honesty, love, etc. including the assumption that women are tempters of faith. It is written, for instance, that “Al-Qur’an does not provide
prerogative rights to man to educate, command, and forbid woman. Amar-ma’ruf and nahi-munkar and mutual reminder of truth and
patience … must be undertaken together by man and woman.” Not unlike Martino Sardi’s writing, this one refers to marriage as
mitsaq ghalidh, a strong vow, between two parties conducting the marriage. The goal is to protect the honour of husband, wife and
children; foster a loving family, a peaceful family, based on love and affection. It is interesting to read the writer’s opinion on interreligious
marriage which he seemingly does not reject firmly. This is different to his opinion on same sex marriage and that marriage should not be
included as a means to release sexual desires. Tabita Kartika Christiani’s writing, “Christian Education in a
Diverse Society”, delivers a message clearly observed in its title. Beginning with a discussion on the understanding of multicultural
education, this writing arrived at the statement that one of the consequences of multicultural Christian education is the abandonment of
exclusivity in theology of religions. Its goal – one of the main ones – is to get instructors teachers to understand and accept differences, to be
able to respect others who are religiously and culturally different from themselves, as well as to emphasize adaptive differences and assist in
developing cross-cultural familiarity. Any doubt on how this is done in order for this education to be in a
“character against religious purity”, or “character which dispels uniqueness of religions by considering all religions as the same”, is
answered with a true dialog in which uniqueness of every religion is respected and placed on a levelled plane. The “wall” metaphor is used to
explain how this education is to be executed: Christian education behind the wall, at the wall, and beyond the wall. Christian education “behind
the wall” refers to contextually reading and learning the Bible; “at the
wall” pertains to learning other religions and conducting dialogues with followers of other religions; “beyond the wall” concerns true effort in
realizing peace and justice in the scope of society which is continued with reflections on the conducted actions.
Siti Syamsiyatun, in the writing under the title “Neighbour Ethics in Islam”, attempts to connect the old concept of neighbour with the
modern age reality of rapid resident mobility which in the old concept is no longer applicable. Then, a number of neighbour principles were taken
from Al-Qur’an and Al-Hadis without conducting much novel explanations or discussions regarding its connection with change of
context. As an example, the attention provided by the Koran which she mentioned to be quite substantial in regards to neighbour through the
guidance of doing good to “close neighbour” and “far away neighbour” in the verse which discusses the command to adhere to Allah the One
God, to behave kindly towards your parents, close friends and family, orphans, the poor, colleagues, ibn sabil, and serfs. The Prophet
Muhammad even associated respect to neighbours with the perfection of one’s faith. It is not mentioned whether the neighbour is of the same
religion or not, but the respect afforded to him her is a consequence of faith.
1.3 Social Ethics Based on Religion
Tjahjono Soerjodibroto, in his writing titled “Ethics in Humanitarian Aid” showcases the peculiar reality of an act which seems to bear high
ethical value: the provision of humanitarian aid. This act, particularly in the event of a natural disaster, is quite often abused by certain groups to
gather funds from donors for self-interest profit. Aid recipient often goes unacknowledged as the party whose voice is to be listened to and whose
honour and psychological condition is to be understood, this is contrary to the ideal that those who suffer from disaster should be the focus of aid
provision, not the desire or interest of aid providers.
The writer then discusses the positive and negative impact of aid provision. Instances of positive impact are: providing basic life support
food, water, medicine, and shelter, empowering the poor and supporting reconciliation. Among its negative impacts are: conditions
where aid does not fully reach the society, donor organisation’s disappointment, and intrusion upon well-established
customsculturereligion. The writer subsequently suggested a way for these unethical realities of aid provision to be corrected so that people in
need of aid would be capable of getting out of their tribulation without losing honour of humanity.
As noticeable in its title, Alois A. Nugroho’s writing, “Media Ethics in Inter Religious Communication” discusses the existing global
paradox which among others is supported by the media which simultaneously unite and diversify, bring closer and separate farther.
What consequently needs to be done is provide an ethical basis for reality containing the said paradox. Two principles are proposed by the
writer: 1 Ahimsa in communication ethics to avoid hate, and 2 “linguistic civilities” to understand each other. It is quite clear in the
writing how these principles are elaborated although there aren’t enough applicative measures given regarding global mass communication which
is substantially mediated by the media. Even though the writer does not firmly say that the communication discussed in the writing is one
happening among religious communities, it is perceived as so. This is boldly obvious from its title. The understanding of “Inter Religions” is
self-explanatory without the need of further elaboration by the writer. I think that the word religion here also means sects, denominations, and
such kinds that assemble followers on the basis of mutual faith. Zuly Qodir’s writing, “Social Ethics and Interreligious Dialogue in
the Contestation of Public Sphere in Indonesia”, seems to attempt to provide an ethical basis in public sphere engagement among various
show of faith from differing religions. Mutual respect and tolerance as
well as fairness towards followers of the same religion is of utmost necessity as is respect and understanding towards others of differing
faith in Indonesia. The writer mentions that unfortunately, Islam which showed this characteristic is currently under pressure by a particular
group of Moslems who waves around their banner of “inadequacy with the teachings of Islam” as a reason to behave in opposition to the afore
mentioned ethical characteristic. “Will Indonesia be lead into becoming a state based solely on one religion that is Islam as the religion followed
by the majority of Indonesia’s population?”. Thus questioned the writer. Subsequently, social ethics as a basis in religious conduct is
proposed, which is an extraordinarily bold act keeping in mind of it being confronted by tendencies of the worrisome groups above. The way
of dialogue is said to be an alternative to religious life. Dialogue is already a part of the duties of religious followers in Indonesia.
Interreligious dialogue will in turn absolutely become a necessity of all religious followers who are situated in a state of social diversity and
heterogeneity in Indonesia. What about the dialogue with the worrisome little group then?
1.4 Public Sphere
Bernard Adeney-Risakotta, in the writing titled “Indonesia’s Public Sphere: Politics, Economy, and Religion in Public Sphere”, takes a
different road from other writers. Although religious behaviours are discussed in this writing, religion is only a part of it and it is not the
main topic. This writing reminds the reader in the issue of defining the term public sphere, which by the writer is defined as the middle sphere
between government and private sphere. Then, the writer discusses whether public sphere in Indonesia should be free of value and neutral
towards morality and religion. Although the answer is yes, the reality is the presence of the three powers mentioned in the title. Regarding
religion, he said, “in a society where 99 admit that religion is
