Rectifying the situation of preaching Buddhist scriptures with content that distorts history

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has disciplined Venerable Thich Chan Quang, prohibiting him from preaching in any form.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that recently, it received feedback from citizens about some religious dignitaries, officials, and monks who made statements and preached on the internet that were not in accordance with the doctrines and laws of religious organizations, took advantage of the organization of superstitious ceremonies and festivals for personal gain, causing discontent among the people.

Many clips of monks illegally preaching Buddhist scriptures contain content that distorts history, causing confusion among the public.

To effectively carry out the State management of beliefs and religions, the Ministry of Home Affairs has assigned the Government Committee for Religious Affairs to send a document to and work directly with the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Executive Council to investigate, verify, and clarify cases of dignitaries, officials, and monks who have made statements and preached on social networking sites that are not in accordance with the teachings, canon laws, cultural traditions of Buddhism and the history of the Vietnamese people; at the same time, it is recommended to strictly handle Buddhist dignitaries, officials, and monks who violate one of the above contents.

As a result, the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has disciplined a number of dignitaries and monks who violated religious laws and requested the removal of all sermons with content that caused confusion in public opinion...

The Ministry of Home Affairs coordinated with a number of relevant ministries and branches to establish three teams to conduct surprise inspections of compliance with legal regulations on beliefs and religions by a number of religious dignitaries, officials, and monks in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will report the inspection results and propose appropriate measures. In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs will coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications (Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, Department of Foreign Information) to strengthen the state management of beliefs and religions in cyberspace, promote propaganda about the situation of beliefs and religions in Vietnam to refute organizations and individuals who take advantage of cyberspace to spread false information about the situation of beliefs and religions in Vietnam; coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a Regulation on coordination in state management of beliefs and religions to strengthen the state management of religious and belief festivals, and the work of inspecting and checking organizations and individuals who take advantage of religious and belief festivals to practice "superstition" and make profits...

In the coming time, the Ministry of Home Affairs will continue to coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to have fundamental solutions, focusing on preventing and strictly handling violations in religious and belief festival activities. Strengthen information and propaganda work on the Party's guidelines, policies and laws of the State on beliefs and religions, especially the Law on Belief and Religion and Decree No. 95/2023/ND-CP of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Belief and Religion.

The Ministry of Home Affairs shall step up propaganda, mobilization, and guidance for religious establishments, religious organizations, and affiliated religious organizations to organize religious activities, religious festivals, and religious festivals in accordance with the charter, regulations, and provisions of law, ensuring security, order, and social safety, and preventing the taking advantage of organizing religious festivals for profit or superstitious activities.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry will advise the Government to submit to the National Assembly amendments to the Law on Belief and Religion and issue a decree regulating administrative sanctions for violations in the field of belief and religion in order to perfect the law on belief and religion, contributing to strengthening State management of belief and religion.

Along with that, step up thematic inspections and examinations, surprise inspections and examinations of the implementation of legal regulations on beliefs and religions for People's Committees at all levels, religious dignitaries, officials, and monks. Thereby, promptly detect, rectify and handle violations of religious laws, laws on beliefs and religions and laws related to beliefs and religions, and have solutions to manage religious establishments to ensure compliance with their principles and purposes.

The Ministry of Home Affairs recommends that religious organizations strengthen management and supervision of religious dignitaries, clergy, and monks to rectify and strictly handle violations of religious laws and regulations.

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs responded to the petition of voters in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to strictly handle the recent situation in which some religious dignitaries, officials, and monks have appeared on the internet with superstitious sermons, criticizing people's professions and going against Buddhist teachings, causing disgust and anger in the community...

The Ministry of Home Affairs said it had assigned the Government Committee for Religious Affairs to work with the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Executive Council to request investigation, verification, clarification and strict handling of Buddhist dignitaries, officials and monks who violated the law; including Most Venerable Thich Chan Quang, abbot of Phat Quang Pagoda, Tan Hai Commune, Phu My Town, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and Most Venerable Thich Nhuan Duc, of Ho Phap Pagoda, Phu My Town, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has taken disciplinary action against Venerable Thich Chan Quang, prohibiting him from preaching in any form, not presiding over events that gather large crowds at Phat Quang Pagoda and other locations for a period of 2 years, revoking all the Three Jewels' ordinations that contain self-correction of one of the five precepts that are not in accordance with the five precepts established by the Buddha in Buddhist precepts, removing all sermons that cause public confusion, correcting the activities of Phat Quang Buddhist monasteries and youth groups in provinces and cities, not posting Venerable Thich Chan Quang's sermons on social media platforms during the Venerable's retreat at Phat Quang Pagoda.

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha banned Venerable Thich Nhuan Duc from preaching indefinitely in any form because he made rude comments about the Khmer people...

In the coming time, the Ministry of Home Affairs will work with leaders of a number of religious organizations, including the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, to strengthen the management of religious dignitaries, officials, and monks, and promptly take measures to correct deviant activities to ensure compliance with the Charter and regulations of religious organizations and the laws of the State.

The Steering Committee for Governmental Religious Affairs regularly collects information and recommendations from citizens on illegal religious activities, including violations in the statements and sermons of dignitaries, officials, and monks, in order to promptly verify and handle them; innovate the content and form of propaganda and dissemination of policies and laws on beliefs and religions; strengthen inspection and examination work to promptly correct illegal religious activities, and prevent the Internet and social networks from being used to spread news, attract, and incite religious followers, causing complications in security and order.

TB (according to VNA)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/chan-chinh-tinh-trang-rao-giang-kinh-phat-co-noi-dung-xuyen-tac-lich-su-390405.html