Some thoughts about suffering
The pictures were taken long time ago in Africa. Those pictures are only 2 of the many that reflect the problem of hunger and malnourishment suffered by our fellow brothers.
Looking at this picture make me rethink whether God really exist. I was educated on Christian school and began to ponder what God has been doing. I was thought that God is love. I swallowed that ideology shamelessly then, because I had to pass my exam. A fail in Religion would mean a fail in the whole grade. Despite the fact that God led His people to war and occupy the cities of the infidels, my teachers still taught me the grace, the kindness and the patience of God. One of the verses that stuck in my head today is "For God so loves the world..." but when such pictures flashed in my mind the thoughts of such a beautiful love fades away.
There are some questions in my mind when I received the picture from my friend in Australia. Does God exist? Why doesn’t God help those poor people? Is that God is too far away in heaven that he cannot see the suffering of His own creation that are created in resemblance of his image? Is it that God overlook the reality in this world and assume that nothing is going wrong? Or is it that even God Himself is becoming powerless to intervene? Must God see the suffering of mankind before come and be the hero to save the day? Or God actually plan for human to suffer in the first place.
My Christian friends responded to my questions by saying that the focus should not be solely on the issue of hunger, poverty and morality, but rather should recognized the sins that had made human fall short of the glory of God. It is man who had chosen to disobey God with their free choice. He said that the way is to confess the sins and follow the way of the Lord, since the relation between God and human is more important. Then I want to reply by saying that if that is the case, why would God only choose the African people to die of malnutrition of hunger, while you can sit on the air conditioned chapel and preach about the glory of God. Is the sin of the new born AIDS stricken African baby more than the others? Would one say that it is God's will and plan if he is the victim of it all? Would one say it is a mere temptation if he is the one suffering for hunger and scrambling for food? Human has sinned. But why God impose different level of punishment on different people?
It is such situations that drive me to despise religion. Most of the followers preached about God's love, memorize every single verse of the holy book by heart, build up arguments against other religions and indoctrinate the followers with a theo-centric philosophy. To me, it is all bullshit. Why? What matter in a religion not only how we conduct our relationship with the Supreme Being, but rather how we help to make a better day for our neighbors. Love thy neighbors. What is love? Is it to preach about the good news in a sheltered, comfortable and air conditioned podium when there are many others die of hunger, poverty and sun stroke?
Many of the people who proclaimed themselves the follower of certain religion or Supreme Being able to live in comfort. They are born with complete organs. They have the financial wealth to sustain a comfortable living condition. But these people, in my eyes, are a mere hypocrates and party animals that live comfortable before the suffering of the others. They surround themselves with religious scripture, spending time reading memorizing and appreciating the beauty of the writing styles, rather than put those things into practice.
My fellow brothers, I wish to apologize if you get angry after reading this blog. I have no intention to criticize you as an individual. I am not saying that I am The One you guys should follow. But what I really hope is that as a human, as a member of human civilization, as a neighbor, we are not closing our eyes on these issues. We should strive hard to make the world a better, colorful place for everyone to live in, regardless of their religion. We must help the unfortunate people and hopefully one day, like what John Lennon put it in his song Imagine, “…and the world will live as one.”
posted by Yono Lee at 3:25 PM
3 Comments:
Tenang, bos. Jangan ngamuk. Menurut gue sih orang Afrika itu bisa kayak begitu karena mereka digoblokin sama orang Eropa alias kolonialis itu. Udah jadi bodoh, tanahnya gersang, jadi makan parah. Masih kurang lagi, pemimpinnya itu pada bajingan semua yang di Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Kongo. Koruptor, ethnic cleansing, bisnis kotor. Akumulasi jadi semuanya hancur lebur total.
Anyway, Anda mengasumsi kalau Tuhan itu akan selalu membuat kita hidup makmur, mulus, aman, tentram, dan selalu memenuhi kebutuhan kita. Wah kalau begitu sih saya rasa Tuhan itu hamba manusia yang selalu kasih manusia maunya apa. Tentu hamba itu berbeda dengan Tuhan.
Soal orang beragama yang tidak peduli dan egois. Gua setuju banget kalo mereka orang munafik, hipokrit, Farisi, dll. Tapi kan belum tentu mereka memiliki ability untuk menolong orang miskin. Sesuai dengan kemampuan mereka saja. Saya ke gereja, tp saya tidak ada kemampuan untuk menolong orang-orang Afrika itu. Saya cuma bisa peduli dan berdoa kalau ada organisasi-organisasi lain bisa menolong mereka. Yang saya bisa lakukan yah kecil-kecilan seperti anda nulis-nulis begini. Saya juga join organisasi macam PPMIS.
Keep the spirit!
Hi Bro,
Kita sebagai manusia saya mungkin jiwanya bisa terganggu dengan apa yang kita lihat. Apa kamu gak merasa kalau Yang Diatas itu tidak mempunyai hati karena dia, secara teori bisa mengubah situasi, tapi tidak melakukan apa apa. Seorang manusia yang tidak beragama saja bisa tergugah dengan apa yang dilihat: pemenang Putlizer price bunuh diri karena memotret anak yag hampir mati dan meninggalkan tempat tersebut. Dia depresi. Dan Dia manusia. Insan biasa. Dan yang Diatas tidak berbuat apa apa 2?
Saya bukan mengasumsi kalau Tuhan anda itu membuat hidup jadi lebih mulus. Tapi saya merasa bahwa kenapa Dia harus membuat penderitaan satu orang lebih parah dari yang lain. Dosa toh semua orang ada. Kenapa kita bisa hidup nyaman di singapur, tapi orang lain begitu lahir sudah mengidap penyakit yang aneh aneh.
Lagian saya bukan ngotot2 maksa semua orang harus menolong orang afrika. Saya cuma "condemn" dengan sikap2 sebagian besar para jemaah dan pemimpin agama yang hidup makmur dan naik kendaraan mewah. Mereka yang nyanyi lagu "I once was lost..but now was found...was blind but now I see..." apa gak kontradiksi apa yang mereka katakan? Ingin melihat yang tidak bisa dilihat, tapi yang bisa dilihat saja tidak dilihat.
Hmm...I just want to post my humble opinion about suffering...if you ask why God doesn't give men equal level of suffering, I think it should be in His justice, if we, humans can dictate God to do this or that, then God shouldn't be called God, screw all those bs. IMHO, our logics and our feelings are already corrupted as human beings, such that we will never be able to understand or have the same point of view, the same level and understanding of justice as God...
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