Persatuan Indonesia

17th August is Indonesia's Independence Day, and this year is the 60th anniversary of the declaration to chuck the unworthy Dutch oppressors out of the country and form a new state. The guiding principles of the state are known as the 'Pancasila', and are as follows:

1. Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (Belief in one God)
2. Kemanusiaan yang adil dan beradab (Just and civilized humanitarianism)
3. Persatuan Indonesia (Indonesian unity)
4. Kerakyatan yang dipimpin oleh hikmat kebijaksanaan dalam permusyaratan (Democracy led by wisdom born of consultation)
5. Keadilan sosial bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia (Social justice for the entire Indonesian population)

These are equivalent to the US 'pledge of allegiance', and are used in much the same way. For instance, Beth has already memorised the Pancasila because she has to recite it every Monday morning while saluting the flag. We are not clear if this act of fealty to the Indonesian Republic will result in the withdrawal of her UK citizenship under one of Mr Blair's new anti-terrorism laws, so if there are any human rights lawyers reading this feel free to drop us a line.

Of course, one could have a long debate over Indonesia's success in living up to these worthy principles, as 'social justice' and 'wisdom' are not commonly associated with the actions of the Indonesian army in Timor Leste, Papua Barat or Nanggroe Aceh Darusallam. However, the first principle is quite clever as it allows all five recognised religions in Indonesia (Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Protestantism) to coexist in relative harmony without suggesting that the republic favours one over the other. This seems a better settlement that the absurdity and contradictions inherent in the so-called established Church of England. It also helps to explain why a country with the largest Muslim population in the world is surprisingly free of religious strife (The Marriott and Bali bombings notwithstanding).

Apparently, the agreement was not without some negotiation 60 years ago. The Buddhists needed to agree that Buddha could be regarded as their God (though in fact he is more of a plump guide than a deity), and the Balinese Hindus needed to re-cast their multi-theism as multiple dimensions of one God. The Catholics had to explain the Holy Trinity (not that anyone understands that paradox) and the Protestants had to promise to pretend there was a God. The ethnic Chinese community have been lobbying for years to have Confucianism recognised as a sixth religion, without success, but Confucius say: 'easy come, easy go, grasshopper'.

It is this spirit of religious harmony that came to my mind when I was woken at 4.30 in the morning by the amplified call to prayer from the Masjid (mosque) while staying in a Muslim village this past week. I listened to the Imam chanting (this guy could really hold a note), pondered the greatness of Allah, and then rolled over and went back to sleep. This is a country where everyone believes in one God in one language (even the Christians refer to Him as Allah), and yet worship Him in at least five completely different ways with a fair degree of tolerance to the idiosyncrasies of others. That seems to reflect at least some of the essence of the Pancasila.