RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Religious Freedom

By Van Nguyen




Overview

In the Marxist viewpoint, a fundamental principle of dialectical materialism on religion is: “It is man who creates the religion and not the universe.” This principle has its origin from materialism of the ancient Greece. It was developed in the Renaissance, then, at the time of the Enlightenment in Europe. It was especially enamored by the classical materialist philosopher, Fuerbach, who conceived that “the conscience of God is the conscience of man created by man himself, and the knowledge of God is the knowledge of man created by man himself.” Karl Marx reinforced Fuerback’s viewpoint: “Man is not an abstract being hidden somewhere in the world. Man is the human world, the State, the society. This State, this society has engendered the religion.” In the same tune, Engels claimed: “Religions are all illusory—within the interior of the human brain—in the human brain.” The materialist viewpoint naturally opposes the religious viewpoint. In this regard, God is a transcendental being, an ideal image of man. The faithful all glorify the name of God and expand his domain by transcendental love among and between human beings. Secular power must not be used to nullify human love and ideal.

     Monopoly of Power

To uphold the principle of dialectical materialism, the Communist Party and successive governments of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have striven to carry out a class struggle to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in Vietnam. Throughout seven decades since the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945, this proletarian regime has misappropriated all means of production and exchanges, destroying the "bourgeoisie" and the remnants of imperialism that constitute it and establishing a socialist State. This one-party State shows all its ambitions to exercise monopoly of power to govern the entire Vietnamese population and shape the development of the Vietnamese society as well as the fate of the individuals in it. This party considers itself the savior of the nation. It empowers itself with the right to the leadership of the nation. It vests itself with the mission to bring into play what it calls a socialist transformation of the nation. None of the sectors of the political and social life could escape from it. And, the religion is not an exception.  

Holding on to monopoly of power, the Communist Party voluntarily eliminates any civil organization that it considers as its enemy, The 1992 Constitution, for instance, provides the right to freedom of religion with exception: No one may use religious adherence or belief to violate the State laws and policies. Religious organizations may become competing centers for power. The Party has thus divided oppressed, repressed, and persecuted followers of all faiths and isolated their leaders from them. It establishes State-sponsored religious bodies such as the Catholic Patriotic Association and the Buddhism Church of Vietnam as watchdogs to control the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam and exterminate the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church.

Despite the 1992 Constitution which states the separation of powers between the Party and the State, the functioning of the social political institutions of Vietnam exhibit identical entreaties of the Party and the State. The distinction in viewpoints, the interpretation of the laws, regulations, and policies is virtually nominal. Everything is decided by the Communist Party of Vietnam. The official ideology -communism-- is considered to be the legitimate way of life. It forms the backbone of all other social institutions. It institutes the history of the Vietnamese people and establishes the supra- and infra-structures of the country. Still, Article 70 of this constitution overlooks the three fundamental principles of religious freedom: the freedom of propagation, the separation between secular authority and divine authority and the neutrality between the State and the Church. Without these principles, the Church, religious freedom is non-existent.

 In the legislative law of 2005, the term religion appears in a list of the categories of particular attention. It is one of the elements of ideological categories viewed as one of the classes to be eliminated as defined by Marx and Engels. In this by-passing period towards communism, the Party allows, out of objective requirements, the realization of unity of all societal components. They should be integrated in an organic unity so that all members in these social categories will eventually become one of the would-be unified Vietnamese socialist families. This unity is further mentioned in the list of groups --classes-- for which the Party and State is due to elaborate a particular policy. The religion is envisaged as a distinctive feature to be treated to the interest of the totality of the communist society. It is viewed, in the last resort, as a real problem to the Party.

  

The Legitimacy of the Religion

The religion is cited, however, as one of the traits of diversity of the cultural, moral, and instinctive life of Man. It is a spiritual element that contributes to the civilized civil society. It is an institution in itself and for itself, socially and culturally, it is a composite moral and spiritual element that helps build the community unity. It is an entity that is true and real to it. It is personal, exceptional, and independent from the State. Above all, it is a way of life. From immemorial times, it enlightens the lives of men and women on different levels of culture and civilization. It provides them with moral, spiritual, and intellectual guidelines. It gives meaning to their existence and to the world they inhabit.  It gives them solace and hope for the future. Of most significance, it inspires them to build new communities that embody their vision of the perfect world in the most desolate places. The claims of the religion are not in conflict with the claims of the State. Rather, they complement them.

Throughout the history of the nation, all religions help shape the integration of the Vietnamese people into a cohesive society and reinforce the presence, if not the power of the secular power, while softening its rule.  They serve as a refuge for those who want to escape this rule and a vehicle of dissent for those who respect the all-compassing claims of the State. In a way, the dissenters could, on behalf of their religious beliefs and of their viewpoints be intransigent with those who disagree with them. Save for the harsh conditions under the emperors of the early Nguyen Dynasty (19th Century), who elevated Confucianism to the unequalled political supremacy at the excusion of other religions, the three major religions--Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—ever coexisted in harmony. The Communist State of Vietnam is, in many ways, heir to the despotic Confucian state under the Nguyen dynasty. This is self-evident in its leadership. Like its Confucian predecessors, it has made rigorous attempts to control the religious life of its population, only with the aid of the State orthodoxy, Marxism-Leninism. The leadership insists that the Vietnamese Catholic Church be a national Church. It has ordered the confiscation of properties belonging to the Buddhist Churches, including schools and orphanages, on the grounds that the State alone should run such institutions. It refuses to allow draft-aged males into the ranks of the Catholic and Buddhist clergy. As a matter of fact, these attempts at the State control have provoked reactions.

Although the Communist Party is securely at the helm, its leaders are taking no chances. Periodic appeals for vigilance against the enemies of the State continue to be issued.  Chiefs among these suspected enemies are members of the Caodaists and Hoa Hao Buddhists, as well as the Catholics and Buddhists.  The modern State has greater powers and much more effective means of control than the traditional imperial State ever possessed. It is conceivable that the Communist State will succeed where the despotic Confucian State did not. But religious aspirations are too strong to be easily uprooted. The outcome of the centuries-old tension between state and religion is very much in the laps of the Gods (Hue Tam Ho Tai, The Vietnamese Forum .1987: 144-14)