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The Natural Humankind; Inherently Good or Inherently Evil"  

Posted by Lintang Syuhada in ,

Human nature is inherently good. I have pondered an analogy for several days while trying to complete the final task for creative writing. The basic human inclination for good or bad can be compared to the differences between hot and cold, light and dark. Let me explain; does cold exist? Basically there is no cold. How cold is it? Cold is a relative thing, the absence of thermal energy. We can measure thermal energy but not cold. Is there darkness? Dark is basically the absence of light. You can study light and brightness, but not darkness. A prism will separate light into different wavelengths and thus the beauty of the rainbow is revealed to us and the splendor of God’s creation.
Did God create evil? No, God did not create evil. Evil is the absence of God’s love, humility and faith in the hearts of mankind. Love, humility and faith are like heat and light. They exist and their absence from the hearts of mankind leads to evil. Humans were created by God in his likeness and therefore inherently good. Humans are born free of the nature of evil, but environmental influences can cause changes in his basic pure state. For example: a baby born in the community that loves music will most likely embrace the music of its culture. A baby born into an evil environment will most likely develop evil inclinations. This does not mean the baby was inherently evil. All humans are born free and innocent of evil. Everyone in the world is born with a state of purity without any evil. They are born with the goodness of God in their hearts.
In the major religion perspective; man is believed to be inherently good. However this goodness in due time is obscured by envy, hate, prejudice, covetousness and lust. Once this obscuration are understood and eliminated, we can revert back to our inherent goodness. All this may be achieved without any intervention from deities. God intended human nature to be pure and noble, not dirty and sinful. Events, which happened to Adam as a human embryo, caused him to commit the sin of violating God's prohibition, which resulted in Adam and his wife being excommunication from heaven, is this an argument that man is essentially a derivative of sin? I think not. Even as spiritual being, humans have a nature innately good. Therefore the very heart of the human authenticity is good, true, pure and beautiful. God gave this special grace only to mankind and not to the other creatures of His creation.
Nevertheless, it must be admitted that this special grace given only to man by God has been the source of many dilemmas as people struggles to achieve his full potential as a good, just and faithful being.  Man as a human being is always faced with two moral challenges. The choice between good and evil is a constant stumbling block to human achievement. The evil forces at work in our society constantly tempt man to choose and because of his innate goodness he will make the right choice for good. 
God gave human beings instruction to maintain and manage the earth. Having been given this task we must act in accordance with Gods intentions for the earth. We must always be mindful that God revealed himself in the creation of the earth and people must act as a guardian or manager who in this case is called a caliph. Therefore we can conclude the humans are inherently good and will strive to create love and understanding in the world. Foe filling Gods promise that “All Mankind Should Live Together In Peace and Harmony”. (Lintang Syuhada-Participant in the Great American Think-Off Contest)

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The Relationship between Socialization and Religious Freedom  

Posted by Lintang Syuhada in

Why is this important to me? Of course this issue is very important, not only for me, but it is a concern of the world community. There are still many facts about the social problems and religious beliefs that need to be studied. Many are still isolated and distanced from the social acts on the basis of different religions. Religious beliefs need to be studied on the basis of the human interaction, because man is a social creature. I believe in all religions there is no doctrine of mutual hostility between religions, and even fight each other, kill or behave poorly to other religions. I am sure there is no such doctrine. It is the wrong thing. Basically all religions aim to return good back to all human beings who believe in God. Religion is a trust to pour our soul to the creator. Religion is more inclined towards a personal act, in which humans try to communicate with their Lord. Excepting what man has acquired along the way as a gift of God. Each religion has different teachings, but that does not mean there will be courses in religion to do evil. There is no justification for social acts such as harassing others, isolating, robbing, stealing, killing, and acts of terrorism. I strongly believe there is no religion that condones these acts. Everyone has thought about their respective beliefs, and some do not believe in God. Are they wrong? They have a principle of life and as long as they are still appropriate norms of a human behavior, it is not a problem, that is the difference. Of the differences that we all should complement each other, learn from each other, help each other, do good to each other, and this is how we come to know each other. Not to exclude the action because of different religions, not to assume that other religions are wrong. War is a very bad thing. Peace should become the common word that connects all religions of the world. We need to remember the role of humans is in life together, and return to the teachings of each religion to promote peace, promote good works among humans, animals, plants, and all of God creation. In the reality of life, social sciences and religious life have a very close relationship, because every individual has the religion of each and every individual. Acts of terrorism are currently a world concern. I am a Muslim, but I disagree with people who are Muslims and killing others with acts of aggression, in which case they are very wrong in thinking that can easily ignore the role of humans as social beings. In Islam we do not recognize terrorism, we require teaching respect for one another, and even the prophet Muhammad had never advocated violence against other religions. We live together in one container, we need each other. This problem still occurs frequently due to lack of knowledge about the basic teachings of religions. Religions have a nucleus of goodness. Religion is the right of individuals to pursue the spiritual interests and teachings of their God. Stopping the violence, living together in social harmony, will result in a peaceful world as God intended it. I believe in this Civic Education Workshop we can exchange thoughts and ideas, helping us to better understand the role of religion and social action in today’s world. I also want to share my experience at the Islamic boarding school where we study the teachings of Islam without any violence. We are thought at school to respect one another, to respect mankind and all that exists in God creation. The participant in this workshop will emerge into future leaders and scholars and carry this Peace of understanding into the world. This workshop will be very useful to me as a tool to develop the knowledge and skills, and I'll make reference when I returned to Indonesia, delivering learning to groups that are still wrong in interpreting the religion and its teachings, and I hope that I can be a leader for my nation's future, to create a nation of mutual respect, good behavior, as well as promoting human peace. Live together, learn together, let us realize world peace. (Lintang Syuhada, participant at International Civic Education)

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