An Anthropocentric Perspective

A writing by G. P. Sindhunata in Sesudah Filsafat (Post Philosophy).

And here's another writing about what I've come to believe.

Stories of Man

Please kindly play the next video before you continue reading.

It has come to my attention that in my articles, I often quote questionable sources. For example, in Finding God’s Will, an article that is obviously about God, I quoted Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift. And in Encounters, an article that is about truly connecting to someone, I featured a cigarette commercial. This habit supposedly comes from my love for pop culture. However, as I have come to realize, that is not the sole reason. The other one is unexpectedly, my wholehearted love for the lives of Man.

Joe Dirt

In the comedy Joe Dirt, a movie about a man who’s trapped in a perpetual bad luck but stays positive and happy no matter what, there is a scene I adore the most. It is mostly a silent scene, and it went like this.

Joe Dirt, who worked as a janitor in a radio station, was mopping the hallway at night. Everybody had gone home and he was all alone. When he reached a room with the sign "BOILER ROOM" on its door, he stopped and looked around. Convinced that there was no one, he cautiously opened the door and stepped inside. Right then, we could see that it was secretly his living quarter. He had no money to rent a place so he turned the station’s boiler room into his home.

After closing the door, Joe Dirt sat on his bunk. He took two photographs that he kept on the table. They showed a blonde girl with her dog. We know the woman was not with him anymore because he was living alone. Yet we also know that she remained in his thoughts because of the way he kept the photographs.
Joe Dirt lied on his bunk...
He took a good look at the photographs...
He smiled for a while...
And then he went to sleep...

And all of this happened while Crash into Me by Dave Matthews Band (the video above) played in the background, undeterred by any sound because there was no dialogue.

I wish I could explain why the scene captivated me but I doubt if I can. I can tell you this, though. In what otherwise a loud, raunchy, and slapstick movie, I got to experience Joe Dirt in his silent moment.
And it was a sweet moment.

Movie moments like this stay in my heart. And they fill it up with warmth.

That’s also why I love the horror movie It. Not because it was a good horror movie, which of course it was, but because I love the protagonists, the children in the Losers' Club.

Their interaction with one another was so adorable… and familiar. You can’t help but feel for them. And the stuff they had to put through… oh God. They had to fight an ancient evil entity while they couldn’t even open a blocked door without working together. They were really just kids, who found strength in each other.

And have I mentioned the poem?

When one of the kids, Ben Hanscom, fell in love with the red-haired Beverly Marsh, who was also a member of the Losers' Club, he wrote a poem for her on the back of a postcard.

Beverly Marsh

Your hair is winter fire,

January embers.

My heart burns there, too.

It was the best poem I had experienced for a long time…



I friggin' love pop culture.

It's good.

And sometimes… sometimes, they capture moments... recognizable, familiar moments.

In the movie Before Sunrise, Celine said, “If there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between.” I used to foolishly take this almost literally. But now I picture it as His presence in the wake of life, our actions, struggles, feelings, about each other, and also our lone moments when we long, when we’re connecting to some... thing, whether it is a distant memory, or just the presence of our surroundings. He is there in the moments. Or if I may dare to quote another great movie, V for Vendetta, “God is in the rain.”

I usually end my writing with a long-thought sentence. However, it doesn’t feel right this time. I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll leave you with one of the best songs to hear in the lone moment, at least for me.

I hope you will always find your moments. And may them fill your heart.

Finding God's Will

There’s a story I once heard about a climber who climbed a mountain alone on a cold and moonless night. He climbed carefully because he almost couldn’t see. As expected from such a reckless action, at one point he slipped and fell. He didn’t go all the way down because he was still attached to a safety rope. Suspended in air, he thought about what to do. He couldn’t pull himself up because his arm was injured from the fall. He couldn’t cut the rope also because below him was a dark and bottomless pit.

For hours he did nothing. He was still thinking about the situation when suddenly a voice was heard. “Cut the rope and you will be fine,” said the voice. The climber was shocked. He turned his head around but he couldn’t find anyone. “Who is that?” he yelled. The voice didn’t answer; instead it said the same thing. “Cut the rope and you will be fine.”

The climber was perplexed. He was too scared to cut the rope. He tried to listen more but the voice was never heard again. He finally decided to ignore it. He spent the night suspended in freezing air, waiting for daybreak. The next day, people whom he was supposed to meet looked for him. They found him hanging, frozen to death, and only two meters above a steady rock. Had he cut the rope that night, he would have been saved.

The morale of the story is simple: listen to God’s will and you will turn out fine, do the opposite and hardships will surely follow, because after all God’s ways are not your ways.

In life, we are often faced with difficult options. They don’t usually concern ethics (which will surely make them somewhat easier to decide upon, such as to kill or not kill), and yet, they are important to us. Work problems, love problems are the commonest issues that usually involve this kind of options. Should I work here or there? Should I take a risk with her or go? Most often, there is no morally right or wrong value in these choices. They’re just options, and yet they affect us deeply. That’s why they are so hard to pick.

Dealing with such a situation, we may wonder what God’s take is on the matter. We may pray for Him to show His true will. We want His guidance. Just like the morale of the story, we don’t want to pick the wrong option, the wrong decision, the way He doesn’t want us to take. We refuse to be brought down to a path that leads us to bad consequences. We need the correct answer.


I used to think the same way, but for the last few years I’ve grown further and further away from the concept. The reason stems from my own personal experience. Unlike the story, the voice of God in my life, if there is any, has never been clear. He has never truly uttered a single word in my heart. Perhaps it is my fault, perhaps I sin too much or I don’t open my heart big enough, but still I have to admit that my questions usually go unanswered. It’s just like what the guy from the film The Island says when a clone questions about God: “You know—when you want something really bad and you close your eyes and you wish for it? God’s the guy that ignores you.” I don’t know what He wants in my situation. I’ve never heard Him say it. Sure, there are a lot of signs everywhere, but they so contradict each other that I think they are products of my own imagination. The voice of God is the sound of silence. I often feel lost and don’t know which way to go. And it is that kind of thought that used to make me very scared. I often thought, “If I’m a bad sheep who’s not able to hear His will, then how will my life go?” I feared that I would make a lot of wrong decisions and thus my life would be miserable. Had I just been able to hear Him, I would have gladly done what He said, but the fact was I couldn’t.


The experience drove me nuts until I decided to develop my own subjective truth. The story may be right for someone lucky enough to be able to hear God’s voice, but it is definitely not right for me. I even start to think of it as rubbish. The idea of God as a powerful being who likes to play guessing games with our happiness as stakes sounds ridiculous for me. I may not know who or what He actually is, but that seems a bit low... and off. The story stands on an assumption that life can only be good if it is done according to God’s will, and it can only be bad if it is not, while the will itself is a mystery. People who believe it and obviously don’t want to live a bad life will desperately try to uncover the mystery, regardless of its plausibility, and live accordingly.

But does it really work like that?

I don’t believe that that's the way life runs. The seemingly good choices don’t always make good consequences, and bad choices don’t always result in bad ones. Even a single choice can have various consequences at the same time, good and bad. Good things and bad things happen to anyone regardless of their choices. Everything is almost as if it is made out from chaos. And such a chaotic notion contradicts what the story’s trying to say. You cannot expect to find God’s will to make your life all good and happy. Bad things will always happen. Perhaps the whole point is not to guess which option is the one that God really wants. Perhaps it is about choosing one anyway and accepting all consequences that follow. Perhaps that’s also the reason why God always sits in silence no matter how hard I ask. God’s will is never really found standing behind the right option. Instead it stands with us - the persons who are trying to choose, willing for us to pick an option, live through it, and grow from learning to deal with anything that comes after.


When I first saw Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, I liked what the character Han told the character Sean. He said, “Life is simple. You make choices and you don’t look back.” The statement is an oversimplification. Letting go of the past is never simple. But still I think it aims at a good point. Life is not about making the right choices, because sometimes there are none. It’s about living anything we choose. Good things may happen and so may bad things. But we try to go through them anyway, making up answers as we go. Perhaps, only then will God’s will truly be served (if He did will us to grow and not just guess correctly because correct options didn't exist anyway). And perhaps, only then will our prayer turn into what the character Maria in the film Sound of Music says. It is not “God, show me the correct path so I can be all happy,” it is “For what we receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.” I think now all I can say to myself is just, "Pick a choice, live through it." If God does exist and is as loving as everyone says, He will be there all the time with me while I grow through the consequences.

Slapsgiving: an Interesting Sunday Mass Sermon

Matthew 5:38-48 (New International Version)

Eye for Eye

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This is a long overdue post, based on a sermon I heard weeks ago.
But in my opinion, it is still worth to write.

The priest opened the sermon by referring to the latest headline at the time, the occurrence of some religious persecutions in Indonesia. He said that it was hard to be a part of the minorities in this country, especially considering how powerless the government was against groups of religious fanatics who were free to roam and wreak havoc in the country, all in the name of a loving God.

“So based on the passage, what should we do?” he asked.

The Search of Reason

This article took weeks to reach its current state, which is only one-third (it still has a proper ending though).
To date, one of the hardest to write, perhaps due to it being somewhat holistic.
Don't know when it'll be finished. I've got a ton of papers to write.
One thing though, this whole 'writing a more serious philosophical-ish article' thing is not bad.

The Search of Reason

Reality

Infinity times infinity.
No words suffice.

The Fasting I Believe

I believe fasting is a free chosen act of soul searching, in which you deliberately place yourself in a deprived situation, which usually revolves around meals and sex, in hope of finding new insights about pain, self-limits, willpower, or even something of a spiritual origin, whether you believe it's something God puts you to do or not.

I believe fasting is something very private and personal, of which you are truly alone, connecting with your true self and the spiritual world.

I believe fasting is a matter that resides in your heart, where the planes of physical, mental, and spiritual realms collide in a harmonious chaos that is YOU.

I believe fasting is not an act caused by fear for all punishing and wrathful God, so much that you always feel threatened and ask everyone else to help you accomplish the task by limiting themselves according to your desire.

I believe fasting is not something you can take your pride from, and in arrogance empowered by the masses, used to go rampage in violent destruction, forcing anyone into closing their businesses and bowing down to your restrictions, even when they don’t share the same faith, which is easily described by a popular-seemingly-harmless-actually-troubling-saying, ‘respect the people who are fasting’.

(this does not say that I don’t respect anyone who is in the middle of a fast, it’s just they don’t get to ask me that, let alone command it)

I believe fasting is not a matter of changing the outside world to match your inner child’s spoiled desires; a thing that is apparent in situations such as the annual increasing amount of delicious food types for sale, ironically right at the time of fast, and the rise of appeals to the local government to close all food joints during fasting hours.

in short,

I believe fasting is an act of seeing inside,

and not of judging outside.

May the fasting we all do, bring us nothing but good things.

NOSTRA AETATE

A friend of mine once told me why he stayed Catholic. He said that for one, the Church allowed him to freely search for the truth.

He’s got some point.

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (or popularly known as the Second Vatican Council) passed a declaration on 'the relation of the Church with non-Christian religions' in 1965. It is known as Nostra Aetate (Latin, translated as ‘In Our Age’).

What does it say?

Well, you can decide it for yourself.

Leaving Your Sins: A Horrible Sunday Mass Sermon

Luke 9:57-62 (New International Version)

The Cost of Following Jesus

57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59He said to another man, "Follow me."
      But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

In today’s mass the passage was about… well, you can read it yourself. Most sermons I’ve heard about this passage were helplessly chaotic. That’s why I decided to write the sermon I heard today. Guess what? It took on a wholly chaotic way, no different than before or even worse.

The Beauty in Christianity

One fundamental thing in Christianity is the thought of 'God gives Himself to Man'.

A common interpretation involves Jesus, who is 'God giving Himself to Man', sacrificing Himself to erase the sins of Man and buy them back from evil with His blood.

This thought, as expected, becomes the source of joy for most Christians, because it is considered that even though we are flawed beings, God is willing to go through all the trouble to save us.

Unfortunately, this very thought also tragically destroys the value of creations, especially Man as God’s image,

Why Kneeling When Praying?

Karl Rahner, SJ

Yes, it’s a very stupid question.
Most people will just answer, “Does it matter?”

But do you know that the answer of this very question helped Karl Rahner (a respected theologian) explain his solution to one of the hardest problems in theology, the connection between sacraments and grace?

The Great Scribbles

Everyone who knows me well can tell right away how’s my attitude towards religion. The word ‘careful’ will be the least powerful term to describe my stance; for most of the time I either hate it, or pay no attention to it.

Yeah, I know that for some people religion is:
- the only way to live life
- the only way to salvation
- the only way to God

Well, I used to think the same way.

But then I started to think that religion is NOT the only way, but rather A way among many other ways.

And now, as I get older, I think religion is NOT the way.

Yep.

Religion along with its scriptures is NOT the way at all.

Doubts in Faith: A Beautiful Sunday Mass Sermon

John 20:24-31 (New International Version)
Jesus Appears to Thomas
 24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
      But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
 30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In today’s mass, the passage was about Thomas. Most sermons I’ve heard about this passage took on Thomas as the antagonist. His doubt was despised and considered a sin. That’s why I decided to write the sermon I heard today. It took on a wholly different take.

Gabor Arkangyal

Gabor Arkangyal

Picture description
Gabor Arkangyal means archangel Gabriel. I don't know much about him other than God favors him the most. He is surprisingly the leader of the favored four, not archangel Michael as a lot of people believed.
A friend of mine knows him a lot more than I do. Maybe he'll write about it sometimes.

The picture is based on a statue of him in the center of Budapest.

Old Post: I Hate Religious Fanatics!

I found these old posts from my no-longer-existing-blog when I was cleaning my hard drive. I thought it would be interesting to post them again and add some commentaries.

God, I hate religious fanatics! especially those who always put a smile on their faces when they listen or talk to people. I feel like smacking their heads off just to wipe off those smirks. They think they're better than everyone else while their thoughts are super-shallow and stupid. I may not know everything, but at least I don't consider myself better than anyone else. Let alone accepting appraisals like some holy men.

God, I really hate religious fanatics!

COMMENT
I still do.

The Great Darn Thing

Three days ago my father had this seminar about marriage in church. He had told me to come because I asked a question earlier, and he was interested to hear the answer. I didn’t go, but that’s not what I’m about to talk about.

This question is.

“Why the hell does the Church have to have anything to do with marriage?”

The DANGEROUS Group

Can you guess what group it is?
It has the following characteristics:

The Stages of Religion and Being Religious

I divide religion and being religious into two stages:

Conceptual ------------ Beyond Conceptual

Furthermore, I divide the conceptual stage into two more stages, Early and Late, changing the description above to become:

Early Conceptual --- Late Conceptual ------------ Beyond Conceptual

Now, how do they differ from each other?
I have made a table to answer that.

Aw… The Irony (a note about Gus Dur and St. Albertus church)

Gus Dur’s death on December 30th 2009 raised much of public appraisal frenzy. Everyone just went on and on about how he had been such a devoted pluralist, naming him The Father of Pluralism, and even went as far as campaigning him for national hero and December 30th for pluralism day.

All of this people-suddenly-get-interested-in-pluralism never seized to amaze me.

WOW.

I didn’t know you all considered pluralism to be a good thing.
I didn’t know you loved pluralism so much.
Hell, I thought you condemned it, thinking it as a bane in a utopia society you’ve always dreamed of.

Besides, a church in Bekasi was burned down on December 15th and you just forgot about it, right?
It's just not worthy enough to address, right?
So I guess it’s “let us all devote ourselves to pluralism but neglect burning down a church an issue”, right?

And to have it just for wacky reasons such as "the statue of Mary was so big, the taste of Christianity was considered too much to handle" is just overwhelming...
It's a church! What did you expect to be inside, a big statue of SpongeBob?
Surely, you can't keep silent about this!!

Pluralism my ass, please stop desecrating the memory of God-bless-him-renaissance-man-Gus-Dur with your mumbo jumbo.
Besides, he wouldn't be a hero if you all loved pluralism just as he did.

Stupid, Just Stupid

I have my own stand on religion thank you very much.
So a stupid question like this makes me wonder about Man’s supposedly better brain.

“Why do you always question your religion?”

I am very sorry, but truth be said, it would be very difficult to find a dumber question than that; especially when it is followed with a just-as-stupid remark.

“Just accept it! I do. That is why it is called FAITH.”

God! Sometimes I don't believe You made Man by your image!
No wonder we still hurt each other for the sake of our fucked fucking religions.

First of all, I believe that FAITH is a response from Man to God’s touch.
And since I appreciate God so much, I try to respond with everything I’ve got.
And that includes this beautiful brain of mine.
I can’t just wear a particular outfit or eat something because the supposedly holy book says so.
No!
I have a God-given ratio. I have the wonderful ability to think.
And if I want to find the TRUE God, I will use it in my favor.

“But, Man can’t reach God through logic or ratio or thoughts.”

Yes, I agree with that.
I’m mostly agnostic remember?!!
Maybe I can’t use my so called logic or ratio or thoughts alone to reach God.
Maybe I still need that leap of faith.
But surely as hell (pun intended), I can use it to DISCARD all the idiotic things therein religion.

My brain gives me recognition of what lasts and what doesn’t.
It gives me the ability to differ what really matters and what doesn’t.
Using it, I can see what’s important and relevant; and what’s not.

Clothes, food, postural position, or anything dumb and only come from some traditional cultural heritage is not going to get any-fucking-one to God.
NO IT WON’T!
Awareness does, Love does, Humanity does; but not those stupid ways.
I can’t see how wearing a piece of cloth is MORALLY better.
I can’t see how eating some kind of food has any MORAL values.
I can’t see how arranged postures in prayer are in any way KIND!

They have no MORAL values!
You can’t say those actions are kind, can you?
It’s like saying that my dog is kind because he’s got brown fur. WTF??
It's plainly moronic to consider doing such actions makes you a good person!

Have you seen anyone poor get fed or anyone sad got comforted by it? Let alone will it take you to a higher conscious self of yours!

Stop being stuck with it you stupid people! Wake up and be free! Stop hurting each other for things so vaguely unimportant. I wouldn’t kill anyone who says my dog is light brown because I think he is dark brown, would I?

Wake up and see the real world, Stupid!