My Believe, My Faith

           As a child and as a person who grow up in a country which is record as the country with the biggest Muslim population in this world. I accustomed to answer a question “What is your religion?” Because in my country, specifically in my home town, Sukabumi, most of people believe in God and even they may have different religion and belief and also possess different ritual in praying.  They share one common thing believe in the existence of God. Moreover another common thing is the fact that most of people also try their best to respect others belief and religion through never questioning other religion and belief.  I am getting used to this condition. I stay in my safe zone where nobody ever questioning my religion and belief.

I never thought someone would question me about my belief and religion through asking question like: “Do you believe in God?” “How you believe in God?” “What kind of God do you believe in?” and “How you capture the present of God?”  Because I used to think that my answer to question “What is your religion?” will enough to explain all the things.

That is why Humanistic Study course shocked me to the core. Because in Humanistic Study course questions like that were threw right to my direction. I felt so uncomfortable at first, I couldn’t understand why those typically question should be stated.  I thought those questions already have obvious answers which are sometime it hard to be conveyed in words because I simply just feel it. At first I also felt so angry when I heard those questions because I thought those questions could corrupt my faith.

            Lucky for me because later I met a person who tell me that those questions wouldn’t corrupt my faith if I really worth my faith.  That actually those questions are intended to stimulate my critical thinking, so I could leave my safe zone and it prevents me to become a narrow minded person, who believes in something just because most of people also believe in it or just because other people told her/him so.   In this essay I will answer those questions.

My faith and my believe

            I do believe in God presence in this world because I never believe at any coincidental things.  I believe that something always happen on purpose although sometime it seems like accident. I believe in God existence even more after I read and learned about Charles Darwin evolution theory which states that every living creature in this world is derive from one origin, single cell which transforms into more complex creature.

Darwin’s evolution theory denies creator theory. It says that the first single cell occurs accidentally because of chemical reaction. However even now with advance scientific tools the biology prominent never success creates any living creature.  So for me it doesn’t make any sense that the single cell occurs accidentally. Something really big and great must be there to create all living creatures in this world.

Those facts strengthen my faith about God existence.  I believe in The One God. In The One God who isn’t a woman or a man. In The One God who doesn’t have any child.  In The One God who is a substance with different characteristic compare to human‘s characteristic. I believe in The One God who has 99 names which describe God characteristic as the most almighty substance in this world.

Expressing my faith

      People could have different ways in expressing their faith and so do I. For me to expressing my faith I try my best to pray every day and do the best things. People may call me as stuck in the ritual stage. However the truth is I do believe that in every single things of my ‘ritual’ there is a meaning. Like example I always try to do sholat five times in each day. People may call my activity as bored and all. However I do believe that through sholat I can get something, like from spiritual side sholat always remind me about the presence of The One God and from hygiene side sholat never fail to always keep my cleanness.

      Personally I don’t agree with theory or people who say that what I do is useless or mere a ritual. It is because for me what I do is a way to express my love and obedient as a God servant. It is because if people always demand sacrifice from his/her lover to prove his/her true love. Then why not people also express their love for The One God through fulfill their duty as God servant.

Feeling the presence of God

            Some people often ague about how to feel the presence of God. They keep arguing because God presence is invisible for them. In my opinion God presence may seem abstract and invisible because they try to see God presence with their bare eyes not their heart. Because I do believe that God is always be there, close to the people. The thing is whether people want to acknowledge God presence or not. It is because only people who see though their heart could feel God presence. 

Filsafat Sebagai Pengukuh Kehidupan Beragama

          Manusia pada dasarnya adalah mahluk yang dipenuhi rasa ingin tahu pada setiap hal yang ada. Manusia senantiasa bertanya- tanya tentang berbagai hal yang ada di sekelilingnya. Mengapa ini bisa terjadi? Kenapa harus terjadi? Bisakah bila tidak terjadi? Pertanyaan- pertanyaan bernada seperti itu selalu muncul disetiap harinya. Hal itu amatlah wajar mengingat Tuhan Yang Maha Esa memang menganugerahkan akal pikiran pada manusia. Sehingga manusia mampu berpikir kritis sekaligus dapat mengolah data di sekelilingnya untuk menemukan jawaban yang bisa diterima oleh nalar.

Karena itu tidak heran jika ilmu yang pertama kali ditemukan di dunia adalah ilmu filsafat, ilmu yang didasari oleh rasa ingin tahu manusia terhadap rahasia kehidupan dalam berbagai aspek. Filsafat adalah induk dari semua cabang ilmu yang sekarang kita kenal sayangnya ilmu filsafat juga adalah ilmu yang sering kali berbenturan dengan hal lain yang juga menjadi kebutuhan dasar manusia yakni agama. Sejarah mencatat bahwa sejak berabad- abad lalu benturan antara  kaum filsuf dan kaum religius banyak terjadi karena perbedaan prinsip.

Perbedaan Mendasar Antara Filsafat dan Agama

            Perbedaan pertama antara filsafat dan agama adalah sumbernya. Karena filsafat terlahir dari sifat keingintahuan manusia yang sangat besar. Sedangkan agama adalah ilmu yang bagi kebanyakan orang dianggap sebagai ilmu yang diturunkan langsung dari Tuhan kepada umat manusia melalui orang- orang suci seperti nabi. Perbedaan agama dan filsafat lainnya adalah cangkupan agama lebih luas jika dibandingkan filsafat. Karena  selain dikenal sebagai ilmu, agama juga merupakan sebuah prinsip hidup.

            Hal itu disebabkan oleh kenyataan bahwa manusia adalah mahluk spiritual disamping mahluk yang berakal, sehingga membuat posisi agama menjadi sangat istimewa  bagi sebagian besar manusia. Sehingga  seringkali agama dijadikan acuan untuk menjawab keheranan manusia pada fenomena yang terjadi seperti kesengsaraan. Selain itu agamapun menjadi acuan atau parameter bagi kehidupan manusia sehari- hari. Singkatnya agama selain sebagai sebuah ilmu juga menjadi pedoma bagi manusia dalam menjalani kehidupan, sehingga manusia senantiasa terlingkupi perasaan aman.

Pertentangan Antara Filsuf dan Kaum Religius

            Keberadaan agama yang menjadi  pedoma utama bagi kebanyakan manusia seperti kaum religius mengundang kritik dari kaum filsuf yang mengangap bahwa agama telah mengkorupsi anugrah akal pikiran yang dimiliki manusia. Sebab agama sering kali hanya diubah menjadi alat penyampai doktrin- doktrin pada khalayak umum. Bahwa citra agama tak jarang dikaitkan sebagai pembawa kebenaran mutlak yang tidak dapat digali lebih lanjut atau dikritisi. Hal yang terakhir ini jelas sangat bertentangan dengan prinsip filsafat yang selalu bertanya- tanya tentang semua hal.

            Di sisi lain keberadaan kaum filsuf yang kelihatannya selalu meragukan segala sesuatunya (termasuk agama) juga membuat kaum religius merasa tak nyaman. Karena kaum filsuf tak jarang meragukan ajaran agama dan mengkritisi ritual atau ajaran agama. Kaum filsuf juga tak jarang mempertanyakan pertanyaan- pertanyaan ‘menyentil’ seperti “Kenapa manusia perlu beragama?” “Apakah kesengsaraan terjadi karena kehendak Tuhan?” Dan masih banyak lagi pertanyaan- pertanyaan senada seperti itu. Sehingga beberapa pihak dari kaum religius garis keras kemudian melayangkan tuduhan bahwa para filsuf tengah mencoba mengerogoti agama.

Filsafat Sebagai Pengukuh Kehidupan Beragama

            Sejarah pernah mencatat bahwa pertentangan antara kaum filsuf dan religius pernah menelan korban nyawa. Beberapa filsuf di abad pertengahan dan Reinanse seperti Boethius (525) tercatat berakhir hidupnya di tiang gantungan karena dianggap menentang ajaran agama oleh pihak gereja. Sebagian lagi menjadi korban masyarakat karena keberadaannya ditolak, seperti Kierkegaard yang diberi label sebagai orang yang murtad dan berbahaya.

            Seharusnya  kejadian seperti itu tidak usah terulang lagi. Karena pada dasarnya filsafat  yang merupakan ilmu yanf mencari kebenaran dari seluruh kenyataan (Fickte,1814) bukanlah sebuah ancaman bagi agama, begitu pula sebaliknya agama bukanlah ancaman yang dapat  melumpuhkan akal manusia. Karena pada dasarnya Tuhan Yang Maha Esa menganugerahkan akal pikiran pada manusia bukan tanpa tujuan. Contohnya dalam Islam, Allah SWT menyuruh manusia untuk selalu berpikir sesuai dengan  surat Al- Nahl ayat 12 yaitu “Dan Ia memudahkan bagi kamu malam dan siang, dan matahari serta bulan; dan bintang-bintang dimudahkan dengan perintah-Nya untuk keperluan-keperluan kamu. Sesungguhnya yang demikian itu mengandung tanda-tanda (yang membuktikan kebijaksanaan Allah) bagi kaum yang mau menggunakan akal.” Yang perlu kita garis bawahi disini adalah Allah meminta manusia untuk selalu menggunakan akalnya (berpikir)

            Karena itu menurut pendapat penulis, agama bukanlah sebuah doktrin berbahaya. Sebaliknya agama adalah sebuah hadiah dari Tuhan Yang Maha Esa bagi umat manusia. Agama adalah sebuah alat bantu bagi manusia untuk memahami fenomena yang ada disekelilingnya. Agama juga tidak sama seperti peraturan sekolah yang hanya berisi sejumlah larangan. Agama adalah campuran antara pengetahuan dan seni yang indah.

Dan untuk memahaminya (yang biasanya dilakukan melalui menelaah kitab suci) tidak boleh dengan cara  langsung menterjemahkan secara literal. Memahami agama memerlukan pemikiran dan penafsiran, dengan kata lain untuk memahami agama kita perlu berfilsafat terlebih dahulu agar kita dapat  mendapatkan pengertian yang lebih dalam. Karena itu seharusnya pertentangan antara filsafat dan agama tidak harus terjadi.

            Biarkahlah kaum filsuf mengekplorasi berbagai hal yang menggelitik mereka, biarkan kaum filsuf mengembangakan rasa ingin tahu mereka seperti anak kecil yang selalu mau tahu. Tugas bagi kaum religius nantinya adalah menjadi rekan seperjuangan kaum filsuf untuk saling mengingatkan dan bertukar pikiran. Karena rasa ingin tahu tidak akan mematikan imam seseorang. Sebaliknya rasa ingin tahu akan membuat manusia makin percaya  pada keberadaan Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Sebab kebenaran sejati akan tetap menjadi sebuah kebenaran sejati meski kita jungkir balikan.          

Referensi:

Sumedi, P & Mustakim., Pengertian filsafat., diambil dari http://akhmadsudrajat.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/pengertian-filsafat/ pada November 28, 2011 09:20

To See What is Real through Multiple View on Human

Human is the most complicated creature I ever know. That explain why sometimes people cannot understand someone else.  It is because there are varied identities in one person so it hard for other to know about someone else accurately. Because mostly we never seen someone as a whole person. We just know someone through one view based on one of his/her identity.

            Actually that is really normal because to know someone’s identities accurately we need to spend so much time with him/her. That why we only know a few of people very well. This nature sometimes could make problem like mistreat, misunderstanding even fight or war. Personally I think every hostility in this world occur because people cannot view others’ whole identities

            To be honest I have experienced mistreat because of this nature when someone said harsh thing to me because of my opinion. We were in the middle of debating on marriage’s problem.  Actually everything was fine until we end up debating about which is better between house’s wife and career woman. To response I said that even one day I become a married woman I will still work.  It turned out that he was against my opinion with saying that a woman should stay in house to take care of children. I keep rebating him until he said to me that I should never dream to lead my future children into successfulness because my life’s way is a career woman.

            I was so angry at him. He doesn’t know anything about me but he dared to say such things. He never knows that aside from a student and a woman who someday should take care of her family. I am the eldest in my family so I have moral responsibilities to fulfill even no one ever told me so. He also never knows that become a teacher is my idea since I was in my childhood so I will pursue it. It is not like I am trying to deny my nature as a woman. What happen is my multiple identities  create an invisible boundaries in area do’s and don’ts in my life so I have my own perspective on career woman Vs. house wife’s case.

            I have to admit that I never forget about what he had said to me. At that time I even felt a need to rebate him over and over again. But then I realize if I have my own reason based on my multiple identities behind every action and thought I have, then so does him. I am sure he dared to say such thing because of his own multiple identities.

            So to solve my problem I think all I need to do is to respect him. But still in the very first chance I get to meet him again I will talk to him about this matter.  But I will try my best not to judge him because I do not want to become a narrow minded person. I want to become a person who able to see others through multiple views based on their multiples identities.

Name: The Hidden Power to Change Someone

            Some people say that there is nothing to do with name. But I am not one of those people because for me name is something important. I consider name as a pray. My name is Weni Mardi Waluyani. My father gives that name after I was born. Actually my father didn’t prepare name for a daughter he prepared a name for a son, because when my mother pregnant many people including my mother herself and my father believed that she pregnant for a boy. But then it is proved that they are wrong. My mother gave birth to me. Because of that my father changed the prepared name from Woro Mardi Waluyanto to Weni Mardi Waluyani. 

            I have already asked my parents about what the meaning of my name since long time ago. Because when I was a little girl I believed that my name doesn’t sound cool. I want to change my name into some names which sounded more modern and cool like Anita.  Then my father explained to me about meaning of my name.  He said that my name is derivates from Javanese language even though my name has same rhythm in each syllable like Sundanese name. Both of my parents are Javanese after all.  

Symbol for myself I have draw, Weni Mardi Waluyani

            Weni is adapted from Javanese word Diwenei which has meaning as ‘is given’. Mardi is also adapted from Javanese language Margi which means way, road or path. Last Waluyani is from Javanese word Waluyo which has meaning as safe, welfare, blessed or happiness. My father added suffix –ni in the end of Waluyo to refer that I am a girl. So in a whole Weni Mardi Waluyani has meaning as a girl who is given a welfare and safe way in her life.

            After I heard about meaning of my name I forget my intention to change my name. Because I realize that my name is not only a group of consonant and vocal letter. My name is something more than that.  It is a pray for me from people who love me and I believe that this name is appropriate for me. It is because I will be a person who leads my family into welfare path and I willing to work hard for it.

            I will never change my name even when I get married with someone I won’t use my husband name. I will keep my name even though with my name, people (especially in my hometown Sukabumi) are always wondering about my religion identity. It is because accidentally my name is similar with a Christian School called Mardi Waluya (At first it is Mardi Yuana but when I entered Junior High School it changes its name into Mardi Waluya).

            My reason why I won’t change my name is because I believe of power of words. I believe that words can influence someone greatly because people sub-conscious part always record what other people surrounding them said and turn it into suggestion for themselves.  So people will act similar with what their environment labeled them.  So whenever someone called my name I received it a as pray from them, so I can become stronger each minutes.

Humanistic: Introduction to the Study of Human

Human is the most perfect creature which ever walks on this earth. Human is special because of so many reasons like having incredible brain, having unbearable intelligence and the most important reason is because there are never  two identical human in all aspect like physical appearance, personality, intelligence, race, religion and believe. All human is different compare to each other even an identical twin, they are still two different human with alike physical appearance. Along with becoming special human also becoming the most complex creature in this world. It because sometimes human cannot understand about themselves just like they don’t know about who actually they are and facing identity crisis, they also often confuse about how to  behave toward people who really different from them. Based on that fact no wonder there should be a branch of science which focuses on learning about human. That called as humanistic.

            Humanistic studied about human through many perspectives for instance through differences of individual, differences of cultures and so on. Through humanistic people can get boarder perspective rather than isolated perspective in the real social life. So it is important for people from different field to learn about humanistic and it is including teacher and teacher candidate. Because we cannot deny that teacher is one of profession which demanding the person to meet with so many people. It automatically means that teacher has to deal with so many differences in one place called classroom.

            Highly expected with learning about humanistic, future teacher could be more tolerance with differences whether it is race differences, religious differences or individual difference. Not only become more tolerance but the more important is future teacher could behave properly when he/she is facing differences. So in the future there are no more racist teachers or teacher who cannot appreciate differences in his/her classroom. Just like what happened in Clear Brook High School, Texas 2011 after news of Osama Bin Laden’s death spread out.  A high school teacher commented to an American Muslim girl that he heard about her uncle death and she must be feeling sad because of it. In the end that racist comment sent the teacher home, he cannot teach in that school anymore because more than 2000 member of change.com sent petition for that teacher.

            Reflect to my own self; personally I as one of teacher candidate and future teacher have quite high expectation from Humanistic course that I take. I hope this course will help me to know more about myself. I also expected to get better understand about diversity because I was grown up in homogenous environment and last I wish this course will help me deal with people who has different characteristic. Because usually if I meet that kind of people I will just respect them and admits their existence but I tend to not quite close to them because I afraid of making mistake which will make them feel bad or uncomfortable. I am sure that will help me in the future because I never know if I get chance to teach in a heterogeneous classroom.

Source information: http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-racist-teacher-resign-after-targeting-muslim-student   Retrieved at September 24, 2011 21: 10