Luận văn thạc sĩ Khoa học chính trị: Rule of law and the renovation of religious policy in Vietnam (2004-2016)

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

DO THI THUY VU

MASTER THESIS POLITICAL SCIENCES

Hanoi - 2022

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

I guarantee that the master’s thesis with the title: “Rule of law and therenovation of religious policy in Vietnam (2004-2016) is my work, with thesupport from my supervisor, Ph.D Nguyen Duy Quynh The research contentsand results of the topic are honest Besides, the data for analysis, statement, andevaluation are collected by the student through different sources recorded in thereferences In addition, the thesis also uses some statements and assessments, as

well as the figure of researchers, other agencies, and organizations These arealso shown in the references.

Đỗ Thi Thuy Vũ

WORDS OF APPRECIATION

I sincerely thank Assoc Prof Ph D Pham Quoc Thanh, who suggestedme to develop this topic and created favourable conditions for me to completethe master thesis.

I sincerely thank Ph.D Nguyen Duy Quynh, who wholeheartedly helpedme to accomplish this research.

I sincerely thank the National University-level Project, code QG.20.30by Dr Phung Chi Kien as the director has supported me in the process of

completing this research.

I sincerely thank all the teachers in the Faculty of Political Science,University of Social Sciences and Humanities, for their dedication to teachingand providing valuable knowledge so that I can develop and implement thisresearch in a scientific and effective manner.

Finally, I want to show my gratitude to my family and friends who havealways cared for and encouraged me during my thesis work.

Đỗ Thi Thuy Vũ

This master thesis is more advanced in that: first, the problem is raised:The rule of law state and the renovation of religious policy in the period 2004-2016.

The main idea of this master’s thesis is that I want to present, analyze,and observable: The problem of socialist rule in Vietnam that the Party raisedfrom the 10th Congress and then from the 11th Congress, concretized the Rule oflaw in the field of religious life and religious policy.

On the other hand, I still inherit and choose the period 2004-2016 so thatI can have the advantages of absorbing and promoting the research results in2019 but improving in that: The improvement of religious law in Vietnam,which is one of the most fundamental achievements of the process of reformingreligious policy from 1990 up to now, supported by society and people of allreligions At the same time, in terms of state management, there is an additional

first-class effective tool, along with the socialist rule of law state model onreligion, creating stability and sustainable development in our country related toreligious practices.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WORDS OF APPRECIATIONACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTIƠN - - -G- 2G c1 HT TT TT TH HH ngư 1CHAPTER 1 RELIGIOUS LIFE IN VIETNAM AND THE NEED TO BUILDA RULE OF LAW SĨTA TTE - Án TH TT TH TH TH Hành 101.1 Religious life in Vietnam in the period 2004 to 2016 - «5<: 101.2 The international context and issues raised in the construction of the rule oflaw state on religion 1n VI€ffAT - -.- - - + 111111 1H ngư 14

1.3 The first steps of religious policy T€ÍOTI - 5 5 + + ++x£+sEsesseesseree 16CHAPTER 2 THE PRELIMINARY OF FORMING A STATE GOVERNEDBY THE LAW ON RELIGION - «vn vn HT HH ngư 262.1 The Communist Party of Vietnam and the policy of building a stategoverned by the law on T€ÏIØIOIN <5 5 E1 1191019311931 HH ngư 262.2 The essence of religious policy improvement (the CPV’s Congress XI, in2011) in Vietnam at present - - 6 5 319911900 930 H1 9 nh ng ng ng nh 282.3 The rule of law on religion in Vietnam: Consistency and Reality 37CHAPTER 3 THE RULE OF LAW ON RELIGION IN VIETNAM: THEDEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM ON RELIGION 463.1 Ho Chi Minh and Foundation of Law on RelIg1on s5ss<s++s<+2 463.2 The process of perfecting the Law on ReÌig1on -. - « «<< x+<e<+ssx+ 513.3 The rule of law on religion - A success of political reform in Vietnam 69CONCLUSION 1.0 :ãa 75REFERENCES Án HH HH HH HH TH ng 78

1 Rationale

1.J, The term “socialist rule-of-law state in Vietnam” first appeared in thedocument of the Vietnamese Communist Party in January 1994 Since then, newphrases in the political dictionary in Vietnam, such as “perfecting religiouspolicy” and "religious law", especially "building a state governed by the rule of

law on religion, " has become more and more prominent.

In the graduation thesis, with three chapters, I could only repeat some ofthe views of the Party and Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on religion Still, I could notanalyze anything because of my cognitive ability at that time Besides, in thosethree chapters, I only attach great importance to the "comparison" of the twolegal documents mentioned above, mainly through the main content of theprovisions Of course, I also commented on the achievements of religious policyreform in the legal field.

In this master's thesis, in order to improve the theory and practice ofpolitical science master's thesis, I will try to improve the political theory of therule of law, the rule of law in the field of religion, as well as a complete analysisof religious legal instruments in the rule of law model in our country Besides, Iwill also try to compare this model with the rule of law model, religious policyin China, nothing more than expanding the argument for the successful assertionof religious policy in our country in the renovation of politics and society ingeneral.

1.2, In recent years, the Party and State’s guideline for building a country withthe socialist rule of law has become one of the strategic and political factors andpolicies In the field of religion, the principle of the rule of law with building and

improving the legal framework on religion plays a decisive role in the stateadministration in the field.

In the article “Issue of religion and belief in the 1992 constitution inVietnam — Foundation for amendment”, Prof Dr Do Quang Hung wrote: “Asalready analyzed, we should select the general model The content of this articleshould be suitable for political psychology and the reality of religious life Thelanguage of this article should be consistent with the language of theConstitution We can change this model and combine it with the concrete modelin the necessary case We must ensure the embracement of content so thatConstitution is consistent and stable "Everyone has the right to freedom of beliefand religion; this right is manifested in teaching, religious practice, worship, andobservance of both individual and collectivity The right to implement religiousliberty can be limited when this right contradicts the elementary rights regulated

in the Constitution The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a secular state”!.

In 2019, I wrote my graduation thesis called The rule of law and religionin Vietnam: Law on belief, religion (2016), in which I mainly studied therelationship between religion and law when comparing the Ordinance onReligious Beliefs 2004 and Law on Religious Belief 2016 The graduation thesisaims to: Currently, the Law on Belief and Religion (2016) is very muchconcerned by the Government, religious organizations, and public opinion Afterone year of implementation, this law has many achievements; however, someissues still need to be discussed In this context, analyzing the context of birth,the content of the Law, and putting it in the process of renewing the religiouspolicies of the Party and State of Vietnam for more than 30 years is a significant

contribution to science and practice.

Thus, the renovation of religious policies of the Party, State, and people ofVietnam from 1994 to now is building a state ruled by law on religion, which isboth suitable for the times as well as the requirements of political, social, and

! Do Quang Hung, “Vẫn dé tôn giáo trong Hiến pháp 1992- Luận cứ cho một nhu cầu sửa đổi”, Tạp chí Lý

luận chính trị, Hà Nội, no 7, 2012, p.39.

religious life in our country today This is also why I chose the research problemfor the Master's thesis in political science in 2022.

2 Historical studies

Religion is a complex social-political matter, but it is an important element inthe historical process of modern Vietnam In fact, in Vietnam, many works havebeen addressing “religious policy” in the last few decades.

Indeed, the study of this issue has not received much attention However,since 1990 when Vietnam began innovating the religious guideline and policywith Resolution N.24 of the Political Bureau (October 1990), religiousresearchers have started paying attention to the religion law issue.

Since 2000, the main legal documents on religion have been published,such as The Legal Documents Related to Faith, Religion; The State Documentson Religious Activities (Volume I, 1992, and Volume II, 1995, internalcirculation) Religious matters are also found in 2 volumes of The PVC'sDocuments on the Unified National Front

In recent years, in Vietnam, there have been more works on reasoningor “summarizing" for every implementation stage of the religious policy of theParty and State or special “religious policy events" Some comments havefeatures that are tied to the practice of religious life.

Before and after the emergence of the book, several domestic andinternational professional journals, and records of international seminars onreligion and the rule of law in Southeast Asia”, attracted other authors.

Gradually, people could be able to read articles and books on the issue byauthors Nguyen Hong Duong, Nguyen Duc Lu, Ngo Huu Thao, Nguyen Minh

? In two years 2006 and 2007, the Institute for Religious Studies under the Vietnam Social Sciences

Academy, the Brigham Young University (BYU) and Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) from the USAco-sponsor series of international seminars on the issue In addition to seminars’ record, selected presentation

papers have been published in Religious Studies Journal, Social Sciences Information Journal, Religious

Work Magazine, Vietnam Social Sciences Magazine, etc, as well as collection books Typically, severalarticles have appeared in professional journals in China, France and the USA) Since 2008, the researchprogram on religion and the rule of law in Vietnam between the University of Social Science and Humanitiesand the BYU with various activities has focused on the main objective of promoting the improvement of thereligious law in Vietnam, making contributions to the legislation of Law on Belief and Religion (2016)

Thu, etc In these research materials, we found that the book Mét số van dé tôn

giáo ở Việt Nam hiện nay by author Nguyen Hong Duong? has a close look at the

beginning of the process of creating and developing the law on religion.

Similarly, the book Tôn giáo — quan điểm, chính sách của Dang và Nhà nước

Việt Nam hiện nay by author Nguyen Duc Luf leans toward the system of

viewpoints and guidelines on the religious policy and law by the VietnamCommunist Party.

Recently, religious law articles have increased as more religious scholarshave been interested in the issue The religious work journal has almost regularly

contained articles on this issue, especially in recent years.

Nevertheless, the most typical work for us is the book “State, Religion &Law” by Author Do Quang Hung with 454 pages, published in October 1990 bythe National Political Publisher The work is divided into three parts The firstpart of the book covers the relationship between the state and the church inforeign countries and Vietnam The second part introduces the current religiouslife in Vietnam and the impacts of the policy of openness, integration, and theaforementioned religious policy of reform, which brought more positive signs inthe religious life accompanying the nation The last part, titled “Law andReligion”, is most important for illustrating the process of building a state withthe socialist rule of law in the field of religion in Vietnam in recent decades,especially the cause for developing and improving the legal system on religion aswell as its impact on the religious and social life.

Author Do Quang Hung (2005), book The Religious Issue in VietnameseRevolution: Theory and Practice (2005), has been reprinted several times, for thefirst time, it has presented the historical perception system of the CPV and Stateof Vietnam on the theory and practice of religious affairs from 1920 to recent

3 Nguyen Hong Duong (2010), “Some religious isues in Viet Nam today’, Religious Studies Magazine, no

4 Nguyen Duc Lu (2009), Religion — current viewpoints and policies of the Vietnamese Party and State,

Politics Administration Publisher, Ha Noi, 2009.

years However, the “religious policy” issue was not yet the main subject for the

study of the book."

Especially in 2014, this author published the book Religious Policy and

Rule of Law State®, which contains many research contents related to my thesis

topic, such as The essence of religious policy (Chapter 1); Vietnamese ReligiousLife today: Relationship between State and Churches (Chapter 2); Religion,religious policy, and the rule of law (Chapter 4).

In 2014, Vietnam decided to build the first code of law on belief andreligion Since its first draft was public, responses from the press, religiousorganizations, and people have been resilient Many researchers on religion,including those from abroad, state officials concerning state ministries andagencies, intellectuals, and religious dignitaries have, for the first time, debated,though public media, on each content, even each provision of this draft of the law.

To understand the contents and importance of the law on belief andreligion 2016 — the subject of research in the thesis, I have learned a great deal of

the basic knowledge of laws on religion from the mentioned translation book.

Right from its publication until now, this book has had a wide influence inthe world of religion - the rule of law - law research in Vietnam and in the fieldof undergraduate and graduate training It is known that there have been manymaster's and doctoral theses specialized in this field.

Reforming religious policy in China and Vietnam has certain similarities.State management agencies in charge of religion in Vietnam often pay attentionto the China's religious situation and religious policy One of the Chinese books

soon translated into Vietnamese as Religion and Religious Life in China,’attracted readers’ attention.

5 Do Quang Hung, Religious issues in the Vietnamese revolution, National Political Publisher, Ha Noi, 2005.

5 Do Quang Hung, Religious policy and the rule of law, Hanoi National University Publisher, 2014.

7 Religious and religious life in China, Nguyen Thi Bach Tuyet translated from the English version , Religion

Publisher, 2017.

Thus, the rule of law on religion is the most crucial topic in the renewal ofreligious policy in Vietnam in the period 2004-2016 as well as the next period.

However, there are very few works that take this topic as a direct researchdirection, in other words, the process of building and gradually perfecting therule of law state in Vietnam is still very limited Therefore, the master thesisconsiders it the most important research object even though I have identified itonly in a certain period (2004-2016).

3 Material and approaches

The thesis uses traditional approaches of Political Science, historicalmethods, and logical methods and is loyal to the viewpoints of Marxism and HoChi Minh's ideology about religion In addition, the thesis also uses a legalapproach to comparison, seeing religious policy as a public policy Based onapplying the mentioned research methods, the thesis focuses mainly on thesurvey and analysis of Vietnamese legal documents and main documents fromthe Government Committee for Religious Affairs.

The approach of this study is to combine several fundamental theoreticalissues with developments in the practice of implementing religious policy inVietnam today Accordingly, we view the reality of religious policy as a publicpolicy within the framework of developing the rule of law state on the religionprocess The study logic will lead to set up development and completion process

for the secular state model in Vietnam as an aim and the most fundamentalmeasure to deal with the religious issues Naturally, Marxist methodology, HoChi Minh ideology on religion and beliefs, and experiences of the CommunistParty and the State of Vietnam play an important role but should be integratedwith the international conventions The improvement of religious policy inVietnam will follow according to this logic.

In order to understand the essence of the problem of the rule of law andreligion in Vietnam in this period, I apply the theoretical logic of the rule of lawstate and religion of C.Evans and J Raz (2004) as they describe: “However, it is

impossible to build a good house unless you have strong foundations Similarly,any lasting, worthwhile legal protections of religion must be based on the rule oflaw If the laws protecting religious freedom are unclear or unstable; if thejudges or officials who apply the law are biased, arbitrary, or refuse to hear the

case properly: or if courts are inaccessible, then no real progress can be madewith religious freedom Suppose we rely simply on drafting a law on religiousfreedom without a foundation of respect for the rule of law In that case, that lawis unlikely to produce anything lasting and solid for society or the individuals

living within it."

As author Do Quang Hung has modeled the rule of law state on religion inVietnam based on three bases: Developing and improving the secular statemodel (a); Improving public policy on religion (b); Continuing to improve the

appropriate state management model on religion (c).° Purpose of research and Research mission

Clarifying the Communist Party's direction of building a rule of law state onreligion, the State of Vietnam is considered one of the key points of the process

of reforming religious policy since 1990.

Clarifying a number of aspects and relationships between building a rule oflaw state: policy reform, law building, and building a secular state model.

In order to meet the above-mentioned research purpose, this thesis presentsthe process of implementing the reform of religious policy, step by step buildingthe rule of law (2004-2016), in which the key is to build and perfect the law onreligion.

5 Research subjects

The process of renewing theoretical and practical thinking in building astate of the law on religion Each relationship between the implementation of therule of law and the reception of religions and social action.

8 Do Quang Hung, Religious policy and the rule of law, Id, p.402-408

7 Scope and research content

1.1, Religious life in Vietnam in the period 2004 to 2016

1.2, International context and issues raised in building the rule of law state onreligion in Vietnam

1.3, The first steps of religious policy reform

Chapter 2: The preliminary of forming a state governed by the law onreligion

2.1, The Communist Party of Vietnam and the policy of building a stategoverned by the law on religion

2.2, The essence of religious policy improvement (the CPV’s Congress XI, in2011) in Vietnam at present

2.3, The rule of law on religion in Vietnam: Consistency and Reality

Chapter 3: The rule of law on religion in Vietnam: The development of thelegal system on religion

3.1, Ho Chi Minh and Foundation of Law on Religion3.2, The process of perfecting the Law on Religion

3.3, Rule of law on religion - A success of political reform in VietnamConclusion

CHAPTER 1

RELIGIOUS LIFE IN VIETNAM AND THE NEED TO BUILD A RULEOF LAW STATE

1.1 Religious life in Vietnam in the period 2004 to 2016

Vietnam, which is situated in southeast Asia, has a rich cultural heritageand a history of several thousand years of building and defending the nation.There are 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam These groups have differenttraditional cultures, religions, and beliefs imbued with their respective ethniccharacteristics Each group has its own culture within Vietnam's community ofethnic groups, yet all these ethnic groups share a common practice ofpolytheistic worship.

Whether following exogenous or native religions, Vietnamese believers,in general, are influenced by polytheism, a spirit of religious tolerance, andnationalism Patriotism is a valued tradition of religious followers and the vastmajority of religious leaders in Vietnam More than anyone else, Vietnamesereligious believers understand that religious freedom can exist only when the

homeland is independent.

As residents of a multi-religion country, Vietnamese religious followersare devoted to the nation while at the same time taking an active part in socialand cultural life, thus contributing to Vietnam's rich, diverse, and distinctiveculture Vietnam is a tolerant and moderate country in terms of inter-religiousrelations and has a tradition of religious unity and national unity in the defense

and building up of the nation The peaceful co-existence and tolerance amongdifferent religions, together with the compassionate and human nature of theVietnamese people and their society, create a lively picture of beliefs andreligions living together in Vietnam: singular yet various, intermingling yetwithout discord In Vietnam today, the harmony between religions and the stateis quite apparent Thus, conflicts between religions have not occurred inVietnam Overall national unity, including unity among religions, is the country's

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source of strength and the decisive factor that ensures victory in the cause ofdefending and building the homeland.

Vietnam’s weakness is, up to now, yet to have any genuine religiousdemography However, with the available data (officially from state andactuality), we still can give the followings:

- First, although Vietnam is truly a multi-religious society, so far, Vietnamstill is a majority “non-religious” society (about 70%).

- Second, Protestantism is a religion with sudden growth.

- Third, religious reconfiguration: in social and legal aspects, the word“religion” denotes inherently only six recognized religions before 2005,and until the end of 2012 are 13 (corresponding to 32 their

- Fourth, the census of Religion in Vietnam has not reflected the diversityof religious life in the family and interrelationship among religions in thereligious geography aspect

- Fifth, in the religious geography aspect: at present, (1) southern Vietnamis the central point of religious issues, at least in terms of demography; (2)with three main religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, and Protestantism, theSouthern region remain the center of these religions.

When embarking on building a rule of law state on religion, theVietnamese immediately turned to China's experiences to apply The book“Religions and Religious life in China” states that:

Here is a summary of the Chinese government policy towards religions:

One Citizens have the right to believe or not to believe in a religion It isall up to the individual citizen to decide whether to believe in a religion and whatreligion he or she chooses Decisions on such matters are regarded as privateaffairs.

? Source: Government religious committee in 2022, the number of recognized religionsn is 16, while the

number of religious organizations is 43

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The People's Republic of China Constitution provides citizens with fullfreedom to believe in regions or not to believe in religions A religious believermust give up his or her religious belief in order to join the Party In China,whether to join the Party or convert to a religion depends on the free will of theindividual citizen.

Two The Chinese government policy towards religions calls for theseparation of religions from the government Religions are not allowed tointerpose in administrative, judicial, and educational affairs that should behandled by the government, and neither are religions allowed to interfere inbelievers' marriages Meanwhile, the government is not allowed to interfere in

the internal affairs of the religious circles, and the state does not promote religionin its favor or ban a religion it dislikes.

Third Religious activities must be undertaken within limits prescribed bythe Constitution and the relevant laws and government policies While exercisingthe right to freedom of religious belief, citizens must on no account abuse theright to engage in any illegal activity or activity detrimental to the interests of the

state, society, and other citizens.

Four All religions are equal China does not have a "dominating" religion.All religions, large or small in terms of the number of followers and influence,are treated as equals and given the same political status and legal rights.

Five The government policy calls for mutual respect between theism andatheism, between those who are religious and those who stand for atheism Toproperly handle the relationship between theists and atheists and betweencitizens believing in different religions, the government holds that religiousactivities, in general, should be undertaken at religious sites In other words, noone is allowed to propagate atheism at religious sites or start a debate on atheismvs theism with religious people Likewise, religious organizations and followersshould not do preaching and propagate doctrine outside religious sites.

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Six The various religions are required to operate under the principle ofindependence and run religious affairs on their own That means that Chinesereligions brook no interference by foreign forces in their internal affairs and thatChina does not allow the use of religions by such forces to interfere in itsinternal affairs.!°

Regarding state management of religious organizations in China, Song Jialso said,

All the five major religions practiced in China have their ownorganizations Included are seven national organizations, namely: the BuddhistAssociation of China, China Taoist Association, China Islamic Association,Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China,China Christian Council, Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, and ChineseCatholic Bishop College There are also 3,000 religious organizations operatingat different local levels.

Under China's legal system, all social organizations must register with thecompetent government authorities for legitimacy, and, as a matter of course,religious organizations are no exceptions According to the Methods forAdministering Registration of Religious Organizations published in 1991 by theReligious Affairs Bureau of the State Council, a religious organization mustmeet the following conditions for registration:

1 The said organization shall have a name, a permanent address, and aresponsible person.

2 The said organization's articles of association shall not go against thePeople's Republic of China Constitution and the relevant laws and government

3 The said organization shall have a legitimate source of financing.

© Sang Ji, Religions and religious life in China, Governement Policy towards Religions and Religious

Activities, p.44-46

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4 The religious classics used by the said organization and the teachingsand commandments that it follows should be good enough to stand verificationthrough textual research, fall in line with the development of an existing religionin China, and in no way go against provisions of its own articles of association.

5 Members of the said organization's leading bodies should be widely

Asia (CEA) regarding religious freedom” !”

Many Westerners are hoping that the globalization process will eventuallyovercome the divide by essentially transforming CEA into their own image.However, understanding a common global “shared space" forces countries onboth sides of this ideological divide to adapt their identity to accommodate the

other Along with this accommodation is the realization of shared interests: thatinternational religious freedom can be the foundation of national societies and,therefore, global “society"; and that religious extremism can result in national

and even global instability In a global society, more than one country can shape

'l Sang Ji, Religions and religious life in China, Governement Policy towards Religions and Religious

Activities, p.47-48

2 J Daugherty, Hien Vu, Engaging communist East Asia: Recommendations for religious freedom, The

Review of Faith & International Affairs, p.68-72.

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and therefore share the responsibility for religious freedom's success or and the outcomes will affect everyone.

failure-Accordingly, it is in the interest of the U.S and CEA to promote religiousfreedom cooperatively This cooperation can only occur through a time-consuming process of relationship-building, which will replace traditionalmonoliths with dynamic understanding Long-term cooperation requires U.S.policymakers to acknowledge historical and political factors at the regional andlocal levels within CEA, acknowledge U.S strengths and weaknesses, anddevelop a carefully considered strategy for religious freedom policy in the future.

On the other hand, Marxism is still a strong force in these countries,offering useful rhetoric for problem-resolution and a point of cohesion amidglobalization In addition, various Communist Party organizations still governsocietal advancement, and institutions for ideological education remain Despitetheir ideological affiliation, CEA countries have recently demonstrated a

willingness to adapt their economic ideology in order to participate in broadereconomies available within a non-Communist global society Nowhere is thismore evident than the accession of China and Vietnam to the World TradeOrganization in the last decade.

The authors of the article are not afraid to reveal America's intentions: “TheU.S can promote religious freedom among CEA countries as one dimension of ahealthy civil society In order to do so, U.S policymakers must understand thedifference between CEA theories of religious freedom and the reality forreligious groups in CEA countries Though officially atheist, all CEA countrieshave officially sanctioned religious organizations In addition, all CEA countrieshave legislation at the national level protecting citizens' freedom of belief ornon-belief Despite these guarantees, there are clear patterns of restrictions on

religious minorities, ranging from minor fines to imprisonment of followers” 1$,

l3 J Daugherty, Hiên Vũ, Engaging communist East Asia: Recommendations for religious freedom, The

Review of Faith & International Affairs, p.252

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Therefore, many annual reports on the international religious freedom ofthe US in Vietnam often criticize the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for thispolicy For example, in the 2017 Report, the US still assessed the following:

“The constitution states that all people have freedom of belief and religion.Current law, however, provides for significant government control over religiouspractices and includes vague provisions that permit restrictions on religiousfreedom in the stated interest of national security and social unity The 2016 Lawon Belief and Religion, scheduled to come into effect in January 2018, maintainsthese restrictions The new law maintains a multistage registration andrecognition process for religious groups; however, it shortens the time forrecognition at the national or provincial level from 23 to five years It also

specifies the right of recognized religious organizations to have legal

1.3 The first steps of religious policy reform

The main content of Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on belief and religionencompasses religious unity and national harmony, mutual respect, interest, andthe guarantee of freedom to follow or not to follow belief and religion.

Ho Chi Minh said: “The forces of our entire nation are our greatest strength.No one can defeat them"!5, Uniting the people — including ethnic and religiousgroups — was the core factor leading to victory in Vietnam’s revolution Thatconcept was part of Ho Chi Minh's strategy of national unity.

The Declaration of Independence, which President Ho Chi Minh drafted andthen read on 2 September 1945, quoted from, and developed values ofprogressive ideologies on human rights from capitalist democratic revolutions.

On 3 September 1945, the day after the Declaration of Independence of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh chaired the firstmeeting of the Government Council During this meeting, President Ho Chi

'4 Vietnam 2017 International religious freedom report, United States Department of State — Bureau ofDemocracy, Human Rights and Labor l

!5 Ho Chi Minh: Toàn tập, Nxb Chính trị quốc gia, Ha Noi, 1995, ep 4, p.20

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Minh raised six urgent matters to be addressed, the sixth of which was “Ensurefreedom to follow or not to follow a religion and promote the unity of religious

and non-religious people"!®.

On 9 November 1946, the first National Assembly of Vietnam approved thefirst Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, affirming in thisdocument that “The people have freedom of religion" On 14 June 1955,President Ho Chi Minh signed Decree No 234/SL regulating religious activitiesin Vietnam's new political system, a decision that both religious followers andnon-followers eagerly welcomed and supported.

In 1958, constituents of Hanoi asked President Ho Chi Minh, “Will religionsbe limited in the process of building Socialism?” President Ho reaffirmed thestandpoint of communists toward religions: “No In other socialist countries,people have full freedom of religion It is the same in Vietnam"!’ He had

previously pointed out definite ethical and cultural values of religions:

"Jesus Christ teaches: Morality means compassion” “Siddhartha Gautama

teaches: Morality means mercy” “Confucius teaches: Morality meanshumanity."!®

These salient points made by President Ho Chi Minh regarding socialism andreligion rejected the reasoning that some were propagating among religiousfollowers Such false reasoning held that socialism was not reconcilable withCatholic values and that socialism would limit religion and would not allow it toco-exist with socialism President Ho Chi Minh's words alleviated the concernsand doubts within the Catholic community as Vietnam began to enter the processof building a new society.

Ho Chi Minh reminded his compatriots and the soldiers across the country to“care for and look after the material and spiritual life of religious compatriots Itis expected that production will continue to develop so that, as the material life

16 Ho Chi Minh: Selected works, Nxb Chinh tri quéc gia, Ha Noi, 1995, vol 4, p.9

'7 Ho Chi Minh biographical chronicles, Nxb Chính trị quộc gia, Ha Noi 1995, ep 9, p.176'8 Ho Chi Minh biographical chronicles, Nxb Chính trị quốc gia, Ha Noi 1995, ep 6, p.225

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becomes better, the spiritual life of citizens will also become more secure and

Ho Chi Minh regarded religion as an essential factor and part of mankind'scultural heritage Undoubtedly, only someone who had experienced the reality ofrevolution and thoroughly understood religions could have such an opinion.

Ho Chi Minh paid great attention to respecting and accepting differences inperception and thought and looked for similarities in common goals and

ideologies to draw people together to complete the nation's key tasks.

President Ho Chi Minh spoke about the close relationship between religiousfollowers and the nation in a simple, understanding, and profound way: The loveof God is closely connected to the love of one's country, and worshiping God isclosely associated with serving one's country If a country has honor, thenreligions will shine; only when the country is independent can there be freedom

of religion.

According to Ho Chi Minh, a religious person's beliefs and love of his countryare not in conflict A Vietnamese citizen can simultaneously be both a patriot anda genuine believer in his/her religion.

Ho Chi Minh consistently looked at religion and the nation in the spirit ofgreat national unity Religions can only be affirmed when they exist within theheart of a nation, and a nation on its way to development needs to know how to

call on the core values of religion.”°

The August Revolution achieved success in 1945 In 1946, the firstConstitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam affirmed the right tofreedom of belief as one of five major citizen rights (These rights appear inArticle 10, Chapter II, “Fundamental Rights and Obligations of Citizens", andare defined as "the right of freedom to discuss, freedom to publish, freedom toorganize and assemble, the freedom of belief, and the freedom to travel inside

1° Ho Chi Minh biographical chronicles, Nxb Chinh tri quéc gia, Ha Noi, 1 993, ep 3, p.15

2° Do Quang Hung (2009), “Vẫn dé tôn giáo, tin ngưỡng trong tư tưởng Hô Chi Minh”, Nghiên cứu tôn giáo

Nhân vật và sự kiện, Ho Chi Minh city General Publisher, p.20-21

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and outside the country") The 1946 Constitution created a legal foundation forimplementing policies on religion through this article declaring respect for the

citizens' right to freedom of belief.”!

On 31 December 1959, the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic ofVietnam approved the 1959 Constitution with this clear statement in Article 26of Chapter III, “Fundamental Rights and Obligations of Citizens”: “Citizens ofthe Democratic Republic of Vietnam have the right to freedom of belief and tofollow or not to follow a religion" Building on the 1959 Constitution, the 1980Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam added to the previous text withArticle 68, Chapter V, “Fundamental Rights and Obligations of Citizens" Thisarticle noted:“Citizens have the right to freedom of belief and to follow or not tofollow any religion No one is allowed to take advantage of religion to act againstthe laws and policies of the State".

After the Party's resolutions regarding religious affairs in the context of theReform, the State's legal documents and procedures institutionalized newthinking in terms of religion Most important of all is the 1992 Constitution,which was built on the Constitutions from 1946, 1959, and 1980 to implementthe State of Vietnam's Renewal thinking regarding religion The 1992Constitution affirms in Article 70 of Chapter V, (Fundamental Rights andObligations of Citizens): "Citizens have the right to freedom of belief andreligion, to follow or not to follow any religion All religions are equal beforethe law Places of worship belonging to beliefs and religions are protected bythe law No one is allowed to encroach on the freedom of belief and religion orto take advantage of belief or religion to abuse the laws and policies of the

71 On 3 September 1945, the day after the Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of

Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh chaired the first meeting of the Government Council During this meeting,

President Hồ raised six urgent matters to be addressed, the sixth of which was, “Ensure freedom to follow or

not to follow a religion and promote the unity of religious and non-religious people

2 Nguyen Duc Lu, “Religion — Current viewpoints and policies of the Vietnamese Party and State”,

Politics-Administration Publisher, Ha Noi, 2009.

19

Evidently, this thesis is more interested in the events of religious policyinnovation as well as its effects on religious and social life from 2004 onwardswhen the Ordinance on Religious Beliefs appeared (Ordinance on Religion andBelief) the same year.

Notably, from 2001 up to now, the complaints of religions tend toincrease at more intense and somewhat more complicated levels, in whichreligious land and place of worship disputes are most complex.

Generally, in the country, the number of complaints about religious landand places of worship from 1996 to 2005 and in recent years has alwaysaccounted for over 60% of all religious - related complaints, despite the LandAct (Amendment) 2003 It could be said in the state management of religion,this is also one of the urgent and long-term issues before finding morefundamental solutions.

Another feature of the religious life in Vietnam is that, on the one hand,religious policy should be more open to religious freedom and the autonomy of

the churches and at the same time, often must deal with "religious hot spots" (thesocio-political conflicts of religions).

The most typical conflict is "the Dega state" of "Dega Protestants" Sincethe 90s of the last centuries, the population of Protestant denominations in theCentral Highlands has grown “suddenly" and "abnormal", the hostile forces haveused overseas exile FULRO members taking advantage of the breakawaythought of trans-national autochthonism and de-territorialism to cause twoconsecutive political riots in 2001 and 2004, demanding to establish "DegaState" in this region We have some pages describing these important events aswell as our "exertion" to find a most justifiable solution for "Recognition ofCentral Highlands Protestant organizations from the sub-branches, sub-groups invillages, in such the way that is legitimate to manage", also can meet the dailyneeds of the reasonable religious activities of minority communities in CentralHighlands.

20

It appears that the above events are closely associated with "religiousfreedom - human rights issues" in Vietnam during the 90s and the early years ofthe 21st century.

I do not go too far into the related diplomatic events and internationalrelations, except for the important events such as in 2004, the U.S put Vietnamon the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list, according to the spirit of theInternational Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998 (H R 2431) and the Law

2194 (its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106 - 55)).

In our view, based mainly on the inner efforts, Vietnam not only hasefforts in "diplomatic struggle", but also has efforts to promote religious policyrenovation to be effective as mentioned above All those made U.S Congress

and the U.S Human Rights organizations on religious freedom came to anagreement on May 05, 2005 Then on November 13, 2006, the U.S StateDepartment officially announced Vietnam's removal from the CPC list.

Another new issue: religious activities of foreigners in Vietnam

For the first time, the Ordinance on Religion and Belief (2004), a legaldocument, has addressed some aspects of religious activities of foreigners inVietnam (though only the individual religious activities) but has yielded initialresults.

From 2005 up to the present, the Government Committee for ReligiousAffairs has directly handled many requests and recommendations from theEmbassies in Hanoi and General Consulates in Ho Chi Minh City on the placesof Worship, preachers, language issues, religious items Many of those havebeen resolved within the legal framework and realistic conditions of Vietnam,

1.e., for the Korean Protestant communities, the Russian Orthodox community in

Vung Tau City etc ”

When talking about the transformation of "religious policy", it is

?3 Nguyen Thanh Xuan, “State management over belief and religious activities”, Một số van dé về tôn giáo

và công tác tôn giáo của Đảng, Nhà nước ta hiện nay, Nxb Lý luận chính trị - Hành chính, Ha Noi, 2011

21

impossible not to mention the receiving (of the policy) attitude of the religiouscommunities In fact, they are also the subject of state management on religion.

By the religious, historical, and social approach, this chapter devotes noless effort to expressing this attitude from the main religions in Vietnam, such asCatholicism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Islam, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao Buddhism.

There are three interesting streams of issues when one studies specificreligions: (historical and current) relationship between the state and the typicalchurch organizations of each religion (excepting Protestantism, a pluralistreligion, and Islam in Vietnam with two different denominations); perceptionand attitude of religions toward specific religious policies; and finally, veryimportant, thoughts, feelings of clerics and religious intellectuals towards stateand policy.

Our general observation is the country is reformed, and religious policyrenovation is clearly an important positive factor in maintaining and promotingthe “religion accompanies with the nation" trend, "social presence” of religionsis increasingly better, "tot Doi - dep Dao” (good life - good faith) is a well-known slogan That is the leitmotif, the highlight Of course, any medal has its

own reverse side.”*

In 2003, another government decree was issued, it provides more clearlythat the Government Committee for Religious Affairs is "a government agency,which carries out a number of tasks and powers of state management on the fieldof religion in the whole country; State management of public services in thefield of religion as prescribed by law" (Article 1) At the same time, it provides

17 specified tasks and powers of this Committee.

The organizational structure of the Committee (Article 3) also clearlyreflects the organizational structure development of this special agency,

a) The following organizations to help the Head of the Committee to carry

24 Neuyen Hong Duong, “Some religious issues in Vietnam today”, Religious Studies Magazine, no 08/2010

22

out the duties and powers of state management

b) The Professional organizations of the Committee

To implement a more comprehensively organizational structure of theGovernment Committee for Religious Affairs, a subsequent Decree of theGovernment on strengthening the organizational machinery of religious affairsof the People's Committees at all levels also pointed out clearly, in which itsarticle 2 is the most important on organizational model of the Committees forReligious Affairs in provinces and cities directly under the Central Government.

Thus, the essential features of the state management model on religiousaffairs in Vietnam are:

- A government management system from Central to local is increasinglyimproved to become a multi-level, multi-function system.

- Another "very Vietnamese" characteristic is involvement In stateadministration with the "entire political system" Besides the specialized stateagencies, there are also the roles of the Government Committee for CentralPublic Relation, the Vietnamese Fatherland Front When it is necessary to dealwith "religious hot spots", many time, the Fatherland Front at all levels play adirect role in canvassing, explaining before the maneuvers of law enforcementagencies.

- At present, religious activities are "decentralized" into four levels: national,provincial (municipal), district, and commune In fact, Vietnam has shifted from

an "Independent" (direct under Government) management model to the"Committee" under the Ministry of Interior Affairs, in many aspects, this modelhas revealed new deficiencies.

To see more clearly the activities of this management system, we also havechosen several “professional” analyses such as recognition of religiousorganizations (administrative operations); recognition of associations, religiousorders, monasteries of religions, training and employing religious officials, andother religious activities

23

The whole presentation above leads to a consequence: the search for a statemanagement of religious affairs model in Vietnam is still ongoing In our view,the key issues remain the perception of what "the management of religiousactivities" is and to what extent it is reasonable for a secular state to intervene inthe internal affairs of religious organizations.

According to international experiences, the "interference extent” of the statein religious institutions is the art of politics and management, and it decides thesuccess or failure of religious policy.

In the article “Recognition of Religious Organizations — A comparativeapproach: The case of Vietnam,” Prof, Dr Do Quang Hung comments on thisperiod According to him, it can be said that with the Decree No 234 - SL ofJune 14th, 1955, signed by President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi on behalf of the

government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the foundation was laid forthe establishment of a secular state in Vietnam The option was for the secondmode, selective recognition of certain religions and respect for the rest Thismodel proves Vietnam’s religious life and political, social, and cultural

conditions of Vietnam.

As for recognition of juridical person status, the realities in religious lifein Vietnam have shown that registration of religious organizations is the mostappropriate method of building a secular state.

From 1955 to June 18th, 2004, when the Ordinance on Belief andReligion was promulgated, religious organizations had their personal legal statusrecognized, e.g:

- Decision No 83/BT of the Council of Ministers permitting theestablishment of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, December 29th, 1981.

- Decision on recognition of the legal person status of the Protestant Churchof Vietnam (Northern) in 1957 and Decision on recognition of the legalperson status of the Protestant Church of Vietnam (Southern) in 2001.

- As for Caodaism, from 1996 to 2003, 9 denominations were recognized,

24

beginning with the Tay Ninh denomination.

Therefore, Prof Dr Do Quang Hung made the following remarks about theinitial innovation achievements in the field of religious policy reform: “It isknown that countries opting for the second model, i.e., "selective recognition of

certain religions, often owe a legal "debt" namely "respect for other religions”.Especially for nations with a rich and diversified religious system, such asVietnam, examination of “minor religious groups" has become ever morepressing "Minor religious groups" is a term used in religious sociology Forreligious law, it represents the "other religions” to which secular states choosing

the second model should pay attention.

An important improvement in the evolution of religious legislation inVietnam can be seen in the Ordinance on Belief and Religion Promulgated bythe President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam And especially, InstructionNo 1 of the Prime Minister on some tasks regarding Protestantism (February4th, 2005) The Instruction not only deals with "tasks regarding Protestantismbut opens a new stage in Vietnamese religious legislation, that of recognition ofthe juridical person status of "minor religious groups”, those "other religions”

that the secular state should “respect” 7

? Do Quang Hung, 2007, Presentation at International Conference “Religious and the rule of law in

Southeast Asia: More discussion”, Viet Nam Academy of Science and Society, 3-4/11/2007, ReligiousStudies Magazine 2/2008.

25

“Strengthening the socialist legal system, building a Vietnamese rule of thelaw state that manages society by the rule of law, while attaching importance to

education and improving socialist morality?6”.

Strengthening the leadership role of the Party over the State with definedcontents Focus on institutional reform of the administrative system Reorganizethe organizational apparatus and operational regulations of the administrativesystem Building a team of cadres and administrative officers Building a socialistrule of law state is increasingly developed in terms of awareness and organizationof practical activities At the 3rd Conference, the 8th Party Central Committee(June 1997) issued the Resolution to promote the people's mastery and continueto build the clean and the strong Socialist Republic of Vietnam The CentralGovernment emphasizes the people's right to mastery through forms ofrepresentative democracy and direct democracy so that the people can participate

26 Communist Party of Viet Nam, Complete Party Documents, National politics Publisher, Ha Noi, 2007,

ep.14, p.166

26

in the construction and protection of the State, build a strong and clean State, and

strengthen the leadership of the Party towards the State.”7

“The above three requirements are closely related to each other, based on thecommon foundation of building a socialist rule of law state of the people, by thepeople, for the people, realizing national unity as the core is a union of workers,farmers, and intellectuals under the leadership of the Communist Party of

Vietnam” 23. The Central Committee advocates the expansion of socialistdemocracy, promoting the people's right to mastery in state construction andmanagement The most important thing is to improve the quality of representativedemocracy, expand and have a mechanism to step by step implement directdemocracy in a practical, correct, and effective manner.

Thus, from 1994 up to now, the Communist Party of Vietnam has had theright direction to build a socialist rule of law state, suitable for the developmentof the country and the cause of political renewal in general Particularly in thefield of religion, from the 10th Congress (2006) to the XIII Congress (2021), theissue of building and perfecting a state governed by the rule of law on religionhas been affirmed and increasingly clear in the specifical direction.

A model for “The rule of Law State on Religion” in Vietnam

Developing J Raz's ideas in The Authority of the Law (2000) and C Evans' inthe Rule of Law and Religion (Peking, 2004): “However, it is impossible to builda good house unless you have strong foundations Similarly, any lasting,worthwhile legal protections of religion must be based on the rule of law If thelaws protecting religious freedom are unclear or unstable; if the judges orofficials who apply the law are biased, arbitrary or refuse to hear the caseproperly: or if courts are inaccessible, then no real progress can be made withreligious freedom Suppose we rely simply on drafting a law on religious freedom

? People’s Public Security Political Academy, Curriculum of the Communist Party of Viet Nam

revolutionary line in a number of key fields, Nxb Công an nhân dân, p.84-85 „

?8 Communist Party of Viet Nam, Complete Party Documents, Nxb Chính trị quốc gia, Hà Nội, 2015, ep 56,

27

without a foundation of respect for the rule of law In that case, that law isunlikely to produce anything lasting and solid for society or for the individualswho live within it ” would be the guiding inspiration or this part of the work.??

2.2 The essence of “religious policy improvement” (the CPV’s Congress XI,in 2011) in Vietnam at present

In general, the works that I cited below, to a certain extent, had suggestedsome issues for Viet Nam in the first steps of building the rule of law, especiallysince the late 1990s when there was Resolution 24 of the Politburo.

In Chapter I, I have acknowledged undeniable results from the process ofreligious policy renovation since the late 1990s, which included two essentialparts: better institutionalizing freedom of religion and belief for all people andresolving many conflicts in the implementation of those rights, improvement of

the state-church relationship, religion, and nation relationship

However, I still hold that a public policy on religion in Viet Nam shouldbe reinforced and continues to overcome the "dominant tradition that viewsreligious policy as an Internal Affairs policy" (meaning religious management

works are the job of public authorities).

Forward to a public policy on religion: the “key point” of the “improving.”

Since 1945, especially from 1955 up to now, in dealing with religious issues,the Party and the State of Viet Nam have always developed a religious policy ontwo ideological and argumentative treatises: firstly, to ensure that the policy lineto be is in harmony with the policy direction of the party in power (CPV), andsecondly, unity of religions and nation's tolerance between religious culture andnational culture must be principles for developing and implementing that policy.

The author of this work re-affirms (the treatises above) and considers thatthey are necessary and valuable milestones However, to "improve" the religiouspolicy, we emphasize the following theoretical and practical issues:

a) It should have a more comprehensive and appropriate view of the role of

? Do Quang Hung, Religious policy and the rule of law, Id., p.411-412

28

religion in social transformation in Viet Nam today There are two specificpoints that we pay attention to Firstly, all three advantages of religiousinstitutions (education, health, and charity) have yet to be “social presence” intheir appropriate positions, in both the legal status and practical social life.

Secondly, religion in public spaces Laws and regulations (of the state orcommunities) at present are interested only in the individual, family spaces, and

"sacred space" (churches, temples, shrines, Cathedral ).

The presence of spiritual life, especially in religious communities in publicspaces, has not been studied adequately and even yet has legal regulations for it,

including mission issues (legal status).

b) Of course, "improving religious policy", especially in the framework of therule of law, the socialist state still must respect developing and improving asuitable legal system on religion (the problems in the current legal system onreligion) According to the author, Viet Nam currently faces three most essentiallegal matters:

To begin with, is the issuing Registration for operation and Recognition ofLegal Personality Status for religious organizations.

What is more, newly raised issues in "registration for operation" of religiousorganizations today (the key issue of religious legislation) (post-Ordinance onReligion and Belief (2004) and Decree No 92/2012)

Finally, is the ownership issue of religious groups and organizations.

In the research, we acknowledged that with the advancement of religiouslegislation in Vietnam, especially since 2004 "state of Viet Nam has initiallypaid off very much their legality debt."

Putting forward the above issues, I also bring forth practical evidence

to clarify their problematical nature.*°

c) In Viet Nam, management of religion has been long known as thestate management affairs on religion, meaning this is not only the work of the

3° Nguyen Thanh Xuan, Some religious issues and religious work of the Party and the State today, Id.

29

Government Committee for Religious Affairs but also of the whole "politicalsystem" — a term that refers to the political establishment in Viet Nam.

This content is emphasized: now is the time when Vietnam should havemore appropriate legal regulations in the religious management system, whichtwo foremost phases are:

- Continue looking for an appropriate management model andmanagement personnel (in religious affairs).

- The right to self-determination of religious organizations.

During the "religious policy improvement" process in Vietnam, these arekey and imminent phases but are not only two issues, but there are also other

issues as well.

With the "rule of law" and "Rule by Law" views on all three levels (ruleby law government, rule by law society, and the rule by law state), based on thesituation of religion's political, social, cultural characteristics in Vietnam, in thisimportant section the author attempts to propose a rule of law state model asbelow:

On that basis, the theoretical supposition on the rule of law state modelin Vietnam will base on the following three bases: Developing and improvingthe secular state model (a); Improving public policy on religion (b) and, continue

to improve appropriate state management model on religion (c)*!

The selected issues are:

a) The legal status of recognized religious organizations at both levels,the Registration for Operation and Legal Personality Status.

This is a key issue in the Religion and Legislation relationship and isthat: there is a paradox in which there are legally recognized religions, but they

3!This is a summary of the thesis of Mr Do Quang Hung in the book Religious policy and the rule of law, ld.,

pp.402-409, when the author modeled the model of "the rule of law state on religion in Vietnam" based on

three bases: choosing an appropriate secular state model (Secular State); completing public policies on

religion and perfecting the state management model on religion.

30

do not necessarily have legal personality rights It is basically a Physic Person'sright only This is also a legal challenge for religious organizations with their

activities to engage more in socialization works.

b) Autonomy of religious organizations

This is the principal criterion to consider whether adopt an interferingsecular state model The authors also consider the political and social factors ofthe issue, but surely there must be more improvements in the policy, especiallypromoting better State - Church relationships.

c) Religious Freedom and its restrictions in all 3 are individuals,family, and social spaces.

Currently, in Viet Nam, it emerges understanding of how are"matters that belong only to religion and do not belong to the government, andvice versa", or “most conflicts between religion and state is that: both sides arenot perfect.”

d) Religion and economy, society: resolving legal and practicalobstacles.

Like many other countries, Vietnam’s religious organizations haveno fewer possibilities in education activities (public education, but not internalreligious education), health (especially community health type), charity, andcommunications This is quite typical issue to sign that the state "continues toinnovate religious policy" strongly and convincingly.

e) The first step of religious law in this period was started by theOrdinance on Religious Beliefs 2004

By the time, some of the authors mentioned in Chapter I also paidattention to the important role of the Ordinance on Religious Beliefs 2004, afterit was approved by the National Assembly and quickly implemented.

f) I also put forth personal thoughts as the research hypothesis.Accordingly, the authors emphasize that at present, Viet Nam should head to

developing Religious Juridical Persons Law (like the Japanese experience) it is

31

suitable and effective, as well as practical On the other hand, having the latestevidence reveals to readers that the amendment of mentioned Ordinance aboveencounters paradoxes.

g) Another remarkable point is that the authors have paid attention to theproblem with some "scattered thoughts" but is closer to the reality of religiouslife For instance, need to increase social understanding of "religious issues inVietnam" today (1); religious demographics (2); should have specialized legalstudies and training in law and religion (3); translation and introduction of thetypical Laws on Religion works from other countries (4) and finally, several“things-need-to-do straight away" in the State and Church relation today (5).

It is a matter of time to solve religion in socialism because the existence ofthe forms of religious belief is the actual need of this not-to-minor segment ofthe population, as our Party has recently affirmed that it is a strategic matter.Therefore, it is necessary to have a policy to protect people's right to freedom of

conscience and religion for this segment Meanwhile, there must be measures toensure that freedom right does not influence the whole society and eliminate thenegative impacts of those influences to react against the revolution and violatethe authentic people's right to freedom of religion.

Vietnamese communists, after the Declaration of Independence onSeptember 2, 1945, armed with Marxist-Leninist doctrine and Ho Chi Minhthought, gained the first achievements in solving the religious issue, besides arange of national welfare and the people's livelihood At that time, theVietnamese Communist Party had a proper and creative orientation: religiousissues were placed within and under the state-national issue; not to claimpersistently atheist freedom, although the essence of the state must be secularand atheist state and exercise great unity of nation and religion to carry out a war

of resistance - found a state.”?

Regarding the religion policy, the August Revolution made great

32 Do Quang Hung, Van dé tôn giáo trong cách mạng Việt Nam — Ly luận và thực tiễn, Id., p.324

32

achievements and, step by step, clarified the following features of this policy:

In principle, it established a treatise in the policy on freedom of religion thatis “freedom of religion and unity of Non - Catholics, and Catholics”(Declaration on six urgent issues of the Contemporary Government of theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam) presented by President Ho Chi Minh at thefirst meeting session on September 3, 1945 This principle was repeated by the

Government and was considered “one principle of the Democratic RepublicGovernment” (Minutes of Meeting of the Government on 20 September 1945).Meanwhile, the policy on freedom of religion and conscience must be in linewith the principle: “the state and nation interests are put above all Religionrights and interests, party rights and interests must be subject to the commonrights and benefits Patriotism means respecting God Disloyalty meansbetraying God Safeguarding country and saving people's lives should be donebefore exercising any doctrines.”

It must be noted that the term religion was restricted at that time “Freedomof belief" was understood as freedom of religion, not understood fully with thenarrow meaning as "freedom of conscience”, as many people deliberately

criticized the wordings in the first legal documents of our party and state.

The 1946 Constitution of our country, in Article 10 on the civil right, wasstill written so On October 4, 1953, Vice Prime Minister Pham Van Dongsigned a Decree on policy on religion, No 315-TTg, which marked an importantstep in institutionalizing the right to freedom of religion and belief in our State.

After reaffirming the 1946 Constitution, the political platform of theNational League of Viet Nam expressed the concept of freedom of belief andreligion more sufficiently:

“1 Everyone has the right to freedom of religion belief or non-belief Noone has the right to violate that freedom right.

Every citizen has the right to propagandize one's thinking but should neitherviolate the unification and independence of the country and great national unity

33

resistance block, nor social order, nor break the law of Viet Nam DemocraticRepublic.

Religion propaganda must attach to educate the religious people aboutpatriotism, vindictive hatred of invaders, unity spirit for resistance, law

compliance, and supporting the Democratic Republic Government.

2 Everyone must respect the worship and places of worship of all religionsbut must be against persons who abuse worship and church to conceal theiroperation to oppose the resistance government and do harmful to the country andpeople.

3 Religious cultural and charitable organizations such as hospitals and pressbureaus are considered private organizations and must be permitted for

establishment Every operation must not be in contravention of the law of theGovernment Religions are not absolutely permitted to be fully armed or partiallyarmed.”

Up to 16/3/1955, the National Assembly's Ist session adopted aresolution on protecting the right to freedom of belief, and up to 14/6/1955,

President Ho Chi Minh signed Order No 234/SL on religions.

Because of the importance of Order 234/SL, on 27/6/1955, theSecretariat of Vietnam Labor Party issued Directive No 29-CT/TU on theimplementation of the new Order on religions This Directive clearly stated that:

“President Ho issued the Order on religions which was a strong attack to theimperialists and lackeys who relied on reactionary forces in religions toundermine piece, unity independence democracy of our people "

One cannot ignore Circular No 60-TTg of the Prime Minister on11/6/1964 on the implementation of the policy on religions After reaffirming theprovisions stipulating the right to freedom of religion and belief in the above-mentioned Order No 234/SL dated 14/6/1955 and Circular No 593-TTg dated10/72/1957 on further detailing the above provisions, this Circular clarifiedfurther on “recruiting and training people to become professional religious

34