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False paradise: Beware of opiate religion Sunday, March 19, 2006 Syaiful Bari, Contributor, Yogyakarta Agama Itu Bukan Candu: Tesis-tesis Feuerbach, Marx, dan Tan Malaka (Religion is No Opium: Theses of Feuerbach, Marx and Tan Malaka) Eko P. Darmawan Resist Book, Yogyakarta, October 2005 A close observation of recent practices in the name of religion surely make us uncomfortable. Religion is considered to be no more than an instrument with which personal wishes can be translated into reality. This is evident from the increased frequency of religious TV programs, such as contests for the best and most popular da'i (Muslim proselytizers). Religion has been propagated in the manner a salesman adopts when selling his wares, namely by offering people certain advantages and successes. Religion has thus suddenly become a disparate knowledge and skill through which one can claim worldly gains, as can be seen in the increasing number of people that have made proselytizing their profession. Even children are being prepared to become proselytizers of Islam, as we can see in a program aired by one of the local private TV stations. At the end of the day, religious propagation has become no more than just the transfer of words, instead of the act of sharing spiritualism and feelings. Neither is it an example of how to share a common life. Religious propagation has therefore become only a communication skill and means to talk to other people; it is not about working together to make the world a better and more valuable place to live in. Religious propagation today is simply an occasion of "delivering a sermon and then taking leave". The relationship between the proselytizer and his listeners is one that is instantaneous and anonymous. When religious propagation is made a livelihood, the listeners become consumers and the proselytizer a service provider. We may then safely say that religion itself has begun to be turned into a business commodity. That religion has been made into a commodity via TV programs is undeniable. A child of capitalism, television -- that is, the media -- places its programs within a logical framework of business. The logic is simple: when contests aired on television are popular among viewers, the stations will see an increase in ad spots. That's why contests such as the best Muslim proselytizer award, for example, are broadcast on TV. We find it hard to accept this reality. It is difficult to give a green light to the commercialization of the holy realm of religion, the sacredness of which should be safeguarded. It is therefore quite natural to hear complaints that Islamic propagation programs on TV are simply examples of how religion has been exploited and turned into a commodity and that therefore, that such programs must be avoided. Some people have even gone to another extreme, saying that it is unnecessary for one to have a religion, as religion is a nuisance. Eko P. Darmawan's Agama Itu Bukan Candu: Tesis-tesis Feuerbach, Marx, dan Tan Malaka (Religion is No Opium: Theses of Feuerbach, Marx and Tan Malaka) is a criticism of the ugly reality of how religion is practiced and, at the same time, is a means to correct the misunderstanding of Karl Marx's famous statement: "Religion is the opium of the masses." The three figures -- Feuerbach, Marx and Tan Malaka -- have been chosen as subjects of discussion, because Eko believes that their thoughts may expose another aspect of religiosity. He believes that this exposure will, in turn, enlighten mankind and give meaning to human life on earth. Eko posits a brilliant theory on Marx's oft-misunderstood statement, which has generally been taken to be his final analysis on the matter, resulting in Marx's utter condemnation for "belittling" religion. According to Eko, Marx's body of thought has far too often been reduced into "Religion is the opium of the masses" because few ever read this statement within the context of Marx's work. (p. 178). Looking only at Marx's statement on religion, his foes spared no effort to accuse Marx as out-and-out opponent of religion, and used a host of filthy and horrible terms for him. In fact, when Marx associated religion with opium, he did not make this statement in an unfavorable and pejorative manner. It is almost certain that Marx was not against religion. Religion, he said, is the panacea for the soul, a light for life. This means that religion will not be born in times of spiritual health or when the road of life is awash with light, as medicine is not necessary for a healthy body, and light is unnecessary during the day. Religion is the antithesis of eras of darkness. When society is engulfed in gloom, religion will be present. Obviously, religion does not come about just anywhere; religion is present when a particular social condition demands it. Or, more precisely, when a social condition is far from ideal, demand for religion arises. Religion also exists today as a teaching that is external to human life, be it in the form of a prophet, a holy book or even religious leaders. It is this external nature of religion, perhaps, of which Marx could not approve. When we talk about the external nature of religion, this means that human beings still need a certain authority beyond themselves to find enlightenment -- or the light on their path of life. For Marx, if a man depends too much on an external authority to find enlightenment, he forgets that he possesses his own source of enlightenment within. In this respect, man is negligent of the fact that he is endowed with the spring of truth in himself. A person is deaf and blind to his own source of enlightenment because he is too busy devoting himself blindly to an external authority. The only way to combat this is to continuously develop one's powers of reason, mind, emotional strength and historical knowledge. This book, therefore, attempts to correct the general misunderstanding of Marx's statement on religion as opium by defining the kind of "religion" that applies in this case. The kind of religion that becomes an opium for the people is one that promotes "an ideal human being ... in an imagined form." Opium creates an illusory paradise -- that is, an unreal world like those on TV, in which faith has become a commodity. The reviewer is chief editor of Yogyakarta-based magazine Humaniush. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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