What do you remember about your great-grandparents? I have talked to many, and for the most part, the answer was nothing. It is academic to ask what one remembers about their great grandparents, other than what had been related by a grandparent. But of course, if family history is kept, future generations can avail of the many extraordinary or unpleasant birthright of times gone by. Longer life expectancy can give us a better opportunity to look at the past.
Genealogical history through DNA has proven to be a popular tool to investigate our connections with our ancestors. Understanding the character that resides within comes from knowing our progenitors. The Google of today would be a smidgeon of the kind of search engines of the future. (Google today handles about 3.5 billion searches per day ) Still, you might say, there is nothing remarkable in my past, so there is nothing Google will record for my descendants. I should add that the more homogeneous our lives are, the less potential to seek a more eclectic future.
In my last article, “Reminiscing my years at the Rez,” I wrote: ” One never knows what life experiences would add to a more meaningful life as we navigate our post-retirement options” Living in the same box, secure in the knowledge that all is well may very well be the ticket to a life well lived but hardly a prescription for an enduring legacy. As it is, we are, for the most part, a figure of no great afterthought beyond our grandchildren. Unless we live a more public life, as an actor or a politician, we are relegated to the dustbin of history after we pass.
The more humdrum our lives are, the quicker we will be forgotten. Of course, it can also be argued that it makes no difference after we are gone, but in my opinion, it dwells in a narcissist’s mind—a person who only finds pleasure as long as they are witness to an adoring crowd.
The contribution and heritage we leave behind are shaped by family, culture, and traditions of our upbringing. One of the drawbacks of traditional Filipino parenting is the overemphasis on future economic security. The children are compelled into careers that may provide it but at the expense of a broader path. Many will never know their potential if they are trained in one profession, practice it all their lives and retire with nothing beyond what they were trained to be.
I was part of that generation. One that changed my path was leaving the clutches of traditional (“helicopter” ) parenting and pursuing a course on my own. But as an adult and educated entirely in the Philippines, these were limiting factors to shaping my potential further. University years, Philippine style, in my generation, provided no options to find out what else I was good for. ” Here’s what you will take in the next four years” take it or leave it! My high school years were no better. Here, “open your mouth, swallow” it’s good for you, don’t ask too many questions. ( In Ontario High Schools, eight credits are optional subjects chosen by students ) I can’t remember ever writing a paper, which is not surprising because reading and writing outside of text were not emphasized, along with critical thinking and problem-solving. Getting a post-graduate degree with such an undergraduate experience was a real struggle.
I participated in a high school declamation contest, but the English teacher gave me a speech to memorize. Oratory and elocution were the emphases of the day. I don’t know that it improved any of the skills expected at that level because I barely passed the (English) subject. Throughout high school and university, my English courses hovered between a C and D.
I remember a particularly embarrassing moment in an English course when in class, I was called to task for mispronouncing elementary as a five syllabled ” e-le-men-ta-ry” instead of a single ( or double ) syllabled “elemen-tery. ” “Mr. de Leon, your English is very “e-le-men-ta-ry”! Nobody gave a shit about emotional hurt in those days. I was worth a “D,” the prof said. I categorically rate her with an “F.”
” I had so much Religion courses; you’d think I was preparing to be a church minister”
The mark and legacy of my school years left me unprepared for the bigger things in life. There was so much more out there, but I was ill-equipped to notice the range of possibilities before me. I had more religion courses between high school and university than my major. Some of you know what that made me become!
One persistent question in my mind is why people continue to stick to a particular belief despite all the evidence to the contrary. Some are outright looney ( 2% of Americans believe that the earth is flat ! Not surprising perhaps since 12% think that Joan of Arc is Noah’s wife ), head-scratchers, like Donald Trump won the last US presidential elections ( aka, “The Big Lie” ) and not too far behind, as far as I am concerned, is the stubborn belief that there is a personal God to whom we owe our origins, existence and our domicile in the hereafter.
If you ever talk to the young folks today, it is easy to see how social media and an expanded school curriculum have changed belief dynamics. Evolution comes to them as easy as Genesis was to us. They are getting an alternate reality devoid of human-invented doctrines. “Marching to the beat of a different drummer,” they live the Apple’s creed” Think Different.”
After a generation of predictable transposition of mores and rituals, the internet youth of today are carving their own legacy, unlike that of their predecessors.
In the western world, secular values ( freethinking, logic, reason )are taking over. What is astonishing is the lead shown by the countries that dominated Christianity in the recent past. Belgium, Spain, Canada ( Quebec in particular ), the UK, Netherlands, and France. (Northern Europe was well ahead of everybody ) The US, a holdout for so long, also shows some secular trends. ( I read that judging by the number of Darwin bumper stickers in Silicon Valley, the town’s new (non)religion could be Atheism) Gay rights and reproductive and abortion issues have fuelled the surge.
The church has grown in Africa and South/ Central America. You can draw your conclusions as to the reasons for this. The homogeneity of cultures in other countries makes for a slower decline in their respective belief. Think Afghanistan, for example, or Syria.
It is not a big surprise that all of these reside in the brain and not in the genes (although it can be argued that we are hardwired to belief from our evolutionary past). There was no alternative to religion in previous generations (pre-internet, social media ). In developing countries, it is the bread and butter, literally. Hungry? Go to church and pray! God will provide! It was also a benign cultural and social activity. Unless one is aware of the bloody history of religion, the practice of faith is local.
No religious school (parochial, Christian, residential ) taught anything about the Crusades, Inquisitions, Mormon Expulsions, and the hundreds of Religious wars ( or maybe even the later saga of the “Branch Davidians” or “Jim Jones” ) in my generation.
” Some victims of Canada’s notorious Residential Schools remained loyal to the church. I wish I could tell them that the clergy that taught them, God, never believed it themselves”
Instead, it was a relentless conditioning process from childhood to adulthood. The brain, shall we say, becomes saturated with the indoctrination that only a new brain can counteract. Yet, even some victims of Canada’s notorious Residential Schools remained loyal to the church. I only wish I could tell them that the clergy that taught them God never did believe it themselves.
What other conclusions can you draw about these people who physically, emotionally, and sexually abused them and left them in unmarked graves? It is hard to see any redeeming value in what they have done to the indigenous peoples of Canada. I watched a CBC interview of a broken man who related the sexual abuse heaped upon him by a nun. ( In St. John’s, Newfoundland, a court-approved sale of 42 Catholic churches, including the cathedral, to pay for the clergy’s and Christian brothers’ abuses. )
As a science teacher, I had an easier time seeing religion’s outright incongruity with facts. I don’t need Richard Dawkins ( “God Delusion” ), Christopher Hitchens (” God is Not Great” ), or Sam Harris (” End of Faith” ) to tell me what had been crystallizing in my mind many years before them. I doubt if any Christian university will concern itself with any of these contemporary thinkers who courageously thought differently.
My university experience was so limited that it was through my initiative that I fully understood the Atheism of Edison, Einstein, Darwin, Carnegie, Freud, Sagan, and other figures that shaped many of today’s shakers and movers.
The legacy that we leave is a compendium of our beliefs, character, and values. It is the impact you have left behind on your children, grandchildren, siblings, extended family, and as a teacher, on your students. Were you a model of integrity and faithfulness? Did you engage and celebrate their successes and provide comfort when they were down? Were you generous with your time with them in school work, sports, and other activities? Have you been a good listener?’
To be sure, our legacy has the potential to extend beyond family. Could you be like the people we celebrate today? Nelson Mandela, Charles Banting, and Jose Rizal come to mind. Notoriety can certainly earn one a spot; Pablo Escobar, Paul Bernardo, or Jim Jones’ “Kool-Aid” would go down in history in disrepute.
Things, years, and events will leave a mark as well. So how do you think we will remember the 2020s? Personally, I think it’s a contest between Donald Trump’s American Carnage and COVID. What do you think?******
“THINK DIFFERENT” SOME OF THE PROUD MEMBERS OF H.P.H.C. HALTON-PEEL HUMANIST COMMUNITY