right and to set right when wrong without becoming a deceptive liar, enjoying wealth and power and holding the reigns of the government?

Will he not exhort his younger fraternity brothers to take revenge for him because he was mauled in a fraternity rumble when he was still a student? How influential is he and how strong is his resolve and how deep is his spirituality to inspire his brothers to forgive enemies?

All these years our country has suffered. All these years politics proved to be dirty and our elections bloody. So where did those erring politicians learned their evil trade? Isn't it that the priests who act as servants of God the Father Almighty always say "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord" after all the people have eaten the host to become part of Lord Jesus Christ body?

People better think deeply about their spirituality. If they can hide from the law of men because of their expertise in going around the law, the wrath of God the Father Almighty is waiting to be unleashed!

Who can hide from one's conscience? Who can hide from God the Almighty Father?

The enemies of God the Father Almighty are those fallen angels who joined Lucifer in his rebellion. These same evil spirits, called Legion, belong to those entities that influenced those Biblical personalities from Saul, the unfavored king, to Judas, the traitor. They belong in hell and continue to influence people. And when people are baptized in the Holy Spirit and backslide to completely abandon their faith in God the Father Almighty, these evil spirits will indwell in these kinds of people.

So how could one resist the temptations and influence of these invisible and evil entities?

To stop this evil and all its influences is to humble ourselves in front of God the Almighty Father, be baptized in the Holy Spirit and wear the Armor of God as explained by the apostle Paul. And to endure till the end as a true believer one must follow the Two Commandments that Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples.

While we are witnessing the outward signs of the battle between good and evil, a lot of people do not realize the spiritual battle involving invisible evil entities at play here.

If we really love our fellowmen we need to love them the way Lord Jesus Christ loves His disciples.

Kindly read UPROOTING THE ROOTS OF DISCONTENT

AMBASSADORS FOR PEACE

With the recent developments in the investigations to the death of Cris Mendez, those who are involved could be in deep trouble now. One may use all power, influence and connections to evade the law but one's conscience will always remain to haunt the guilty for the rest of his life.

Raymund E. Narag wrote:

I won’t let any fraternity member be locked up in jail again.

Immediately upon release from the walls of Quezon City Jail, I presented myself to the UP President and offered my services. “I may no longer be a student, what with seven years of my youthful life stashed away from me,” I said. “But I know what afflicts the fraternity system. Here I am, make use of my experience.” The UP President, long wanting to come up with an academic community free of campus violence, took me in. It was a partnership of an authority wanting to reach out and a victim wanting to make sense out of his demise.

I came up with the Ambassadors for Peace. This is a movement of fraternity members who had seen the worst thing that can happen to frat men and calls for non-violence in campus. It is based on the grassroots membership, relying on the personal relationship among frat men. It is with the belief that if the members personally knew each other, if we could be friends, then there is no reason for us to be hitting each other’s heads with lead pipes and baseball bats.

In closing he wrote:

But I will move on. For when I was released in jail, I owe my freedom to all my brods who were incarcerated and took my place. For when I was declared innocent, I earned the prayers of all the parents who are afraid that their sons will suffer the same fate. For when I became a freeman, God gave me a mission—a mission for peace.

As a frat man, I won’t buck down.

Raymund Espinosa Narag
September 15, 2002

Read the full text of Raymund E. Narag's PEACE MISSION

I echo his sentiments. He is my fraternity brother and my heart bleeds for the rest of the Brods, or any other fratman for that matter, who are still now in jail.

I look at the whole situation that fratmen of my country are going through right now. I have transcended beyond the tribal fraternity mindset of exclusivity and I look at all fratmen as lost sheep that Lord Jesus Christ hopes to lead.

It is hard to start the real genuine change especially when one does not know where to start. It is hard to change the system especially when individuals comprising that system will not change..morally and spiritually.

I know the answers for it is God the Father Almighty who gives the answers. And it is for men to humbly pray and ask for these answers.

Only God the Father Almighty could restore peace among men. Most of all, only He could offer that inner peace that will allow one to reach his final resting place and depart in peace.

A "ROLE MODEL'S" AWAKENING

Fraternities in the Philippines did not come from nowhere. It hitchhiked and rode on the wings of colonization. The lure of Western culture, with its art, religion and politics, has tantalized Filipinos to embrace a culture that proved to become violent while the quest in becoming real men have silently eroded.

Excerpts from: HAZING

"Too many men die, long before their physical deaths, in the quality of their lives. Most of us were raised without actively present healthy models of masculinity and manhood. Through healthy initiator rites we can learn how to be with ourselves, with each other, with the women in our lives and with life itself in a vital, passionate, responsible way.

"As a culture over the last several hundred years, we have failed to pass on, in a meaningful way, the wisdom of men to our children. Today's male has grown up with little or no positive male training from his father or other elders. And, the Boy Scouts, a bar mitzvah, confirmation, learning to hunt or fish, the first date, first sexual arousal, first car, first alcoholic drink with parental permission, or the military, have tried, unsuccessfully, to replace those ancient rituals. Our sons, as well as society as a whole, have been the losers."

Starting college is an ideal time to develop "A Modern Rite-of-Passage for Contemporary Heroes~", bringing in the freshman "boy", giving him a positive adult system in which to function and learn what it is to be a man in this culture in this day and age. And this "being a man" doesn't have anything to do with how much you can smoke, drink or do drugs. Those are generally tools to escape being a "real man" and dealing in a healthy way with life. The fraternity system is one way to develop young boys into the role models of the future!"

here's more...

"Hazing doesn't build brotherhood. It builds dissension, undercutting, and eventual retribution. It strips a pledge's self-esteem and often goes beyond their physical and mental limits. The result is an unquestioning abeyance of any command by authority (as in the military system). People can't demand respect, it's earned. (The highest mortality rate during the Korean War was among our Lieutenants being shot by their own troops.) Within a fraternity system, we shouldn't be building a system around respect, rather one around trust, support, and brotherhood."


All these years our society have rode the train of moral decay while we are fast embracing the global culture of materialism, apostasy and secularism. People are probably wondering what happened to Jose Rizal's vision of our "youth becoming the hope of our fatherland".

Well, you don't have to look farther away for answers. Just examine our country's campuses from high schools, colleges and universities and you will know the answer. And with a track record of violent hazings and the death toll of fratwars all these years these facts could prove to be an effective cure for collective amnesia.

"tough guys" in TOUGH GUISE

When parents fail to strengthen their spiritual lives, when they fail to understand the real and true essence of Christianity (in the case of Christians) they will fail to become good role models to their children. Worst if they have abandoned their illegitimate children who will grow without complete parental care and love.

Children who are born to a family that is weak in spiritual and moral foundations wherein parents, especially the father, failed in educating the young morally and spiritually, could result in young kids becoming weak against the strong influence of a strongly material but morally weak society through the relentless cosmetics of a highly commercial mass media.

As these kids grow into young men they are "baptized" as warriors into brotherhoods with dubious doctrines but so organized to spark those messy fratwars in the most unlikely "battlefields". Here their concept of being men is distorted and the price will be too high that could haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Kindly watch TOUGH GUISE

GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY'S LAWS vs man's lawlessness

With the recent death of another UP student the whole country is once again rocked by this sad news. Reports revealed that hazing was the cause of the death of graduating UP Bachelor of Science major in Public Administration student Chris Anthony Mendez. His name is just another addition to the growing list of victims of this culture. Likewise, the recent split in Couples For Christ sent tremors felt all over the world. Gawad Kalinga, one of CFC's tools for social change, is gravely affected.

By the looks of it, the laws made by men are being ignored...and so are the Laws of our Almighty God and Father when the outcome of these violent hazing and initiation rites result in fratwars. And in the case of CFC the result of the split affects GK and the recipients of peoples' kindness and generosity.

With Gawad Kalinga, supposedly the University of the Philippines Administration's's partner in solving these fraternity problems, now in dire straits because of the split in Couples For Christ where could students, fratmen or no fratmen who are seem to be like sitting ducks and will become new victims of this almost endless culture, go for refuge?

Gawad Kalinga's attempts to offer reforms in a sick society where fratmen could sincerely work together in harmony to go through a process of "withdrawal" from the sick frat culture of violence is now threatened by the cracks started in CFC. This situation could prove a big hindrance to all efforts of giving fratmen a genuine role model for real change and better alternatives to their energies and talents to cure their errant concept of brotherhood.


Mature fratmen should not add more salt to a gaping wound. The young aiming for graduation and a successful life after college without this dream of being tainted with unwanted baggage in their conscience is like taking care of one's marriage and good parenthood to one's children and most of all to one's own personal spiritual life. On the contrary, inviting trouble or embracing the temptations and flirtations of another round of intrigues and rumbles against rival frats is akin to having a mistress that brings all her baggage of sinfulness and idolatrous lifestyle that threatens one's being. Worst is, if these young students are recruited to replenish the ranks of "warrors" when the older ones have graduated.

In the same light, Christians involved in CFC and GK need to reexamine their spirituality and focus their minds on all the Commandments of God the Father Almighty to free them of the baggage that this rift has started and to set their minds to the real focus of their spirituality.

The burden is also much emphasized on the shoulders of fratmen who are themselves Christians. If they really love their frat brothers, a kind of love that is not shallow but according to God the Father Almighty's statutes, they have to reexamine their spirituality and work for their own spiritual enlightenment so that they could shepherd their frat brothers out of that pagan pastures controlled by wolves.

There is a lot of work to be done that real men are needed to do the job. But to be real men one needs to be spiritually enlightened. (Kindlay read JOB VACANCY)

As an inspiration, God the Father Almighty had chosen David not by his outward looks or muscular build but by the purity of his heart. This shepherd boy did not have the strength and armor of Goliath. But he was chosen as king. It was in his bloodline that Lord Jesus Christ was born humbly in a manger. Our Master allowed himself to be mocked and tortured and willingly accepted His death for the forgiveness or our sins and for our redemption. He did not die a useless death like what is happening to a lot of people in this world today.

In the fraternities now there is a mixture of memberships where religion is either present or not and co-mingling with the strong influence of regionalism and social class backgrounds. It is a tricky mix that in some ways helped solve and mend the wedge between religion, regionalism and class. But by solving these differences between members inside their group they have successfully produced another form of division wherein men of the same religion, region and class start to fight a new kind of war as they continue to nurture a kind of violent rivalry against other fraternities.

This has to end! To the sincere and strongly faithful it is not impossible because all that one needs to do is to decide and carry his cross.

Let's pray and hope that they will all finally understand that GK is fighting a different war, a war on poverty, and as people who believe in God the Father Almighty, are fighting the war against all form s of evil, especially the ones from within ourselves.