Monday, December 05, 2011

Indonesian Animist Tribe Wants Their Religion On ID Cards

In Indonesia, the Inner Baduy tribe which lives in the province of Banten is asking the Constitutional Court to allow them to have their traditional animist religion-- Sunda Wiwitan-- listed on their government identification cards.  According to today's Jakarta Globe, until 2010 they were able to do this, but then local officials reinterpreted the law and required them to choose to be listed as belonging to one of the six official religions--Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism or Confucianism.  The 2006 Public Administration Law provides that the space for religion can be left blank if the person does not belong to one of these six faiths.