Emerging from the two long and severe wars, Vietnam has developed rapidly in the national reform, people’s lives have been improved both materially and spiritually.
Emerging from the two long and severe wars, Vietnam has developedrapidly in the national reform, people’s lives have been improved bothmaterially and spiritually.
On the occasion ofVietnam standing for election to the UN Human Rights Council, theVietnam News Agency introduces some articles on beliefs and religions ofthe Vietnamese. These articles are expected to provide an accurate andupdated overview of the freedom to practice one’s own beliefs in theland with a thousand-year-old culture.
Ever sincethe primitive time, beliefs and religions have become an inseparapablepart of the Vietnamese’s spiritual life, as seen in the carving ofrituals of worship on bronze drums dating back to the Dong Soncivilisation (the 7th - 1st century BC).
By 2010, the country had 32 religious organisations whose operationswere licensed by the State, with about 15.5 million followers,accounting for 18 percent of the total population. However, the numberof unofficial followers is much higher, not to mention those practisefolk beliefs.
Based on the number of followers,main religions in Vietnam include Buddhism, with both Mahayana andHinayana branches with about 6.8 million followers, Catholicism (5.7million), Hoa Hao sect (1.4 million), Cao Dai sect (808,000),Protestantism (734,000), Islam (73,000) and Balamon (56,000). There arealso a wide range of folk beliefs which bear deep local characteristicsand are usually mixed with another religion. Some statistics show thatup to 98 percent of Vietnamese families practise some kind of worship athome.
Living for a long time in a land which isthe meeting place of many big civilisations, the Vietnamese are open toreceive different kinds of belief and adopt them into their owntraditional spiritual activities. Cultural researcher Phan Ngocdescribed this phenomenon as a “refraction” of new elements based on “Vietnam ’s cultural constant”. Beliefs and religions in Vietnam not onlyhave a wide diversity in terms of origin, history of develpoment, andritual forms but also have a high adaptability.
Therefore, ensuring the right to freedom of beliefs and harmony amongreligions has always been the most important task of the VietnameseState, especially in the context of integration when different culturesare getting closer and closer.
During the veryfirst meeting of the provisional Government on September 3, 1945, onlyone day after the declaration of national independence, President Ho ChiMinh proposed the principle of “freedom of beliefs and solidaritybetween believers and non-believers”. He affirmed that the founders ofgreat religions all shared the common purpose of upholding the good anddirect people to an equal and free life and a world community. It isalso the supreme goal of the Vietnamese revolution.
The very first point of view of the Ho Chi Minh era has become aguideline for the Vietnamese Party and State’s religious policy over thepast seven decades, which has been emphasised at every Party Congressand stipulated in all four Constitutions.
Togetherwith socio-economic achievements in the cause of national reform,people’s cultural life, including religious activities, have becomericher and richer, from traditional rituals and festivals tointernational events.
The decision to stand forelection to the UN Human Rights Council once again reflects Vietnam ’sstrong commitment to ensuring the basic rights of people, includingreligious freedom, contributing to efforts to build a world of equalityand happiness.-VNA
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