Message from gtyau

[Anonymous]

Tagging on, I feel that the potential for debate/discussion/research/presentation with regards to religion and philosophy is somewhat limitless for all students really. Especially in light of what we learned about indigenous Vietnamese religion today. Dao Mao and Caodai each present so much to share and discuss, especially Caodai with its reverence for Victor Hugo and how it seems to try and incorporate a bit of everything! There's a part of me that feels like it was purely a reactionary ideology for the purposes of survival. I can almost imagine once you are part of a Caodai temple, you finally get access to the "real" church behind a false paneled wall, like a speakeasy during prohibition (I mean that with no disrespect). I say that because of how oppressive it must feel to be part of a culture that is perpetually in civil war or occupied by a foreign government, or both, for so long. The diaspora of Vietnamese who are practicing Caodai is incredible; it seems more popular outside of Vietnam for sure, but I wonder how many underground Caodai temples there are in Vietnam (hidden in side Catholic Churches perhaps). While it's far fetched, it's totally fun to think about. Victor Hugo...wow!