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Friday, January 4, 2013
Hey everyone. This will be another rant/opinioned filled
post, (haha, as if I write anything other than that) just a heads up.
Disclaimer: The following blog post concerns my thoughts on religion
and atheism. Those who are easily offended/sensitive (to everything) should
probably stop reading now.
So today, we had Pendidikan Moral (Loose translation: Class
that no one really cares about) and our first chapter was called “Agama Asas
Kesejahteraan Manusia” (Religion is the basis of human wellbeing)
Just by reading that title, I can feel my bullshit alarm
going off. But before I go more into detail with what I don’t like about it,
let me introduce to you the basics of ‘Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan’. (Belief in
God)
According to the textbook, written by supposed
professionals, we are born in the religion that our parents chose. (Kita
dilahirkan dalam agama yang dianuti oleh ibu bapa kita.)
Also according to it is that religion teaches us how to
become good people. It teaches us how to do things that are useful to the
community. Religion teaches us how to be grateful and help others.
So you may be thinking; oh, well, that sounds perfectly
fine, right? It’s just teaching us about being good people. But wait, it gets
worse.
‘The Importance of Religion’ (Kepentingan dan Keperluan
Beragama)
-Teachings of religion are the (direct
translations, here) ‘guidelines and guidance to life on the right path’
- Religion teachings help humans to become good
people
And so on and so forth.
My teacher also stresses that if everyone believes in some
God, the country will be filled of ‘guaranteed peace and harmony’. (Keamanan
dan keharmonian terjamin)
BULL, SHIT.
I honestly do not like, or rather, hate how in Malaysia (and many other places) atheism is treated
like a disease. Like a social stigma. As if anyone who dares to doubt religion
shall be shunned and sent to burn in hell eternally or something.
Every day, politicians and journalists are going on and on
about securing freedom to choose religion, and textbooks given to children (our
future leaders of our lovely country) insist
that religion is essential to being a good person, and if you don’t believe in
God YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY A CRIMINAL FOR LIFE.
I have a BIG problem with this. If it were some random drunk
ass guy preaching to me on a street corner, I wouldn’t care. But the fact that
it’s published in a textbook, distributed to schools all around Malaysia,
bothers me so much I can barely express it.
Read this excerpt which I got from the same textbook, page 2
for anyone who’s interested in reading it too.
“…Tanpa agama, dunia akan menjadi huru-hara. Kejahatan akan
bermaharajalela dan ini akan menghancurkan dunia. Oleh itu, kita perlu hidup
berlandaskan ajaran agama.”
"... Without religion, the world would be in chaos.
Evil would run rampant and this will destroy the world. Therefore, we have to
live by the teachings of religion. "
This statement is so ridiculous and contradictory that even
bloody Google could translate it perfectly. Sociologist Phil Zuckerman analyzed
previous social science research on secularity and non-belief (of religion),
and concluded that societal well-being
is positively correlated with irreligion.
According to his findings, atheists and secular people are less nationalistic, prejudiced, anti-Semitic,
racist, dogmatic, ethnocentric, close-mind and authoritarian compared to
religious people.
It is also proven that in the US, (and also many other
countries) the less religious that state
is, the lower the murder and crime rate.
[Feel free to read more of Mr. Zuckerman’s findings here: http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Zuckerman_on_Atheism.pdf
]
[‘Societies without God are more benevolent’ by Nick Cohen of
The Observer - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/12/pope-benedict-atheism-secularism]
Honestly I believe Malaysians need to be educated about
atheism.
Because atheists/free thinkers/whichever term you prefer are NOT
necessarily ‘evil’ and ‘immoral’ and so on and so forth. I am almost appalled
by the way it’s okay to announce that you love Jesus or you love Allah but you
CANNOT proclaim that you don’t believe in religion without being severely
judged.
It is unfair to my fellow non-believers, and it is unfair to
all the schoolchildren who have been taught from young that it’s okay to judge people that don’t think the same way you do, and that not believing
in religion is wrong.
Thanks
for reading.
Till next time!