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Veneration Without Understanding and Freedom of Conscience

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Veneration Without Understanding and Freedom of Conscience
Veneration without Understanding by Renato Constantino

Basically, this article is just about how Renato Constantino wants the readers to analyze the real story behind Rizal being our national hero, the aspects that contributed to such recognition, his condemnation of the revolution, and other factors that we failed to talk about over the years because they were not in our history books. Rizal, being our national hero, used writing to fight to gain our freedom from the Spaniards unlike Andres Bonifacio, he lead the KKK. Mr. Renato Constantino wants the Filipinos to analyze why Jose Rizal should be emulated? Was he really a hero at that who wanted the country to gain its own hold in the government but yet still a province of the Spain? Why is he called our hero? Is it because he died for our country? Or is it because he had enough courage to fight a losing battle, despite the fact that all he wanted to do was to surrender? The writer is not anti-Rizal. Rather, he is just trying to teach us how important it is to look into a much deeper sense, the attributes of a real and true hero, and the factors that should be considered so as to call someone, a hero. Although I think that he is ignorant about some things and maybe exaggerated a little bit in his article. Some people may find it more misleading than enlightening. I believe that Rizal is an extra-ordinary Filipino yet he is still just like us, a human being. Constantino is trying to say that we should understand that Rizal is not a god, but a person just like us. It is true that he was a necessary moment in our history but even though his heroism has been always talked about all the time, we cannot just think like him and base our point of view about our national goals to how he thinks. I mean, we can actually be a hero too by doing good things to people. But he can be our inspiration. Society evolves as time passes by and I mean that people today became more narrow minded. As a teenager who spends a lot

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