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The same kind of remarks apply to his explosive first historical novel titled Noli me tangere (“touch-me-not”). De Pedro’s book under review here deserves wider reading for its wealth of European background necessary for full understanding not just of Rizal’s central core identity but with respect to properly understanding his Noli. An energetic critical reading, the lack of which Rizal considered mental indolence comprising part of the “Indolence” tendencies he essayed on, of De Pedro could make one realize how revolutionary (in its sense of nonviolent radical) its author truly was. It would inform its readers on what Rizal regarded early on as his life’s chief mission, which he declared with shocking force in his Voltairean freethinker’s Noli . I agree with Dr. De Pedro that young Rizal’s book aimed at no less than, to quote him, “total war against the religious establishment.” The Voltairean author singled it out as the main enemy of radical individual improvement and empowerment for progress. To raise awareness to that was its main purpose. Contrary to sponsors of the mid-1950s Rizal Law, its main aim was not to stir up his peoples’ nationalistic or separatist thoughts and feelings against Spain. However, his advocacy included clamors for radical reforms against inept, unjust and corrupt administration, a far cry from espousing pro-independence subversion.

Had Catholic Filipinos known of his anti-Catholic chief mission above; had they known of his stress on radical improvement from their weaknesses and vices, it is doubtful they would have wildly hailed him and his book to the high heavens. If later in 1996 they had known as well of his name’s false use and actual objections to rebellion it is doubtful they would have chosen him to be their chief national hero. Rizal was right to urge his close friend Jose Basa to be careful in distributing his religiously explosive freethinker’s book: “Because its reader might just burn it!” Something of the sort may still apply to 21 st century Catholic Filipinos now that they know from priest-scholar De Pedro himself of the freethinker identity of the church-condemned book’s author, a claim I confirm more deeply and extensively here. As such he perceived his and his book’s main enemy-cancer as Catholicism and its theocracy itself, as this was fully operated by Spain for and in its Philippine colony. Could this be the generation the freethinking anti-Catholic Tasio imagined when he sighed loosely?: “I’m really writing not for this generation but for a future one more ready to read it, more willing to find out and to understand.”

Instructive Internet Example

The endlessly debating folks at RP-Rizal@yahoogroups.com , would surely profit from careful reading of De Pedro’s information-packed book. These fans of the hero supposedly form a worldwide study-group with over a thousand members. They would profit from that thick book’s necessary background information and be forced to face the fact that the young Rizal who wrote his explosive first historical novel they’ve long been debating was a church-condemned Voltairean freethinker! And it certainly shows in that book’s anti-Catholicism. My own findings deepen that finding down to the bone-deep levels of Rizal’s central core identity. That being the case, most of the endless questions and disputes about this and that passage (at this very late day in the 21 st century) would resolve themselves quickly with finality if they remembered that an Enlightenment-type freethinker, one who was also a Masonic scientific humanist, wrote those disputed passages. What could Rizal have meant or intended to say when he made this comment or put those words in this or that character? Such disputed words and passages deserve to be read and decided accordingly. For, what else could a church-condemned freethinker have meant? By his own admissions and actions the otherwise Voltairean thrower of thunder and bolts at his international chief enemy—medieval theocratic Catholicism (not Spain itself)—restrained, censored out, softened his book’s hardest-hitting passages. He obviously didn’t want to totally alienate his Catholic family, religious friends and people about such sensitive matters.

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Source:  OpenStax, Opus dei book's darkened rizal & Why. OpenStax CNX. Mar 20, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11225/1.2
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