Testing the faith of communist Vietnam
HANOI - It's still early, but the Phu Tay Ho temple on the shores
of Hanoi's West Lake is already crowded. Throngs of
people are preparing offerings to effigies of Vietnam's
ancient aristocracy - fruits, flowers, candy, cigarettes,
rice wine, money - in the hope that such offerings will
bring them prosperity.
Nguyen Thi Minh, 45, says she comes here religiously
on the first and 15th day of each lunar month to pray for
health and good fortune. "In the past I didn't come so
much, but now many pagodas and temples have been
restored and the tradition is coming back," she said. "I
don't know for sure if it works, but I like to believe it
does."
Outside, elderly and learned-looking men translate
requests made of the aristocrats - who ruled Vietnam
about 1,000 years ago - into ancient Vietnamese script,
so that the gods can understand their devotees' prayers.
The requests are burned at the temple's "post office"
together with photocopies of US$100 bills, proving the
durability of not just traditional ancestor worship, but the
patterns of patronage which still dominate Vietnamese culture.
This is a country with a reputation for dogmatic religious
intolerance, where Marxist-Leninist principles define the
worship of anything other than socialism as a tool of
repression. But according to Professor Do Quang
Hung, the director of Hanoi's Institute of Religious
Studies, today's Vietnam is seeing a surge in spiritualism.
"Studies we have conducted over the past years reveal
there has been a resurrection in religious belief," he said,
adding that the Government recently allowed Buddhist
and Catholic clergy to travel overseas for religious
conferences. "For the first time in modern history we
don't have problems with the Buddhists or Catholics.
We try to study these religions to discover their good
points. The Government has sanctioned the restoration
of temples, pagodas and churches all over the country
and has officially recognised the right to practise
religious faith."
Sceptics might see that as more communist propaganda.
One Buddhist group recently accused Vietnam of
persecuting its devotees, and the World Evangelical
Fellowship alleged last month that the mistreatment of
Protestants among the country's ethnic minorities was
particularly widespread.
But the party line does have support. In its annual
assessment of human rights for 1999, the US State
Department acknowledged some progress towards
tolerance of religion.
"The Government [still] restricts freedom of religion and
significantly restricts the operation of religious
organisations other than those approved by the state.
However . . . conditions for religious freedom improved
during the year . . . [one Buddhist sect] was recognised
for the first time officially," the report's preamble reads.
The report concluded that, at the time of publication,
there were at most 150 political or religious prisoners of
conscience in Vietnam, and noted that a Communist
Party official responsible for the destruction of three
Protestant churches in southern Binh Phouc province
had been dismissed.
Following a 1998 visit, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur for Human Rights, Abdelfattah Amor,
concluded that more than 15 million Vietnamese - 7.5
million Buddhists, five million Catholics, 400,000
Protestants and more than three million Muslims and
other religious believers - openly practised their faith.
He also found there were more than 50,000 clergy from
Vietnam's six recognised religions and, excluding
household shrines and temples, 21,000 places of
worship.
The deputy head of the Government's Committee on
Religion, Vu Gia Tham, says that historically Vietnam
has absorbed foreign religions and now has no problems
with any of the world's major religious codes. "We are
not really afraid of foreign influence through religion,
especially at this point of history, and we are prepared
to integrate them into the Vietnamese way of life. But
we will not welcome religions which are politically
oriented."
Yet Mr Tham evades questions on mistreatment of
members of Protestant churches, particularly among
ethnic hill tribes. The US State Department cites
"credible" reports that last year 25 Hmong Protestants
were illegally detained in the remote northern province
of Lai Chau which borders China and Laos. Ten were
reported still to be in detention when the report was
published.
The Singapore-based World Evangelical Fellowship
alleges that the Hmong minority faces regular
persecution for its newly acquired Christianity. "In some
places authorities have forced Christians to signify their
return to animism by forcing them to drink the blood of
sacrificed animals," the fellowship says.
Professor Hung denies any knowledge of such coercion,
but expresses concern about the emergence of
evangelical sects, particularly in remote parts of the
country. "In [northern] Son La province we had one
case of mass suicide where as many as 40 ethnic
tribespeople killed themselves. Fortunately, the
remaining villagers have come back to 'normal' life," he
said. "The authorities changed the name of the village to
help the people forget this terrible thing - it was a very
dangerous belief."
Professor Hung and Mr Tham would not comment on
whether the use of ethnic minorities as mercenaries by
opposing French and American forces had led to
greater suspicion of and crackdowns on these groups.
But the resurgence of spirituality is bringing other
problems. Stories of scams, fraudsters and cults which
forbid their adherents to eat or accept medical treatment
are being heard daily. "It is difficult for us to determine
what is actually religion and what is superstition,"
Professor Hung said.
By Huw Watkin - South China Morning Post - May 8, 2000.
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