in providing religious education which stresses more on the historical aspect and not constantly on religious normativity.
1.5 Conclusion
Ethics is based on faith, habit, and self-will, not outside coercion, while the spread of ideas is one of its means in establishing itself.
Religion contains many things which can be utilized to strengthen social ethics, some are beneficial for the sake of communal life in public space,
but there are also a number of issues which must be reviewed due to its influence which is in opposition to the provision of sphere where each
resident can develop their characters and reveal themselves freely without fear or worry. Religion should also be presented to organise
public sphere, but its possibility to supersede public sphere under any reason, including faith of universality of teaching, must be hindered.
Please enjoy these inspiring writings. Mecca,
10
th
of October, 2013
2
ETHICS OF THE PROFESSION OF SPIRITUAL FIGURE:
A PROTESTANT PERSPECTIVE
Yahya Wijaya
According to news in the media, upon his invitation to Hong Kong by the Indonesian community, Ustad Solmed requested a religious
sermon fee of up to one hundred million rupiah along with luxury hotel accommodation and first class tickets for his group. Critical opinions
sprung throughout the media concerning the popular ustad. The same actually holds true in the Christian circle, particularly regarding popular
priests who are often called televangelists due to their fame through their television programs. These televangelists are known as people living in
luxury originating from the expensive fee given for their services. Many people think it is unworthy for an ustad or priest to set a fee for their
services, especially if it is an exorbitant amount. As spiritual figures, they are expected to be an ideal figure of
unmaterialistic life, they should even be an ideal figure of life in simplicity and sacrifice. On the other hand, these spiritual figures
consider the demands unfair and inconsistent. Why would people pay highly to secular speakers and not to their spiritual figures, when in fact
religious followers profess to prioritize spiritual more than worldly matters. The spiritual figures claim to possess equal professionalism to
motivator psychologists and business management experts, which makes it legible for them to be appraised as highly.
The cases above show how important a study on professional ethics of spiritual figures is. How should spiritual figures define their services?
How should they build their personal lives? How should they conduct relationships with their followers, with followers of other religions, and
with culturally and religiously diverse circles of society? However, the essential question prior to all those questions is: is spiritual figure a
profession? If so, what are its implications?
2.1 Spiritual Figure as a Profession
The word ‘profession’ and ‘professional’ is currently used for different intentions. ‘Profession’ often merely means ‘occupation’.
Whatever occupation, be it a Becak peddler or celebrity it is called a ‘profession’. ‘Professional’ is often associated with particular skills but
sometimes with payment or fee. Hence, there is a professional killer and professional footballer. The term ‘professional’ is frequently contrasted
to ‘amateur’. For instance, a commercial sex worker is often called a professional, while those who sell themselves for mere pleasure are
called amateurs. Such understanding surely does not help us to answer the questions above. In this writing, the word ‘profession’ and
‘professional’ is understood in their more specific meanings. Paul F. Camenish defines ‘profession’ as an organised group whose
members a have skills and specific knowledge, believed to be useful even important in achieving a highly regarded condition, such as justice,
health, and spiritual affluence; b have control over their professional occupation; and c usually claim or expect their motivation in executing
their professional duties to be more than just self-benefit 1991:116. It is clear that the matter of payment does not define a person’s
professional character.
