Religion and rationalism

The article The rise of Islamic protestantism in Indonesia published in The Jakarta Post on May 18 tries to reveal that Islamic protestantism is a response to the hegemony of organized religion in this country.

What is the cause? What we have learned from clerics until now is almost dogma. "You should do what Allah prescribes, and do not do what is forbidden. That is all". They cannot answer if we ask them "What is the gain of shalat (prayer), what do we gain by fasting (puasa), and what is the meaning of the haj pilgrimage? Why did Allah create Ramadhan and Idul Fitri? Why is a dog cursed as a filthy animal? Why is pork considered haram (forbidden)?

What we now need is religious thinkers, so at least they will reveal the sacred meaning of our religious rituals. Being educated, we have to criticize. What has happened in the world has always been a principle of "cause and effect rule". Religion must not be a dogma but must be rational, and can answer all of those questions mentioned above.

What cleric Yusman in Malang did by praying in two languages -- Arabic and Indonesian -- is not wrong and can be understood, because people want to know and understand the meaning of those rituals. The Indonesian Muslim Council (MUI) must open the people's "eyes and minds", because if they cannot answer those questions, should they fool the people of this nation?

If so, there will be many more fundamentalist people like Amrozi and Imam Samudra in this country. So it is better for the MUI to hold a dialog with religious thinkers, to solve this problem.

AGUS UTORO Serang, Banten