We need more people like this in the world

A friend sent me a blog by this person. Exploring his other blogs, I must say that I am impressed with his thinking. I share a lot of his sentiments about religions. Here's an excerpt from one of his impressive blogs:

(http://ulil.net/)

"Sekali lagi, kalau anda mau mencari kelemahan suatu agama, anda akan dengan mudah bisa melakukannya. Sebagian orang Kristen mungkin saja gembira sekali membaca bahan-bahan dalam situs faithfreedom itu, sebab bisa dipakai sebagai alat menyerang agama Islam. Begitu juga orang Islam akan gembira membaca serangan-serangan terhadap agama Kristen yang ditulis oleh para sarjana Barat misalnya. Banyak kalangan penulis Muslim yang gemar sekali mengutip sejumlah kritik terhadap agama Kristen yang dilakukan oleh sarjana Barat yang sebagian juga seorang Kristeb. Mereka seolah-olah hendak berkata, “Lihat saja, orang Kristen saja mengakui kelemahan agama itu.”

Kalau kita mau memahami agama secara baik, maka cara seperti itu tidak terlalu banyak gunanya. Yang timbul dari sana hanya saling cerca dan ejek. Yang ingin saya kembangkan pada kalangan Islam adalah kesadaran positif bahwa masing-masing pihak harus sadar akan kelemahan dan kelebihannya masing-masing. Sikap semacam ini juga relevan dikembangkan dalam semua agama."

Religions, to my way of thinking...

I've been reading religious blogs today. Some have peaceful, harmonius tones, while some have this high and mighty "I am the truth" tone. For some reason I always feel insulted when people say "my religion is the truth" by giving all the arguments about how false other religions are. Even people from my own religion! I can't take such attitude. Anyway, it's their right. And I console myself that it's my right to think this:

Once upon a time, during the stage of evolution, people were really really bad (at some part of the earth) that God decided he had had enough and sent Moses to correct their ways. And thereof came Judaism. Some people became good, and yet some were still bad. So he sent Jesus to correct them. It took Jesus' dying on the cross to convince some people of God's love for them. And so Christianity started. And yet some people still refused to change their old, bad ways. So God sent Muhamad, the great prophet to teach them. And so the three religions remain. People who are comfortable with Judaism practice it to this day. People who are comfortable with Christianity practice their beliefs, and those who are comfortable with Islam, become its followers. Thus, God must see that different people have different needs, that He let them practice their religions and accepts them all with love and grace, for if He should want only one religion to exist, I believe He could easily make it so.

And so I think, in some parts of the world, people who can become good without the God from the Book, found their own means to reach God. Thus, there are Hinduism, Buddhism etc. One universal God, but different conception and means to reach Him.

And yet people are still searching in today's world...will God send another great person to teach them? Or should the believers lead them to the God they know? Would it be to the extent of spilling blood in the name of God?

It's all a matter of beliefs. I very much believe that God doesn't want people to spill blood because of religion, for that contradicts God's loving nature. To me personally, I am comfortable believing in God the way I do. A simple me...thanking God for my existence...

On lullabies and religions

I was singing lullabies to little Noel earlier. I started with his favourite "Hush Little baby", then our routine "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..." I know this can hardly be called a lullaby, but it is to us. Day after day without fail, it puts my little one to sleep...anyway, I started reflecting why it is such a comforting song. Could it be because of its melodious nature, or could it be the words?

One thought led to another, and I started seriously thinking about faith, and life and believers...Am I a true believer? I guess although I can't call myself purely religious, I must be a believer enough to be able to feel that in my lowest moment, there's a hand that always pulls me up. In times when I feel that life has no meaning and direction, there's a soothing nudge in my heart that makes me able to feel good again. It must be some powers out there that I've known as God. And I feel content simply to feel that this God is always leading me to love- myself, my family, my friends, strangers, and even foes.

I thought I must be in the category of people who stick to religion NOT because they want to find The Truth, but because religions make them feel positive. I guess I feel positive because what I believe in emphasizes in Love, which suits me very well. I can't say I have a good knowledge about religions, but I've seen how religions affect people (in some ways). There's this camp that practice the teachings of their religion and generally become good. And yet another camp thought that everyone should embrace their religion (and this applies to many religions) because theirs and theirs alone is The Truth. Well, I have no objection to people believing that their way is The Truth. That, I believe, is personal. But I have an issue with people who coerce, and force others to follow them in the name of God. That, to me, is negative. It is such attitude that leads people to hate and even kill each other...and I wonder if they feel good because of that.

Anyway, I am happy enough to be in my camp. I might not know whether what I believe in is The Truth, but my life is meaningful because of that. For the simple me, it is enough that I can live positively in this life, trying to love others as I feel loved...