'We Are Always In Persecution'
Vietnam's Christians are arrested, tortured, and fined, even though the government claims to promote religious freedom
Compass Direct | posted 1/01/2001 12:00AM
2 of 2
On August 14, the church building of an ethnic Vietnamese congregation in Dong Tam in Binh Phuoc province was razed by armed authorities in spite of pleas by local Christians who had erected it nine years earlier with their own meager resources. Authorities said that land ownership and building permits were not in order.
Three Christian believers of the San Chi minority group in Bao Lac district, Cao Bang province, wrote a letter on July 7 complaining of two years of persecution at the hands of officials. In an incident that just happened, the three were arrested, abused, fined and sentenced to 10 days hard labor. The abuse consisted of brutal punching and kicking.
On July 1, authorities destroyed a newly-erected church structure in the Thu Thiem district of Ho Chi Minh City. The congregation had worked with authorities for nine years in order to follow confusing government-approved procedures for establishing a church, to no avail.
Of the 10 incidents mentioned, eight involved ethnic Vietnamese Christians. A widespread campaign to hinder the growth of Christianity among the Hmong minority in the northwest provinces, detailed in the secret documents released by the Center for Religious Freedom, continues unabated.
"Vietnam's Protestant believers may be forgiven if they wonder why they are excluded from the much heralded religious freedom their government continually says is the right of all Vietnamese citizens," a Vietnam observer told Compass.
Copyright © 2000 Compass Direct
Related Elsewhere
Previous Christianity Today articles about Vietnam include:
Vietnam Jams Hmong Christian Radio Broadcasts | Government tries to curb spread of Protestant Christianity along Chinese border. (Sept. 1, 2000)
Authorities Destroy 'Church' in Vietnam | Crude structure in Ho Chi Minh City slum had been erected only hours earlier. (July 27, 2000)
Napalm Victim Now Agent for Peace | Canadian Christian remembers tearing burning clothes from her flesh. (Feb. 8, 1999)
Jesus Can Still Mean Jail | The plight of Vietnam's 700,000 evangelical Christians. (Nov. 11, 1998)
House Pastors Jailed in New Crackdown | Seven Vietnamese pastors imprisoned. (Jan. 6, 1997)
RSS Feeds
Audio
Twitter
share this page
E-mail
Print
Post
Subscribe to Christianity Today magazine today!
