My time in Vietnam has opened up a new world of ideas and this has lead my to ask many different questions to how a society can run. I have been most keenly aware of the tensions that seem to be running through society that do not seem to be challenged or questioned by people participating in the seemingly contradictory practices. The one that has grabbed my interest the most in my time her is the practice of religion and the notion of culturally acceptable practices and what still goes against the atheist beliefs of the government.
The place that I notice this tension between the government and religion playing out the most is the practice of ancestor worship. In the household, ancestor worship has become so prevalent that it is considered culturally Vietnamese and is no longer tied to religion in the same way that it was when it was originally created. Almost every household has a shrine of a dead parent that is maintained constantly. There is a lot of care for these shrines and many practices tied to religious days that are practiced through the family shrines. It has been accepted by the government that this is not religious and is instead a cultural practice by Vietnamese people.
This seems to be a conceit by the government that they do not want to challenge something that is so prevalent in Vietnamese society and not create more conflict between the government and the people whenever possible.
In addition to possibly wanting to avoid more conflict whenever possible, the government also participates in its own form of ancestor worship. Vietnam has based most of its propaganda around war heroes and significant leaders in its history. This can be seen in the mass of propaganda around Ho Chi Minh. There is an almost religious type of worship around Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. In addition to that, the language used around Ho Chi Minh holds a lot of resonance with the ancestor worship held within Vietnamese households, going as far to affectionately call him Uncle Ho. It is hard not tie these two practices together and see the precedent that the government has set around these practices. I am interested to see how the government resolves the tension between secularism and religious practices that it seems to participate in day to day life. I will look to find the quantifiers and restrictions that the government goes through to make these practices still make sense given their official atheistic stance.