How do belief and superstition differ?
Belief is a person's faith expressed through rituals tied to traditional customs, bringing spiritual peace to individuals and communities. Superstition is belief in wrong, unfounded things, often exploited for profit. The core difference lies in the reasonableness of the belief, the purpose of the practice, and the consequences it brings to individuals and society.
Clause 1, Article 2 of the 2016 Law on Belief and Religion defines belief as a person's faith expressed through rituals tied to traditional customs to bring spiritual peace to individuals and communities. Belief activities include ancestor worship, worship of sacred symbols, commemoration and honoring of those with merit to the country or community, and folk rituals typical of historical, cultural, and social ethical values.
Superstition, by contrast, has no separate legal definition in the Law on Belief and Religion. The concept depends on how each person and each religion sees it. Many experts say superstition is believing in nonsense, blindly following something without seeing or understanding it, harming people's material and spiritual life.
According to folk culture researcher Nguyen Hung Vi, belief is a broad category covering both ancient beliefs and those of religions. Within belief is a smaller subset of superstitions. He explains: tin means to believe, nguong means to look up in reverence, while superstition is believing in wrong things; di doan is believing in things different from religions and science. The negative issue lies in exploiting superstition for profit, even fraud.
What legal grounds distinguish belief from superstition?
The most important legal basis is the 2016 Law on Belief and Religion, along with its guiding decrees and the 2015 Penal Code. The law affirms that the State respects and protects everyone's right to freedom of belief and religion, and strictly prohibits exploiting belief or religious activities for profit or to infringe on social order and safety.
Article 5 of the Law on Belief and Religion lists prohibited acts, including discrimination or bias based on belief or religion; insulting belief or religion; and exploiting belief or religious activities to infringe on social order and safety, harm social ethics, obstruct the exercise of citizens' rights and duties, or seek profit. This is the legal boundary between proper belief practice and prohibited superstitious acts.
On administrative penalties, Article 15 of Decree 158/2013/ND-CP provides a warning or fine of 200,000 to 500,000 dong for burning votive paper in the wrong place at festivals or historical and cultural relics. A fine of 3 to 5 million dong applies to exploiting mediumship, fortune telling, spirit summoning, fortune sticks, talismans, incantations, spreading prophecies, and similar forms for profit.
In addition, the 2020 amended Law on Handling Administrative Violations identifies belief and religion as an area of administrative penalties, with a maximum fine of 30 million dong for individuals and 60 million dong for organizations. A draft decree by the Ministry of Home Affairs also proposes specific fines, such as 5 to 10 million dong for exploiting belief or religious activities for profit; 10 to 15 million dong for harming social ethics or infringing on others' body, health, life, property, honor, or dignity; and 15 to 20 million dong for infringing on national defense, security, sovereignty, order, and social safety.
Comparison table of belief and superstition
| Criterion | Belief | Superstition |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of faith | Belief in the sacred and good, with cultural and historical basis | Belief in wrong, unfounded things, blindly |
| Purpose | Bring spiritual peace to individuals and communities | Often for profit, fraud, causing confusion |
| Form | Ancestor worship, commemorating those with merit, folk rituals | Fortune telling for profit, spirit summoning, talismans, incantations, spreading prophecies |
| Legal attitude | Respected and protected | Strictly prohibited and rejected |
| Sanction | No penalty | Administrative fines, possible criminal prosecution |
How are superstitious acts penalized?
Superstitious acts can be subject to administrative penalties or criminal prosecution, depending on the nature and severity of the violation. In addition, officials, public employees, and civil servants who violate the rules may face disciplinary action; Party members may face measures ranging from reprimand to expulsion.
On administrative penalties, under Article 15 of Decree 158/2013/ND-CP, exploiting mediumship, fortune telling, spirit summoning, fortune sticks, talismans, incantations, spreading prophecies, and similar forms for profit is fined 3 to 5 million dong. Restoring customs that affect people's health, dignity, and Vietnamese cultural traditions is fined 5 to 10 million dong. Violators may also be required to return illegal gains.
On criminal liability, Article 320 of the 2015 Penal Code defines the crime of practicing superstition. Anyone who uses fortune telling, mediumship, or other superstitious forms, having already been administratively penalized for this act or convicted of this crime without expungement and reoffending, faces a fine of 10 to 100 million dong, non-custodial reform for up to 03 years, or imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.
Committing the crime in one of the following cases carries imprisonment from 03 to 10 years: causing death; illegally profiting 200 million dong or more; causing adverse effects on security, order, and social safety. Offenders may also be fined 10 to 50 million dong. If damage is caused to others, the violator must also compensate under the 2015 Civil Code.
Why is the line between belief and superstition thin?
The line between religious and belief practice and superstition in today's communities is sometimes thin. The main reason is that the same ritual and the same worship space can be legal or illegal depending on how it is practiced and for what purpose.
A typical example is mediumship in Mother Goddess worship. This is a preserved intangible cultural heritage, but if distorted for profit or to force participants to contribute money, it becomes superstition. Similarly, burning votive paper at temples and pagodas is a long-standing custom, but burning it indiscriminately, including paper houses, cars, and refrigerators under the notion of matching the afterlife to the living world, is both against Buddhist teachings and wasteful, polluting, and a fire risk.
Researcher Nguyen Hung Vi says that in today's social life, the cultural element of belief plays a very important role. We respect freedom of belief, but must still fight phenomena that exploit superstition. What mediums and spirit practitioners say has no basis for belief, especially when they demand fees or material contributions, which is exploiting spirituality to practice superstition for profit.
Another manifestation is the inappropriate use of small change, stuffing money into Buddha statues' hands, or placing money in flower vases and worship objects, causing offense and affecting the solemnity and landscape of relics. At some festivals, overly superstitious people even fight over lucky offerings, causing security and order problems.
How are superstition violations handled on social media?
The explosion of technology and social media has created a favorable environment for many who trade in the sacred to spread distorted belief values for profit. This is a new type of violation, harder to control than traditional superstition.
A typical case is a TikTok account claiming to be a medium with a bowl of water, with over 461,000 followers, advertising that it can see viewers' fate, career, and fortune. The account also sold bracelets claimed to be purified and enchanted, promising to remove bad luck and boost careers. Another medium who reads fortunes using white roses also claimed that just looking at the flower can see everything about fate, career, and love.
A case handled strictly was medium T.T.H, known as the areca-splitting medium, with the saying right when correct and arguing when wrong. Within just 2 months of posting the first clip, this person's TikTok account had over 150,000 followers. In February 2023, medium T.T.H was administratively fined 7.5 million dong by Kinh Mon town police in Hai Duong province for promoting superstition. Later, people reported that this medium took 180 million dong to perform a ritual to sell a house, showing signs of fraud. The investigative agency of Kinh Mon town police prosecuted the suspect for fraud and appropriation of property.
These cases show the considerable influence of social media and herd mentality. People easily follow and trust unfounded prophecies, only to be exploited both spiritually and materially.
What should people do to avoid superstition traps?
The most effective prevention is to improve legal knowledge and understand the nature of belief. When people know the legal provisions, they can distinguish proper belief practice from superstitious acts for profit.
Authorities need to strictly enforce existing sanctions and continue to improve the legal document system to match reality and increase deterrence. The Department of Grassroots Culture (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) has issued a document requiring localities to proactively inspect, check, and monitor before, during, and after festivals, promptly preventing and strictly handling violations, especially exploiting relics, festivals, and beliefs for profit and superstitious activities.
As for the people, they need to stay alert to prophecies on social media. They should not blindly believe, especially when the person demands fees or material contributions. If they detect exploitation of spirituality for profit or fraud, they should report it to the police for timely handling.
Belief is an important part of the nation's cultural and spiritual life and needs to be preserved and promoted properly. Superstition is the downside that must be rejected to protect the good values of belief and ensure social order and safety.
