"Flexing" Religi
The baby cries in the morning. A loud sound woke him up. The sound does not come from inside the house, but from outside. There are people praying very hard, breaking the morning and destroying the peace of life of the surrounding community.
Praying and singing must be loud, even up to a distance of 3 km, the voice can still be heard. So many people are bothered. He said, this is to spread religion. What is created is not love, but burning hate. This is religious flexing.
From head to toe, cloth covered him. Among the many people, he looked different himself. The shape is no longer human, and not at all beautiful. He felt holy, because he was wearing religious clothes. This, too, is religious flexing.
In the name of religion, he makes trouble. Politics messed up. The economy is toyed with. Feeling holy, he judges all, mercilessly. This, too, is religious flexing. In the name of religion, he asked for many things. Often, the requests are unreasonable. A rotting foreign way of thinking is applied in the land. The destructive old ways of thinking are applied in the globalized 21st century. This is religious flexing in its most superficial form.
Flexing is a word that is used a lot these days. The meaning is simple, namely showing off. Flexing religion is a person who continues to show off his religion, while oppressing women, harming others, disturbing the surrounding environment and disrupting the situation. Along with various other forms of flexing, religious flexing is developing in Indonesia.
In fact, the purpose of flexing is marketing. People show off what they have, so that people are interested in buying, or following. However, flexing is often excessive, especially religious flexing. What is created is not love to follow, but hate burning in the heart.
Why?
Why do people do religious flexing? There are three important things to note. First, religious flexing is a sign of self-emptying. Flexing is a marketing effort that is already in a pinch, because the goods being sold are of low quality.
Religious flexing is a sign of religious emptiness. No beautiful teachings were spread. No enlightening teachings were preached. There are only empty words wrapped in loud voices, and the intention of showing off without limits.
Two, religious flexing is a sign of poor knowledge. Knowledgeable people live in peace and silence. Knowledgeable people pray in beauty and solemnity. Flexing religion is far from silence, peace and beauty. The rippling water is not deep (the one that makes a lot of noise has no content), so the Indonesian proverb says.
Three, religious flexing is a sign of lack of empathy. Empathy is the ability to see the world from another person's point of view. Empathy keeps people from falling into selfish attitudes. Empathy is the fruit of high wisdom and knowledge. The perpetrators of religious flexing have lost empathy, and have become shallow humans who like to show off.
Then, how?
First, we must do self-reflection. Are we perpetrators of religious flexing? If so, we must learn to change ourselves. We must be critical of the religion we profess.
Two, we need to learn more about religion. In fact, we need to go beyond religion, and touch spirituality. Religion is a product of human hands full of hidden interests. Meanwhile, spirituality is the path to enlightenment and liberation.
Three, people need to learn empathy. Studying religion and science is necessary. Studying philosophy is also very necessary. However, all of that is useless, if people do not have empathy for other living beings.
In the end, regarding religion, we don't need to flex. Just go deep and live the religion we profess. Or, we can go straight to spirituality. It is simply the simplicity, depth and wisdom of our lives that attracts others. No need to shout, oppress women and create chaos.
Agree?
