God’s Religion

Nowadays, we know that amongst 6,5 billion people that lived on earth, most of them have some kind of religious system or spiritual believe which they hold dearly. We know those religion by several name; such as Christianity (Roman Catholic and Protestant alike), Islam (either Sunni or Syiah), Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, Zen…u name it!), Hinduism, Confucianism, Judaism, and so, and so. Most of them – the believers or the faithful ones – have something in common; which, if I’m not mistaken; most of them are believe in the Divinity – God, Allah, Jesus, Khrisna, Brahma, Buddha, Thian – u name it – as an All Powerful entity which created us all, human being, that walketh the earth.

From my childhood, I’ve been told (or educated, or indoctrinated, whatever) that among the religion that we know lived on earth ( I said it ‘lived’ – because religion, whatever abstracts the words mean, ‘lived’ through the heart and the life of its followers) could be divided into two main catagories; religion or believe system that ‘made by God in Heaven’ and religion or believe system that ‘made by Philosophers on Earth’. One have been stamped ‘made in Heaven’ and the other are stamped ‘made on Earth’. For example; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam categorized as ‘made in Heaven’ – and Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism categorized as ‘made on Earth’.

Is this true? That we could categorized those belief system unto only two of its kind? Well, since when I’m received ‘this lesson’ am still a child, a very young one, I couldn’t figure it out and accept those as a ‘simple an plain truth’ – just like I accept that earth is revolving the sun while rotating on its own without have to see it or prove it by myself (this fact is only known after Copernicus was born, and luckily I’m born long after he is gone). Just believe. Like most of us people believe everything that been told by our parents when we’re young and ‘mindless’ (mind me, I don’t want to say that when we are human still young at age we don’t have a mind).

Just like I accept the existence of God (I’ve been told that His name is Allah, not Jahwe, Jesus, Father, or Brahman) as a Supreme Being and the Only Great Creator of Everything without have to see it by my own eyes to believe it. Whenever I ask, “where is Allah” various answers given by my parents or my teachers. Some said, “Allah is resting on His Throne, up there in Heaven”, and some said that “Allah is lies deep within your own very heart”.

At that time I couldn’t figure it out how a Single Entity, The Most Exalted of All, could reside both at His Throne in Heaven and in my own very heart also in the same time. I just thought that maybe Allah has put an invisible telephone in my heart – and everybody’s heart – so on the same time He could resting on His Throne whilst He listens to our prayers. And since the world is round and we have different time zones in every part of the world, I thought, at every second in His time He must have been listening to human’s wish and prayers. He doesn’t sleep, He just listens – because whenever there is light in other part of the world, it is night at the other part. At every second, we ‘speaks’ to God via the invisible telephone in our heart.

God, I thought He must be have thousand and billions of angels serving Him everytime, pick up the telephone line and listening to human’s prayers. Since He is Single, and ‘He looked like us’ (my teacher use to say that God has created us ‘according to His own image’) so He must be have only two ears to hear just like us human being. If He doesn’t employed those angels to help Him listens, how could?

Ok, so at that time I just figure it out that I – a young kid that walk on earth - could speak to Allah The Most High who Resting on His Throne in Heaven – everywhere, everytime, simple by just looking at my heart, dial the number, and speak thru the mic. Yea, right.

The other question that bothers me the most are the differentiality of human’s religions, its kind, its own gods, its systems, its category. Like I said before; one made in Heaven and one made in Earth. I remember the time when I want to buy a Canon Digital Camera – I search thru the internet discussion forum and I found out that for the same type of camera that I look for, they have two kind of product; one is made in Japan, and the other is made in China. Guess Canon divided its factories or manufacturing processess between Japan and China. So most people – while they understand clearly that this camera is made by the very same company, made exactly according to the very same design and specification, and have the same type and ability – always want to search for the one that ‘made in Japan’ because they believe (or supposedly I said that they ‘belief’) that the one bears the ‘Japan’ have higher quality then the one that bears the ‘China’ mark.

I remember the scene in ‘Armageddon’ (the movie, which features Liv Tyler and his father, Aerosmith…I just want to sing, “am leaaaviiing on the jet plaaane…” oh, Liv…) when the Russian cosmonaut banging the instrument on NASA’s plane while screaming, “everything that build by Russian, American, whatever – are made in Taiwaaan!” true to the very bones of it, mind me? Nowadays almost all factories – for example, Nokia of Finland and Mattel of America – have its own China’s factories as their centre of productions. And they built it big. And…they pay it cheap. God, I love capitalism (didn’t China said that they are communist-socialist country? Hmm…maybe am wrong about this. What do you think?)

So, one is marked ‘Heaven’ and one is marked ‘Earth’. Hmm, maybe God want to sub contract His work to the Philosophers of Earth – like I said before, if He is created us ‘according to His own image’, so, I see no reason why when His both hands are full, He appointed some ‘helping hands’ to help Him. God, I love this analogy.

Just like those big multinational company nowadays – they sub contract their administrative and IT works to India, and they moved their production/manufacture works to China. Only left the headquarters and management office in their own country. I see no reason why God couldn’t do the same. Whenever the ‘belief system’ being manufactured – whether on Earth or in Heaven – I belive that it bears the same ‘hidden’ marks, ‘made by The One and Only God of all Nation’. Same creator, only different locations.

So, you ask me – at least that whats am imagining right now – if the same God who creates all religion or belief system, why the differentiality? Well, maybe this is the answer – He employs different people from different nations. In Israel (or, better I said, Egypt) He choose Moses to do His works. In Israel he choose King Solomon, King David, and finally – Jesus. In Arab He choose Muhammad. In China He choose Confucius. In India He choose Siddharta Gautama a.k.a. Buddha. It is very natural for every ‘prophet’ to speak according to their own languanges; it is not natural for Jesus to speak Chinese or for Confucius to speak Hebrew. Different nations, different languanges, different customs, different ages – because time/space continuum IS a dimension – it is ‘fourth dimension’.

People tend to give name of a product according to the name of its creator, or where it originated, or something that has been associated with it – or so I belived. Judaism, the name of Jewish religion – named after the people of Judah tribe, the tribe of Israel. Hindu named derived from the place called ‘Indus’ valley, nowadays we called it India. Jesus came from Nazaret, so at the first time the Christian people are called ‘The Nazarean’. The word Christianity came from the word Kristos in Greek, which is translation from the word ‘Messiha’ (or Mesias) in Hebrew-Aramaic. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christos, Joshua the Messiach. Buddhism taken from the word Buddha, a.k.a the name of Lord Siddharta Gautama after he is been enlighted. The name of Islam taken from the word ‘salaam’ in Arabic, which means ‘peace’.

Although the message came from, or originated from, the same own very source, God – because the message has been ‘manufactured’ in different locations around the globe – certainly it will have its own ‘marks’. People who followed Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, have the same ‘father’ of faith – Abraham (or Avram, or Ibrahim). And yet, the followers of the same father Abraham are having the most bloodiest fight in history. You name it – Inquisition, Crusades, Jihad, whatsoever – and the latest are happening in Gaza strip between Hamas (follower of Muhammad) vs Israel (follower of Moses). Whether Muhammad or Moses, both of them are descendant of Abraham (Ibrahim). Muhammad came from Hasyim tribe of the Arabian, which is believed are descendant of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Moses came from the Juda or Jew tribe, which is believed are descendant of Isaac, which is the son of Abraham also. Basically they are brothers – same father, different mother (this story teach me to reconsidering and rethinking about polygamy – we don’t want our grandchildren have bloodbath because they have different mother). Jesus is a Jew, so it is natural if he sides with Moses, because both of them came from the same Isaac link. Maybe this quarrel are fight between Hagar (the mother of Ishmael) and Sarah (the mother of Isaac). Well, father Abraham have teach us one thing; a quarrel (or jealousy) between wives could inherited by their sons, and so, and so. Hmhm. (hey, no offense, this is just a joke! Am not serious…)

Well, at least that is what am thinking about difference of religion and what cause it right now. I’m not always right, you know. After all this is only my very own humble opinion of religion whatsoever. You don’t have to feel offended because I don’t want to offend anybody. I just want to ‘speak it out loud and clear’ about my own thinking – and I believe that you, and anybody else in this world, have the same rights to speak their own mind. We could choose to listen or not; or just thought that whoever writes this must be a very crazy degraded man who suffer mental illness, so you don’t have to feel offended anymore. After all, I’am still like to watch Dragon Ball movie at my age – which is 30 years past already…

Maybe you say that I’m simplified things. They have sooo many difference in their belief system; how could you say that they (the message that brought by the prophets of history as we know them) are came from the same source?

Well, my answer is this : you know Linux? When Linus Torvald (peace be upon him) created Linux, he created it from an ancient languange or hidden knowledge of programming : Unix. But he created it ‘open source’! (not like Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, I wonder – can you crack the I-Phone yet without making it a very expensive plastic brick?). So, while Bill Gates an Steve Jobs ‘protected’ their source for whatever reasons imaginable (mostly money matters, I think), Linus Torvald ‘opened’ it – so anybody could develop Linux into something else – so now we know there is Red Hat Linux, Linux Suse, Lindows, and so, and so (and we may develop it if we have the ability). Basically, Linus Torvald is a ‘Godlike’ person because he acts ‘like God’ – he gave the message, and he gave us the authority to develop it according to our own needs. He didn’t ask us any money for using Linux; just like God didn’t ask us any money for using earth, breathing the air, and enjoying the light. Do you think that The One that The Most High, The Most Exalted of All, still need any money?

God gave us, human, the ability to extend the knowledge and upgraded it, customized it, according to our own needs, habits, customs, nations, and others. While He created and own the source, He opened the source code so anybody could access it. I can, you can, and so anybody else. Certainly there is some kind of a ‘guide’ for anybody wish to ‘download the source code’ and ‘develop or upgrade it’. We may choose whichever ‘program’ that suits us – just like we may choose to use Redhat, Suse, Lindows, or Windows, or Mac OS – me and you (and anybody else) may choose their own religion – nobody could stopping you to choose Christianity or Islam or Buddhism or Confucianism or Hinduism or Communism or Capitalism or Atheism or even creating your own religion – it is in our own mind and heart. But in order to be able to do that, we need the ‘source code’ which is ‘hidden’ in every religion, deep down under the dogma and doctrines (because I believed that dogmas and doctrines are created later, as an ‘upgrade’ and ‘customization’ by human who have it own needs and wants. Who said we have to confess our sin to our local priest who spend his life in celibacy? Hey, the priests (and priestess) are only human just like us, a human being who need foods n drinks (n they have their own sexual needs also…the question is how long those priests could hold it before they turn to be a boy sodomist).

But, like I said before, there is certain ‘guides’ for us in order to be able to access it. Not everybody have abilities like Linus Torvalds, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs. But even those people (this big three) have to ‘learn’ to be able to be like that. Bill Gates didn’t born with Windows Vista package on his hands. He born just like us all – naked, and crying – and of course, without glassess – I believe its been added later in his life. So people like me, who don’t have any programming abilities or understand any programming languange – have to choose a kind of product that has been developed by somebody else to suit my needs. In my case, I choose Bill Gates’ product (I use Windows, mind you. What? Of course it is an Original version. I bought it 98 US Dollar. What a waste). My friend use Linux because he understand the programming languange and able to write programs – he is an IT officer – and because he found freedom in using Linux (and he didn’t like the idea of paying for something that he could created by himself. He always choose ‘shareware’ or ‘freeware’ if it is possible – always search and choose the free one before you opened your wallet – what a wise guy). Me? Am just a plain and simple guy who always having trouble to understand the difference of the binary code ‘10’ and the number 10 (ten). In this case, my prophet is ‘Bill Gates’, because I’m following him devoutly without question asked. In the term of operation system in my computer, of course, not in the term of my marriage life (in my marriage life, I prefer ‘Kamasutra’ as my ‘holy book’, not ‘windows vista for dummies’ as my guide).

So, if you don’t understand the ‘guides’, please don’t even try to change your registry in Windows (regedit.exe) because it could cause your computer crashed and soon you have to face serious problem. Believe me. Try it if you like. But you could never hold me responsible for executing my advice on your very own personal computer. After all, you don’t know me. Use it at your own risk.

Just like in religious life – everybody following their own prophets, priests, and teachers. That’s why we have soooo many differences nowadays – we only following other people’s product, and we don’t even try to digg it deeply beneath dogmas and doctrines to find the ‘hidden knowledge’ of God. And so, the people of Windows are fighting with the people of Linux – or, let me say it differently – the people of Muhammad are fighting with the people of Moses. If we could understand the roots of all religion, and master the ‘hidden knowledge’ within it, will we fight? I doubt so. We’ll just understand that people tend to have different choices because they have different needs and they just using different products, made by the same maker and designer. Will we force our own religion to others? I doubt so. Because what suits me well and fulfilling my needs maybe won’t suits you well because you have different needs. If I’m comfortable using Windows, my friend doesn’t – he still choose Linux because for him it is the best, give him freedom, and suits him well. Well, my other friend didn’t choose anything because he didn’t have any computers and didn’t believe in the miracle of internet. He still lived in the stone age. He eat only organic raw vegetables, he eat sushi, and he like his steaks raw, preferebly with some blood drop on it. Yucks.

Or, in other words, they are people around the world who didn’t choose to believe because they belief that every religion are made by certain human who created a certain belief-system to fulfill their own needs, whether if it is spiritually or materially. Some people believe that Muhammad is God’s prophets and His true Apostle, some believe that Muhammad just ‘creating’ a blend of Judaism and Christianity in order to uniting people of Arab and transform their power to be a new founded empire, an empire that once in the history able to rule one third of the world and kicks Persian and Roman Empire to their assess. My friend believe that Hitler was a prophet for German people, especially for the Aryan Race. Yea, prophet of doom (and prophet of racism), I said to him. Notes for my reader : I hate racism, I hate holocaust, and I hate what the Jews in Israel did with the child and women in Palestine. The abused becomes the abuser?

Whatever. After all, what is history but an acts of great people who once walk the earth?

Or, in my humble opinion – history is just a stories about great people who could access the ‘source code’ or ‘hidden knowledge of God’ and using it for their own or their nations’ needs’. Whether if it is for good or bad, I don’t know and I cant judge them – they like mountains and I’m just an ant who crawl on its surfaces, trying to figure out whats make them great and all powerful.

Before I end this discussion (or article, or monologues, whatever), let me bring back the first question that has been reflected on the title; what is God’s religion?

Well, I dare say – God is an atheist. Why? Because He didn’t worship anybody or anything. If He still have to worship somebody, anybody, He is not God Who Created All and The Most High. If He have to worship anything, it means that there is another authority above Him. And above Him there is no authority; He is The Only Authority ever existed.

But we, human being, are the ‘end user’ of a certain product – so we must bow before an authority, whether we likes it or not. Just like earth bows and follows to certain rules that keeps him (or her, if you like) flows in the vast ocean of universe. If earth have its own will – for instance, if earth able to ‘jump’ closer to the sun without warning – we’ll have doomed instantly. Earth have to follow the rules that has been written for it since beginning of time, or else it wont be able to contain lifes on its surface. Did earth have such a ‘free will’? I doubt so.

I believe there is such ‘thing’ (or entity) that created us all and the vastness of universe, and all the laws and all the power that dwells within it to ensure its survival. Some people call ‘it’ God – or Allah, or Father, or Brahman, or Heaven, or Jahwe – some people just call it as ‘It’ because we don’t know its real name; what we know is His name in our languange, human languange that lives on earth. I prefer to call it ‘The Force’. And the Force ‘didn’t play dice’.

So, which side are we on? Are we on ‘the light side of the Force’ or on the ‘dark side of the Force’?

You choose it carefully. Anyway, you must choose it wisely – because it will define who you are exactly. Whether if you are a true Jedi, or else…

(Padang City, West Sumatera, Indonesia – 11022009 – 16.07 GMT+7)