A. Scenes Of Vietnamese Life

The Religions of South Vietnam in Faith and Fact, US Navy, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Chaplains Division [1967], at sacred-texts.com

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XI. RELIGION IN EVERYDAY LIFE

A. SCENES OF VIETNAMESE LIFE

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A tribesman of the hills and mountains of South Vietnam.

For many Vietnamese, the village encompasses their lives. They are born, grow up, marry, have children, grow old, if fortunate, and die, often without ever having left their village environment. And some 80% of the Vietnamese are villagers.

Since religious beliefs affect every phase of Vietnamese life, and because these are quite different from Judeo-Christian beliefs, the resulting value systems determine patterns of thinking, habits, customs, and taboos quite different from those found in America. Because religious beliefs so richly color and tint almost every Vietnamese action or thought, it is imperative that Americans understand these if we are to live and help others to live through shared understanding and partnership.

The use of religious concepts in everyday life is more evident among the Vietnamese than among Americans. Americans tend to compartmentalize religion into a limited part of the week-in many cases to less than one hour per week. Most of the Vietnamese religious beliefs affecting daily life are so complex that they do not easily lend themselves to precise statements, definitions, beliefs, or creeds which can readily be understood by Americans.

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Tribespeople often store grain in small houses to protect it from fire or rats

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