Name : Adi Setiawan

Major : Mechanical Engineering

Summary Religion

Religiosty

A Word about attitude: The goal of an academic course in religiosity is not to undermine
religious faith but to provide a larger historical, social, philosophical, psychological, political,
literary context by which to gain richer insight into your own spiritual life as well as the
pervasiveness and variety of religion in general throughout human civilization.

The academic study of religiosity challenges the student to develop the qualities of openness,
honesty, critical intelligence, careful reading and listening, critical tolerance, responsibility
for community service and community development ( Ways of Being Religious by Gary E.
Kessler, pp. 4-6 (Mayfield Publishing).

 Openness means that, as a student of religiosity, you should welcome evidence that you
might be wrong.

 Honesty means that you recognize and understand your biases and are constantly mindful
of them.

 Critical intelligence means analyzing and synthesizing information. It means that arguments
supporting a particular conclusion are carefully examined for logical consistency and
evidence is examined for reliability. The ability and willingness to question is crucial in the
search for truth.

 Careful reading and listening means to read and listen for hidden meaning. But it also
means to not read more into a statement than is implied.

 Critical tolerance seeks to balance sympathetic understanding with critical intelligence.

This is not an easy balancing act. As Anne Landers once wrote: "Don’t be so open minded
that your brains fall out."

 Responsible for community service and community development means the student both
individually and in group do contribute to the society by doing community service as will be
reported as well at the end of semester.
The balancing act:

A mature, academic approach to religiosity is a balanced view which recognizes, accepts and
appreciates which is of value in religions even while questioning biased preconceptions and
looking past some of the questionable and negative aspects of religion. Do not be overly
critical but do not take it for granted (by blind faith) either.**

RELIGIOUSITY- SPIRITUALITY (Beyond Religion)

1. Term and meaning

Let’s have a try to be enlightened for the meaning of the term in religion used in
practice. First of all, Religion may in fact be systems of symbols that establish people
spiritually both individually and collectively spiritually, and at the same time make
them seem realistic.
2. Religious or Spiritual
Being Pierre Teilhard de Cardin has put the famous quote, “We are not human beings
having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience”.
This quote may put everyone in line either to prove or to get answer. It is true that
people find fulfillment on earth by having a full of living and so a balanced of life. It
means that people try to get in harmony between physical, mental, emotional needs
and spiritual ones. Neglecting our physical needs will cause us to feel sick all the
time, to the point where the mind cannot think straight, we feel bad, and our spirit will
suffer because the body is the temple of the spirit. Neglecting our emotional needs
will cause us to manifest diseases in our bodies, think cynically towards others, and
our spirit will suffer because we are not living in alignment with our feelings.
3. Religion As a Cultural System1
Any attempt to speak without speaking any particular language is not more hopeless
than the attempt to have a religion that shall be no religion in particular Thus every
living and healthy religion has a marked idiosyncrasy. Its power consists of its special
and surprising message and in the bias which that revelation gives to life. The vistas it
opens and the mysteries it propounds are another world to live in; and another world
to live in--whether we expect ever to pass wholly over into it or not--is what we mean
by having a religion.
4. Religion as A Unitary System
Cultural concentration has identified religion as a human experimental phenomenon.
This branch of philosophy explains religion as a set of cohesive sets of beliefs to the
Divine Principle that overcomes the universe (Koentjaraningrat, 1988). The
anthropological study of religion mentions a set of beliefs which later emerge in a
system of symbols that are accepted by all parties and unite its followers in a religious
community.
5. Religion as A Communication of Commitment
The term commitment becomes something commonly used in the practice of living
every day. Foreign language dictionaries translate the word 'commitment' as
fulfillment of promises, stick to a predetermined 'value' (Hassan Shadily, John Echols,
1996). Commitment becomes the attitude and tendency of the human heart to seek
realization. Commitment at the same time points to continuous effort, namely the
process of staying on what is a 'belief'. The commitment also 17 points to a round and
firm attitude not shared until the end. Commitment, is not yet an end result but a self-
dynamic towards something. The main principle or credo of each religion is "carrying
out His law and avoiding His prohibitions". The religious community performed
phenomenally through the following things
• Treatments such as the practice of worship and rituals, making offerings
directed at the Divine Principle and at the same time being a religious citizen
celebration.
• Attitude in the form of respect and fear of "the above" and sacred assumption
• Statements in the form of provisions and laws of teachings as well as
formulations of sentences that are considered sacred and full of power because
they are accepted as Divine Words which are revealed to humans through the
prophetic of the Founder. • Religious leaders who have certain authority to their
citizens.
• The Holy Place is a sign of the presence of the Divine and is also a gathering
place for religious communities to perform rituals and worship.
 6. Religion and Science2m

The development of the world and contemporary human society in the field of religion and
science presents its own problems. The following four characteristics of thought mark the
duality of religion and science.

 a. Conflict between religion and science

 b. Dialogue between religion and knowledge science
 c. Integration between religion and science
 d. Religion and science are interdisciplinary and independent

A. WHEN THE SCIENCE MEETS RELIGION

The typology of the relationship between science and religion produces cash colors. Religion
originates from absolute norms (perennial knowledge) and it is deductive in nature so that the
truth is irrefutable, while the nature is based on empiric logic (logico-hepotetiko-verified)
which goes from empiric phenomena inductively developed through laboratories and
producing acquired knowledge. This fact has an impact in subsequent developments when
people try in religion and science (knowledge) to build hegemony of truth over the style of
human life and become a marker of 'pillars' of contemporary human life. Model or typology
of relations between religion and science according to Barbour (2000) is as following:

Religion and science conflict : There is only one option either religion or science as figured
bellow.

1. Science replaces Religion

2. Religion replaces Science

B. Religion and Science Dialogue

The model or typology of science and religion shows an inseparable relationship, there is a
dialogue between the two as figured out below.

There is an effort to have green line between the two sides. Steve, Bishop, in “A typology for
science and religion’ Evangelical Quarterly (2000) proposes a way of dialog between the two.
The author starts with a way on defining the science. What is science? What makes science
scientific? Contemporary development in scientific philosophy has determined the fact that
there is no definite and different Principle considered as scientific method. The difference
between science and not science doe not appear as an absolute point as well.

C. Harmony - Integration between knowledge and religion

There is an integrated and comprehensive approach between religious institutions and science
or science. This approach was used by Ari Ginanjar Agustian (1996) to explain "intellectual
intelligence" (IQ), "emotional intelligence" (EQ) and "spiritual intelligence" (SQ). The level
of science helps humans to hone their intellectual abilities, and build their human spirit. This
quality of self seems to get its integrity on spiritual intelligence. So someone's IQ is
characterized by intellectual ability, analysis and rationality; while EQ is characterized by the
ability to build commitment, loyalty, and strong will with a variety of life-giving feelings,
and SQ gives ultimate meaning. How to combine all three intelligences simultaneously and
harmoniously? Ari Ginanjar explains it in the following figure and suggest “God spot”

D. Religion and Science are interdisciplinary and independent

First of all departing from the recognition that religion and science have their own autonomy.
Religion and science each becomes separate 'science' disciplines. Religion bases its reasoning
on the principle of faith (revelation - Scripture), because the truth is believed; whereas
science bases its reasoning on reason - the principle of rationality. Then the second principle
of truth is based on common sense (Michael J. Himes, cs. 1996: 105-183).