My Sister's First Violin Recital

My sister Wanda, just after less than a month worth of lessons, did her first violin performance for an audience. I got to accompany them by playing keyboard.  Here's the instrumental of a classic hymn:

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Proper Perspective On Debate And Argumentation

"I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job." - Margaret Thatcher

"I don't debate with liars." - Evo Morales

"Winning an argument in the Internet is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded." - a Youtube comment

There are people who are wary to argue.  Even if they know they are right or have a point, they would rather passively keep their mouth shut.  They think it’s inconvenient.  They think debating and arguing are forms of conflict.  Since they dislike conflicts and/or inconveniences, they avoid debate as much as possible. 

Then, there are people who love to argue everything.  I mean everything.  They would always take the opposing side of what your preferences or opinions are.  It doesn’t matter if they actually believe or feel strongly about the subject matter.  They will just argue for the sake of arguing.    

These people have the wrong idea on what debating and arguing are all about.

Debate or argumentation, if done right, is actually a pretty worthwhile and productive activity.  It’s a great way to exercise one’s mental prowess on logic, knowledge, and wit.  Valuable skills, like grammar, speech, and writing, can be developed as well. 

And it can actually be quite enjoyable. 

Indeed, there is quite a good feeling when you own your opponent.  Winning is sweet, and winning an argument is one of the sweetest victories you can experience in your life.  However, if your prime motivation for beginning or joining a debate is the desire of wanting to win it, or to show how smart or right you are – or, worse, to show how dumb or wrong your opponent is – then it’s better not to debate at all.  For me, debate is a tool of logic, and logic’s objective is to find truth.  Therefore, your main motivation for deciding to argue or debate should be for the TRUTH – to defend, promote, or find what is true. 

That’s why I think the type of debating we encounter in our academic lives misses the point.  I mean a random topic to debate on is given. Then we are assigned – oftentimes, we can’t choose what side we will belong in – on the negative or affirmative side.  Now, what if I don’t concur with the side I am assigned on?  Why would I exert my effort on defending or pushing something I don’t believe in or agree on?  Isn’t that ridiculous?  You might say it’s all for the sake of exercise or learning the proper mechanics of debate.  Well, you know what, I still call it absurd!  No matter how brilliant or excellent the skills, effort, articulation, and organization that I use for that argument, if it’s all for arguing something as ridiculously false like the Earth is flat, they are all meaningless and inutile.  All of those things used for arguing for something that is not true or right are wasted. 

In fact, I would rather “lose” a debating contest as long as I am in the side of truth.      

Of course, there are times that a debate has no objective truths involved, but subjective ones that are dependent on opinions, like “Who will win in a fight?  Batman or Superman?”  It’s still going to be a productive debate but participants should understand the fact that, though objective points can be presented, there is no objective truth to be established as a result and that, in the end, personal opinion and preference would still be the actual determinants, and not how good the arguments are.   However, good arguments still impress and might at least make your opponent respect or acknowledge the merits of your preference.

Debates do not always end in establishing the truth (especially if the parties are not applying the proper philosophy of debating).  Sometimes it can even end with a compromise.  Usually it ends with an “agree to disagree”-result (human beings are stubborn creatures).  And sometimes, you just have to stop, like for instance: a) when after you have already completely exhausted your points and made a concrete case, your opponent still hasn’t agreed with you because you haven’t convinced him or his bias and pride made him stubbornly unyielding, b) you feel the debate is going nowhere since your opponent is just using the same arguments over and over again, or c) your opponent becomes unreasonable or displaying “troll” behavior. 

Debates can easily become emotional.  And when one is debating without the proper philosophy and discipline, he will tend to debate ineffectively when he gets emotional.  He will commit fallacies in his arguments.  His points will be irrelevant.  And he will attack you with insults.  You should be careful from falling into extreme obnoxiousness and rage when debating.  Sure, aggressiveness, sarcasm and humor can be used on debates.  But always keep in mind to be reasonable and civilized.  Attack the issues at hand, attack the points, attack the flaws in the argument, but never ever commit the mistake of attacking your opponent directly. Such low blow won’t prove any point.        

A worthwhile debate is that of a discussion for truth.  That is why we should debate.  Not using the glory of winning as an incentive.  There is no “winner” or “loser”, but the goal of establishing what is true.  Thus, when sometime during the debate you finally realized you are actually wrong and the other side is right, you should humbly and graciously admit you are wrong.  Do not let your pride get the better of you and stubbornly holding on and arguing for what you now know to be wrong.  Do not think that if you yield and admit that you’re wrong, you are the “loser” of the debate.  Again, there should be no “winners” and “losers” in a debate.  If the debate ends in establishing the truth, then the debate is a success.  Truth wins.  Always remember these whenever you decide to argue on something. 

 

By the way, no matter how strong or powerful Superman is, I sincerely believe that Batman can beat him in a fight.  Want to argue about this?  Bring it on.       

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How I Started Loving Basketball

I am familiar with all major sports, and among them, I prefer team sports.  And among these team sports, I love basketball most.  I find that among team sports, basketball is the most mental, most complex, most exciting, most fast-paced, and most teamwork-y among them.

So, how I started loving basketball?  It started with the one considered by many as the Greatest Of All Time in basketball…

Now, I don’t think that MJ should be a landslide undisputed choice for G.O.A.T. (even if he is indeed the best).  But though I think that way, it can’t be denied that he’s the biggest basketball icon that ever played the game.  In fact, he was even bigger than basketball (or at least the NBA) itself.  He was more than a basketballer, he was a pop culture icon.  Thus, back then, even if you don’t know anything about basketball, you know about Michael Jordan.  I never saw his games, but I saw plenty of his highlights.  And based on those highlights, he was the god of basketball.  Watching him was a joy.  And Michael Jordan cards are the only basketball cards worth collecting. 

And then he teamed-up with Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes to make the greatest basketball movie ever…

Michael Jordan’s status as a basketball superhero was greatly elevated after receiving the greatest alley-oop pass ever made from Bugs Bunny.

As a kid, I was more of a fan of cartoons than of professional sports (the only sport I really followed back then was the World Wrestling Federation).  And I was a big fan of the Looney Tunes (in fact, I enjoyed Bugs and Friends more than Mickey and Friends during those days), so “Space Jam” was a major reason why I started to like basketball.

The first time I actually watched NBA games was during the 1998 season – MJ’s last championship season.  I never really watched the game with understanding.  But just watched for the sake of seeing MJ in action.  I was into the Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls bandwagon, thus, most of the games I watched were Chicago Bulls games.  And I rooted for that team to win.  And they did. 

But I was still not yet a full NBA or basketball fan.  I just found a sport to like.  I still hadn’t understood yet how the game fully works.  In fact, during those days, I thought that a half court short was worth 5 points (I can’t remember how I got that idea).  I was naïve.  Michael Jordan, the greatest, didn’t have any flaws.  Scoring was all that matters in the game.  Half court shots were worth five points.  Such were my naïve thoughts at that time.

Another major reason why I started to get interested in basketball was an anime called Slam Dunk.

It’s one of the greatest anime series I have ever encountered.  Through its entertaining story and characters, I started to learn more about the game of basketball.  For instance, I learned that there are actually different positions in basketball.  Prior to the anime, I thought all 5 guys in a team just did the same stuff. 

I missed the 1998-1999 NBA season (I don’t know why).  When I started watching again – the 1999-2000 – Michael Jordan was already retired.  Pippen and Rodman were no longer in the Bulls. I needed a new “favorite team”. And I ended up with the Lost Angeles Lakers.  Which would be the biggest reason why I love basketball the way I do now. 

How did I decide to be a Laker fan?  It started with the two major reasons why the Lakers dominated the NBA early in 21^st Century.

Kobe and Shaq were a delight to watch. 

Well, during the days that I was an MJ fan (and believed he was indeed the greatest) solely because he was a major pop culture icon (and the hero of “Space Jam”), the player that probably is second to Jordan as an icon (at least in my eyes) that was not a Bull was Shaquille O’Neal.  By then, he was in the Orlando Magic.

 

When I got to start watching some NBA games (97-98 season), he was already out of the Magic and was now a Laker.  So, I started to watch some Laker games.  Then, eventually the Lakers become my “second favorite team”.  It was because with Shaq were three other stars – Kobe Bryant, Nick Van Exel, and Eddie Jones.  I was like, “Oh, the Bulls have 3 stars (Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman) but the Lakers have 4!”  As a basketball noob, I measured a team’s greatness by the stars they have.  I mean the Lakers had 4 players in the West All-Star squad!!!  

But among them, Kobe stood out in my eyes.  Initially, I liked Kobe because he was being dubbed as the “Next Jordan”.  Later on, Kobe Bryant would eventually become my favorite basketball player.  And not because I have joined a bandwagon like I did with Michael Jordan.  In the case of Kobe, I grew up watching him play, through the eyes of someone who finally understood basketball.  While, in the case of Jordan, I watch him through the eyes of a kid who was a fan of “Space Jam” and thought of a half-court shot as 5 points.  I maintain the opinion that Kobe is in the same page as Michael Jordan – that if they switched eras, Kobe would have been considered as the best.  It was all a matter of circumstance.  I could be wrong in my assessment, but I stand by this opinion. 

So when that 1999-2000 season begun, with no MJ anymore, I became a Laker fan.  Of course, at first, I became a “fan” by just picking out a team because it had prominent stars and it was a popular team, like what I did before when I picked Bulls as my “favorite team”.  But as I gained more knowledge and understanding of basketball, the NBA, and history, I truly saw how great and special the Lakers really are.  So though, at the start, I became a “Laker fan” for the reason of just needing a team to root for, in the end, I actually become a true Laker fan; the Los Angeles Lakers became a real favorite team of mine, and not because for the mere sake of just having a “favorite team”. 

From that point on, I was able to truly – from my heart – declare the slogan: “I love this game.”

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Joy Music Team (at Kwangjo Concert)

The music team of Kwangjo Church from Korea held a powerful concert at Joy Church last August 22.  Both Kwangjo Church and Joy Church were blessed by the event.  After Kwangjo Band performed their sets, the Joy Music Team led a short dynamic praise and worship.  Video quality is poor since this was taken by a smartphone.  Still, below is the video if you care to watch (or, at least, listen) to the praise and worship led by our music team.

 

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God's Glory Displayed Through Humility

The last time I shared a prepared speech (I usually wing it) for our church's Wednesday night service was two years ago.  Tonight, I was able to deliver another prepared sharing once again.

(RE: Matthew 21:1-11)

Good evening.

In tonight’s passage, we can learn a very valuable lesson in humility.  And that God’s glory is sometimes in display through humble and simple things.     

The passage details Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem.  It was typical Jesus, humble and simple.  Upon a donkey he rode, as a very large crowd spread their cloaks and branches on the road.  He was greeted by cheers of “Hosanna!”  He was welcomed as a king and conqueror.  

Obviously, the crowd was cheering because they have seen or heard about Jesus’ miracles.   They knew that this Jesus healed the sick, cast off demons, and fed thousands.  And they were expecting that Jesus’ would use this power of his to overthrow the Romans and make the nation of Israel glorious and powerful.  Indeed, they were welcoming a king and savior.  Unfortunately, this people had the wrong idea about it.    

The Jews’ expectations were focused on overthrowing Roman rule and the burdens of their people.  But Jesus’ mission was far above that.  Very far above that.  He came not merely to save His people from political oppression, but from sin and death!  

Many times in our lives, we are like the Jews.  We expect, and even sometimes, demand God to work by our own standard and idea.  So since we concentrate on our own expectations, and fail to seek God’s will, we miss it when God works.      

While meditating this passage, I remembered about the time I read this short story in Max Lucado’s book “A Gentle Thunder”.  It goes like this:

Once there was a man who dared God to speak.

Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God. And I will follow. 

Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua, God. And I will fight. 

Still the waves like you did in Galilee, God. And I will listen.

And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall, close to the sea, and waited for God to speak.

And God heard the man, so God answered. He sent fire, not for a bush, but for a church. He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of sin. He stilled a storm, not of the sea, but of the soul.

And God waited for the man to respond. And he waited. 

And he waited. 

And he waited.

But because the man was looking at bushes, not hearts; bricks and not lives, seas and not souls, he decided that God had done nothing. Finally he looked to God and asked, Have you lost your power?

And God looked at him and said, Have you lost your hearing?

God works through things we don’t expect.  When we expect for a mighty conquering king on a great war horse, God’s glory will be displayed through a carpenter riding on a unimpressive donkey.  God sometimes work through simple and humble things to glorify Himself.  In fact, through these simple and humble things, he is actually most glorified.  And His way, simple or humble or ridiculous or weak they seem to be in our physical eyes, is in fact a display of His greatness.  Remember that it is written in the Good Book: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” (1 Cor 1:25)    

We are limited humans that tend to focus on the small picture.  While God is a Wise Omniscient God that always sees the big picture.  We desire freedom from the Romans.  God desires for us freedom from sin and death.  We desire riches and prosperity.  God desires for us everlasting life.  We desire temporary worldly pleasures.  God desires for us eternal and overwhelming joy in Him.      

We actually want simple and worthless things compared to the great things God want for us.

As we would read later on in Matthew, this same crowd that met Jesus with cheers of “Hossana!” is the same crowd that would cry out for him to be crucified.  We should examine ourselves if we have the same heart as the Jews.  Do we praise God because we love him, or because we want something from Him and when He does not answer with conformity to what we want, we rage against Him?  

Soon, Jesus Christ will come again.  But his return will not be the same as the first time.  Not as babe in a smelly manger. No, he will come in full and explicit display of His glory and power.  Not, on a dull donkey, but on a magnificent horse.  Not to be humiliated and crucified, but to judge mankind.    

Thus, like what Jesus did, we can afford to sacrifice, to be humble, and to seek God’s will and surrender our own. Because our humility and sacrifices will be rewarded with the glory of being alongside Him on His Second Coming.



Amen.

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Top 10 Things I Don't Like About The Harry Potter Series

J.K. Rowling just announced the release of Pottermore, and it’s going into Beta.  Not yet clear on what’s the extent of the site/game would be, but the advertisement gave us some idea.  And the last Harry Potter movie is out.  Harry Potter is at its peak.

I read the books and watched the movies.  I have read all the books, starting from my late elementary days and finished, as the series ended, when I was in college.  No, I never have had any HP book.  Never bought one.  Nor ask for one or was given one as a gift.  But I borrowed from friends – from Meg when I was in elementary and then from DY when I was in high school and college (fortunately, she was also my classmate in college).  Both were die-hard fans of HP, but I was never one.  Yes, I borrowed the books and been a fan to the extent that I wanted to read and know the whole story.  But that’s it.  No, I didn’t hate it.  I have enjoyed it.  I found HP entertaining.  But it never really won my “love” as a literature.  Nothing really exceptionally awesome about it.        

There are several things about the Harry Potter series that I don’t like at all.  Here are the top ten of those things that bugged me about the series:      

10.) WHAT HAPPENED TO TIME TRAVELLING?

In Book 3, Hermione took an overload of subjects.  To help her, Prof. McGonagall gave Hermione a “Time-Turner” that allowed her to time travel. Thus, she was able to study all her lessons and also have time rest.  In the climax of the story, Hermione revealed this fact to Harry, and they both travelled back in time to save Sirius Black from being sent to Azkaban.  (They were also able to save Buckbeak the Hippogriff from being executed and save Harry’s past self from the Dementors along the way.)

After that, it seemed that time travel was forgotten as it was never ever mentioned or used in the next books.  I mean, come on, why not?  Time travel magic is one very INVALUABLE magic, why didn’t Harry and friends used it again in their subsequent adventures, especially when they were searching for the Horcruxes?  Time travel could have helped them plenty in their adventures and fights.  And why no other wizard used time travel?  Why didn’t Voldemort?  Come to think of it, why did McGonagall gave such powerful thing as a "Time-Turner" to a mere student like Hermione?

Sure, fictional stories will always have some plot holes, and we should give writers some slack sometimes when they create plot holes.  But there are forgivable plot holes and there are annoyingly unforgivable plot holes.  And J.K. Rowling’s usage of time travel annoyed me greatly.  There are plot conveniences in fiction that can be “put in a drawer” after it solves a plot problem/conflict, but something like time travel is not simple.  Time travel is controversial and big.  Time travel is a powerful plot convenience, and it can never be dismissed easily after it had its use in the story.  If the author chooses to “put it in a drawer” to never touch it again in the entire storyline, it would always leave an annoying feeling of “if such powerful convenience exists in the story’s universe, why isn’t it used again?”

I think Rowling never thought how big time travelling really is when she tackled it.  

9.) DUMBLEDORE IS GAY??!!!

Dumbledore is one of the best characters in the series.  A powerfully badass wizard that is probably the only one with no fear of Voldemort.  A master tactician, as he employed espionage in the war, planned his death, and even able to manipulate events after his death.  He is also a great fatherly mentor to Harry.  

J.K. Rowling ruined his image with an admission in an interview that Dumbledore is gay.  

I couldn’t find a more perfect reaction than this famous lolcat:

Come on, Rowling?!  Really?!  Why not just leave the debate of Dumbledore’s sexuality to the fans?  I mean, this is uncomfortable.  This erases the “fatherly mentor to Harry” image of Dumbledore.  What is now the implication of their regular private talks throughout the series?  Yup, there’s no explicit sexual pressure content between them, but we can’t get it out of our minds what the real “affection” between them means after learning that Dumbledore is gay. AWKWARD!!!   

8.) "ORDER OF THE PHOENIX" AND "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY" WERE UNDERUSED

Book 5 introduced us to the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army.  And, for me, they lacked exposure throughout the series.  

Book 5’s title was “…and the Order of the Phoenix”, and yet, they failed to really shine until they went “cavalry”, arriving to rescue Harry and friends in the last minute from Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic.  There was no real detailed “Order of the Phoenix” vs. “Death Eaters” skirmish.  

Then there’s Harry’s “Dumbledore’s Army”.  It was really awesome considering they are made up of Hogwarts students from different houses.  They were inexperienced and juvenile, but they were self-trained and roughly combat-ready.  And yet, they never really had some action together as a group.  Aside from the usual Hermione and Ron, only Neville and Luna of the DA came with Harry to face-off with the Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic.   The only time the full roster of DA really saw action was in the “Final Battle” at Hogwarts, but, hey, everybody was fighting by then.  

Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t got enough of some DA and Order of the Phoenix action.         

7.) VOLDEMORT IS NOT THAT MENACING AT ALL

It is said that what makes a story great is a great villain.  The Harry Potter story’s villain was promising at the start.  He’s so evil and frightening that even the mere mention of his name makes the wizard community tremble.  When people mentioned of him, they address him as “You-Know-Who” or “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”.  That is badass.  It made us expect that the Harry Potter series will have the greatest villain ever conceptualized in fiction.

What we got was this noseless clown:

Ok, to be fair, Ralph Fiennes played the Voldemort character well.  And Voldemort is a bad, mad, and actually pretty decent villain.  The only problem was he was not as villainous as advertized.  I was expecting Voldemort to be a combination of an explosive, insane, mass-murdering and genocidal Adolf Hitler, and an intelligent and calculating, Hannibal Lecter-like, cannibalistic, psychotic/sociapathic, terrifyingly vile and disturbed, serial killing, sexual predator.  

As I’ve said, Voldemort was a decent villain.  But compared to what he was being hyped, he came out as a “meh” villain.  

For me, two other antagonists in “Harry Potter” were better than Voldemort:  Bellatrix Lestrange (which was played brilliantly by Helena Bonham Carter in the movie) and the soul-sucking Dementors. 

6.) EPILOGUE

I didn’t like the epilogue of the series.  

In the epilogue, Harry and friends are adults already. Harry is married to Ginny, and they have kids of their own to send to Hogwarts.  The epilogue of Harry Potter didn’t give the “wrap-up” feel that I wanted, which could have been done if it just told the immediate aftermath.  The epilogue immediately fast-forwarded to several years later.  A few days or even a few years would have been enough.  

Most importantly, by doing an epilogue that only wraps the chapter regarding Voldemort instead of fast-forwarding to an adult Harry, the option of writing another Harry Potter saga afterwards is comfortably open for Rowling.  Sure, it could still be written, but knowing what would happen in its future (because of the adult Harry epilogue), it will lack flavor or suspense.  There will be “Ah, Harry will survive this” when he’s placed in a life-threatening situation or “Harry would marry Ginny anyway” when a new love interest arrives for Harry.  So Rowling is on a disadvantage on creating the necessary elements of another captivatingly and unpredictable Harry tale when its ultimate end is already known.        

5.) BROOMSTICKS

Wands in the HP world?  Stereotypical but still cool.  Especially with the unique “recipe” of wand for each individual.     

Owls as pets and mail couriers?  Ok, e-mail is still more practical, but, hey, that is still interesting and creative.

Sorting Hat?  That’s refreshingly unique!

Broomsticks for transportation?  Er… It’s stereotypical and stupid.  Just think of it for a minute.  Broomsticks.  Regardless of the fact that you can fly by the use of such things, I still can’t find myself being excited with a broomstick.  “Oooh!  It’s a Nimbus 2000!!!” Really retarded getting thrilled about receiving a broomstick for Christmas.

I mean… come on!!!  Broomsticks???!!!   

4.) QUIDDITCH

Quidditch is a stupid sport.  It is probably the most ridiculous game invented for fiction.  Ever.  

For starters, we have players riding on broomsticks flying around.  I already pointed out in the previous item that I found broomsticks silly.

A Quidditch team is made up of Chasers, Beaters, Keeper, and Seeker.  Each team has three Chasers whose function in offense is to move the “Quaffle” ball, by passing among themselves, across the field and then shoot it through any of the three goal hoops.  Each goal is worth 10 points.  The opposing Chasers, playing defense, tries to steal the “Quaffle” when it is being advanced by the opposing team.  Each team has two Beaters, armed with two bats, whose function is to protect their teammates from two “Bludger” balls.  Bludgers are iron balls bewitched to fly around randomly hitting players.  And the Keeper, if it’s not yet obvious, guards the three goal hoops by blocking the shot attempts of the opposing Chasers.   

So, disregarding the broomsticks and just considering the flying around, scoring balls through goal rings, and players getting knocked off by charmed bowling balls, Quidditch seem to be a pretty decent and logical game.  

My beef is with the Seeker.  The aim of the Seeker is to capture the Golden Snitch before the opposing Seeker does.  The Golden Snitch is a small golden ball with wings that randomly flies around the field.  The game ends whenever the Snitch is caught by a Seeker, and the team in which the Seeker belongs in gets 150 points, which is equivalent to 15 goals.   And that ladies and gentlemen is batshit insane!  So unless a team scores 16 goals more than the opposing team, whoever gets the snitch wins.  

It’s like two teams are playing soccer, and at the same time, two guys are playing checkers.  Whoever wins the checker game gives his team 15 goals.  So even if your soccer team is made up of rookies and injured players and your opponent has a team of athletic and talented Beckhams and Rolandos, as long as you have a mean checker-playin’ geezer, you will win the game.  To see how ridiculously unfair that is, try scoring 15 goals in soccer.

And this is the biggest sport in the wizard world?!  Even if they’re flying around and being knocked off by flying bowling balls, I still find basketball, hockey, or American football more exciting.  Muggles are not missing out at all.  

3.) THE SUPPORTING CAST IS MORE INTERESTING THAN THE MAIN CHARACTER

There is only one character that is acceptable to be more interesting than the hero of the story, and that is the villain of the story.  Sometimes, two or three more supporting characters can be more interesting than the main character, and that could still be okay.

But in Harry Potter, it’s as if half of the roster of characters is more interesting than Harry.  Let me enumerate who I think are more interesting characters than Harry Potter: Hermione Granger, the Weasley twins, Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom.   

Congrats, Harry, you are, however, still more interesting than Ron Weasley.

To be fair, I found that there are times that Harry could shine above the others (especially when he willingly went to Voldemort to be “killed”.  That took guts).  But the entirety of the series, I found his supporting characters more likable.

My favorite HP character is Luna Lovegood.  She’s a charming girl.  Naive-like but insightful and smart (a Ravenclaw after all).  Almost impervious to emotion.  She has the air of a conspiracy theorist, but without the annoying paranoia.  And I love that dreamy voice and unblinking eyes. I mean you can probably make an attempt on startling her with a "Boo!" and she would give you a bored look in return.

Because of Helena Bonham Carter’s excellent portrayal of Bellatrix Lestrange, she became my favorite villain in the HP universe.  As I’ve said earlier, I find her a more interesting villain than Voldemort.

Severus Snapes was awesome playing as Dumbledore’s double-agent.  I didn’t mind that he died in the story, but it would have been better if he died fighting – explicitly revealing to Voldemort that he was loyal to Dumbledore all along – rather than being killed by Nagini.

Neville Longbottom’s character development was the best in the 7-book (8-movie) series.  From spineless weakling to the brave leader of Dumbledore’s Army (in the last book) and killer of Nagini – last Horcrux of Voldemort.  In fact, it would have been more interesting if Neville was the real “chosen one” after all and not Harry (since the prophecies for Harry as a “chosen one” applies to Neville as well), and that Dumbledore – smart strategist as he is – is just using Harry as a “red herring” to protect Neville.  Thus, when Harry (after realizing he’s a Horcrux of Voldemort) voluntarily gets himself killed (really killed) by Voldemort, it was Neville who would have finally defeated Voldemort.  That would have been an awesome plot twist!  It could have been a better development than what was the actual.        

2) IT'S OVERRATED

I am not saying that the Harry Potter series was bad.  No, as I’ve said right from the start, I have enjoyed it.  But it’s definitely overrated.

The Harry Potter series was okay, but it’s not as good as everybody believes it to be.  The success and praise it received is not proportional to the success and praise it deserved.  There are plenty of better fantasy books than Harry Potter.  More insightful, more intelligent, and more well-told than Harry Potter. 

Not all Harry Potter fans are literature fans.  In fact, most of Harry Potter’s readers and fans, probably, are not well-read or lacked the exposure on other books other than HP.  They just concluded that Harry Potter is “the best” since it’s the only book they have read.  It’s like concluding – as a critic wrote somewhere – that “a Big Mac is the best before even tasting lobster.” 

Aside from lack of exposure to better fantasy books, another reason for HP being overrated is the “bandwagon” effect.  People like to join the “in” crowd, and since Harry Potter is “in”, they jumped into it.  But HP is not your ordinary fad.  Fad disappears or goes extinct.  But the momentum built by the HP bandwagon is, already, impressively too large to stop.  And because of this, the idea that “Harry Potter is the best”, that was first “believed” for the sole purpose of joining the “in” crowd, becomes a real belief by the fans as a collective unit; there’s no boundary between bandwagon and real fans anymore.            

  

1) HERALDING TWILIGHT

The worst thing about “Harry Potter” is it paved the way for “Twilight”.  When the “Harry Potter” book series finished, it created a void in the “overrated” genre-environment created by HP.  And, unfortunately, the one that catered to fill that void was this trash “Twilight”.  “Harry Potter” is greatly overrated, but at least it’s an enjoyable good read.  “Twilight”, however, is bad and outrageously overrated.  

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A Christian's Transformation and Sanctification: From Zombie to Immortal

Every Christian experiences both an immediate and long-term transformation when they are born again.  

To be Born Again is being transformed from this…

…to this…

So from zombies to immortals.  An extreme to an extreme.  That’s how dramatic God’s transforming and sanctifying power changes a person.  

Because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, Mankind’s nature became sinful.  And, as stated by the Good Book, the wages of sin is death.  Not only is Man destined for physical death, but Man is destined for eternal death as well.  Due to this, humans are as good as dead.  Humans are, in accurate spiritual technicality, walking dead – zombies.  

Just as zombies are mindlessly walking around causing mayhem (most notably, murdering or eating people), humans as spiritual zombies will go sinning no matter what (being slaves of their sinful nature).  And just as zombies are unaware that they are dead, humans as spiritual zombies are unaware that they are spiritually dead.  The spiritual zombies are generally blind of their own wretchedness and their terrifying end.  Thus, they will not desire salvation when they are not aware that they are in need of saving in the first place. 

But to those whom God opened the eyes, they will be able to realize their miserable condition, see the hope and salvation that is in Jesus Christ alone, and ask for forgiveness and salvation.  As soon as they have asked Jesus Christ to become their personal Savior and Lord, they are Born Again – they are “resurrected” from being spiritually dead.  From that moment on, they cease to be zombies but immortals.  As the theme of Highlander (by the band “Queen”) goes, the immortals are “born to be kings… princes of the universe.”  And Christians are immortals, because, after being saved from Eternal Death, God gifted them Eternal Life!  They are adopted to be and have the right to be called Children of God – “born to be kings… princes of the universe.”       

As I’ve mentioned earlier, a Christian’s transformation – or “Quickening”, since we’re using Highlander analogy – is both immediate and long-term.  The immediate transformation is one of identity.  No longer slaves of sin, but children of God.  No longer zombies, but immortals.  However, it doesn’t mean that after this transformation of identity, one is free from sinning.  When someone is still a spiritual zombie, it is his or her essence to do evil.  Once someone is made into an immortal by the justification of Jesus Christ, whenever he or she sins, he or she is no longer acting in his or her essence but is actually acting outside of his or her character.  To “fix” this, this is where the long-term process of transformation comes in.  It is called sanctification.  

It is true that immortality (i.e. Eternal Life) is obtained immediately when one is born again, but the full realization of immortality (or the Christian’s “Happening”, in accordance to the Highlander analogy) is after the resurrection and then entry to Heaven.  Thus, sanctification works until an immortal gets to that point.  Sanctification is the process of being set apart by being made holy through the merits and justification of Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Sanctification is necessary since it is said in the Good Book that sinners will not be allowed to enter Heaven in the Second Coming of Jesus, thus, during a Christian’s lifetime, he or she undergoes sanctification that by the time Jesus returns, he or she is made fully holy to be presented to the Father.  And once Heaven is entered, the Happening shall be experienced – the enjoyment of God’s glorious presence forever!

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