Socialist Republic of Vietnam

At an international conference on "Beginning the Conversation: Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia" on September 8-9 in Hanoi, experts discussed religious freedom and related issues.

Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Hong Duong spoke about the relationship between the Government and religions in Vietnam in recent years.

At the beginning of the Christian era, Vietnam had such religions as Buddhism, Confucianism and ancestral worship. All these have co-existed amicably and contributed greatly to its traditional culture.

The Party has, in the Resolution of the Party's 9th Central Committee, confirmed its view on religious matters, saying "believers and religions are considered a spiritual need and a part of the Vietnamese people, and will exist along with them in the process of construction of socialism in the country. Believers of all religions are seen as a part of the great national unity.

"All religions that operate within the laws will be equal before laws. The Party and the government will implement a consistent policy of great national unity including unity of different religions and unity of
religious and non-religious communities." The Party's appropriate guidelines and the State's policies on religion have become a part of people's lives, recording great achievements. Religions have operated normally and believers and dignitaries have led a good religious life.

Religious churches in Vietnam have actively taken part in social activities and charitable funds for hunger elimination and poverty reduction, family planning, free health care services, free training and educational classes. Such participation, following the principle of "living a good religious life", has helped the nation lower its developmental burden.

The Government has always taken good care in preserving, developing and employing good religious values to serve the country's development. The Party's view and policies on religious matters have always been consistent. However, in different historical periods and especially during the integration process, these policies have been revised according to the new situation.

All religions in Vietnam have been operating normally within the law. Following the principle of integrating with common people and life, all religions have positively contributed to social, political and cultural life.

Dr Anatoli Sokolov, Department of Southeast Asia, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Science, spoke about Russian state policies on religion.

The main religions in Russia are Christianity (mainly Orthodox), Islam,  Judaism, and Buddhism.

More than a half of the Russian people are Orthodox. The number of Catholics comes to 400,000-500,000 and the number of Protestants is nearly 500,000.

Russia now has about 14.6 million people following Islam, according to a recent population survey. The country has about one million followers of Judaism.

Buddhism is known as one of the traditional religions. The number of Buddhists in Russia is estimated between 1.2 and 1.5 million people.

In the transitional period from the 1980s to 1990s, several new religious associations and movements were formed in Russia.

In 1990, the Russian bill regarding the freedom of religions and religious institutions was passed. A certain number of registered associations were found to be fake during the 1990-97 period. Some of them carried out activities that did not correspond with the charter and the purpose of registered associations.

In 1997, another bill "Regarding the freedom of religion and religious institutions" was passed. That was an effort to settle existing and accumulated problems. One of the most urgent tasks put to the government was to set up a more serious and responsible premise for registering religious institutions.

Russian laws ensure equality for all religious institutions, without discriminating against the old or the new, traditional or non-traditional religions.

The purpose of the government's religious policy is to create favourable conditions for positive development of domestic religious life without conflicts, and to strengthen the country's social stability.

Nguyen Khac Huy, Government Committee for Religious Affairs, spoke about the process of law on religion in Vietnam.

The policy of "freedom of beliefs, the unity of non- Catholics and Catholics" had contributed to uniting the whole people in the resistance wars and has helped the country regain national independence and unified the nation.

Vietnam is a country with many ethnic minorities, religions, and a population of over 80 million from 54 ethnic groups. There exist at present in Vietnam six major religions with about 20 million believers,
60,000 dignitaries, devoted followers, 22,000 places of worship and 16 religious organisations that have received official recognition. They include the Vietnamese Catholic Church, Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha, the General Protestant Church in North Vietnam, The General Protestant Church in South Vietnam, Hoa Hao Buddhist Church, nine Sacred Cao Dai Churches and two offices representing Islam.

Together with religious associations recognised above, there exist other religious organisations and branches which are newly formed or newly imported into Vietnam like a number of Protestant sects, the Buddhist Association of the Pure Land, the Section of Piety, Self Righteousness and the Four Moral Debts, the Baha'i religion, etc. who carry out religious and other activities in their places of worship or in other places with about 1.5 million believers, over 5,000 dignitaries, officers and about
500 places of worship.

The religious policy of the Vietnamese State is to respect and ensure freedom of beliefs and religions for all citizens. It has been affirmed since the first Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and supplemented and improved through the Constitutions of 1959, 1980 and the Constitution of 1992 of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Based on the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1992, which institutionalises the viewpoints of the Party, the Ordinance on Religions and Beliefs was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and became effective on November 15, 2004. This was a historical landmark on perfecting the law and regulating the domain of religions and beliefs in Vietnam.

In the social development process, these laws on beliefs and religions have gained relative stability, despite inevitable restrictions and shortcomings. Therefore, supplementing and perfecting the policies and laws on beliefs and religions is an objective necessity.

Eugene Tan Kheng Boon, Assistant Professor of Law, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, spoke about promoting religious moderation in the post - 9/11 era.

Singapore has enjoyed racial and religious harmony since its independence in 1965. Singapore's rich religious heritage is also celebrated as a source of strength, with places of worship promoted as tourist sites of interest.

The government is acutely aware that religious differences tend to reinforce racial and cultural identities and differences. And that religion can be a salient but powerful instrument of social change.
While the Singaporean's increased religiousness per se is not a concern, the fact that Singaporeans, specifically Muslims, are interacting less with Singaporeans from other faiths is. This overarching fear and vulnerability ensure that close scrutiny, interventionist surveillance, and ultra-sensitivity are hallmarks of the government's policy towards religion.

In the post-9/11 environment, the government was concerned that Singapore's social fabric may not withstand the impact of a terrorist attack in Singapore. The government sought to chart new directions to engender better inter-racial and religious understanding.

The government continues to urge Muslims to practise their faith in the context of a multiracial society, with moderation. Singapore is simultaneously a profoundly secular and an apparently
profoundly religious society. The rich diversity of religious life also means conflicting religious needs. In a society where 85 per cent of Singaporeans profess to belonging to a faith, religion forms a core part of many Singaporeans' identities and value-systems. However, religion continues to pose numerous challenges to a multiracial, secular Singapore.

Rik Torfs, Full Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, discussed experiences of Western democracies in dealing with the legal position of churches and religious communities.

Although most European Union countries have their specific tradition concerning Church and State relationships, a model common to most of them can be identified rather easily. This model is characterised by the existence of two clearly distinguished levels with regards to law and religion.

Level A covers religious freedom, and also deals with somewhat more problematic concerns including proselytisation and new religious movements.

Level B deals with the superstructure of the system. It presupposes the realisation of level A.

Level A guarantees religious freedom as such. Where the latter is effectively guaranteed, room is given to level B where advantages and privileges granted to just a limited number of religious groups are at stake.

With regard to level B, two clear trends can be identified: the criteria leading to material advantages for just some religious groups tend to become more objective; and the general trend in state policy goes into the direction of extending advantages to an increasing number of churches and religious communities.

This two-level model is typical for Europe and seriously differs from the approach in the United States of America, where religious freedom is guaranteed but where co-operation with religious groups is not
compatible with the constitution. Of course, the European model, that looks rather generous at first glance, entails considerable risks. 

Source: Vietnam News Service