The Rise of Mother and the Death of Heaven Power

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“In our belief, death is not the end of everything. Death is a foundation for greeting, bast and sekhmet which will guide you towards a green field where you can run (play) forever “- Black Panther

At the beginning of 2019, it seems like it is not too late to revisit some events which happened some years ago. In October 2017 and February 2018, Marvel successively offers two charms of Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther for world action movie lovers. As we all known, between those two movies, the Black Panther is more popular than Thor Ragnarok. The movie is directed by Ryan Coogler. It has gained more than twenty nominations. Two of them are obtained from the 76th Golden Globe Awards for the best drama movie and the best original song nominations. Moreover, according to some sources, the movie which consists of Black Actors also outperforms The Guardian of Galaxy 2 and the Avengers Infinity War (both released on April 2018), which the latter is believed to be the main movie for the series of Avengers that have been released before.

Besides, the author also ensures that the Black Panther movie will also outclass the Ant-Man and The Wasp movie released on July 2018, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and also End Game Avengers which are expected to be released on March and April this year. There is even a rumor that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) will return to appear in the Spider Man sequel; Far From Home, which reminds us of Greek mythology, Odysseus Long Way Home. Those four Marvel sequels are a series of answers toward destruction of half human population (including the destruction of half of the Avengers team) on the earth after Thanos flicked his fingers. In the last scene of Infinity War Avengers, director S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), trying to contact Captain Marvel; known by a pager radio call which is dropped to the ground.

The defeat of Thor Ragnarok (and others similar movies) over the Black Panther is the defeat of action movies with a very good quality of content over the movies with a standard quality of content. The appearance of Wakanda (the country of the Black Panther) with the exoticism of the African continent can silence the charm of paradise or the life of an alien planet with all its ridiculousness.

The defeat of Thor Ragnarok as an embodiment of deity world, modernism and excitement (as shown in planet Sakar) toward the Black Panther movie with a grounded God is the defeat of heaven power depiction over the exoticism and wisdom of earth secret. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) bin Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is the strongest sky deity with two main weapons, Mjolnir (Hammer) and Strombreaker (Ax).

The defeat of the Thor Ragnarok is mind defeat over the inner narrative irfāni. It is a Defeat of Rationality over spiritual vision. It is a Defeat of existentialism philosophy over the rise of essentialist philosophy. It is a Defeat of Al Farabi and Ibnu Sina over Suhrawardi and Mir Damad. It is a defeat of theological discourse over mahyiah esotericism. It also means the defeat of the Abrahamic religions over earth religions. It is because in the heaven God is known as the Father and on earth, God is known as Mother.

The movie with the charm of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) proves that technological progress can be in line with the exoticism of the earth religions. How modernization is not always identic with exploitation. Precisely technological advancement can be as a way for effective achievement and environmentally friendly life. Wakanda proves that extraordinary technological advance completely does not destroy religious visions. Even the king inauguration ritual is getting better, when the Black Panther descends from a supersonic plane which also has the sophistication of camouflage on the air. In the same ritual, we can also enjoy the sophistication of the dam that can adjust the height of the water, thus it makes the prince easier to stage the fight. In Wakanda, technology exists to strengthen religious and spiritual visions.

In this case, ancient religion describes God as mother while modern religion describe God as father. Earth religion imagines divinity as intimacy (uns) and unity (immanence) while the Abrahamic religion describes god and godliness as separateness (tanzih) and alienation (transcendence). Earth Religion is about how human love their mothers and Abrahamic religion is about how human be on earth as representative of their fathers (representative of god, in exploitative and oppressive diction).

Islamic mysticism, in another version also recognizes the existence of feminism in religion. They believe that there is more substance than wujud (existence), namely mahiyah. Wujud is existence and mahiyah is essence. Wujud is existentialism-religion which is loved by hukama (jurisconsult) and fukaha (jurisprudence expert), while mahiyah is pragmatism-spiritualism which becomes a bridge for Sufi spiritual journey.

Mahiyah itself is taken from the word ma hiya and what is it? And hiya, refers to something feminine, the opposite of huwa which refers to masculinity or characteristics of manhood. Annemarie Schimmel in her book My Soul is Women, seeks to expose femininity in the Islamic mystical tradition. And in this case, Black Panther with the exotism of the Wakanda is the excess of a great exploitative modernism ability that characterizes Marvel movies. It shows that the mother is the highest religious imagination of man.

Godhead vision for being come back to the earth is an impact from the theological failure of heavenly God to solve civilization and humanity problems. Today, religion is no longer present as a peace spreader, but it is used for advantages entirely. Religion can easily become a destructive tool where dozens of countries have collapsed because of it. Abrahamic religion has somehow failed to carry out its function as a foundation for humanity. Today, religion has become its own ethnicity, starting from strengthening identity narratives, denying different groups, imagining rationality on behalf of purification and placing everything outside their group as the other, the second class.

Based on nature perspective, religion also cannot be present as a defender for animals which have lost their habitat because of forest land exploitation for plantation purposes. It cannot be denied that lately conflicts between human and animals have actually increased and claimed lives.

What makes it even weirder, religion cannot save mountains from dredging, save rivers and air from pollution, and more importantly, save the earth from destruction. Modernity, advancement, and religious puritanism, have always been identical with strengthening social class which has become a haven for capitalism. In the end, where there is a strengthening of religion, it will appear big business empires, centers of exploitation, great environmental destructions, and high social inequalities. What a pity.

Godhead Vision for being come back to the earth (which the writer translates from the success of the Black Panther movie) becomes a criticism, how the meaning of God representative cannot be truly carried out by human except as an instrument of greed. In order to compensate the exploitative vision of Godhead, human must also return to the roots of culture, to the philosophy of the earth, about how ancestors see nature as a mother who should not be treated arbitrarily. There must be a sense installation (borrowing Oman Fathurrahman’s term); about how religion is not only just carried out but it must be embraced, lived and felt. And for that, human need not to be reluctant to go back learning on earth religions, on how human treat nature as mother.

– Ramli Cibro* –

The translation of this column is a collaborative work between Padebooks and the Dept. of English Language Education, UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh.

Translated by : Adinda Audia Devita S.Pd.
Dated : 16th June, 2019
Original article link : http://padebooks.com/rise-mother-dan-kematian-kuasa-langit/

Name                                       : Adinda Audia Devita

Email                                       : Adindaaudiaten2014@gmail.com

Instagram                               : adindaaudia

Educational Qualifications     :

  • SDN 3 Keude Siblah
  • MTsN Unggul Susoh
  • SMAN Unggul Tunas Bangsa
  • S1 Pend. Bahasa Inggris

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