Religions can be wrong, says theologist

Religions can be wrong, says theologist

JAKARTA (JP): Can religions be wrong? Yes, they can, according
to a speaker in a discussion here on Friday.

"Every time bloody religious conflict breaks out in Indonesia,
people say that it is the believers who are in the wrong and not
the religion," says Haryatmoko, lecturer in theology at the
Yogyakarta-based Sanata Darma University, at a discussion on the
German philosopher Nietzsche. "If we stick with that line of
thinking, then we won't get anywhere," he said.

He asked his audience of 200 people that packed the Bentara
Budaya hall to ask themselves whether they had learned something
from Nietzsche's criticism of religion.

"Have we learned nothing from history?" he asked. History had
shown, he said, that too many people had died in the name of
religion.

He cited the European wars of religion between Protestants and
Catholics in which millions died.

He said Nietzsche's ideas were a significant contribution to
the concept of humanity.

Two other speakers presented their views in the discussion to
commemorate the demise of Nietzsche 100 years ago. They were
Sindhunata, chief editor of Basis cultural magazine and Bernhard
Kieser, lecturer in theology at Sanata Darma University. The
three speakers were all Catholic priests.

Sindhunata said that Nietzsche's thoughts as well as those of
Freud and Marx were a wake up call to Western theological
thinking.

"The contribution of criticism on religion is that it can make
us better believers," he said.

God was not killed by Nietzsche, Sindhunata said echoing the
oft-repeated attribution to the great philosopher, because God is
full of love.

"Nietzsche allows us to reexamine the fundamental meaning of
being a religious person if we would only care to explore his
criticism on religion," Sindhunata said.

He added that such a discussion, however, was very difficult
to hold in Indonesia as most people were still haunted by the
repression of the former regime where the discussion of religion
was considered taboo.

Kieser said that Nietzsche grappled with the question of the
fundamental meaning of life.

"In Indonesia, believers live in suspicion of one another. If
we have a basic conviction of what life is all about we will no
longer have to debate the number of Muslims in percentage terms
as opposed to the number of Christians," Kieser said.

"But can religion let its believers learn about faith?" he
asked, "... the significant meaning of life that we are convinced
of?"

Nietzsche gave us no new religious teachings nor new rituals
but an appreciation of the depth of life, he said.

Relevant

Replying to a question from a participant on whether religion
was still relevant to Indonesia, Sindhunata said: "If I were
Nietzsche I would say that it was not relevant."

The same participant had earlier said that what was happening
in Indonesia today was exactly what Nietzsche did in the past.

"He pursued God and killed Him. Here we witness people killing
each other, robbing and raping," she said.

Sindhunata added that Nietzsche's widely known thoughts
included basic questions like whether we truly loved other human
beings, and what was the relevance of religion if people did not
love one another.

"What is the use of religion if its empty promises and threats
of later punishment create a fearful human being?" Sindhunata
said quoting Nietzsche, who was described in the words of
moderator Karlina Leksono of the University of Indonesia as an
"authentic and honest" person.

Haryatmoko said religion was no longer relevant if we could
not talk about it. The relevancy of Nietzsche's ideas was
precisely because they were doing autocriticism on religion, he
said.

In answer to a question about whether the three speakers, who
were all Catholic priests, were employing Nietzsche to attack a
certain religion, Haryatmoko said: "What is the need for
attacking a certain religious group by employing Nietzsche?"

Nietzsche asked us to keep a distance from religions so that
we could live not in a reactionary way but in an affirmative way,
he said.

"So that we are not haunted by fears but we are able to
actualize ourselves," he added. (hbk)