Battle of Words

             Today has been a very significant day for me. This is because this is the day of the 2^nd Voice of the Youth National Oratorical Competition-Division Level. This competition isn’t an ordinary one. Why? Simple. This school year, the Department of Education had cut down all competitions up to the division level only except for the Schools’ Press Conference.

        However, the Voice of the Youth Oratorical Contest is up to the National level. And there’s more. There are cash prizes not only for the contestant but also for the coach and the school. Indeed, such competition is very exciting. And what makes it more interesting for me is its nature as a public speaking tilt.

        Yeah, I really prepared hard for this. I even sacrificed a contest today just for it. And that contest isn’t ordinary. It’s a math quiz bee! Take note, it’s a math quiz! And yes, Math is my first love. Giving that contest up had been a very crucial decision for me.

        Anyway, back to the topic. I woke up early in the morning and prepared my clothes for the competition. It was actually a barong tagalong. Honestly, I would have preferred a suit because wearing barong tagalog for me is so itchy! But then, I had to wear such attire for it suits the theme.

        The first part of the competition was the interview portion. And, I would say that it was fine. I was able to answer all their questions at ease. Maybe, it’s because I really want to engage in conversations. After the interview portion, we had our lunch for an hour.

        Then, after the lunch break, the delivery of the oratorical piece or the oration proper immediately started. My number was 16. Yeah, I was really disappointed with that. Actually, whenever I’m in speaking contests, I always wish to draw a middle number. But then, I could not do anything about that so I just had to wait for the 15 contestants to deliver their pieces before I can go down and deliver mine.

        The oration proper was fine. I was able to deliver my piece well. I didn’t forget even a single word in my piece. I didn’t go over or beyond the allotted time. Everything turned out to be fine.

        Then, the moment of truth came in. It was the announcement of winners. The emcees announced the 3^rd placer. It wasn’t I. Then, they announced the 2^nd placer. Yeah, it was me. I was quite disappointed with that because only the champion shall advance to the cluster level. When they announced who the champion was as well as his garnered score, my agony got severe! Why? It’s because I found out that the difference of his score with mine is just 0.04%. Yeah, it’s a very small difference. It was really disappointing on my part but I could not do anything since the decision was final and irrevocable. Anyway, I can tell myself that I did my best.

        And that ended my journey in the 2^nd Voice of the Youth National Oratorical Competition.

BOOK REVIEW

Science vs. Religion: An Interminable Enmity

INTRODUCTION…

          Do you want to become a priest or a nun someday? Or, do you want to become an eminent scientist in the future who would invent a device that would assuage the consequences of global warming? Or, you may want to become both! It might sound ironical in the first place for science and religion are said to be like oil and water which can never be mixed. Science and religion are like same poles of a magnet that will never be attracted to each other even if they have the same aim-to seek for the reason of life. When your life is at stake, would you rush into a church to kneel down and pray? Or, you would rush into a laboratory to devise a formula that might save the entire human race?

          “Angels and Demons” unfolds a pulse-quickening and brain-teasing story about science and religion. Can the adventure of a world-renowned Harvard symbologist and a beautiful and mysterious scientist in saving the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, unite the two opposing realms? Or, will they forever be like an angel and a demon that can never be amalgamated?

THEIR STORY…

          Angels and Demons is about a world renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and a beautiful yet mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. In the middle of the night, Langdon received a call from a Swiss research facility-CERN. He was then summoned by the said institution to analyze a cryptic symbol singed into the chest of a murdered physicist, Leonardo Vetra, who was the father of Vittoria. What Langdon discovered was inconceivable: a noxious feud against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old secret organization-the Illuminati. Moreover, Langdon learned that the murdered physicist wasn’t an ordinary one. He was a priest and at the same time, a scientist. Leonardo aimed to unite science and religion. Desperate to save the world from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joined forces with Vittoria and together, they embarked on frantic hunt through dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, sealed crypts, and the most secretive vault on Earth…the long-lost Illuminati lair.

          As their frenetic struggle went on, Langdon and Vittoria discovered that Illuminati didn’t anymore exist and that the one responsible for the death of the Pope, the appalling murder of the four cardinals and the stealing of the canister of antimatter that put the Vatican and the world seated on a powerful time bomb, was Camerlango Carlo Ventresca who was a servant of the Catholic Church.

LESSONS TO LEARN

          Science and religion have been likened to two opposing forces ever since the beginning of time. What is moral to religion is impractical to science. What is conclusion to science is fact to science is apocryphal to religion. However, at the end of the day, we must realize that science and religion are not day and night that will never meet. They complement each other. Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish. There is no need for us to choose whether to be a servant of religion or to be a master of science for at the end of the day, knowledge also has its limitations. It is better to live life to the fullest without a full understanding of it rather than having a full comprehension of why life is possible on earth but living in the ironic fires of hell brought by the intense rivalry between science and religion.

A MUST READ…

          Angels and Demons is an exceedingly clever novel written by Dan Brown which features life-or-death cliff-hangers, thrilling cat-and-mouse maneuvers, romance, science, murder, religion, action, architecture, and mysticism. It simply proves that science and religion are not exact opposites. They are not heaven and hell nor angel and demon. They are like a man and a woman. Even if they appear different, they need each other. In other words, they complement each other. We need to get out of our orthodox cocoons. This novel is an eye-opener for us to eradicate our old views regarding science and religion.

          With Brown’s big yet believable story unfolding at breakneck pace, he simply proved that he is among the most intelligent and brilliant of authors. Read through it as it brings you to a dazzling high-tech adventure which will absolutely give you an intriguing, imaginative and very suspenseful read.