Paradigm shift in religious understanding

Muhamad Ali Lecturer State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta muhamad@hawaii.edu

As we approach the end of 2003 we must ask ourselves, as world citizens, what has become of our religious tolerance. To follow a religion has not necessarily meant that we live peacefully or righteously. We are religious, but we are also corrupt; we observe religious rituals, but we also justify violence. Violence in the name of religion has erupted in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. What has become of religious understanding?

I believe that the many social, political and cultural problems that we face are tied to our poor understanding of religion. While religion has both relative and flexible dimensions, absolutism and rigidity prevail.

Violence is not isolated to conflicts arising from politics nor economics, but also stems from the lack of humanity in religion today. Religion has been interpreted as a way for God to control the world, rather than a path toward peace and the well- being of mankind.

Hate and hostility among religious communities indicate that religion has lost its vitality and no longer serves to liberate us from injustice, backwardness, or social conflicts.

A paradigm shift in religious understanding is desperately needed; a conscious attempt to change our religious attitude from hypocritical to sincere, from extreme to moderate and liberating.

This is a shift from exclusivism to inclusiveness. For example, the former would say that the church or religion is the only true form of worship. Under exclusivism, all others forms of worship are false and should therefore be destroyed. Everybody else must conform to the chosen religion and God will only side with those that do. In other words, salvation belongs to a chosen few... Inclusiveness, on the other hand, leaves a little more room for doubt or interpretation. That is to say, a religious follower believes that he or she is right, but does not exclude everyone else as being wrong. Or they try their best to be righteous, but refrain from calling others sinners.

Puritanism is another interpretation of religion that needs to be modified. There are many religious followers who claim that their religion is the purest of all. They argue that culture, history, and environment have not affected their religious understanding. This religious understanding, they say, is universal and thus should be followed by everyone, irrespective of time or place. But a shift is needed from this attitude to one that recognize the subtleties of religious understanding.

Many religious people also tend to be coercive. They want to impose their perception of what is "right" and "wrong" on others. They use the state, political parties, or religious organizations to force others to be like themselves. But, contrary to this, a dialogical and persuasive paradigm is that the involvement of the state, or war and terror are not justified to impose a particular religious understanding.

Such an extreme and exclusive understanding of religion is conceived in literalism, which sees text (scripture) as before and above everything. All laws documented in holy scriptures and within religious traditions should be understood and implemented as such, without the process of contextualization and without taking into account the reasons behind the laws (ratio legis). Religious contextualization is therefore an attempt to revise such literalism.

Another paradigm that needs to be shifted is ritualism, which emphasizes symbols without meaning. Each ritual is observed as such without an understanding of its purpose. God has commanded us to do so, and we do not have the right to ask why. This understanding should be also transformed. Humans have the right to ask why God stipulated a particular ritual. Our understanding of the purpose of a ritual would prevent us from blind observance, or the absence of a real impact on our everyday life.

Individualism or indifference is another unhappy characteristic of religion today. Followers are convinced that their path is toward a better place, but in their pursuit of happiness they are concerned only about themselves and their inner-circle. Thus, other people's suffering is viewed as an abstract concept. These so-called religious men avoid responsibility and leave those less fortunate in the hands of God. But a shift from this attitude to a religious practice with the welfare of all people in mind is needed. While others suffer we suffer; when they are happy we are also happy. God's blessings are for all human beings alike.

History has taught us many lessons. Exclusivism, extremism, coerciveness, literalism, ritualism, and individualism that is religiously motivated has tended to bring about human suffering and has undermined the peaceful and liberating character of religion.

The human need for religiosity cannot be fulfilled without emphasizing universal human values, such as justice, solidarity, and peace. Therefore a paradigm shift is needed to develop an inclusive, moderate, dialogical, contextual, substantive and caring religious understanding.

Religion as such is not a problem. The problem is that humans are driven by various impulses that are self-centered. Our religiosity should sustain our active involvement in social activities that solve, rather than create problems.

It is hoped that next year our religiosity will be more effective and sincere and that our social, political, and cultural lives will be more peaceful and meaningful, and that God will bless us.

The writer is Ph.D student and fellow, East-West Center, Hawaii.