The Elementary Forms of Religious Life Reflected in Eric Weiner’S Man Seeks God (2011): Sociological Approach

THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE REFLECTED IN ERIC WEINER’S MAN SEEKS GOD (2011): SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

Compiled as one of the requirements for completing the Undergraduate Study Program at the English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

By :

ERVILIA PRAWINDA SARI A320140087

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVARSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH SURAKARTA 2021

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THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE REFLECTED IN ERIC WEINER’S MAN SEEKS GOD (2011): SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstrak

Man Seeks God adalah novel karya Eric Weiner yang menceritakan perjalanan penulis menemukan Tuhan dengan mengeksplorasi delapan mendalami delapan agama di dunia. Penulis tertarik untuk menganalisa novel ini untuk menceritakan bagaimana seseorang menemukan keyakinannya melalui perjalanan yang dia lakukan dan menemukan banyak agama dari negara lain. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: 1) untuk mengetahui perjalanan Eric Weiner dalam pencarian dewa yang digambarkan dalam novel; 2) untuk mengetahui bentuk-bentuk dasar kehidupan beragama yang tercermin dalam perjalanan Eric Weiner ditinjau dari pendekatan sosiologis; 3) untuk mengetahui bagaimana masalah yang dihadapi oleh Eric Weiner dalam perjalanannya mencari Tuhan. Penulis menerapkan metode penelitian kualitatif dalam melakukan penelitian. Sumber data primer dalam penelitian ini adalah novel “Man Seeks God” karya Eric Weiner (2011) yang disempurnakan dan ditulis ulang dengan judul: Geography of Faith (2016). Dokumentasi, pustaka, metode browsing, dan teknik pencatatan merupakan metode pengumpulan data. Analisis data menggunakan teknik deskriptif kualitatif tentang pengumpulan data, reduksi, penyajian, verifikasi dan penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: 1) Perjalanan Eric Weiner mencari Tuhan dimulai dari sufi dengan cinta Tuhan, kemudian bermeditasi di Tibet, mengabdi bersama Fransiskan di New York, bersenang-senang dengan Raelian, kemudian melatih chi-nya dengan para Taois di Cina. Kembali ke AS, dia bergaul dengan para penyihir Wicca dan kesurupan hewan bersama para pengikut Shamanisme. Di akhir perjalanan, dia kembali ke ritual Kabbalah di Yerusalem. Weiner membangun bahwa Tuhan adalah semua hal yang baik; 2) Dari 8 agama yang diuraikan dalam novel, terdapat persamaan dalam dasar-dasar kehidupan beragama yang mengharuskan manusia untuk beribadah (ritual), mencintai diri sendiri, berbuat baik kepada orang lain dan tidak mementingkan diri sendiri dengan kepentingan pribadi. Agama mengajarkan bagaimana menyembah Tuhan dan mengajarkan kebaikan dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat. Agama yang baik juga merupakan agama yang membuat manusia lebih tinggi; 3) Weiner dalam perjalanannya menemui berbagai masalah: dia tidak menemukan jawaban yang cocok untuk menjawab siapa Tuhan itu. Weiner juga merasa cemas karena harus mengikuti ritual perdukunan untuk menjadi roh binatang. Orang Yahudi juga terlalu banyak mengatur. Jawaban untuk mengatasi masalah ini Weiner menulis kalimat yang menginspirasi: “Agama yang buruk menjatuhkan kita. Agama yang baik meninggikan kita, membuat kita lebih baik dari yang kita pikirkan atau mungkin lebih baik dari yang dapat kita bayangkan.

Kata kunci: perjalanan mencari Tuhan, bentuk-bentuk dasar, pendekatan sosiologis, novel Man Seeks God

Abstract

Man Seeks God is a novel created by Eric Weiner which tells the author's journey to find God by exploring the eight explore the eight religion in the world. The writer is interested to analyze this novel to tells how a man finds his faith by the journey that he made and come across many religions from the others countries. The purposes of the

study are: 1) to find out the journey of Eric Weiner in seeks of god depicted in the novel; 2) to find out the elementary forms of religious life reflected in the journey of Eric Weiner reviewed from sociological approach; 3) to find out how the problems faced by Eric Weiner on his journey to seeks of God. The writer applies the qualitative research method in conducting the research. The primary data source of the study is “Man Seeks God” novel by Eric Weiner (2011), which refined and rewritten with the title: Geography of Faith (2016). Documentation, library, browsing method, and notes taking techniques are method to collect the data. Analysis of the data uses the descriptive qualitative technique about collecting the data, reducing, displaying, than verifying and conclusion. The result of study shows that: 1) Eric Weiner's journey to seek God started from Sufis with love of God, then meditated in Tibet, serve with the Franciscans in New York, having fun with the Raelians, then practicing his chi with the Taoists in China. Back in the US, he coiled up with the Wicca witches and animal trances with the followers of Shamanism. At the end of the trip, he returned at the Kabbalah ritual in Jerusalem. Weiner constructs God is all good things; 2) All of the 8 religions described in the novel, there are similarities in the fundamentals of religious life which require humans to worship (rituals), love themselves, do good to others and do not concern themselves with personal interests. Religion teaches how to worship God and teaches goodness in social life. A good religion is also a religion that makes human beings higher; 3) Weiner on his way encountered various problems: he did not find a suitable answer to answer who God is. Weiner also felt anxious about having to follow a shamanic ritual to become an animal spirit. The Jews too were too much with rules. The answer to overcoming this problem Weiner wrote an inspiring sentence: “Bad religion takes us down. Good religion exalts us, makes us better than we think or maybe better than we can imagine.

Keywords : seeks of god journey, elementary forms, sociological approach, Man Seeks God novel

1. INTRODUCTION Literature as an oral or written work that has various characteristic features such as originality, artistry, beauty in content and expression, Panuti Sudjiman (1986 : 68) . Literature is an art in some materials. Literature also give the viewers, readers, and audience entertain. The example are like movie, novel, poetry,etc. This study will focused on the novel from Eric Weiner’s Man seeks God, which takes religion as its main issue. The reason to analyze this novel is because this novel is very interesting and this novel gives us some knowledge of the power as discussed. Also this novel teaches us how to respect and tolerate other religious communities. According to Reville, “ Religion is the determination of human life by the sentiment of a bond uniting the human mind to that mysterious mind whose domination of the world and itself recognizes and to whom it delights in feeling itself united .”

(Mawuntu and Krasnov, 2019:33). The religion is a guidance that organize human pattern of life. The goal of religion is avoid human from anything that dangerous for human. The religion has bond that should be obedient come from one of the greatest power as an unseen power because it cannot be seen by human sense but has great impact for human life. Glock and Stark (1965) define religion using Durkheim’s Religion, or what societies hold to be sacred, comprises an institutionalized system of symbols, beliefs, values, and practices focused on the question of ultimate meanings. In this quote, Glock and Stark start their generalization of Durkheim’s definition of religion by equating or placingreligion on a par with “what societies hold to be sacred”. The “sacred”, writes Glock and Stark, is however defined as something that “provide, or symbolize, solutionsto questions of ultimate meaning.

2. METHOD In this research, the researcher uses a qualitative research. According to Ashley(2018) qualitative research is a type of social science research that collects and works with non- numerical data and that seeks to interpret meaning from these data that help us understand social life through the study of targeted populations or places. Thus, this reearch It is a library research while data sources need literary data. This kind of research has purpose to analyze literature using sociological approach. There are some steps to conduct the research. They are (1) determining the type of the study (2) determining the object of the study (3) determining data and data source (4) determining technique of data collection, and (5) determining technique of data analysis.

3. FINDING AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Finding Eric Weiner is a former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) and the author of numerous articles about travel and culture. He spent a decade overseas for NPR, based in New Delhi, Jerusalem and Tokyo. He obtained his degree from the University of Maryland and in 2003, was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. In 1992 Weiner joined NPR, working for their Washington Bureau until 1994. While there he was given work with an emphasis on business and economics. He then joined the Foreign Desk. In 1993, NPR sent Weiner to India and he was the

network's first full-time correspondent in that country. While in New Delhi for two years, he covered the bubonic plague, India's economic reforms, and many others. In 1994 he was awarded the Angel Award for his coverage of Islamic issues in Asia.[3] From 1995 until 1999 he was based in Jerusalem as NPR's Middle East Correspondent, and was part of the team of NPR reporters who won a special citation in the 1998 Overseas Press Club for their coverage of Israel's 50th anniversary. He has reported from over 30 countries. His essays and commentary have appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, The New Republic, AFAR magazine, BBC.com and many other publications. . While with NPR, he has also served as a correspondent in New York City, Miami, and Washington. Books written by Eric Weiner include: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Grand Central Publishing, 2008), Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine (Grand Central Publishing, 2011). Refined and rewritten with the title: Geography of Faith (Hachette Twelve Books, 2016). Edisi Bahasa Indonesia: The Geography of Faith - Pencarian Tuhan di Tempat-Tempat Paling Religius di Dunia dari Tibet sampai Yerusalem. Diterjemahkan oleh Lulu Fitri Rahman. Penerbit Qanita (Mizan Group, Jakarta, 2016). The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley (Simon and Schuster, (2016), The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers (Simon and Schuster, (2020) 3.2 Discussion 3.2.1 The Journey Of Eric Weiner In Search Of God Depicted In The Novel Eric Weiner's motivation to go on a quest for God is to answer the question: “Have you found your God? The question continued to echo in Weiner's head. At first it seemed that there were multitudes of religions, there were 9,900 religions. The number of religions made Weiner think hard to choose the most appropriate religion to study. After thinking rationally, Eric Weiner chose 8 religions to start his spiritual journey. The Weiner’s journey start from the flow of Sufism in the Sufi Camp in California. For a Sufi, a servant is a lover while Allah is a lover (the Beloved). Because in essence every action must be directed to Allah, He is also the Giver of love, and Abu Talib also wrote that Allah's love for the Sufis preceded their love for Allah. Weiner then deepened the flow of Sufi in Turkey, Rumi dance. Rumi often views love as the

motive Allah created something. Rumi devotes his works to discussing love, he often reminds us that true love depends on understanding. Lovers must be able from the most basic statements of faith, namely the view of the uniqueness of the reality of Allah, "There is no god but Alla". Since love is an attribute of Allah, the implication is that "There is no true lover and true love except Allah". In line with study of Amri (2013: 1), according to Sufism, love of God is the essence of faith statement: there is no God but Allah. The famous Sufism, such as Rumi, al-Ghazali, and Rabiatul alAdawiyah tried to describe the meaning of love as their experiences in their approach to God. Weiner's next trip was a search for the Buddhist god. Weiner traveled to Kathmandu Nepal to study Buddhism with his meditation. Buddhism teaches and provides instructions for its adherents in carrying out religious processions or rituals, especially those related to honing the human soul and heart to get to know God through the process of meditation. Ulfah (2019: 4) in his study stated meditation is generally intended to develop spiritual perfection, reduce the effects of suffering, calm the mind and reveal the truth about existence and life to the mind. Meditation helps to become aware of the transience of all that is and prevents involvement in existence. Buddhist ascetics often declare their freedom from fear and anxiety which they have achieved by meditation. Weiner returns to New York to get to know the Franciscan order, which spends more time and money serving the poor. Spirit of St. Francis, who is tireless in serving others, is the inspiration for Kekanta's ministry. Kekanta is a forum for joint activities to serve others who take shelter under the spirituality of St. Francis. Dister (2000: 29) said that: God has given me, brother Francis, the grace of repentance as follows: When I was still in sin, it was very bitter for me to see lepers and the poor. And the Lord Himself led me among them, and I have shown them compassion. And when I left them what was bitter to me has turned into sweetness of soul and body. Saint Francis tries to live up to the spirit of Christ's ministry in a concrete way, especially for those who are poor, and who suffer from leprosy. Saint Francis of Assisi saw that the Church needed renewal. For St. Francis of Assisi the renewal of the Church began with a concern for the poor and marginalized. After observing the daily lives of the Franciscans, Weiner continued his journey to joined the Raelism in Las Vegas. Principle of Raelism is living for fun. Raelians

worship technology to the extreme ('Science is our religion'). But aren't we all like that? Don't we see technology, not a particular technology, but the concept of technology itself, almost as a divine power of understanding on earth? Technology is not just our religion, it is our magic (Weiner, 2016: 282). Raelianism is a new religious movement that makes aliens the God who created the universe. This belief is also known as the UFO sect which has the idea that humans are a deliberate scientific creation. Weiner has not yet received an answer to his questions. Weiner go to China to study Taoism to practice Taichi and Qi Gong, a controlling energy. Taoism is a secte of philosophy from China taught by Lao Tze and Yang Chu. According to Taoists, hedonistic and materialistic civilizations have damaged human life. To restore an ailing civilization, it is necessary to return to nature and become one with nature. Pals (2006: 166) said: followers of the teacher Lao-tzu, who urged a life of self-denial and escape from the world. Lao-tzu called for retreat into the unspoiled forests, where the spirit could attune itself to the Tao, the great and mysterious flow in all existing things. Taoists sought a life of simplicity, but because they prized life so highly and took such keen interest in techniques they believed could extend it. Upon his return from China, Weiner continued his journey to studied Wicca near Washington, about magic and rituals of the gods. Wicca does not have a fixed ideology in varying beliefs, but in general, Wicca people get in touch with the spirits of nature through the celebrations listed in the Wicca calendar. There are no universal restrictions on food, sex, burials, in Wicca regulations. Wiccans can be a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, Druid or any other religion (and spiritual). Because there is no prohibition in the Wicca religion about this. The Wicca religion believes that spirit is an essence, with which every object connects it with nature. Certain Wicca religious mythology states that Wiccas date back to the stone age, and their inspiration and traditions come directly from the Gods. After working with magic, Weiner continued his journey to learned of Shamanism in the cult of animal spirits. Shamanism is a teaching based on the belief that the spirits around humans can infiltrate the body of a Shaman (i.e. a shaman or sorcerer) in a ceremony. Shamanism is also defined as a practice that involves a practitioner achieving a change in the state of consciousness in order to feel and interact with the spirit world and channel this transcendental energy into the world. A shaman is

someone who is considered to have access to, and influence on, the world (evocation) of good and evil spirits, who usually enter a state of possession during rituals, and practice divination and healing. Khair (2015: 82) states that according to the view of shamanism there is a universal power in the form of invisible spirits that are hidden from receptive capacities and influence the healthy and sick situation of humans on an ongoing basis. The healing wisdom of the person and the power to communicate with the other world are needed as acts of compassion. The final part of the journey, Weiner tried to understand Kabbalah, the religion of its ancestors. For the Kabbalah, God is a spiritual entity, but He is above spiritual. God exists in every aspect of life. Kabbalah is an open religious practice and knowledge that was practiced by millions of people of Ancient Israel. According to Jewish tradition the Cabala dates back to Adam, although modern liberal rabbis reckon its origins to the 13th century. This knowledge was sent down as a revelation for selecting saints from the distant past, and for the most part, was preserved only by a lucky few. The Kabbalah is considered part of Jewish oral law by most devout Jews of modern times, although this is disagreed with many modern liberal rabbis and a small proportion of Orthodox rabbis. Weiner's journey and search is an interesting process. The journey that tells about Weiner's own experience and knowledge of the religion in him. For Weiner, his search for God was successful, he understood that religion is a means to elevate humanity. At the end of the book, Weiner embraces a hybrid deity that is assembled together from various meetings: His foundation is Jewish, but his support supports Buddhists. He has the heart of Sufism, the simplicity of Taoism, the generosity of the Franciscans, the hedonistic style of the Raëlians. This is a neat way to tie a loose end, but it somehow makes me an unbeliever (Weiner, 2016: 477).

Weiner said that God is a set. We design and compile from what he has gained in his search. God must have a Jewish foundation, but be supported by Buddha. He must have a Sufi heart, a Taoist simplicity, read a Franciscan heart, Raelian joy, "Weiener wrote. That is how Weiner constructed God as syncretic, a compilation of various good qualities adhered to by the religions he explored. The light of God shines through Weiner, that God is all things that are fine.

This book does not aim to compare the best religion among all the religions on this earth. This book is only about the story of someone who doubts his faith, then walks to look for something else beyond what he believes so far. But as Weiner said: "Bad religion denigrates us. Good religion elevates us, makes us better people than we thought, or than we might imagine ” (Weiner, 2016: 478).

That's how Weiner, we never draw any conclusions from his books. From the text above weiner searched and studied all religions and beliefs from various parts of the world and write it in a book. Eric Weiner's journey in search of God did not find satisfactory answers. He must assemble the answers he finds himself that God is the sum of all good things. In line with the results of the journey of Sastrahidayat (2012) in his journal "The Professor Seeks God" that the seeks of God is a very long journey that has no end and base, and has no start and finish. Because what are the seeks has been "manifested itself" in His creation, depending on the degree to which a person is qualified to recognize Him in this manifestation. The more it is felt, the more it is felt, the more it is seen to be manifested, the more it will be heard the meaning behind the facts. In accordance with the word of Allah SWT in Surah Ali-Imran verses 190-191 which mean: "In fact, in the brightness of the sky and the earth, and night and day there are signs for those who are intelligent, (namely) those who remember Allah while standing. or sitting or sitting or lying down and them about the information about heaven and earth (saying), “My God, You did not create this in vain. Glory to You, then keep us from the torments of hell.” The verse above explains that people need to use their minds to practice tafakur meditation. Tafakur is an act commanded in religion and shown for those who have the knowledge to contemplate various natural phenomena. The tafakur desired by Allah SWT is meditation accompanied by remembrance of Him. The objects of tafakur are unlimited. Starting from ourselves, reaching the life of living things on earth, the amazing order of the universe, various events that occurred, past history, and things that are supernatural to the afterlife. With meditation, we can live more deeply about the greatness and power of Allah SWT. Reflection on natural phenomena is very useful in order to reveal the signs of Allah's power so that humans become submissive, obedient, and obedient to their Creator, Allah SWT.

3.2.2 The Elementary Forms Of Religious Life Reflected In The Journey Of Eric Weiner Reviewed From Sociological Approach The elementary forms of religious life depicted in the novel can be seen from Weiner's experience while undergoing his spiritual journey in the 8 religions he chose. Religious life in Sufism has the core that God is love, open your heart to love Allah, Allah Almighty is all things, Allah is all our behavior, Muslims can achieve the perfection of faith by leaving their ego and personal desires in their life. Elementary forms of religious life in Buddhism are: interaction with God can be done by controlling the mind to attain enlightenment, regulating the mind, unifying the mind and body so that there is no fear and anxiety of death, controlling peace, compassion, and abstinence from the world. Elementary forms of the religious life of the Order of Francis are: God is personal, helps others in need, lives in peace and love, confesses and repents to remove sins, and participates actively in the life and mission / mission of the church. Elementary forms of Raelian religious life are: a god who comes from another planet far out there, humans were not created by God but by a UFO creature named Elohim, making science and technology a religion, teaching universal love, and the purpose of life is to have fun. Elementary forms of religious life from Tao is god that succeeds nothing: this life depends on energy (chi) which requires balance of energy, set the paradox of failure to succeed, weakness becomes strength, Tao is the way to the better. Elementary forms of religious life from Wicca is that god is magical, there are many gods and even hundreds, gods (gods) are imperfect, people can do whatever they want as long as they don't hurt others, magic is the art of bringing change to suit their wishes, and ritual is part of it. importance of self-expression. Elementary forms of religious life from Shaman is that god is an animal spirit, worshiping spirits, especially animals that can become humans, there are evil spirits and good spirits, rituals for prediction / healing / eliminating bad influences. Elementary forms of religious life from Kabbalah is that God is an infinite entity that exists in every aspect of life, human life is predestined but we can still choose to organize good or do stupid things, life is a prison full of rules, the human job is to fix world so that life returns to normal. From the various element forms of religious life, there are many definitions of god which vary according to their beliefs. However, from these differences, there are similarities in the principles of religious life which require humans to worship (rituals),

love themselves, do good to others and do not concern themselves with personal egos. Religion teaches how to worship God and teaches goodness in social life. In line with the conception of religion according to Emile Durkheim, that religion includes the distinction of two opposing categories, namely between the sacred and the profane and the distinction between collective and individual. The conception of sacred refers to something that is holy, divine, and beyond the reach of the human mind. Meanwhile, the profane is the real world, the world of everyday life which is under human control (Haryanto, 2015: 36). Religion is an integrated system consisting of beliefs and practices related to sacred things. Humans as religious people as much as possible strive to continue to increase our faith through routine worship, achieving spiritually perfect purity. In understanding religion, Emile Durkheim looks more at how the function of religion itself for humans, all of which are related to sacred things and attachments to issues of faith that can be strengthened through ritual worship or the like. In the study of the sociology of religion, a person's religious beliefs have a big impact not only on his life, but also social impacts. Religion in a sociological perspective has two aspects, namely religion as a belief system and religion as a social institution. The first aspect, religion consists of a set of beliefs, values, norms, and laws that construct truth for its adherents. Furthermore, religion as a social institution is a pattern of organized social action in relation to beliefs and practices (Haryanto, 2015: 41). Religion at the level of sociology, all religions teach goodness. All religions are good and teach goodness. A good religion is also a religion that makes human degrees higher. Durkheim's explained that In all religions teach goodness and mutual continuity between one and the other. 3.2.3 The Problems Faced By Eric Weiner On His Journey To Seeks of God Weiner on his way encountered various problems: he did not find a suitable answer to answer who God is. It is difficult to find a relationship between Sufi dance in Turkey and the existence of god. Weiner found it difficult to follow Buddhist-style meditation, his mind was chaotic and frustrated him. The Franciscan life is impractical and it is difficult to leave the world. The life of Raelism is also very far from his hopes and views. Taoism actually trapped him in health meditation. In fact, Wicca offers a lot of

God. Weiner also felt anxious about having to follow a shamanic ritual to become an animal spirit. The Jews too were too much with rules. Problems are indeed things that must be faced by humans. Sastrahidayat (2012) states that truth and falsehood are inseparable lovebirds of life. A person doing evil does not mean that he does not see virtue or truth, just as a person doing good deeds can certainly see evil. The problem is that it lies on which side he wants to choose; People are able to choose, of course, they are aware and have a healthy mind so that they also know the risks of this choice, but if they are reluctant to leave the choice for various reasons, such as: economy, prestige, fear, and so on. For such a human, of course, he will fall from the ladder of glory without anyone being able to help him. By his choice he would no longer be able to see the light of truth. They have given in to their bad behavior because things have gotten worse. The answer to overcoming this problem Weiner wrote an inspiring sentence: “Bad religion takes us down. Good religion exalts us, makes us better than we think or maybe better than we can imagine. " (Weiner, 2016: 478). Ofcourse we as Muslims, Islam is a perfect religion. Allah SWT in QS Ali-Imran verse 19 said "Verily the religion (which is pleased) with Allah is only Islam. There is no dispute between those who have been given the Holy Book except after knowledge comes to them, because of envy (which is) between them. Whoever disbelieves the verses of Allah, then Allah is very quick to reckon. " The perfect religion is obeying Allah SWT and the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad in all aspects of human life, namely in the five sides of human life. In Islamic terminology it is known as sami'na wa a'thona (we hear and we obey). With this method, any truth information that reaches the source of the revelation should be proven through being done first, so that it will form a new character, regarding ways of thinking, comunicating, and acting in society life.

4. CONCLUSION Based on the results of the research and discussion that has been done, the following conclusions can be drawn: Eric Weiner's journey to seek God started from a camp for Sufis in California who taught him to love God, then danced in circles with Sufis who longed for God in Turkey, then meditated in Tibet with the Dalai Lama. Back to the United States (US) to serve with the Franciscans in the corner of New York City, having

fun with the Raelians in Las Vegas. Weiner then flew to China, practicing his chi with the Taoists. Back in the US, he coiled up with the Wicca witches and animal trances with the followers of Shamanism. At the end of the trip, as a Jew, he returned to reflect on his identity at the Kabbalah ritual in Jerusalem. Sufism constructs God as love. Buddhism describes God as a state of mind. Franciscans claim that God is personal. Raelism calls God a UFO far out there. Taoism says God is formless, nothing, only a way. Wicca explained that God is miraculous. Shamanism likens God to an animal. The Kabbalah concluded that God is complicated. Finally, Wiener has his own reconstruction of God. He discovered and designed his own God. He called God an association, namely God with a Jewish foundation, but supported by Buddha. He must have a Sufi heart, Taoist simplicity, Franciscan kindness, Raelian joy. All of the 8 religions described in the novel, there are similarities in the fundamentals of religious life which require humans to worship (rituals), love themselves, do good to others and do not concern themselves with personal interests. Religion teaches how to worship God and teaches goodness in social life. At the level of sociology, all religions teach goodness. A good religion is also a religion that makes human beings higher. Weiner on his way encountered various problems: he did not find a suitable answer to answer who God is. It is difficult to find a relationship between Sufi dance in Turkey and the existence of god. Weiner found it difficult to follow Buddhist- style meditation, his mind was chaotic and frustrated him. The Franciscan life is impractical and it is difficult to leave the world. The life of Raelism is also very far from his hopes and views. Weiner also felt anxious about having to follow a shamanic ritual to become an animal spirit. The Jews too were too much with rules. The answer to overcoming this problem Weiner wrote an inspiring sentence: “Bad religion takes us down. Good religion exalts us, makes us better than we think or maybe better than we can imagine.

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