Religion is present in everyday life

Speaking of religion, on the one hand, we feel that this field is very close to each person. In our families, there are ancestral altars. In most Vietnamese villages, there are pagodas, communal houses, temples, shrines, and hermitages. Many villages also have churches, temples, etc. All of these are places of religious worship. The banyan tree, the well, and the communal house, through folk songs, have entered the consciousness of every Vietnamese person. Religion is present in most of the Tet holidays of the year according to the lunar calendar: Tet Nguyen Dan, Tet Nguyen Tieu (15th of January), Tet Thanh Minh (3/3), Buddha's Birthday (15th of April), Tet Doan Ngo (5/5), Tet Xa toi vong Nhan (15th of July), Tet worshiping Ong Cong Ong Tao (23rd of December). Christians also have Christmas and Easter. Muslims have additional holidays such as Ramadan. Religion is present in every important event of a person’s life, from birth (worshiping the midwife), to marriage, building a house, and then to death, returning to the ancestors. Currently, Vietnam has nearly 30 million followers of various religions. That is not to mention those who follow different beliefs.

But on the other hand, we all feel that our knowledge and understanding of religion is still very little, almost non-existent, for example, what to do when going to temples and festivals, how to pray, how much or how little votive paper should be burned, is it necessary or not so that each of us when going to temples and festivals can both show our sincerity and be cultured. Going further, why is terrorism and the organization "Islamic State" (IS) making the conflict between the Muslim world and the West as fierce as it is today?

All of these require religious studies to help you answer those questions. Religious studies atFaculty of Philosophy, University of Social Sciences and Humanitiesis one of the trusted addresses.

Religion plays an extremely important role not only for each individual, but also for the community and the nation. Buddhism played the role of the national religion under the Ly and Tran dynasties, contributing significantly to the unity of the army and people of Dai Viet to defeat the Yuan army three times. Under the Le and Nguyen dynasties, Confucianism assumed the role of the national religion. The Temple of Literature in Thang Long was founded in 1076 and was one of the first universities in Southeast Asia. With a long history of Confucianism, Vietnam is a country with a long-standing culture.

On the international level, we are now seeing the rise of religious issues. The conflict between Catholicism and communism was a major issue in international relations during the Cold War. Today, many ethnic and religious issues have emerged. Terrorism, now the Islamic State (IS), the conflict in Syria, the Tibet issue, Xinjiang in China, the normalization of relations between the US and Cuba, the lack of unity in ASEAN on some regional issues, etc., we all see the direct and indirect presence of religious issues. Religion is a global issue.

To meet the needs of social development and improve the awareness of each individual, in 2016, the schoolUniversity of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for the first time enrolling students in the Bachelor of Religious Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy. With a history of 40 years of development,Faculty of Philosophy,Department of Religious Studiesof the Faculty, over 20 years of training, hundreds of bachelors, masters, and doctors of religious studies have graduated, the teaching staff includes leading professors, associate professors, doctors, and experienced masters, facilities with many modern equipment, 01 Library of religious and belief books,University of Social Sciences and Humanitiesready to meet all training and research needs, bringing Vietnam's religious studies industry on par with other countries in the region and internationally.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quang Hung - Deputy Head of Philosophy Department