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What happened to all the religious values in Indonesia?
Ridwan Arif Nugroho , Tao Yuan , Taiwan | Fri, 02/29/2008 1:30 AM | Opinion
Indonesia has long been known as a religious country. Religious symbols are abundant in Indonesia. The number of mosques, Islamic schools, churches and other religious venues are on the rise.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Muslims perform the Haj pilgrimage. At a glance, we can conclude that the religiousness of Indonesians has increased over time, but is that really the case?
Transparency International reported last year Indonesia was still categorized as one of the world's most corrupt countries. Previous years' reports have shown more or less the same results.
Ironically, in the same year, a religion monitoring study for the Bertelsmann Foundation categorized Indonesians as among the most religious among 21 countries polled.
In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber states there is an elective affinity between Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism. It means that, as a consequence of accepting Protestant ethics, people are motivated to assume attitudes required to trigger the spirit of capitalism.
Both Protestantism and capitalism deal with the acquirement of a rational and systematic life. Protestant ethics emphasize the importance of having a positive attitude. Capitalism teaches us to limit our consumption so that part of our income can be invested. Although Protestant ethics do not solely account for capitalism, they do play an important role in its enhancement.
Now, let's take a look at the case of Indonesia. Indonesia, being a widely diversified country, has acknowledged the existence of more than one religion.
So how can Indonesia be so corrupt? Because religion in Indonesia does not contribute to civilized society.
One of the roots of all evil in Indonesia is the failure of our education system and, in particular, religious education.
There are at least three weaknesses in Indonesian religious education.
First, it emphasizes rituals and a formal, even legal approach.
Second, religious education emphasizes too much on the hereafter and, at the same time, neglects the importance of present, worldly concerns. As a result, we are not worldly-wise.
Third, religious education emphasizes too much on cognitive domain teaching methods. Religious education is taught and assessed in the same way as other subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Education methods should involve cognitive, affective and psychomotoric domains. The combination of these three domains is essential to the memorization, understanding and implementation of religious doctrine. Very often, our religious education does not allow enough for the importance of the psychomotoric domain. Consequently, the adherents of our typically cognitive method know much about religious teachings and dogma but fail to put their knowledge into practice in daily life.
This does not mean cognitive and affective domains are not important, but they should be complemented by the psychomotoric domain.
Moral education in Japan can be taken as a good model for success. The students in Japan are able to apply what is taught in the classroom to their daily lives. In Japan, students are taught about the importance of cleanliness and the application of these lessons can be found in Japanese school toilets. The toilets in their schools are always clean. While, in Indonesia, students are taught that "cleanliness is part of our iman (faith)". It is difficult to find clean toilets in our schools.
The method used by the late Ahmad Dahlan, founder of Muhammadiyyah, is also relevant to the present situation. He urged his students to practice the verses learned from the Koran in their daily life. He gave real examples on how Koranic verses could be transferred to real life.
Mother Theresa's teaching methods in Calcutta also proved to be effective. She did not preach from the Bible, but the fruit of her deep religious belief came in the form of her actions.
Another example of a successful religious educator is Master Cheng Yen, a Buddhist nun from Taiwan, who established the Tzu Chi Foundation in 1966. Conducting many charitable missions, including those aimed at promoting medical care, education and culture, the Tzu Chi Foundation has helped to build hospitals, schools, and has supported millions of volunteers wishing to serve selflessly throughout the world.
Ahmad Dahlan, Mother Teresa and Master Cheng Yen provide extraordinary examples of religion made to benefit others. Religion is supposed to solve problems, not cause them.
However, the way religious education is assessed should not be based solely on cognitive aspects.
A student who knows a lot about his religious teachings, but who does not practice what he knows in real life should not get good marks. Of course, this may be easier said than done, but the fact remains, without changing our teaching methods, religion will not play a significant role in the improvement of this country.
The writer, a teacher in Yogyakarta, graduated from the Graduate School of Education at Yokohama National University, Japan, and is now studying at the Graduate School of Applied English at Ming Chuan University, Taiwan. He can be contacted at ridwanarifnugroho@gmail.com.
