WHAT I HATE ABOUT FANATICS

There seems to be a revival of the rivalry between the top two comic publishers in the US today: and I am not talking about the comics that they produce. When before they will only talk about which produces much better comics now comes, they now fight in another grand arena: The Movies.

Yup, the movies. With DC Comics having their own cinematic universe, it's no wonder why DC fans are suddenly up in arms and are going crazy as their favorite heroes are getting the cinematic treatment. When before they were a series of movies focusing only on a few heroes, this time they gave them more than what they wanted. They just brought their big guns to the screen. They wanted a movie about their heroes, and they are not content with the movies of their rivals. The movies then came, and though they were successful financially, most of them were panned by critics.   

This is where the fanaticism happened. DC Comics fans were suddenly up in arms defending their heroes. They would say that it was unfair that review sites like rotten tomatoes gave very low scores thus it didn't achieve it's target box office marks. They blame Marvel fans, movie critics for the failure of the films. For them, there is nothing wrong with the films.

My beef with these people is that if you liked it, then it's fine. Honestly, I only watched one of these films, and never watched the others because I have given being a fan of this thing a long time ago. I have more things to do than to see two fans from both sides bicker who is much better among these two. Both are good, and they both have their redeeming qualities. They are really a case of "apples and oranges". Here's my take, and read carefully of you've made it this far before you comment. Else, stop reading and quit!

Still with me? Good. When I was still a fan, I only read Marvel Comics. I started out with them. I liked the stories and the artwork. For me Marvel was supreme. However,as my tastes for comics matured, I tried and read from different publishers. There was even a point that I only read DC Comics. As a Marvel fan, I also enjoyed their stories. I never made comparisons of their works. A friend of mine said that this particular creator was much better at DC  than Marvel without actually reading about his work at Marvel (note he is a DC guy). So read it first before you compare!!!  Another one said that Spider-man sucks as a character, even comparing him to Batman, which again are "apples and oranges".  See, they are all different. There are both good and bad works. Let's just learn to accept that. Problem is, we always want that our choice is the best one and the others are lesser. That's what I hate about fanaticism.

I am not just hitting on the DC fans, but even Marvel fans as well. Grow-up. Do you think that I even care if my college men's basketball team wins a championship or not? What if I also tell you that we are just given an illusion of choice just because we are in a capitalist state? Ok, that's a topic for the next blog. As a former Marvel fan, I watch Lucifer Season 1 and Arrow Season 6 on tv, whcih are by the way, DC properties. I am also anticipating Avengers: Infinity War next year. Stop being a fan of just one thing, and try to be diverse.
Who knows what you will discover?

JUST SAYING

BRIAN LUCIANO

WHAT CHRISTMAS ACTUALLY MEANS TO ME NOW

As we near what we call the holiday season, there is a joy and amazement in everyone's eyes. Everywhere around you, people are really very happy, anxious at the coming event. There's also the rush, when people buy new things to replace the old ones, and also partake of the feast of food that will be shared with close family and friends. Since there is an excess, more people also share to those that don't have a lot. Like they say, everybody happy.

As I converted to the Christian faith, the real meaning of Christmas also changed. People will always be saying to "put Christ back in Christmas", as the commercialization of Christmas happens. Some people, thinks that Christmas is a pagan holiday and should not be participated in by real Christians since this holiday has similarities to the Saturnalia. So it's just fine for Christians to say" Bah! Humbug!!" like the famous character of Scrooge. So, Who is correct?

At first, I really want to do away with the holidays. If this is really a pagan holiday and not actually Christ's birthday, then we are partaking of a pagan practice. We are not anyway different from the people that are not saved. Why celebrate the birth of our Messiah on the day that is not really his birthday? If I have an excess, I will just possibly treat this like how the American's have thanksgiving. I will just give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for providing for my family and helping us all year round. That's my initial plan.

However, there was an article that I have read about Christmas. That with all the symbolizations and parallels to Saturnalia, they are of a different nature. See, in Saturnalia, they go around singing naked in different houses and they overindulge in wine and other worldly things. We don't do that in Christmas. See, it is Satan, the so called god of this world that perverted the meaning of Christmas. Instead of focusing on the real reason for Christmas, we focus on the material aspects of it. The decorations, the new things, the abundant food, and we forgot about the real reason why he came into this world. 

Some people may argue that it's just fine considering that he really wasn't born on December 25th.  But we are missing the point. Last Sunday, the youth and children of our church held a Christmas musical called " The Best Christmas Ever". Before the musical, our guest speaker Pastor Leal Ibanez told us why there is a Christmas. It was because of us. See, Jesus Christ was born in this world to redeem us of our sins. He loved us so much that he does not want us to perish. Does it really matter if Jesus Christ was really born on that date? It left me pondering. Then as the presentation went on, I saw myself as like one of the lead characters who dismissed the real meaning of Christmas. Now I know. It's not about the date, but the real purpose why he came in to this world. If we can know deep within our hearts the real meaning of Christmas, then we can now bring Christ back into the holidays.

Thanks to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in Marikina Fundamental Bible Baptist Church and to Pastor Leal Ibanez for giving me "The Best Christmas Ever". I have already recieved my gift. I pray that you too as well.

HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!!

BRIAN,MAUREEN AND PIA LUCIANO

P.S.
Scrooge was wrong!!!

December 11,2017