Why Be a Secular?

Two reasons why I choose to be secular: freedom and tolerance.

Firstly, I believe that I do not have to be supremely pious to enter the heaven. Pious in this case means that I need more than just doing five prayers all the time. I also have to do dress properly, speak properly, etc. according to the Koran AND "the additional Koran" which actually limits me from even being a human. I also do not like the fact that being a true woman who can enjoy her beauty and sexuality is forbidden. I decided to be irreligious after I was fooled for a lot of years. God never shows up so why do religions exist in the first place? I just see religion as another support for politics, including Islam which is used to make Indonesians act like pure (or brainless) Muslims who came from Arab.

"All religions are equally sublime to the ignorant, useful to the politician, and ludicrous to the philosopher." - Lucretius

Secondly, my religion has become a source of intolerance for the sake of desire for power. You see that a lot of religious-political groups have popped out across the country. They mock other religions for being fake and misleading and think they are the savior for Indonesian people to enter Allah's heaven. You can see how Muslims went crazy when they see a mosque getting burned here in Papua. And shamefully, ALMOST nobody blamed the culprit solely; some idiots blamed the religion wholly. They cried over the fact that they are majority and how they could face this issue. So what? Even Christians out there are anxious. They might get attacks on their churches on Christmas. This is religion-based conflict, but the extremists want to solve to make sure that the majority wins. That's all they care. Peace approach is not the way for them; they want to show the victory of Islam, ignoring other religions' existence.

I really want to break out myself from this chain of Islam. But, what should I call myself?

Atheist? This is not what I want to be called.

What you need to be aware of is that atheism itself could lead to extremism. Being an atheist means that you do not believe in God. It's the actual and sufficient definition; however some atheists even disapprove and belittle other people's beliefs by claiming that these people are blinded. Bashing religious people is just another form of intolerance. I am not the type of person who will chant those words. It's ultimately fine for someone to believe in his own God as spirituality is a way that has corroborated a lot of people to survive in this world. It just does not work for some people, including myself.

I would call myself as a secular. I think it defines me correctly. I do not care if you embrace a religion or not, but I do not have to care about other people's religions. I am open-minded. I even still believe that God somehow exists because if he does not, who creates this gigantic world? He could be an entity, aliens, humans from the future, or anything mysterious though. Everything is just about respect of differences.

I still want to be identified as a Muslim although currently I rarely do prayers. I still do prayers when my mother urges me and when I am with my Muslim friends. Declaring yourself as a secular is taboo. I could not imagine if I came out to my mother like "Oi, I hate prayers". Most likely, I would be kicked out from my house, or even be burned alive... Nevertheless, being a Muslim has a lot of benefits for me to survive in this country, especially the human rights.

To conclude, I am Rangga, I am raised as a Muslim, but I choose to be secular because tolerance and freedom are everything for me.

Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. keren blognya, posnya bagus2. rangga jago nulis ternyata...
    coba gw juga jago nulis + kemampuan inggrisnya ga pas2an :')
    mungkin gw nulis hal2 serupa

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    Replies
    1. Yaampun akhirnya ada yang komen juga :(( wakakak ini cuma diary (read: tempat latihan writing) yang cerita pengalaman tapi bodo amat ada yang ngebaca atau engga. Inggrisnya itu juga ga bagus bagus amat kok :( Thanks for visiting this blog ade!

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