Vietnam rejects US State Department report on religious freedom as ‘biased’

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Vietnam rejects US State Department report on religious freedom as ‘biased’
By Associated Press, Published: September 14

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam’s government on Thursday rejected a U.S. State Department report criticizing religious freedom in the country as “biased.”

The State Department’s report, which covers the period of July-December 2010, said there were continued reports of abuses of religious freedom in Vietnam and that despite areas of progress, significant problems remained.

“Some religious believers continued to experience harassment or repression, particularly those who had not applied for or been granted legal sanction,” said the report, which covered religious freedom around the world and was released Tuesday.

~snip~
Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi as saying the report contained “biased assessments” about religious freedom in Vietnam based on “erroneous” information.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-rejects-us-state-department-report-on-religious-freedom-as-biased/2011/09/14/gIQAZX7GTK_story.html?wprss=rss_world

[No Elephants]

1. Bigots are bigots.

[pinboy3niner]

4. It's ironic

For a country in which everyone refers to others (who are unrelated) in familial terms--'Uncle,' 'Aunt,' 'Little Brother,' 'Older Sister,' 'Mother,' etc.--there is not only religious bigotry, but bigotry toward ethnic groups, less-educated/rural countrymen and others. It seems a striking contradiction.

[madrchsod]

2. china is far worse than vietnam.

what does one expect from two of the last communist states in the world?

[timtom]

3. I'm sure we've all "vetted" this article.

However, a cursory internet search indicates otherwise:

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Vietnamese-bishops-launch-Year-of-religious-life-22107.html

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1389955

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127294.htm

http://www.vietnamembassy.us/docs/Vietnam%20White%20Paper%20on%20Religion.pdf

I find an amusing irony in response #1, which is, itself, a pure example of bigotry. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...)

[ronnie624]

8. And beside all that,

these sorts of pronouncements by the U.S. government are difficult to take seriously. It is, after all, the worst human rights abuser of the last 60 years, by far. Its orgy of death and destruction in Indochina was solely responsible for the almost complete destruction of Vietnam as a cultural entity.

I loathe hypocrisy.

[Javaman]

5. Maybe we should bring back Dim so he can kill some more monks.

While I don't side with Viet Nam on this issue, the US's role early on in the Viet Nam war was, shall I say, "less than stella" when talking about religious freedom. Is it any wonder why Viet Nam basically told us to go fuck off?

Unlike the US other nations have a long memory, especially when it was occupied by a foreign nation.

[truedelphi]

6. My sarcastic retort would be that Hillary Clinton, who heads the

State Department, grew up as a total believer in the Catholic Church, whose priests were busy being pedophiles all during her formative years.

If she ain't the one to understand the deep significance of religious "freedoms," then who the hell would be?

I mean, we in America certainly have our freedoms. Especially if the person is wearing a long black cassock and choosing himself a stable of alter boys. Not only does the priest have God on his side, he had his bishops and his cardinals covering his sorry ass as well.

[bertman]

7. If it stops the Free Trade Agreement then I'm gonna give it a pass. nt