Implementation of Multicultural Christian
education to the Christian community and to the general public of the nation; 3 Christian school as a means of communications between
church and community. Unexpectedly, a problem came to surface with the issuance of a
Letter of Joint Agreement SKB of the Minister of Education and Culture and Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia
number 4USKB1999 number 570 year 1999 on the Application of Religious Education on Primary and Intermediate Education Unit under
the Scope of Supervision of the Department of Education and Culture, in which it stated that students are to receive religious education in line
with the religion they follow. This means Christian schools are obligated to carry out religious education other than Christianity if there were
more than 10 students in the class. Subsequently, this SKB became a part of the National Education
System Sisdiknas Law of 2003. Hence, since 1999 up to 2003, tensions among Christian schools were heavily felt, in which it
culminated into a demonstration rejecting the issuance of the Law Proposal into the Sisdiknas Law. The reason for rejection is that if
Christian schools were to provide education of other religions, then it would lose its defining character. In other words, the defining character
of Christian schools lies on the implementation of the subject Education on Christianity PAK. This is actually a narrow view. Shouldn’t the
defining character of these Christian schools show throughout all the school aspects which reflect the values of Christianity: a relationship of
honest care and attention between the teacher and student, among teachers, among students, among teachers, students and other
employees; this relationship of love and care is also founded on responsibility, discipline, redemption and peace.
An expert on Christian education, N.K. Atmadja Hadinoto 190:166- 167, showed there are three kinds of attitude in regards to religious
education in Christian schools: 1 Schools with apostolic emphasis,
which emphasize PAK to students of Christian families, and evangelizationsalvation for non-Christian students; 2 Schools as
means of assembly among religions, in which dialog and testimonies are emphasized. The tradition of the Christian faith is highlighted, but there
are attitudes of reverence and appreciation of other religions; 3 Schools with open system towards other religions, in accordance to the
religious belief of the students. Under the understanding of the first model, it is certainly impossible
to conduct subject of other religions, while under the second and third model it is possible. It seems that most of Christian schools in Indonesia
bear the first model attitude. While in fact, in reference to testimony, schools can become means of encounter and dialog with followers of
other religions. It is through these dialogs that each follower will be able to enrich their own faith. Christian teachers and students must also
deepen their faith in order to be able to answer questions proposed by non-Christian students.
The effort in realizing the second and third model occurs in some Christian and Catholic schools which carry out religiosity education.
The origin of religiosity education is Romo Mangunwijaya’s idea to develop communication of faith at Kanisius Primary in Mangunan,
Kalasan. The basis of his thought was the difference between religion and religiosity. Religion refers to external matters, rituals, regulations,
rites, laws, customs, external symbols, sociological and political aspects; while religiosity involves faith, piety, hope, and love and affection
which touches the deepest issues, which defines the base attitude, which urges people to conduct good deeds, to be merciful, to feel the longing
to be close to God, and which urges people to be faithful in hope, to submit oneself to the Divine Architect, to be full of love and care, kind
hearted, forgiving, and shining in their conduct for the sake of justice and the alleviation of the sorrow of fellow humans Mangunwijaya,
1994:55.
It is not religion which is taught in communication of faith, but religiosity. Communication of faith will not alienate students from the
current world reality because what is learned are things that are experiential, based on real experiences. That is why the faith is nurtured,
not merely studied cognitively. The deepest values of religiosity also avert students from the feeling of superiority to friends who are of other
religions, in fact with openness to dialog, a meeting point of similarity in religious values can be found to face the challenges of life. Religiosity
education which is developed today is a combination of Romo Mangun’s idea with the paradigm of reflective pedagogy. Religiosity
education is a communication of faith, both among pupils of the same religion and among those of different religions and beliefs in order to
help pupils to become a religious, moral, and open human being who is capable of becoming an agent of social change for the sake of realizing a
society of material and immaterial prosperity, based on universal values of love, harmony, peace, justice, honesty, sacrifice, care, and
brotherhood Catechetic Commission of the Holy Bishop of Semarang, Education Commission of the Holy Bishop of Semarang, 2009:17-18.
The goals of religiosity education are: 1 To nurture a mental attitude for pupils to be able to see the goodness of God in one’s self,
others, and their living surroundings so that they could bear concern over community life; 2 To assist pupils in finding and realizing
universal values revered by all religions and beliefs: 3 To develop inter religious and belief cooperation with true spirit of brotherhood
Catechetic Commission of the Holy Bishop of Semarang, Education Commission of the Holy Bishop of Semarang, 2009:29.
Religiosity education pays close attention to the context of pupils, hence its process consists of: experience, reflection, and evaluation and
action. Experience could be in the form of folklore, life story, an event directly experienced and in accordance to the discussion themetopic;
the media used can be in the form of movies, articles, comics, or