Message from skroop

[Anonymous]

In the beginning of Janet Hoskins presentation on Vietnam’s religions, I felt the changes in percentages for Caodaism was surprising. According to the article on Vietnam’s Indigenous Religions, Caodaism was practiced by 20%-25% of the population leading up to 1975, in 2009 that number was 1% of the population, and in 2014 that number went back up closer to 5%. What accounts for this more recent change? I get that communism has since 1975 pushed Caodaism out of the country to some degree in closing temples.
Are the practices of counting the number of people who practice these religions accurate, or are mistakes being made? I can understand the idea that many people may choose not to answer the question in regards to religion when putting this on a government issued ID due to reasons of discrimination in finding a job.

Also I really enjoyed the pictures of the Caodai temples. The symbolism in the colors and imagery used in the decoration of the temples is something that I would like to know more about.