Religion losing its true essence: Abdurrahman
Religion losing its true essence: Abdurrahman
JAKARTA (JP): A prominent religious leader criticized
yesterday the degradation of religious values which makes the
practice of religion a mere formality.
Abdurrahman Wahid, the leader of one of the country's largest
Moslem organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said that more and
more people "lacking the authority" are talking about religion,
which made such discussion lose its true spiritual essence.
"The word `religion' is used irrelevantly in slogans and
programs everywhere these days. This reduces the meaning of
religion and diverges it away from its true mission," he said at
a one-day discussion held in remembrance of the late politician,
military man and church activist, Lt. Gen. T.B. Simatupang.
Minister of Defense and Security Edi Sudrajat, who was
represented by an aide, described Simatupang as an intellectual,
who was capable of bringing together different, even
contradicting, views.
"This special ability must be maintained so the country can
continue to have a sound sense of integration," Edi was quoted by
the aide as saying.
Other speakers at the discussion, which was held by the
Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), were former minister of
home affairs Gen. (ret) Rudini, lecturer of the Driyarkara School
of Philosophy Mudji Sutrisno and Head of the Sam Ratulangi
University's Research Center Lucky Sondakh.
Abdurrahman, who is more familiarly known as Gus Dur, said the
ambiguity of the "role of religion" brought with it the rise of
religious restrictions, norms and ceremonial actions.
"The `jungle of religious rules' overshadows the true role of
religion, while in fact a person's religious perception can be
seen from his relationship with other human beings," said Gus
Dur.
He pointed out that instead of making religious life more
harmonious, the restrictions created an atmosphere of suspicion,
in which honesty and warmth between humans no longer existed.
Gus Dur said the situation also caused people to focus more on
their "vertical" relationship with God than their "horizontal"
relationship with others.
"People who concentrate only on their vertical relationship
tend to be isolated from their environment and refuse to be
involved in social activities," he said.
Such people, he said, would have difficulty practicing
humanitarianism.
Despite the present situation, Gus Dur was optimistic there is
still hope for people to balance their "vertical" and
"horizontal" relationships.
"Don't look upwards in rituals the whole time. Instead exalt
God through other people by serving them regardless of their
background," he said.
The consequence of doing this, he said, is that every problem
must not be seen from a one-sided point of view, but from a
national perspective, meaning that political involvement is a
natural outcome.
"Religion without a clear political perspective will simply
hurt oneself," he said.
A balance between vertical and horizontal relationships would
result in a just political system in all aspects of life. "This
way, justice can become an obsession which benefits everyone,"
Gus Dur said.
Rudini said in his speech that justice is still far from the
grasp of a large number of people in Indonesia.
The state ideology Pancasila, he said, has not been duly
implemented by government officials and this is the main cause of
injustice.
"They have to practice Pancasila more than they take Pancasila
courses," he said, referring to the P4 courses, which have to be
taken by students and civil servants. (pwn)