Religion and religion work are always of special concern to our Party and State, identified as one of the important factors contributing to our total strength in the cause of building and defending the Motherland. Therefore, along with all levels, sectors, and forces, as well as the political system and the People, the Military needs to continue studying and implementing practical solutions to constantly improve the effectiveness of this important work.

Our country is a multi-religious nation where religions coexist and are treated equally. According to statistical data, there are currently 16 religions in the country with 43 recognised and registered organisations, comprising over 26 million believers, over 54,000 clergy members, over 135,000 religious positions, and more than 20 religious training schools. The Party and State always respect and guarantee the people’s freedom of religion, promote equality and unity among religions, and condemn narrow-mindedness, prejudice, and discriminatory treatment towards citizens of different faiths. At the same time, the exploitation of religion for superstitious and illegal activities, as well as divisive actions against the Party, the State, and the People are strictly prohibited. In implementing this policy, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, party committees, political commissars, commanders, and functional agencies at all levels have always emphasised the strengthening of leadership, direction, and organisation in carrying out this work seriously and effectively, achieving significant results. The Party’s guidelines and policies on religion and religious work have been effectively implemented by various agencies and units. The awareness of the significance and importance of religious work in the new situation has been increasingly elevated among officers and soldiers, especially those in leadership positions and functional agencies at all levels. The dissemination and mobilisation of religious communities have been intensified and achieved practical results. The Military actively assists religious communities in economic development, poverty alleviation, raising intellectual standards, and building cultural lives in residential areas. It also contributes to disease prevention, disaster relief, and promoting the roles of clergy members, religious positions, and religious believers, etc. Therefore, it has made an important contribution to the construction of the spiritual-political strength and the “people’s hearts and minds front”, strengthening the great national unity bloc in building the Military, enhancing national defence, and protecting the Motherland.

Besides the achieved results, the work of forecasting, studying, and grasping the religious activities in local areas; the dissemination of information and mobilisation of respected individuals in the religious community; the level of knowledge, capacity, and expertise of the military personnel engaged in religious work in certain agencies and units remain limited; and the coordination and involvement in addressing religious-related incidents in some sensitive areas are still ineffective and passive.

To further enhance the effectiveness of the Military’s religious work to meet the requirements of strengthening national defence, building, and protecting the country in the new situation, we believe that the following key contents and fundamental solutions need to be effectively implemented:

1. Strengthen the leadership and guidance of party committees, political commissars, and commanding officers at all levels to ensure that religious work is always conducted in accordance with the State’s laws and with high effectiveness. This is a principle-based and top-priority solution that aligns the implementation of religious work in the Military with the Party’s viewpoints and guidelines and the State’s laws and policies while being suitable for the practical situation where religious activities are taking place. To implement this, party committees, political commissars, and commanding officers at all levels need to deeply comprehend the Party’s viewpoints and guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, and resolutions and directives from the Party Central Committee, Central Military Commission, and Ministry of National Defence regarding religion and religious work. They should actively propose scientific and practical solutions to enhance and improve the effectiveness of propagation work, and the dissemination of viewpoints, guidelines, and policies on religion and religious work, as well as the rights to freedom of belief and religion for the people. To ensure the practical effectiveness of leadership and guidance work, it is necessary to regularly monitor the religious activities in the local areas, especially identifying and accurately forecasting the activities of complex religious organisations and groups that operate outside the constitutions and regulations of religious institutions and the State’s laws, directly affecting national defence and security. Examples include the activities of cults, unfamiliar religions, emerging religious phenomena, violations of land laws, construction of religious facilities, the appointment of religious positions, the divergence of religious organisations contrary to regulations, etc. Based on that, Party committees and leaders at all levels should flexibly and proactively propose leadership viewpoints, solutions, and guidance, and plan the implementation of religious work activities in agencies and units, ensuring adherence to the religious viewpoints, guidelines, and policies of the Party and the State, and closely following the practical situations with high effectiveness and to harness the strength of national unity and prevent the occurrence of religious hotspots in the region. Particularly, in sensitive areas where adversary forces can exploit issues related to democracy, human rights, and religious freedom to sabotage the Party, the State, responsible agencies and units must thoroughly study all aspects of the situation, accurately forecast potential situations, and proactively consult with relevant authorities to timely and lawfully issue leadership guidance and address disruptive and sabotage activities, without being passive or caught off guard. Additionally, agencies and units should regularly carry out effective political and ideological education, continuously enhance awareness and responsibility, and assist cadres and soldiers in performing this important task successfully.

1 – In which, focus on the Law on Belief and Religion of 2016; Directive No. 18-CT/TW, dated January 10, 2018, of the Politburo (12th tenure) “On continuing to implement Resolution No. 25-NQ/TW of the 9th Central Committee on religious work in the new situation”; and Directive No. 1006-CT/QUTW, dated September 27, 2019, of the Central Military Commission “On continuing the innovation and strengthening the leadership and direction of the Military in religious work in the new situation”.

2. Actively innovate the content, forms, and methods of conducting mass work in areas with religious communities in alignment with practical conditions. The main objective of the Party’s and the State’s religious work is to mobilise the masses, connect religious communities with the common cause, and create a collective strength to achieve the goal of prosperous people, and a strong, democratic, fair and civilized country. In implementing this policy, the mass work of the entire Military, in general, and military units in areas with religious communities, in particular, has been carried out with diverse and rich content and forms, such as “Field trips for mass work”, the movement of “Exemplary Religious Clan”, “Fostering love between the atheist and religious people”, etc. which have yielded tangible results. This provides a basis for the agencies and specialised forces of the Military to continue studying, developing, and adapting mass work to new practical circumstances. In which, it is necessary to particularly emphasise innovation in terms of content, forms, methods, and approaches to religious work. Outdated aspects that are no longer suitable to the new situation need to be changed with new content, forms, and methods that align with the reality. To achieve new, suitable, and effective contents, forms, and methods, one of the fundamental principles is to closely follow the lives of religious communities, strengthen contacts with religious dignitaries, officials, and reputable individuals to identify shortcomings and determine appropriate and effective content, forms, and methods for mass work. Throughout the implementation process, it is crucial to focus on important objectives, including reinforcing the unity and trust between the armed forces and religious communities, establishing a solid grassroots political system, arousing and promoting the patriotic tradition, national pride, humaneness, the cultural values and moral ethics of various religions, and actively mobilise religious communities to participate in patriotic movements and campaigns launched by the Central and local governments and live a “good and pious life”, fostering consensus, cohesion, and solidarity with the nation to build and protect the Motherlands. Besides, Party committees at all levels need to pay attention to building, consolidating, and improving the organisations and personnel involved in mass work, ensuring an adequate number of high-quality personnel, and focus on discovering, nurturing, and multiplying exemplary models and individuals. In addition, we should actively innovate the content and methods of teaching at academies, and schools, as well as conduct training in agencies and units, to enhance the level of skills in mass work and knowledge of religion for cadres and soldiers to meet mission requirements. Also, it is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of practical experience reviews, theory research and development, and policy recommendation to the Party and the State to continue perfecting the viewpoints, guidelines, policies, and laws on religion.

3. Relentlessly and persistently fight against distorted perceptions, misguided ideologies, and activities that exploit religion to undermine the Party, the State, and the Military. Besides beliefs, religion is a highly sensitive issue, and it can be exploited by adversary forces to sabotage our cause. Therefore, it is crucial to step up the fight against distorted perceptions and ideologies about religion, as well as activities that exploit religion to undermine our cause of hostile forces. This directly contributes to improving the effectiveness of the Military’s religious work and thwarts the deceptive tactics of adversary forces under the guise of “peaceful evolution.” Accordingly, relevant agencies, units, and functional forces of the Military must continue to study, concretise, and effectively implement the Party’s viewpoints and guidelines, the State’s policies and laws on religion and religious work in accordance with the Military’s functions and tasks. They should also strengthen propaganda and education efforts to ensure that officers, soldiers, and people of all classes have a correct understanding of the origin and nature of religions, as well as the viewpoints and policies on religions of the Party and the State to avoid discrimination, prejudice, or reluctance to engage with religious communities. In addition, it is necessary to focus on improving the quality of recruitment, selection, management, education, training, and nurturing of religious youth and those with religious backgrounds, turning them into fine soldiers and creating a source of cadres for the Military and local areas. Besides, we should innovate and enhance the quality of national defence and security education for specified subjects, especially religious dignitaries, officials, and followers and build strong self-defence militias and reserve forces in religious communities to fulfil national defence and security tasks. Additionally, there should be a focus on building and consolidating the All People’s National Defence and Security, as well as establishing strong defence zones at all levels and in all localities, especially strategic areas. Furthermore, we should make enhance the efforts to build a more transparent and stronger military capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks, always proactively engaging in the ideological and cultural front, and defeating all plots and tactics of adversary forces that exploit religion to undermine us. Besides, the Military must develop strategies and contingency plans for protest and riot control, strengthen inspection, adjustment, supplementation, and improvement of security protection plans at localities and timely participate in resolving complicated incidents related to religion in accordance with the functions and tasks of agencies and units, preventing the formation of religious hotspots, and contributing to maintaining political security, social order, and safety in the areas where the Military is stationed. Furthermore, Military agencies and units must closely coordinate with specialised forces, especially the Police, to promptly detect and suppress any plots or actions that exploit religious issues to incite the people to participate in protests and riots and to appropriately handle extremist, reactionary elements that seek to undermine the Party, the State, and the armed forces. This contributes to building a solid “people’s hearts and minds posture”, strengthening and promoting the power of the great national unity bloc, and building and firmly protecting the Socialist Vietnam Motherland.

Senior Colonel, Dr. TA DUY CHINH, National Defence Academy