Hopes and fears

Around the world, nations want to emulate the West in general, and the United States in particular, with regard to material achievements. We in the United States enjoy housing, clothes, electronics, and diet of an affluent nation.

However, we have not done a good enough job of explaining to nations around the world that the major attribute that makes life worth living in the West is the freedom to express ideas in general, and religious ideas in particular.

Religious leaders provide spiritual nourishment and guidance to believers. They are also often called to speak out on issues that impact their community. One such leader is A Dao, a member of the Montagnard ethnic group and pastor of the Evangelical Church of Christ in Gia Xieng village, Kontum Province of Vietnam.

In 2016, A Dao attended a conference in East Timor about religious freedom. Unfortunately, in Vietnam, too much public advocacy around religious freedom can incur the wrath of state authorities. Shortly after his return, on Aug. 18, 2016, Pastor A Dao was arrested and, on April 28, 2017, sentenced to five years' imprisonment for allegedly "helping individuals to escape abroad illegally."

Through the Defending Freedoms Project of the congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), we are advocating for A Dao's release. Pastor A Dao's arrest and imprisonment is just one example of the challenges that ethnic minorities in Vietnam face when attempting to exercise their freedom of belief.

As USCIRF noted in its 2020 Annual Report, Hmong and Montagnard Christians in Vietnam's mountainous Northern and Central Highlands are regularly harassed, detained, or even banished because of their religious affiliation. According to human rights advocates, thousands of Hmong and Montagnard Christians remain