Ngalik's Animism

A study of the religious beliefs of inmates at Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, Indonesia, revealed a contrasting finding: the higher their educational background, the more rational their thinking, and the more diligent they were in participating in religious activities organized for inmates. After returning from McGill, Canada, he studied sociology in the doctoral program at Padjadjaran University, although he completed his doctorate at his current workplace. The term "local religion" overlaps closely with the term "ethnic religion," as the term "locality" often refers to ethnic groups in a particular location, such as Sunda Wiwitan in the Sundanese region, Kaharingan in the interior of Kalimantan, and Parmalim in the highlands of North Sumatra.

In the Caribbean, Hinduism is classified as an ethnic religion by some researchers, as Hinduism in Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname is considered a distinct ethnic group. Another religion that can be classified as an ethnic religion is Judaism, centered in Israel. In Africa, there are numerous ethnically based religions.

In Australia, there is an indigenous tribe called the Aborigines. The beliefs of Native Americans at that time were classified as animist and dynamism. Although this name is no longer used and has been renamed Hinduism/Dharma, the fact is clear that Balinese ethnic elements are strongly embedded in Balinese Hinduism.

Borobudur Temple in Central Java is a testament to the historical glory of Buddhism during its time. Similarly, the pyramids and sphinxes in Egypt are the tombs of Egyptian kings. Questions about society have attracted the attention of many brilliant thinkers in ancient civilizations, including the Chinese philosopher Kung Futzu/Confucius and the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle.

Robertson Smith, who studied sacrificial ceremonies in primitive societies, and Fustel De Coulanges, who studied Greek and Roman religion, were among the thinkers who influenced Emile Durkheim's sociological views. Meanwhile, Fustel De Coulanges studied classical Greek and Roman religion and identified the solidarity of its adherents in the cult of the gods of nature and the dead. This view is based on ancient Greek mythology about the relationship between humans and the gods.

This view has led Western liberalism to become hostile to theism as they understood it from Greek mythology. According to Shariati, what was mythologized through ancient Greek beliefs was logical and understandable to society at the time. The gods in Greek mythology were believed to be the rulers of all things and manifestations of the physical forces present in the universe.

The Portuguese entered the Indonesian archipelago alongside a Catholic mission. He recounted the experience of an online motorcycle taxi driver who took a woman named Cindy, claiming to be part of Risa's crew, to the Subang area. However, it was discovered that Cindy had actually died four years earlier.

As discovered by archaeologists, the phenomenon of human religiosity has been observed since the time of the Neanderthals. As a science born during the Enlightenment, sociology has a long tradition of skepticism towards religion. In 1978, John Ferguson attempted to catalogue individual impressions, understandings, comprehensions, and experiences of religion.

Max Weber wrote many other works during his lifetime, such as *Economy & Society*, published in 1921 and reprinted several times until 2013, and *The Religion of China*, first published in 1915. In the 1980s, there was a surge of rational intellectuals joining religious orders. Jane Ritchie argues that during the peak of positivist philosophy in the late 19th and 20th centuries, survey research methods were widely used in quantitative research and increasingly influenced by positivism.

The sociology of religion is not about learning religion as we learn from our mothers and fathers, from mosques and Islamic boarding schools, or from Sunday school. A number of government offices and companies have scheduled religious study sessions at their offices, built mosques in their office complexes, provided more adequate prayer spaces in their office buildings, held Friday prayers, group prayers, and other forms of religious activities. During his 15 months working in Maluku, he baptized thousands of people.

Stories like those of the orang bunian are similar to stories about other spirits in mythology and beliefs across various cultures. To this day, most Japanese people practice Shinto rituals, worshiping ancestors and spirits at household altars and public shrines, but in a more organized form. Others include Protestants, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, and other religions.

Kampung suNgalik people can be found in the districts of Silimo, Amuma, Musaik, Usamo, Suru, and Obio. Stories of life experiences are told, including the ancestors and beliefs of the Baliem people, how to wage war, start a family, obtain food, and relate to others. Thus, all individuals, with all their opinions and ideas, are heard, valued, and respected. Through deliberations in the honai (household), the Baliem people also express their respect and honor for the spirits of the dead. The Baliem worldview is shaped by animist-dynamist beliefs. Therefore, while these beliefs are expressed through symbols, they are also manifested through beliefs in ancestors and spirits of the dead, as often found in the belief systems of ancient animist-dynamist societies and various ceremonies and rituals.

Although humans are the focus of the Baliem and Papuan worldview regarding the universe, humans are not alone but live in interdependence with the sun, plants, especially sweet potatoes, animals, especially pigs, stones, rivers, and the spirits of ancestors and God, which are abstract but manifested in symbols such as the kaneke (a kind of sacred stone). Stories of supernatural beings with names such as spirits, ghosts, kuntilanak, tuyul, and the like are folktales found in almost every culture. Some characteristics of ethnicity inherent in the religions of these ethnic groups include primordialism, ethnic sentiment, appreciation and respect for local culture and ethics based on local customs, reverence for ancestors, and pride in ethnic figures.

Ethnic religious teachings are often directed at affirming the superiority of the ethnic group through appreciation of the role of community leaders or ancestors. Some religions are closely tied to the ethnicity of their adherents, others are related to geography and tribal history, and still others are related to the history of their ancestors. The first stage is the theological/fictional stage, where humans interpret the phenomena around them theologically, with powers controlled by the spirit of an almighty God.

According to Comte, the first stage of human thought development was the theological stage, a phase in which humans directly connected all natural phenomena and forces surrounding them to powers controlled by spirits, gods, spirits, and supernatural forces. What mattered was how people behaved, their customs, culture, and society were governed, not who their ancestors were. However, in practice and its manifestation, it evolved into broader aspects, such as the worship of ancestors and the spirits believed to inhabit the universe.

Thus it can be concluded that since ancient times, the ancestors of the Baliem people longed for an ideal, beautiful, peaceful, prosperous, harmonious situation & condition within themselves as well as in relations with fellow humans and the surrounding nature. Once upon a time, the ancestors of the Baliem people lived in a safe, peaceful & united state between fellow humans and the natural environment. Naruekul, also called Nakmarugi / Alabungi, Nalabungi, Limlangi & Yeli by the Yali people in Yalimo / also called Murumnah Nalaponge and Yelu by the Yali & Mek people in Yahukimo, is the core, origin, figure and magical human in the internal structure of culture in the Baliem valley & its surroundings. All local Papuan people who live in the Baliem valley & its surroundings believe that Naruekul is actually Walhowak / Nyopase Kain, namely God who created humans, plants, animals, rivers, lakes, mountains, valleys, ways of life and human culture through Naruekul mythology, human sins are shown that hurt the body & heart of Naruekul, which is actually the core of human life through violence, but Naruekul does not take revenge. Given this existence, the Baliem people are actually classified as a traditional society that continues to practice animism-dynamism beliefs even though they have adopted a formal religion.

Adherents of animism-dynamism understand that supernatural powers are a reality and influence their lives. Therefore, dependence on and awe of these supernatural powers for complete salvation, encompassing both physical and spiritual, is crucial for traditional communities such as the Baliem, who believe in Walhowak and Kaneke, as well as the hope for an ideal future in the Nabelan Kabelan and Naruekul mythologies. In accordance with the Baliem people's belief in ancestral spirits and their power, called atou, which is stored in the sacred Kaneke stone, this demonstrates that the Baliem people see a continuity between the empirical world on earth and the spiritual, transcendent world.transcend the context of current life.

The spirit world influences the empirical world, but not vice versa. Even though a person has left the empirical world on this earth, their spirit can still influence this empirical world from the spirit world. It is well known that studying all beliefs, both primitive beliefs such as animism and dynamism and formal religion, needs to be a crucial consideration in spreading the gospel cross-culturally and contextually.

Therefore, the Baliem people's beliefs regarding Walhowak, areagun nyopa nyapu, kaneke, and hopes for an ideal future in the mythology of Nabelan Kabelan and Naruekul must be important considerations in formulating a contextual evangelism approach. It must be explained to the Baliem people that those referred to as areagun nyopa nyapu / alawene oan kigidekma / also wa laga meke areagun are none other than people from the past, their long-deceased ancestors. In fact, the belief in ancestral spirits, known as "wa laga meke areagun" (the "gods of the dead"), has become a vehicle for evil spirits, the enemies of the Walhowak (the true God) of Jesus Christ and humanity, who will only destroy humanity.

Therefore, the concept of a contextual evangelism approach in the Baliem community offers a way to provide new meaning to the Nabelan Kabelan and Naruekul mythologies, reflecting the essence and meaning of the Gospel according to the Bible. Regarding the concept of eternal life lived by the Baliem people in the Nabelan Kabelan mythology, this story can be used. As explained above, the understanding of the concept of eternal life according to the Nabelan Kabelan and Naruekul mythologies is in crisis, as both legends contain values ​​of animism, dynamism, spiritism, idolatry, and the power of darkness, which are strongly opposed by the Bible.

Furthermore, the belief in ancestral spirits, often practiced through kaneke (a ritual ritual) and seeking supernatural guidance in daily life, requires a shift in worldview. In the Baliem community, it is important to explain that the so-called "wa laga meke areagun" (alawene oan kigidekma), which is evident in the belief in the rulers of the supernatural realm called Kugi Erimbo, Kwewanakwe, and limbu, as well as the belief in kaneke, believed to be pieces of Naruekul's body, is actually an evil spirit, an enemy of Jesus Christ and humanity, who will only destroy humanity. Through the mythology of Nabelan Kabelan and Naruekul, the Baliem people also have hopes for future salvation, but these are materialistic.

This article demonstrates that the Baliem people, like Papuans in general, hold messianic cargo cult hopes for an ideal future through the mythology of Nabelan Kabelan, Nawulal Hawulal, Nabudlal Habudlal, Nabutal Habutal, and Nanggonok Kanggonok. Through the mythology of Nabelan Kabelan and Naruekul, the Baliem people have hopes for future salvation, which are indeed empirically reflected in Western society, where they are beginning to abandon religion.