Basic common-sense would usually suggest that one should avoid talking publicly about religion in Vietnam. However, in comparison to that giant country next door; I have found Vietnam is very open and tolerant towards most forms of religious worship. Beautiful churches not only exist in Da Nang but are kept in very good condition, those in the church are allowed to do work to help those in need to an extent, Thanh Tam coffee and bakery in An Thuong being a very good example; where they will train and help young people with disabilities, providing employment and dignity to those that might otherwise struggle. While it might not actually be the very best bakery in town; I still love them for that.
Unfortunately, that place despite being run by people of a religious and perhaps ‘morally sound’ nature seems to mostly seems to attract the degenerate liberal scum that commonly reside in An Thuong. When visiting that café, I have witnessed the sights of not only the most pathetic varieties of men from potential paedo to the soyboy, but also monstrous beats of women with strange and unnatural hair colours, failing to dress appropriately, wearing t-shirts with profanities on them; while loudly bragging to their friends about their sex lives and effing and blinding all over the place. While it may be a little prude of me to say that this behaviour is not acceptable in general; they’re actually doing this is directly on the grounds of a religious establishment. Thankfully, those running the place are more tolerant and forgiving than they are often given credit for.
Other than that, I had not really visited anywhere of any real religious significance in Da Nang before. In this article, I have no intention of discussing my own personal beliefs much as they are not relevant to the topic. Today, I was offered the opportunity to visit a temple with my Vietnamese teacher and some students from the USA. What struck me about these young people is that they did not resemble the sorts of people that I had described; they dressed modestly, had no tattoos (with a sole exception), did not utter a single dirty word. They were very polite and friendly people, completely lacking in any kind of bad attitude. Then I overheard one discussing their ‘Bible Studies.’ Not your usual group of hedonistic holiday makers.
It seemed slightly strange that my Vietnamese teacher was in charge of the sight-seeing activities for this group. However, she is a very nice lady and would probably welcome almost anyone. After the gentlemen in the group returned from upstairs after changing into trousers for a temple visit; we walked to the temple; where some cultural aspects relating to Taoist traditions were explained to us all. The grounds of this temple are not regularly opened up to tourists, so it was quite the privilege to be granted access and told more about the belief system.
As embarrassing as it may be to admit, I never visited such sites of worship in China or made a huge effort to understand that belief system; despite it originating there. Many people in China probably do not feel comfortable about openly discussing their religious beliefs in depth or even consider themselves to be religious at all. Yet in Vietnam, people seem relatively relaxed about it, possibly due to the ‘Trifecta’ of beliefs that forms much of the backbone of traditional Vietnamese culture.
The students were quite curious and keen to ask questions about the belief system; despite the fact that they obviously belonged to a completely different religion. Next stop, was to be something more familiar to them; . I had walked past this cathedral many times, yet never stepped inside. It was fairly welcoming towards foreign tourists; unfortunately many a Korean tourist would view the place as an opportunity for an Instagram photo than a place of worship, it seemed.
Even for the students who were genuinely religious, there was not a chance for them to really participate in the service taking place as it was delivered in Vietnamese. Yet they appreciated the brief time spent there. Shortly afterwards, I was invited to join them for dinner. We returned to the house and enjoyed some fairly nice conversations about various topics.
Dinner was a very simple affair. Our teacher cooked the meal, consisting of pasta, ragu sauce and mashed potatoes and minced meat; while not spectacular in terms of presentation, it satisfied Western tastebuds and did the job well. Cooking for a group of 13 people at home can not be easy, one would think.
After that, the group allocated 30 minutes of their time to be dedicated towards prayers and thanksgiving. I had not really witnessed young people worshipping so openly for many years and it was in a strange way, refreshing and nice to see. Their approach to life appeared to be one where they would express thanks for many a small thing, such as gelato, the ability to sweat in a warm climate or simply not getting run over in the traffic.
To the uninitiated, it may appear that they were trying too hard to appease the great man upstairs. Yet, it could be a positive sign that not all young people possess the crippling sense of self-entitlement that appears to plague our societies these days. As somebody who has seemingly been disconnected from religion for many years, It was a slightly uncomfortable experience as I felt like I had forgotten how to pray correctly; even though there are no such hard rules to be followed. Unfortunately, I was not able to stick around for the bible readings as I had something at home to attend to, but overall the experience was a very pleasant one.
Not long back, spending time with such a group would have sounded something like hell on earth to me. Yet, as behaviour what was once considered to be freakish is constantly pushed to be accepted as the norm; conservative outlooks on life can now be considered to be representative of the counter-culture, as one controversial YouTube blogger once correctly pointed out to millions. I’m not sure about the legalities of their religious activities in this country; but they were nice people who should be welcomed with open arms, rather than feared.
Đà Nẵng Diaries 