RELIGION
Muslim or Hindu, Buddhist or Christian – Indonesians are free to worship their own faith, provided they adhere to the Pancasila creed, aimed at preserving harmony.
Although Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, it has stopped short of declaring itself an Islamic state. Nearly 90 percent of Indonesians is Muslim, with most of the remainder being Christian (primarily Protestant) or Buddhist. Pockets of Christianity are found among the Batak people of North Sumatra , the Ambonese, Florinese and a few tribes in Irian Jaya and  Kalimantan . Indonesian Christians are few in number but well-represented within the educated military and political elite. Similarly, there is a small minority of Buddhist Indonesians who are overwhelmingly represented in the economic sector of the country.
As was the case with Buddhism, Hinduism was at one time a significant power in the archipelago, but its presence is now limited to Bali , East Java , and western Lombok .
Animism -
The native religion, animism – essentially the worship of spirits believed to preside in all living or non-living things – is still practiced deep in the interior of Indonesia on remote islands such as Kalimantan and West Papua (Irian Jaya). Animism rests on the basis that trees, rivers, mountains, snakes, and even personal effects such as daggers are all inhabited by living spirits.
Islam -
Based upon the teachings of Muhammad, who is usually referred to as the Prophet, Islam's billion-strong believers extend from the Arab lands of Middle East – where Islam originated and blossomed – and North Africa, west to southern Spain, and east through Turkey, Iran, Afganistan, Pakistan, India and eventually into Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is one of the world's most important religions and the second-largest religion in Europe .
Sharia -
The basis of an Islamic society is the sustenance of the community of the faithful, guided by the Sharia, or Islamic law. This law defines a community's moral goals; in fact, in many Muslim countries, Islam defines all the laws, both moral and legal.
Balinese Hinduism -
Central to Balinese Hinduism – known as Agama Hindu Dharma – is the belief in the balance of two opposite forces: manifested as good and evil; light and dark; male and female; positive and negative; order and chaos, and so on. The two realms co-exist and are equally important.
Buddhism -
Buddhism's founder was an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who lived during the 6 th century BC. He came to realized that pain and sadness was caused by desire, in itself an illusion. He offered a solution. By rising above desire and human attachments, human beings can live a free from suffering. He formed a spiritual recipe called the Eightfold Path that laid out steps to help an individual contain passion and emotion; by focusing on wisdom, thought, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, attentiveness and concentration. Achievement is realized when one arrives at enlightenment and the bliss that comes with attaining non-attachment. One is then freed form the endless cycles of rebirth, and from human suffering.
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