Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire
    The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire
    The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire
    Ebook329 pages2 hours

    The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire

    By The Vietnamese Magazine

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Walk around any village or city in Vietnam and you'll see signs of bustling religious activities. People crowd into temples and churches, business owners are busy placing offerings at the small ancestral shrine that are set up just inside entrances their shops, votive paper is being burned on the streets in front of homes and statues of the Goddess of Mercy and the Blessed Mother grace balconies. The picture is one of a country where religion is alive and booming. 

    But despite these outward signs of religious freedom, if one scratches beneath the surface you will see those religious followers in Vietnam continue to face harsh restrictions in practicing their beliefs.

    The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire is a collection of 12 monthly reports on religion in Vietnam that were compiled over the year 2020.

    This book makes clear, the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), which is atheist, sees religion as superstition and heresy, but more importantly, as a challenge to its own survival. As a result, despite obvious improvements in religious freedom in recent years, the government of Vietnam has not released its grip on religious expression. 

    The Party's most powerful tool is the law. In 2016, the government passed the Law on Faith and Religion. While the law included some improvements compared to earlier laws, the spirit was still aimed at tight control of religion via state interference in the internal affairs of religious groups. The impact is enormous when one considers that these laws give the government the right to approve or disapprove nominations for positions within religious organizations, as well as to approve training and any plans to organize religious events. Furthermore, the state also reserves the right to determine who can publish religious texts. Finally, and no less important, religious organizations must be approved by the government in order to function legally in Vietnam. And it's the Party, which does not believe in any Gods, that decides which religions are to be recognized.

    This government thus controls all aspects of religion in the country. Both sanctioned and non-sanctioned groups are subject to frequent monitoring and intimidation. Those that are recognized have no choice but to accept government interference and those that choose to resist face intense government retaliation. 

    One of the more interesting things highlighted in The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire is the particularly harsh situation in Vietnam's  Central Highlands, home to a number of ethnic minorities, many of them believers in Christianity and new religions. Rough terrain and tight government controls have made it exceedingly difficult for the media, human rights workers, and international observers to visit the area to do interviews. As a result, little is known about the situation there. Fortunately, this book has managed to penetrate the bamboo fence erected around the area to gain important news and insights on the situation in that region.

    Considering the huge government effort to restrict religion in the country, it comes as no surprise that religious groups have experienced a drop in the number of their followers over the past decade. The national census of 2019 discovered that several of the smaller religions had experienced significant declines in their membership, in some cases as high as 90 percent over the past decade. 

    The Vietnamese government has the power to block any religious trends in the country that it sees as posing a threat to itself. But as the examples in this book show, there are also many firm believers in religious traditions in Vietnam today, and they too are quite resilient and courageous.


     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLegal Initiatives for Vietnam
    Release dateDec 31, 2021
    ISBN9798201550530
    The State and Religion in Vietnam: Faith Under Fire

    Related to The State and Religion in Vietnam

    Related ebooks

    Politics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Does China Have Freedom of Religion?

      Apr 1, 2021

      Two years ago, I traveled with some foreign journalists. One of them asked whether I had any religious belief. “I am an atheist,” I said. His facial expression revealed that my reply had reinforced a preconceived opinion of his. He then asked, “It is

      2 min read

    • Article

      Japan Probes Unification Church Linked To Ruling Party, May Revoke Tax-free Status

      Nov 23, 2022

      The Japanese government was due to begin investigating the Unification Church on Tuesday, by sending a list of questions to determine the organisation's activities, income and operations as authorities piece together a strategy to cancel the group's

      3 min read

    • Article

      China Sentences Christian Leader To 9 Years In Prison

      Dec 30, 2019

      Wang Yi is one of China's most prominent independent Christian leaders. Authorities arrested him a year ago in a relentless suppression of religious practice in China.

      1 min read

    • Article

      <![CDATA[No Let-up In China's Push To 'Sinicise Religion' Despite Global Outcry Over Crackdown]>

      Mar 6, 2019

      Beijing has vowed to push ahead with its controversial campaign to "Sinicise religion", defying growing international condemnation over its sweeping crackdown on Muslims and Christians. Delivering his annual government work report on Tuesday, Premier

      2 min read

    • Article

      US Religious Freedom Report Accuses China Of Jailing As Many As 10,000 People In Repression Campaign

      May 16, 2023

      The US government on Monday accused Beijing of jailing as many as 10,000 or more people in 2022 in a widening campaign of repression against religious belief meant to bring all theological activity under the Chinese Communist Party's control. The est

      2 min read

    • Article

      Faith Under Fire

      Oct 27, 2023

      With more than 3500 years of recorded history, China is one of the world’s oldest civilisations. It has over 1,4 billion people, a rich culture, and a volatile history. It is also known as a country that is unfriendly to Christians. So much so, that

      3 min read

    • Article

      In Japan, Unification Church Scandal Stains Integrity Of Ruling Party

      Nov 15, 2022

      Hashida Tatsuo struggled to hold back tears as he vented pent-up anger at a controversial church he says ruined his family. His wife became a follower of the South Korea-based Unification Church about 30 years ago, Mr. Hashida explained during a rece

      5 min read

    • Article

      Hong Kong's outspoken Reverend Yuen Tin-yau dies age 71

      Jul 16, 2023

      Outspoken Reverend Yuen Tin-yau, who was a chairman of the Hong Kong Christian Council, president of the Methodist Church and an advocate for greater democracy, died on Saturday at the age of 71. The Methodist Church said Yuen was sent to Pamela Youd

      1 min read

    • Article

      US Report On Global Religious Freedom Criticises China's Vetting Of Clergy, Other Hardline Policies

      Jun 3, 2022

      US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused authorities in China of a campaign to "harass" religious practitioners and destroy houses of worship, as he unveiled the State Department's annual report on global religious freedoms on Thursday. As well a

      3 min read

    • Article

      In India, Hindu Teen's Death Amid 'Forced' Christian Conversion Sparks Uproar

      Feb 1, 2022

      The death of a 17-year-old Hindu girl who complained of being given excessive chores by her Christian school in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has put a spotlight on the thorny topic of religious conversions. The teenager, Lavanya Muruganant

      3 min read

    • Article

      Pepuda Amendment Bill

      Jul 30, 2021

      Pepuda Amendment Bill
      7 min read

    • Article

      Why a Former Minister Is Challenging Churches' Tax Privileges in US

      Oct 20, 2017

      This month, a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that tax-free housing for clergy is unconstitutional, while in Texas, a federal judge ruled that the governor infringed on an atheist group's constitutional rights when he removed their 'winter solstice'

      7 min read

    • Article

      Sending Out The Wrong Signal

      Dec 12, 2019

      On December 3, the House of Representatives, the lower house of the United States Congress, passed the Uygur Human Rights Policy Act, attacking the human rights situation in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China and distorting China’s f

      2 min read

    • Article

      Church Or Cult? Abe Murder Spotlights Unification Church And Other South Korean 'Pseudo-religious' Groups

      Jul 30, 2022

      The assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe created shock waves throughout Japan and the rest of the world. The news had a particularly profound effect among religious organisations originating from South Korea, given the late prem

      4 min read

    • Article

      Indonesia Grapples With Lack Of Religious Freedom: 'I Think How Difficult It Is For People To Worship. It's Sad'

      Jan 22, 2023

      Indonesian president Joko Widodo appears to be on a mission to openly address and atone for the country's chequered human rights record stretching back decades. After publicly regretting Indonesia's past atrocities, the president this week asked his

      5 min read

    • Article

      Editorial: Resisting China's Crackdown On Religion

      Jan 7, 2019

      This past year was a bad one for China's religious believers, particularly Christians and Muslims. In January, military police closed a church in the province of Shanxi that had some 50,000 congregants - not by locking the doors but by dynamiting the

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The State and Religion in Vietnam

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The State and Religion in Vietnam - The Vietnamese Magazine

      ;'abook_preview_excerpt.html[nKD0c˖D-&X6 #YdU ] i<||9Y Iݘ"2#c9q""&y&$}NbqRu,?;2]#qdcO )CDǹH®TdTTL#/lb7nM~*AO0mOd"S9^k{Iy0ީ /e~Nۻ][pq!Ng3y?qۋ'Oûwcs!7v{O?||3=K'~<ǽx?]oI7ӷ^Lܜ q=bT#CK8}g:SbiD"O8 d.b5CäH=e>Y{)p(qUHaI2Si̪i5YP:Tb?ZL*U٢-ϥ-Ī"SꉖYIqd?_Q69$* l*F*+h>25z2ȃ$չV=w+bh]I'cy:9(rr,_Z/ rC}P2DN ]bG:8sɚF}P"_Tvƺ([^9H&\$?sZBGTgIRYȣ=M$dH 0ŽNE*( ϶.O{gc8'Vގ؈WD|l3Φ I$Vԇ"> kIESF1pXvy>E*!e>s2 F2^43fGh1%kқo*D 46Pb; HuaTs 1!y-Wzt7< <"+ɉ6%Ea,GXoFo*u+Ɂ/-nզsX`R~ғf ӈ 8JOGhTw~Pk𱩜Œ$TN  H%dt1[skg2s!R_'"Vu8%YeGB{Op( 6- ά1j⼤lF5 A)glʐn*tdJϥ7og Efi2>aOuIƅ(-6kavm~=઩L/Xbҙ˜%g'Gv:Nְ#S(葨 %`~ws-PN.{/õ]lkTv::8bΔ 6aL5`c@~y:`^B390y1Ȱb _G\Uoo'醷jS DV6C̩L bD~63xm"|DE D ^Еo Bw S,kYKD `'FsaS~Kr=E2a}w:/X^(g¡ TOB6 3[[8[ tieIZ88Yc8!pK¶B8-Us:33sbkDC)v[տ-!/bd3B΁W)z;S LR>20dk$/T5/ [ٚ eR6ʕ\XQKI!D!uЌк~VU["`Tc@Hx jU٬XFr>\!F|-6D |"t W=KʚdA-=1DR `]=UAȵ"]}MB3W՟#|mIAQ6}Dǣ[ܒCQǮ/cJ/BG%N҄|*^Znj{cv8~!3Ib; M&YZH\͸Y&6œ%'^ZU! y\ÚBxnKn+ZHbQ[E 6H*gHBUcSf\Bbًƴ4湒Td?|1P+qIWЃX`QVNNLhP ? uG% q,_=$?99Иq:ޖN< ]ŝdQY یJS 8tJqXiaqZRm3?#^Xubir"'D _KŰS(~BN&rAN\P@ V _%2%,ڪr8RY&b;sWS5eQ g (E(O Hx5{R͖ҿtM je=БH#PeeHy1:A"s:oG=)T㡘+]=%E6œ1yԃ4ZvX*Vefkqǒ(Qf]:+F+e"RFX"Q>4P<T+|(VkxWa菊KހLbT~kY'Dt0.rשNĿlmolmovn7oo'_}qmTf93 8q 9tm̭ܚ@z#qf\4Z㔗_nY>!]٩375dϯ,>!@v߅G>/xf鵮ƞĚ@p`q.^iai #e s4YYF-{0897ƆwE Mc<=6VTϐbJR$j;X0j.w -Mt2GKSTG'b?szk%"RD}ş"y nT l-T%6H&uri HG3 ik);' oL nL $?Qb&@+H[BP|O(*xOصng -?bpsn!>Ȇ#Dx︚Lĩl@"]}qa5n;A( uא'NS4<i ;^@E>DXH#y< mpDTӾ]֜))THbmuQ*%TB<t7I)n-7^c/?#pp~sInCζ^Nu r Xt%vVڻgpP6.lզM&Y$5Rݤ ? 9" qVj $#DF.s|b M*zC7Ipމ} Tg_kdbM1uU`ķDhҜw|/FAJhB-N]'=OMmD$3)ڔ=dR9'I(͵R خRq]fOԶ6Q]urÜڽ _=CY"+eNR42# D5KzR"U)78&s]mW.$,貚'Hyc]IBV֫"Jg6KZ+ ({ug?33 PRζf*A5[Ο%;zWo;^Fa25:88( G#Un mPj&IouMu{,/|^ޥt_99%FNbHyD :vJV~XDPS"[ȸɦ\פ܏;`'4YW22[SJ238">\uض8#ˏҐ1&Ws)JI^0J8үM?actw=>??_uzUw3u|8NƃVOEWYv>'n |{vwg7y_㪔^rC: )I0ٱJΤՏ x!Z5;2%G9ՕW[mW ӥF{R.Ue}Jpn+ÑNODWwLi M>-Ql"rFgi6_4--)sTxji;
      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1