The One About Faith
Been thinking about writing this for some time. Try to avoid any controversial issue or even flammatory subject, but whatever I have to write my thought about this issue.
Fueled by Rani’s post about basically the same issue, now I will try to give my humble opinion about disaster and faith.
What I want to write is basically the question about how do we place our faith in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. I know, you are probably too damn boring on reading about this issue so stop reading if you already feel tired 😉.
Rani was asking two good question about faith in the relation of the tsunami disaster:
- Is your faith shattered if there is no miracle in Aceh?
She asked this because some people raised a statement about ‘miraculous incident’ related to the mosque that was still standing after the tsunami. Well, sorry to break the news, people but truly that was not a miracle at all. Structurally speaking mosque is an open space, column supported building so the water pressure is not in contact directly to the wide surface (like wall supported building) and since most of the old building are structurally strong and obviously can stand a hundred of years of aging, it is not so miraculous that the mosque is still strongly stand. But before you put me on the heretic line, I would like to say that kind of thing prove that the construction of mosque meant to be powerful since the beginning of the construction. And that, my friend, is a proof of geniusity of the structurally correct religious building.
So yes, does that ‘logically explained phenomena’ could shattered your faith? If in your mind you are started to accuse me for being a heretic then I want you take a deep breath and asked yourself, why you need miracle to assert your own faith?
- Is your faith so weak that you need to be afraid to people of other religion?
This is to underline the issue that raised currently in Aceh:
> Rumor has been spread out that aid distribution to Aceh is ridden by hidden missionary motives. There are debates on the internet on possibility to reject international aid to block missionary infiltration to the predominantly muslim Aceh.
Heh? Is your faith is so thin that you are afraid of that kind of thing? This rumor really put me into a flammatory mood. What in the name of Heaven that those people are thinking? I don’t know, I even can not put any words to describe my furiosity on this issue, basically because it will be unpolitely correct. Instead of spreading that unconfirmed rumor why don’t those people who spread the rumor **make** the same effort like those so-called-missionary and make Aceh a better place of competiting help instead of try to eliminate help from others? I can’t believe this.
As I already wrote my comment in Rani’s weblog that I think most Indonesian have suffered a “delusional paranoidal xenophobic miracle dependent syndrome”, if such syndrome even exist. Why oh why we just get along without any bad thinking about other people motivation? Why most Indonesian always have this kind of thought? It is beyond my comprehension. On the other hand as I am a proud Indonesian at some point I was quite ashamed of being one. Indonesia used to be a country with dignity, generousity and open mind society. Why moving backward? Why becoming a country with low self-esteem, full of suspicion and closed mind about the world itself?
I could rants for hours, and pages, about this. But I believe that most of you, my faithful reader, already can get the idea. Something is wrong going on back in my country… It made me sad, sick and angry.
I believe that this have to do with misdirectional faith. Most of the so-called-religious-leader were concentrate only in ritual stuffs. “Literally interpreted” holy book was creating some kind of delusional society, as it already happened in the United Empire of America. Most Indonesian religious leader are still acted like they are the king of the society, they are running their society unchecked and unbalanced without any opposition – well, who want to oppose them if you are critize them then you will be called an heretic? I always joked about this saying that most of religious leader were people that could stop any healthy discussion by saying “You are going to Hell if you think or say something like that!”. Nice, eh? What a way to built a society.
I know this probably against most of your beliefs but honestly, ask yourself why are you offended by this kind of writing. Am I saying any wrong thing about how strange that right now there are a lot of killing, suspicion and other human misbehaviour in the name of faith? I thought having faith will make people realize how small and fragile they are in this world and try to go hand in hand with other people to make world a better place. Or maybe I was wrong?
Maybe I am the one that suffered from delusional dream about people living hand in hand and make a better world. Maybe the purpose of human being is to eliminate the othe that doesn’t share the same faith, color, race, whatever and finally destroy the world. Maybe I am just a dreamer as I always am.