Transformation of Religion in Vietnam's Public Life: The Case of Christianity

Abstract

In the last two decades we see really a boom in religious worship in Vietnam. Religions are becoming more visible. Everywhere there are new and newly renovated pagodas, temples and churches. There are religious transformations in public rituals, in the movies and in the other arts as well as the mass media. Not only peasants, intelligentsia and workers who were typical worshipers in traditional Vietnamese society, but now also officials and businessmen are active in worship. On the other side, the Communist party of Vietnam (CPV) step by step departs from Marxist doctrine and carries out a relatively open policy on religious affairs since its 24th Resolution in 1990 as a consequence of the collapse of the Communist block. But despite the fact that the relationship between the Vietnamese authorities and some religious organizations in Vietnam is radically improved, it is not always clear in the case of Christianity. There are many reasons for that situation including of the relationship between this monotheist religion and colonialism during the colonial period and during the both Indochina and Vietnam wars. But beside of those, the cultural-religious factors should be not underestimated. The contrary between Christian and Marxist world outlooks have sometime even political characters as we have seen situation under the Nguyen dynasty. Also, the relationship between the communist regime and Christian churches should be analyzed wider in context of relationship between Christian and non-Christian communities because of most communists follow their non-Christian religions and faiths.