Due to antireligious campaign of the Vietnamese communist government in 1970s, many Montagnard traditional animist religions were condemned as superstitious and excluded, as the Vietnamese government officially recognized six religions. Because of this, evangelical conversion among the Montagnard tribes during this period happened en masse. However, most of their churches are local non-denominational and non-registered from the state-recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN-S). Most considerably, indigenous ethnic minority Protestants prefer to have the Bible (NIV) translated to their indigenous languages, indigenous-run churches, indigenous pastors, sermons and meetings in indigenous customs inside tabernacles. However, these desires were met by suspicions and hostilities from the Vietnamese authorities, who considered non-denominational indigenous Protestantism a continuation of FULRO. In comparison, ethnic Kinh-run churches in the Highlands belonged to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam receive full legal rights and protections from the authorities. Popular but simplistic media portrayal of the Vietnamese repression of Dega Church as "communist-Christianity confrontation" is objected by scholars such as Oscar Salemink, who describes a similar pattern of Evangelization of indigenous peoples around the world, especially in the Global South, regardless of whatever political regimes, but in Vietnam the rhetorics of anti-communist vindications blame it on the communist ideology.Enclosing the Highlands - socialist, capitalist and protestant conversions of Vietnam's Central Highlanders, Oscar Salemink, 2003 University of London Professor Seb Rumsby further argues that Kinh chauvinism conjoint with Western media narrative accidentally push the marginalized indigenous Christians to uncritically take side with right-wing Christian conservative politics, which is the ultimate source of neocolonialism.
Due to antireligious campaign of the Vietnamese communist government in 1970s, many Montagnard traditional animist religions were condemned as superstitious and excluded, as the Vietnamese government officially recognized six religions. Because of this, evangelical conversion among the Montagnard tribes during this period happened en masse. However, most of their churches are local non-denominational and non-registered from the state-recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN-S). Most considerably, indigenous ethnic minority Protestants prefer to have the Bible (NIV) translated to their indigenous languages indigenous-run churches, indigenous pastors, sermons and meetings in indigenous customs inside tabernacles. However, these desires were met by suspicions and hostilities from the Vietnamese authorities, who considered non-denominational indigenous Protestantism a continuation of FULRO. In comparison, ethnic Kinh-run churches in the Highlands belonged to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam receive full legal rights and protections from the authorities. Popular but simplistic media portrayal of the Vietnamese repression of Dega Church as "communist-Christianity confrontation" is objected by scholars such as Oscar Salemink, who describes a similar pattern of Evangelization of indigenous peoples around the world, especially in the Global South, regardless of whatever political regimes, but in Vietnam the rhetorics of anti-communist vindications blame it on the communist ideology.Enclosing the Highlands - socialist, capitalist and protestant conversions of Vietnam's Central Highlanders, Oscar Salemink, 2003 University of London Professor Seb Rumsby further argues that Kinh chauvinism conjoint with Western media narrative accidentally push the marginalized indigenous Christians to uncritically take side with right-wing Christian conservative politics, which is the ultimate source of neocolonialism.