RELIGION (by Drs.

Barnabas Ratuwalu , MA)

0. INTRODUCTION

Religion, it is not merely a knowledge, an idea nor a

science. Religion, it is an experience of life. It is a

kind of internalization of the realities and come up
then in the form of actualization.
The question is, what are the realities? Lets get an
overlook. Life come out for one side in dichotomy.
For instance, day-night, male-female, good-bad,
birth-dead, etc. But a concomitant comes out.
Things go naturally. The wind blows, the sun rises
shining and goes down. The other side features
such as bomb explodes, the volcano erupted, the
earthquake, the flood. Modern life is proving both
advantage and bane. The realities propose both
imperfect feature and complementary. one.

The real need of human

being

Actually it should be always an effort to fulfill

the emptiness, deficiency or shortage

The human needs such as
- Physically : we are hungry and we are
going to eat, we should drink if we are
thirsty, etc.
- Psychical : we have a dream, an ideal the
ambition for the future; we need to relax,
recreation, etc.
- spiritually : we need sharing, we need alive,
breathing, we need happiness, we need the
Principle of beings.
2

A live existence comes such as

two surfaces of the coin
In one side we are to be on the best service of

the other, at the same time we acknowledge

ourselves as being the best for other
This is the basic identity of an alive existence.
The inner most root is we are (all the living) to
participate in an unshared sharer.
In this way each religion realizes itself rightly
======

Part One
RELIGION IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT
1. Religion Term and Meaning
2. An interpretation of Contemporary
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Religion and Modern Sciences

Science, Religion, and the Future
On the Nature of Religion
Religion and Religiosity
Chaos Theory and Divine Action
Direct Reciprocity: Spirit > Formula > Action
and Action > Formula > Spirit

Part Two
NEW PROFESIONALISM IN THE
ENLIGHTENMENT
OF RELIGION

1. Religious Perspective on Morality and

2.
3.
4.
5.

Human Evolution
Term on Altruism, Cooperation, and
Commitment
The Religious framework for the Profound
Truth
The Salient Resources in the Religious
Framework
Term on Self-Investing Behaviors in the
Enlightenment of Religiosity
5

6. Term of The way things really are

7. Personality in a daily religious journal

8. Religion as a way of communicating
commitment

Part Three
ALTERNATIVES ON RELIGIOSITY
1.
2.
3.
4.

The History of Religions

The term of Rightness and wrongness
The Principle of goodness and badness
Term on Sin and Forgiveness
5.
A way to prevent the youth naughtiness in the light of
religion
6.
A way to limit the domestic violence in the light of
religion
7. Term of Fraternity & solidarity
8. Term of Marriage in the vision of my religion
9. Religious Virtues
10. Secular community in the vision of Religiosity

The ways to go !
Achieving the Best University by

implementing the 2009 Theme:

Be a student centered university
Convert students from object to
become subject of education and
related activities
Class presentation and discussion

Enlightening Points!!
1. Please give your comment in short on your

academic progress up till now! Point out the

strengthen and the weakness of yours on the
academic part.
2. Share one of your best experience and one of
your bad experience you ever got during the life!
Share how far did your religion (custom or belief)
remind you for any experience you ever got?
3. What is commitment? Do you need to have a
commitment for your self? Why? What is
religious commitment?

Individual project on Character

building
Pers.Charact
er
1.

Activities

Relatives

Daily/weekly

10

Background of Study
Job Requirements

Knowledge &
Competences & Skill

UNESCO

National

Curriculum

Curriculum

Learning to know

Learning to do

Competencies &
scientific cores (MK
Keilmuan & Ketrampilan MKK)

Skillfull cores (MK

Keahlian Berkarya

(MKB)
Profesional - MK Perilaku
Berkarya
(MPB)
Personality Development MK Pengembangan
Kepribadian (MPK)

Attitude & Habit

Learning to be

Job Des. Recognizing

Social and integrated Learning to live together MK Berkehidupan

Bermasyarakat (MBB)

Anwar Ma'ruf/2007

11

THE OBJECTIVES OF LEARNING RELIGIOUSITY

DEVELOPPING
RELIGIOUS
MIND SET

KOGNITIVE

SELF
CONFIDENCE
AS UNIQUE
PERSON

GOOD AND
SMART
PERSON

RELIGIOUS
ORIENTED

CREATING A
LIFE IN OPEN
MINDED

AFECTIVE
COMMITMENT
ON
TRANSFORM
THE LIVES

SOCIAL &
RELIGIOUS SKILL
AND
COMPETENCIES
PSICOMOTORIC

HOLISTIC
(COMPREHENSIVE
- INTEGRATED)

CONTENT OF RELIGION CLASS

SCIENTIFI
C DOMAIN

PERSONAL
DOMAIN
SMART &
GOOD
PERSON

SOCIAL &
TRANSCULTURA
L DOMAIN

PRINCIPLES PARADIGM
1. EDUCATION ABOUT RELIGIOUS POINTS

THIN
MINIMUM

RELIGION

KNOWING SCIENTIFICALLY
2. EDUCATION THROUGH RELIGIOUS POINTS

DOING

MODERATE

RELIGION
SPIRITUALL
Y

3. EDUCATION FOR RELIGIOUS POINTS

THICK
MAXIMUM

BUILDING RELIGIOUS
SOCIETY

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Part One
RELIGION IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT
1. Religion Term and meaning
Religion may in fact be system of symbols

that establish people both individually

and collective spiritually, and at the
same time make them seem realistic.
The theory simply states that people have
a propensity to fit into, and make use of,
ongoing systems of symbols that function
to establish certain motivations and to
communicate these in credible ways with
the supernatural force (s).
15

 Primitive Religion had come up such as

the
systems of symbols traditionally. People
traditionally had found their way of
The world Religions
keep the same
communicating
theirjust
commitment.
way to communicate their commitment
both vertically and horizontally. They
(modern believes) recognize then the life
meaningfully bound by a religious systems
such as rules and preaching based on the
Gods will.

16

 Both traditional and modern people

express the
Faith, in which they come to meet the
Devine
is not our turn
to speak
about the certain
ItProvidence
on all
the realities.

religion.
Lets try to identify well the universalities on
the religion that lead one self both individually
going more deeply in his/her religion, and on
the other hand to come together to keep our
life our future the global world religiously.

17

Between religion and

faith
The couple Cs between religion and
faith both traditional and modern
perform.

Cult
ceremony
Creed faith
Code
a set of rules ought
statements
care and charity
18

 Religion comes such as the ability to form

larger and better-united group for a wide

range
end resultReligion
is that human
display
The
of purposes.
servesbeings
as a mean
ofa
unique
form of sociality
in which they are able
communicating
the commitments
to form very large, intricately cooperating
(William
groups based on reciprocal altruism.
Irons)

A concomitant of this unique form of sociality

is the propensity to construct and maintain
the elaborate system of belief that we label
my religion, your religion and his/her
religion.

19

 These system of belief convey, in a deeply

credible way, certain basic commitments

that
the members society must share if they
These

are
to basic system of beliefs are invested
with very strong emotions, and they resolve,
form
large. basic questions about the nature
for
believers,
of the universe and human beings as part of
that universe. They also resolve basic value
questions about what is desirable, and
provide, in effect, a set of rules or ought
statements that believers can use to guide
their lives.
Furthermore, religion is to denote the term of
religiosity commonsense of religion.

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CLASS ASSIGNMENT
LEARNING
PROCESS

SYMBOL &
Norms/Rules

LEARNING TO
KNOW

1.
2.
3

LEARNING TO DO

1.
2.
3.

LEARNING TO BE

1.
2.
3.

LEARNING TO
LIVE TOGETHER

1.
2.
3.

ACTIVITIES

CHARACTER

DAILY/WEEKLY

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Group or Individual
Classwork
1. What is Religion and Faith ? Are they related each
other? What are the similarities and differences
between Religion and Faith?
2. Please identify 5 symbols using in your religion with
the
meaning for each symbol. Which symbol (s) do put
you in
a good faith?
3. The more we do in religion, the more faith we
get,
the more faith we get, the more we do in religion!
Do you
agree? Why ? Please explore in short !
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Class discussion
Religion may in fact be system of symbols. Please

point out some symbols recognized by each religion.

Give the meaning for each symbol using in the
religion.

Religion serves as a mean of communicating the commitments

of people. What kind of commitment that people keep on in
their religious life ? Explain your answer !

The basic system of beliefs is to resolve basic value

questions about what is desirable, and provide, in

effect, a set of rules or ought statements that
believers can use to guide their lives. Point out some
rules and the ought statements using by people to
guide their lives.
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Class assignment
Religion is developed in a couple of Cs as

below: cult (ceremony), creed (faith),

code (rules), chance and care, credible
(person/life), constructive, is to create a
community. Do you agree ? Give your
reason!
You are the religion, an alive religion.
Please explore more about your self/life
religiously in five paragraphs follow in
the
couple Cs above!
Ee24

You are the religion, an alive religion.

Please explore more about your
self/life
religiously in five paragraphs follow
in the
couple Cs above!

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Class discussion!
Discuss about the Traditional

cult/ceremony from your home

town/culture for the couples of C below!
What ceremony (3-4 examples)
what commitment both horizontal &
vertical ?
what kind of Creed?
what kind of Care and Charity (Sociality)?
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Religious points for a good

faith
Religious life between ritualism and
existentialism.
Celebrate your commitment
existentially and religiously!
Personal and social conflict

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Nobile Religious Activities

Worship
Fasting
Almsgiving
Which one(s) from the Nobile activities
that
Is more interesting create both great
experience and impression in your life
personally and socially?
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Nobile activities for the

personal values & Personal
experience
Please identify the virtue(s) or life in values
that could be provided by worship, Fasting
and Almsgiving.
Put Star ( ) for the virtue (s) as
recognized and developed in your life;
Affirmative ( ! ) for the normal as done as
usual; and Interrogative ( ? ) for everything
that still in problem or difficult in practice.
On your experience: person/s ( ) &

2. An Interpretation of Contemporary
Religion and Modern Sciences

We keep in mind the term of religion such as a way

to communicate one self commitment vertically and

horizontally. The believers should not come to live
extremely neglecting the other surface of coin.
A concomitant comes through the modern sciences.
They (modern sciences) give their turn to enable, to
enrich the people being more in communicating
their commitment.
Religion and modern sciences come differently but
not separately at all.

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Class discussion !
Point out the advantages of the modern

sciences in supporting the religious life !

The modern sciences are not at all,
neither religion. Both the modern
sciences and religion are different, but
not separated. Give your point of view !

 I suggest the significance of the

relationship
between sciences and religion, and so
confirm
relationship between
sciences and
The
the importance
of its systematic
study.

religion is richly informative about the

contemporary human lives.
Religion and modern sciences are to come
together to enable the modern people to get
the answer on the general question: How can
we think and act scientifically and religiously,
critically and worshipfully, technologically and
morally at the same time ?

32

 The relationship between sciences and

religion is
fascinating partly point in leading and
guiding
primary
argumentthe
to be
made here
is
The
people
to overcome
modern
identity
that the interaction between science and
crisis.
religion exhibits the same awkward tension
that strains the live as a whole. The sciencereligion relationship is by no means the only
manifestation of this awkward life confusion.
As a result, the systematic study of science
and religion is not unique in it is importance.

33

 Exploiting the analogy again, every crisis identity

symptom is a window of understanding onto the
underlying tension, and in many cases also an
The interaction
of science
and religion,
opportunity
for easing
it.

however, presents the tension between

the religious and science tendencies of
human life with interesting directness,
because of the contrast between the
spiritual and critical-technological
tendencies of human rationality
immediately evident there.

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