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


p. 59

XI. RELIGION IN EVERYDAY LIFE

A. SCENES OF VIETNAMESE LIFE

A tribesman of the hills and mountains of South Vietnam.
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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.

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

p. 60

Tribeswomen share the labor
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Tribeswomen share the labor

The Vietnamese wooden bed also serves   as the family table at meal time
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The Vietnamese wooden bed also serves as the family table at meal time

A Montagnard Village
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A Montagnard Village

Water buffalo are an important part of   the Vietnamese economy
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Water buffalo are an important part of the Vietnamese economy

 

p. 61

 

The commercial drying of joss sticks
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The commercial drying of joss sticks

Mobile ''Hot Shoppes'' are everyday   sights in Vietnamese towns and cities
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Mobile ''Hot Shoppes'' are everyday sights in Vietnamese towns and cities

The coffin of a Vietnamese peasant   brought to the burial site by two men using a bamboo pole
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The coffin of a Vietnamese peasant brought to the burial site by two men using a bamboo pole

 

p. 62

 

Tilling the fields for the planting of rice
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Tilling the fields for the planting of rice

Scene along a canal in Saigon
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Scene along a canal in Saigon

Vietnamese women washing their family's clothing
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Vietnamese women washing their family's clothing

 


Next: B. Religious Practices and Activities