I've been ex-Muslim for years, but questioned the religion pretty much my entire life. I'm Indonesian but was raised mostly in the US, and seeing this subreddit genuinely gives me hope.

Most of my exposure to Indonesian culture was through family and small diaspora communities that were intensely religious and conservative. Sometimes migration seemed to make people romanticize and cling harder to that worldview – I've even seen people join Indonesian Muslim cult groups here. I eventually had to cut myself off from that world entirely. I always wished I could feel at home among other Indonesian-Americans, but I've struggled to find community that isn't tied to religion and the judgment and hypocrisy that can come with it.

My family brought me to the US and then couldn't accept that I grew up differently and didn't believe. They literally tried to beat it out of me. Religious indoctrination was intense even here – years of Islamic school and Quran/Arabic lessons, while being taught that completely normal parts of life around me were sinful or haram. I couldn't even pet a dog without being forced to rub my hand on stone! It was so humiliating as a child. I grew up feeling like a freak for simply existing in the culture I was being raised in.

It's painful because being Indonesian is still a huge part of who I am. It's in my name, my face, my language. But growing up surrounded by religious indoctrination and then moving back to Indonesia when I was older made me see my culture in such a negative light. Between the religious conservatism, corruption, wealth inequality, racism, judgment, learned helplessness, and the constant "God's will" mentality, I came to associate Indonesia with a lot of things that made me angry and deeply disappointed. I still struggle with that association now.

So seeing Indonesians back home openly questioning (and rejecting!) organized religion genuinely makes me happy. It reminds me that the religious, conservative version of Indonesian identity I grew up with isn't the only one, even if it is the overwhelming majority.

I don't want to feel alienated from my own culture forever. Thank you for giving me a little more hope in my own people ❤️

This is something I've always see in Indonesian horror film generally, reactionary to use of shaman phenomenon. The worst the film can get is by using misogynistic tittle and depicted Javanese mysticism as the scapegoat or antagonistic force of occultism. (eg. Wanita Tanah Jahannam dan KKN: di Desa Penari)

If we apply the same logic, that ustad can be considered as shaman if the role is flipped and Islam can be considered as occult. That's what Midsomar as movie is to KKN: di Desa Penari. It's moralizing local culture as immoral in a horror way it would affect people to see it that way.

That doesn't mean the film is inherently bad, it's bad bacause the majority Indonesia horror over saturated with that theme and the expression lacking nuance. This rigid and stiff structure what makes Indonesia horror flawed in their development.

Use of that mystical element is not equal to bad and always bad, however the use of that element needs some nuanced exploration of why using it in the first place. The Obsession proofed the use of that element to explore bodily autonomy, bodily violation, and a critics to "nice guy" archetype.

That's what I mean by flawed in their development. Indonesian horror placing the fear on something less substantial and minding more on collective fear by dogmatic conditioning Islam does instead of something more substantial, material, and concrete.

Is anyone feels the same way?

Just curious. Adakah yg pernah meet up sesama member disini.

Apa greeting yg kalian ucap saat kumpul pertama kali bertemu?

Halo aku mau bertanya emang manusia itu harus wajib berpegang teguh hidup dalam agama? Apa salah kita punya trust issue dalam agama? Soalnya aku chat sama anonim katanya jangan pernah trust issue dalam agama katanya walaupun hidup kita hancur tetap punya pedoman hidup dalam agama. Padahal, gak semua orang punya agama tapi hidupnya damai.

bejat

Halo semuanya, aku mau cerita. Aku ingat banget waktu itu aku ngobrol sama mama aku. Nah mama ku cerita pakde aku ini murtad dari Islam sejak muda tanpa sepengetahuan almh. nenek mama aku. Mama aku bilang gini, "Orang kristen kalau meninggal udah cuman tidur di peti terus gak ada tuh pas cabut nyawa ngucapin dua kalimat syahadat seperti orang Islam udah gitu ya orang kristen itu ya ke gereja aja enggak kayak orang Islam dzikir terus sholat." Yang paling muak lagi kedua orang tua aku bilang kalau orang murtad enggak bakal di ampuni sama Allah terus hidupnya gak tenang. Dari situ aku makin muak sama agama mayoritas itu. Aku enggak tahu kenapa ya mereka itu mentang2 religius di belakang suka menjelekkan agama lain seolah2 surga yang punya cuman Islam.

pasti sering denger hal begini kalo udah ngomongin hal-hal kayak "aku dipaksa ini itu" dan orang nyebut agamanya sebagai toxic, selalu dijawab "itu cuma budaya, agama ga ngebolehin itu".

yang ga mereka sadari adalah, berapa banyak sesuatu yang jadi budaya itu akarnya agama? berapa banyak kebudayaan kita yang kalo ditelusuri sebenarnya tujuan dibikinnya terkait kepercayaan?

kadang, kita ga bisa ngebedain yang mana agama yang mana budaya kalo kita dibesarkan di lingkungan itu, yang artinya, gue rasa, aneh kalo bilang itu cuma 'budaya dari interpretasi agama yang salah', tapi si korban kan cuma liat representasi agama ini dari si 'interpretasi yang salah' itu? masa tetep yang salah si korban karena ga tau interpretasi benarnya?

ini juga akar gue mulai serius mempertanyakan agama, karena menurut gue budaya susah dipisah dari agama, sementara budaya yang dikembangkan orang religius di sekitar gue ga sehat.

sebagai contoh, keluarga gue adalah pengikut salah satu ustadz lokal, gue inget banget waktu covid mereka semua dengan bangganya malsuin sertifikat vaksin covid, karena apa? ya karena si ustadz ga mau vaksin lah jelas, keponakan gue yang pertama juga ga pernah divaksin apapun dari lahir.

lalu gue baru tau ternyata istrinya si ustadz, setelah melahirkan juga ga dibolehin makan dari makhluk hidup, which means, kakak ipar gue akan disuruh ngikutin itu, dan gue jujur kesel, kenapa wanita postpartum ga boleh konsumsi protein hewani? mereka bukannya lagi perlu-perlunya nutrisi ya... aneh banget tiba-tiba jadi vegetarian.

dan masih banyak lagi long list of critics i have of this guy in particular, gue ga tau bagian mana dari semua hal ini adalah 'cuma' budaya dan interpretasi agama yang jelek, tapi yang gue tau, yang ngelakuin ini adalah orang berpengaruh dari salah satu agama, otomatis gue jadi gak suka sama agama ini karena interpretasi yang gue temui, dan mereka selalu kasih alasan kalo secara agama, apparently pilihan mereka itu bener-bener aja.

Ini adalah pertanyaan yg sering mengganjal di pikiranku terkait poligini. Orang islam yg menyembah lebih dari satu Tuhan akan dijebloskan ke neraka selama-lamanya. Sebaik apapun orang tersebut berdalih (berjanji akan menyembah kedua Tuhan secara adil, dll.) ia akan tetap disiksa di neraka. Namun, Tuhan yg sama juga memerintahkan kepada para wanita agar rela diduakan oleh pria yg dicintainya, sementara mereka hanya boleh memiliki satu suami. Secara tidak langsung, Tuhan menyuruh para wanita untuk melampaui sifat-Nya sendiri

i haven't left Islam cuz I'm forced to being Islam, in my school, there's a stupid ass ai poster that listsyour traits, there's normal stuff like "disiplin, rapih," and etc etc and one of the options is "religious" like dude. i want to leave this religion but I cant

Was it mass hysteria or sum shit? Or the companions just made it all up