Opinion of the Pastor of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) in Surakarta about Childfree

Abstract

The dissemination of information has covered social media users regarding issues  occurring in Indonesia and around the world, such as the issue of childfree. It's only natural that when it is the "custom" of Indonesians to have children after marriage, especially those of Muslim faith, Gitasav is in the spotlight of social media users. As a country that recognizes six religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Catholicism, and Christianity, researchers have an interest in the Christian religious perspective, especially religious leaders, namely pastors at the Indonesian Christian Church. The aim of this research is to find out what the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) pastors in Surakarta think about childfree. Cutlip and Center define opinion as "an expression of attitude towards an issue that contains conflict". Opinions are influenced by attitudes, which, according to Kasali, have the factors of affect, behavior, cognition, and perception according to R. P. Abelson, the factors of cultural background, espoused values, past experiences, and news. This research uses qualitative research. With the results of the research, it is concluded that the rules regarding childfree do not have room to be discussed in the Bible. The GKI priests in Surakarta returned the final decision to the couple. The attitude of GKI priests in Surakarta towards childfree can be considered flexible. This is because it is influenced by the good or bad assessment (affect) of childfree based on the knowledge (cognition) and attitude (behavior) of the priests. The priests prioritize finding out the reasons for being  childfree, then the priests' attitudes are influenced by the reasons obtained. After that, the priests can only judge whether the matter is good or bad.