Each year, the Vietnamese government vigorously rejects criticism by foreign governments and human rights agencies about violations of religious freedom in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government’s rhetoric evidences a fundamentally different understanding of religious freedom from that of the international community. This article draws on empirical research to show that the Vietnamese government uses a politically constructed narrative called the Dai Doan Ket [Great Unity] to determine which kinds of religious worship conform to Vietnamese culture and traditions. Dai Doan Ket narratives define a common culture, spiritual destiny and national identity — they define what it means to be Vietnamese. The universal principles of human rights invoked by foreign critics are relegated to the periphery of this imagined identity.