My friend gave me the picture above to me. In english it was written : Freedom of Religion is bullshit As newborn, we are taught to follow our parent's religion. Growing up we are taught that our own religion is the right one. As adult, if we decided to choose another religion, we're suddenly called hostile in the family and considered as a disgrace. I'm not consider myself an atheist. An agnostic, maybe. A catholic, probably. But religion is a sensitive thing. War could be started in the name of religion. And living in Muslim country are another sensitive experiences. The first time I heard about "agama" or religion was when I was a five / six years old child. My kinder-garden and elementary school provided all five religion lecturers. My teacher asked me what was my religion, and I don't understand what did she mean, so she told me to ask my parent's religion. That's it. As a child, I need to follow my parent's religion. So, I asked my father about it. He also didn't really understand, and just because he is Chinese, he considered himself a Buddhist. So, I learned Buddha for the 6-8 years of my early life, just because it was needed for my grade. I still remember, in my third grade, I was becoming friend with a christian girl. She asked me to join her in religion class. So, when there's a time for religion class, we are needed to move to our own religion's assigned class. I was Buddhist so I need to move to my assigned Buddha Class, to learn about Buddha. And because of her, I decided to move to Christian Class. Probably just 15 minutes in the new class learning about Jesus Christ, I was called by my Buddha's Teacher and asked why I was in the wrong class, I replied to him that I wanted to changed my religion. Then he asked me if I have a parent's permission. Well, I didn't know that I need my parent's permission to change my belief, because back then I don't think it was that big of deal about religion. I don't remember if I talked to my parents or not. So let me tell you about family back then. My parents are not religious, they neither pray or go to church. My two brothers in other hands are sunday schooled, because they wanted to. I also don't remember how and why my brothers become Catholic while I become Buddhist. I was jealous of my brothers, because in December they got presents from Santa. And because I'm Buddhist, I didn't. Yeah, probably Santa was the one that made me wanted to change my religion. LOL. I don't remember exactly, but there was a time when I went to christian church. I followed my cousin or followed my friends, but yeah there was a time I tried to go to church regularly, my parents allowed it, they don't really care about religion at that time. I studied in a catholic school for my junior high and high school days. I was taught of being a catholic for six years. I went to catholic church because of my school's mandatory activities. From Buddhist, to Christian, then now Catholic, I could say that I felt comfortable being a catholic. I loved their churches, I could say that I'm in peace inside Catholic Church. Even though for six years I learned in Catholic School, I hadn't formally converted as one, until I graduated. In my senior year of high school, there was a tragedy in family. Our family shops was in fire accident, everything burn out, and my father was getting too stressed, he lost a lot of money in the fire. I was ignorant teenager, even now, but I heard it from my mom, my Dad started going to the Church, invited by his friend. Like me, a long time a go, he went to different churches every Sunday, he tried to find the right church or community for him to fit in. Yeah he tried churches like it was clothes. And yes, a christian protestant church. There are too many Christian Churches in Jakarta, and it was easy to build one, all you need are a large space, chairs, speakers and music. It tickles me, how there could be 2-3 "christian churches" inside a shopping mall. I'm not comfortable in Christian church, probably because I'm not used to. Singing endlessly, dances endlessly, and then their pastors rambling about bible. And some pastors, I found, they pictures themselves highly below God, and asked everyone to donate their dimes to them (so he could live prosperously). I hate their "kepahitan" and "perpuluhan" term like taxes we couldn't avoid. And if we avoid "perpuluhan", they accuse we are avoiding or stealing from God. I was a Buddhist once, then a Catholic, both religions are peace-ly celebrated on weekly basis. When I went to Christian Protestant Church, it was too noisy. Back to the topic, my parents went to churches secretly behind my grandmother who strongly against it, she was a true Buddhist in our family. But you could see there were changes in my home, all Buddha related statues was secretly thrown out. When my grandmother passed away, there were no more Chinese Praying Related in the house anymore. My big families suddenly become a strict Christian Protestant Family. Because I was never converted to one, my parents saw me an religion - less girl still. So they demanded me to go to their churches, and convert to a christian. I declined it, because I never comfortable inside Christian Protestant Church. Their demands become so annoying, that I wanted to sue them for my religion right. They sometime speaks some close minded judgement, like they believe Adam and Eve are the first human literally, they saw their pastors like the most unsinfull human in the world, they think people outside their religion are sinners. Not just them, like my cousins speaking about homosexuality like a bad diseases, how they choose Trumps more than Hillary, because Hillary support abortion. I felt like I'm a black sheep in the family, because I secretly disagree with all of them. Until now, my parents still pushed me to their church, I hate being in Christian's churches because their noisy activities, and their people tends to socialize too much, or because I see their smiles being too fake. My father had cancer, so many noisy Christians come to pray for him. Once, these guy with his church friends came to home, these pastor of his church started asked bunch of questions about my father's cancer. In the end they started praying, they not me, because I was asked to taped and took their pictures of praying. Oh my God! I'm his daughter and they rather wanted me to took pictures of them than praying with them. I love my Catholic Church, because I love and enjoying being alone, praying to God peacefully, I love how every catholic churches in the world are being taught with the same values every week, not like Christian Church, whatever their pastors want to say every week. I'm not saying Catholic is the right religion in the world. But until now, it's the religion that comfort me. I was finally converted into Catholic in 2011/2012, I believe. It's all because my first brother, and for my sister in-law's companion's sake. I chose my baptism name as Elizabeth, because her story to be miraculously pregnant in her age touches my heart. There are some aspects that I also disagree with Catholic, like using birth control, homosexuality, etc. Sometime, there's a doubt within me believing God. And as catholic, I shouldn't have those doubt. I hate when people says "it happened for God's reason." Once my parent's friend say it in a room where my brother just passed away. So, you're just saying, God took away my brother for a reason, kill him in his sleep so his infant baby grows up without a father. Or doubt like God created me to be fertility-challenged for what reason? Because hey, probably God doesn't want me to get married and give birth to a human-being. Because I was a Buddhist in my early years, I believe in reincarnation. Even until now, it always fascinated me. If I could, I want to get deep hypnotized, so I could know how many time I've been reincarnated. What did past-me do that God give me these current life? Buddha also taught me that thinking of doing something bad is already a sin. And also, I believe in Karma. My friends once told me if there is one thing she could delete from the world, she will choose religion but not God. And then I replied to her, if there is no religion, there is no God. And then my religious friend stared me questionably. I explains to her, if there is a God, it will always be a religion. Religion is created to control masses, without these beliefs about after-life, people will do whatever they please to do, and sometime because of their bible, they too, can think they are allowed to do everything to please God.
With my open-minded mind, my logical mind, I considered myself as Agnostic nowadays. I'm a going-to-church-on-Christmas and Easter-only kind of person now. As an adult, I'm more cynical about everything. And I hate, people use religion to right their wrong-doing, like those in Handmaid's Tale. But still, sometimes, in a fragile moment, I need God to lean on. I need God to turned my faith around, to believe there's something out there that controls everything, that will give me something that I hope and need somehow. Comments are closed.
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