A long talk about religions.

I have always been interested in mythology. Since I was just a little kid. I don't know why, but gods have always fascinated me. Ha ha!

I think it all began with Disney's Hercules. It certainly was not the most accurate of the versions of the myth, but it was interesting all the same.

Oh wait, maybe not since Hercules. Maybe it was before. Ha, I remember now, I was religious, nearly a zealot, when I was a kid. I knew quite a lot about the stories in the Bible. For a kid, I mean.

But my point is, those mythologies are once religions too. Maybe they still are, I don't know. And what I've seen is that, I think, the myths/religions tells a lot about the people.

For instance, the Greek gods are pretty weird. They are by no means perfect. Sure, they couldn't die, and have superpowers, but their characters are just about as flawed as that of the humans who worshiped them. For example, Zeus was a womanizer, Hera was very jealous, Ares was a coward. And the stories tell even more weirdness, even more scandalous ones. There were orgies, rapes, incestuous relationships, castrations, cannibalism, slaughters and of course war. Pretty twisted up for divine beings, I think.

The Norse gods are different. They could die. Hey, Baldr did. But they still have superpowers. And their stories are, as far as I know, dominated by warfare. All the male gods are warriors. And there are lots of vicious mythological creatures which are violent in nature. To mention some of them, there are Jormungandr, Fenrir and Hel, which are Loki's children with the giantess Angrboda. This, too, is kind of weird for me, since Loki is a shape-shifter, and Angrboda is, well, a giantess, while Hel is half-woman/half-corpse, Fenrir is a huge wolf, and Jormungandr is a gigantic serpent.

The Aztec deities are unique too. Most of their antics was quite mundane. You know, like using body parts of a dead monster to create the universe and such. But one thing I'd like to say here. The Aztecs practice rituals that are gruesome by modern-day standards. They sacrifice men and women atop high pyramids, and let the sacrificees' (Is it the right word? I don't want to use the word 'victim') blood flow down the stairs and dye the earth red, while the remains (I suppose you can call them 'corpses' or worse, 'carcasses') were eaten. By the people. Oh, and my favorite Aztec god, Xipe Totec. I forgot the story, but in any case, he was flayed (for those of you who doesn't know, it means 'skinned'). And afterwards, he wears his flayed skin. A bit redundant, I think, but it's still pretty cool. The Aztec drawings of their gods are by far my favorite depictions of gods. I personally like drawings of Xipe Totec (of course), Quetzalcoatl and Mictlantecuhtli. Look them up if you're interested.

As for the other gods, I think they are weird too. I mean, some of the Egyptian gods have heads of animals. The Hindu gods mostly have additional appendages. And that's just their appearances. Their characters and exploits are of course far more interesting and fun.

But my point is, again, these myths, these stories, were once (or still are) religions. They are the people's views of gods.

But nowadays, most people seem to believe differently. I am talking, of course, about monotheism. It is as if those gods were integrated into one Being, and that Being was stripped away of the more unwanted traits. Leaving an omnipotent, benevolent Deity.

Do you see what I see? We can see religions evolving through time. At the time of our ape-like ancestors, they were still quite savage and fearsome. Thus, their gods were fearsome spirits too. The Norse are a warlike people, and so are their gods. At Greece, there were diverse cultural practices, hence the various antics of the gods. The Mesoamericans believed in freeing the spirits from their fleshy prisons, so they sacrificed people and eat them, and their gods do so too. The Muslims are, for me, a bit confusing. Allah is both all-condemning and all-forgiving. Some hippies believe that Jesus is a peaceful guy, while Hitler views Him as a persuasive and tough leader.

You see? I see religions as human creations. We shape our own images of God. That is not to say that God is a product of man. I am just saying that we 'understand' God differently, according to our culture and influences upon us. And no one has the right to force his model of God upon another.

And what is my image of God?

That is a story for another time.

Futility

Hi. Once more, I am writing about you.

We did hang out today. With her. Like when at your place.
Had lunch. Watched that movie.
Browsed the bookstores.
I accompanied you to your car.
I had fun.

But once again, you left me feeling confused.
Do I have a chance?
I know, we are going to the same university.
I know that we are friends. Quite close ones, too.
What difference does it make?
What advantage does it give me?

In the movie, there was that line.
I don't remember it exactly. It was only mentioned twice. By Napoleon Bonaparte.
But I think I got the gist of it.
It was about being reluctant to confess for fear of ruining the friendship.
BLAST!
I don't know if you noticed.
I don't know if you felt it too.
Heck, I still don't know whether you know.
But I felt weird. You know, awkward and so.
Very accurate. Straight to the heart.
Exactly my feelings. Precisely my fear.

And you don't even read my blog!

Since when did I become like this?!
Where did that arrogance, that pride go?
Where is that confidence now?

I have always wanted to live free.
Free of fear, free of worries.
Free of attachments.

My dear,
You have successfully conquered me.
You have bound me.

And I,
I really, REALLY wish I could say this to your face.

Love.

Millenium Falcon. Judul ini engga ada hubungannya sama isi post ini.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

BOSAAAAAAAN!!!

Ha waktu sekolah gw males banget, pengennya libuuur aja. Sekarang pas libur malah ga tau mau ngapain. Cih. Kenapa begini?? Memang manusia itu susah puas.

Lalu? Ngapain dong gw??? Oke gw akan membahas perbudakan. Buset berat amat ya?

Tapi engga kok. Serius. Ini mungkin lagi terjadi di lingkungan lo, bahkan mungkin di rumah lo sendiri. Mungkin, lho.

Gw kemaren ke tempat sepupu gw. Anak cewek, masih kecil sih, palingan juga SD kelas 5 ato 6. (Oke gw tau gw bukan sepupu yang baik, umur sepupu sendiri lupa.) Sebut aja namanya Arwen (oke mungkin agak berlebihan buat nama samaran, tapi ya sudahlah). Nah dia kan ada pembantu rumah tangga-selanjutnya kita sebut PRT biar hemat tempat dan tenaga gw ngetik-sama kayak sebagian besar keluarga di Jakarta lah. Nah gw ngeliatnya itu, kayaknya dia kalo mau sesuatu itu nyuruh PRT itu. Nyuruh, merintah, gitu. Bukan minta tolong.

Dan ibunya juga sama! Ibunya kalo ngomong ke si PRT itu ngomongnya "Ani (nama samaran juga)! Kamu siapin tasnya Arwen ya!" Trus, kalo si PRT ini bikin salah, marahnya itu...gimana ya? Marah yang kayak merendahkan gitu, bukan marah yang konstruktif gitu lho. Trus kalo ketemu ibunya, yang mana adalah nenek gw sendiri, kalo ngomongin soal PRT juga pasti dengan nada yang engga enak, seakan-akan PRT itu engga melakukan kewajibannya sebagaimana mestinya. Engga berkelakuan sesuai statusnya sebagai PRT, gitu.

Pendeknya, mereka memperlakukan PRT seakan-akan PRT itu tergolong dalam kelas sosial yang lebih rendah dibanding mereka. Dan gw ngeliat ini sebagai perbudakan. Biarpun digaji, tapi kalo diperlakukan kayak gitu, gw rasa sama aja kayak budak.

Yah tapi mungkin emang peradaban begitu kali ya? Kalo kita liat film 300, kan ada yang bagian si Leonidas nanya "What is your profession?" Orang-orang Arkadia-nya jawab pandai besi lah, pematung lah, penjunan lah. Kalo orang Sparta? "Auuugh! Auuugh! Auuugh!" yang maksudnya adalah mereka itu profesinya emang sebagai prajurit. Dan apa yang memungkinkan mereka fokus dalam profesi mereka sebagai prajurit? Budak. Budak lho. Para orang Sparta itu udah hidupnya udah diurusin sama para budak, jadi ada waktu luang untuk meningkatkan diri di bidang macem-macem. Latihan perang lah, ke sekolah lah, dan sebagainya. Dan ini engga berubah sampe sekarang.

Ngerti engga? Gw ngeliatnya itu, demi satu orang supaya bisa mencapai seluruh potensinya, perlu beberapa orang untuk ngurusin kebutuhannya. Dan menurut gw ini masalah. Jadinya cuma sebagian kecil manusia yang bisa makmur.

Jadi apa solusinya? Kalo menurut pandangan gw yang idealis dan mungkin kelewat utopis, ya semua orang mikirin dirinya sendiri. Tapi ini engga akan berhasil selama masih ada perusahaan sama pemerintahan sama birokrasi. Sistem kayak gitu pasti selalu menang. Jadi, menurut gw, idealnya itu, semua hidup dengan damai dengan alam. Kalo perlu makan, metik buah ato berburu, tapi jangan bertani! Jadi, gw sebenernya mau kita balik jadi hunter-gatherer. Soalnya kayaknya itu yang paling damai dan alami.

Yah, tapi, sekali lagi, ini utopia gw. Kemungkinan besar ga akan tercapai sih. Dan gw rasa juga kayaknya dikit orang yang mau.

Mungkin suatu hari gw bakal bikin komik soal ini. Jadi, gw minta dengan sangat, jangan curi ide saya! Yahahahahaha!!!