It was one of those summer evenings of late 90s when there won’t be power in our town and all of our family members would sit together and have a chat. Mother would have finished cooking, father would have come back after meeting friends, and we would have finished the homework… We had given our upper floor on rent. At that time, two of the elder sons in the family had come to home and they were chatting. Suddenly we found the peaceful evening interrupted by a big argument broken between them. It came out that the younger brother was saying that India’s new-generation Hindus would become very intolerant because of government’s minority appeasement policies. While the elder brother shrugged him off saying, “Who has the time to think about religions?”
Today, the elder brother is well settled abroad and didn’t even invite his parents when he married there. Younger one had his own learning curve and after much struggle and a personal disaster, he survived all and is now well settled and lives in peace.
Should we think about religion then?
The recent attack on Churches in Orissa and then Karnataka should not be seen in isolation. First, taking law in hands and attacking any place of worship is wrong – not tolerable by any means. But it would be madness if we try to douse the fire cause by electrical short-circuit by throwing water over it. We would get hit in return and fire will spread more…
At one time I was that innocent kid who used to think that Christian Missionaries were like Mother Teresa – helping the poor, educating them and in turn doing a service to our society. And then, I grew up. Diverse non-political literature tells the tales of how Christian missionaries lured the poor unsatisfied Hindus by showing them dreams and then booking them in their rolls…
Whenever I go visit the Siddhivinayak Temple in the evenings, I reach there taking a shortcut. The temple is mostly crowded, where people compete with each other to take a glimpse of the idol, to touch the idol for maximum number of times and this competition gets frustrating in peak hours. On the way back, I get to see a small gathering around a small temple-like structure. That structure is made on a land encroached from a playground – looks very much like the small temple that people make in order to grab government lands. People gather there, mostly ladies in sarees and they all pray as if they were singing aartis. They also burn incense sticks. The whole atmosphere looks exactly like as if happening in a Hindu temple, except that the idol is of Jesus Christ and not of Lord Krishna. This is just a small example.
The level to which the original practices of Christianity have been altered and customised to suit the local needs of India is amusing. It is said that at one point the missionaries were very frustrated, because there were no parallel to the Indian and Hindu mythology in their original religion. Indians grow up learning moral lessons from Ram and Krishna. From Hanuman to Goddess Kali – the diversification and the scope – the ambit and the touch points – of Hinduism are totally unparalleled. And when they realised this, then started the customisation of Christianity for India.
And hence on one hand, articles were written how Jesus may be an Avatar just like Krishna was, and on the other hand, attempts were made to prove to the younger generation that Hindu symbols and icons were nothing but pieces of fiction. The religion and philosophy which won the world over – by just one man – Swami Vivekananda – was shown as if it was confusing and not cultured enough. The younger generation, which is anyway going the Western way of life, has started seeing the world from a different angle. And hence, when asked to imagine a wedding – it is highly likely that a kid will think of “now you may kiss the bride” kind of ceremony. Kissing is cool, saat-phere is not so! Anyways ladies have started not using sindoor – lady Clinton never applies that! Innumerable websites have propped up – with conflicting views on Hinduism – with a hidden agendum of creating confusions among the younger generations.
On the other hand, the business is still business. So, all the missionaries will always work in states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa – where the untapped recruits lie. The argument is that – the adivasis don’t practice Hinduism formally anyway, so when they would accept Christianity, it won’t be called conversion! So, the record books get filled up.
In order to make the numbers they don’t focus on ‘quality’ – and hence there is a separate section called ‘Dalit Christians’ made up from the discriminated castes from Hindus. I won’t quote many articles here, but a small article will tell you the status: [Link]:
============
As churchgoers dwindle in Europe—according to pollster Gallup International, attendance declined from 60-65% in 1980 to 20% in 2000—countries such as India with its enormous potential for conversion have become more important for the Vatican.
In the district of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, P.B Lomiyo, editor of the magazine, Christian Restoration, says, “The clergy raise funds for schools for Dalits, but don’t give admission to them. When Dalits demand their rights, they react and encourage the parish to boycott the Dalits.”
R.L. Francis, president of the Poor Christian Liberation Movement says that it is because the Vatican has one lone interest in India: conversion. “They have only set up a business enterprise here,” he said, “... solely for promoting conversions, none for Dalit upliftment. We are asking the Vatican to stop all conversion in India for the next 100 years and spend the money on healing those who have already come to the faith.”
============
The exact way in which petro-dollars are funding the global terrorist activities in the name of Islamic Jihad, the funds raised in the Western countries are spent in India in the name of carrying out the business of conversions.
And then there is also a growing breed of Christians in India who say that the Hindus who convert to Christianity shouldn’t be allowed into the faith because: when they couldn’t stick to their religion to birth, they won’t do great in the new religion also. First, this mentality is the same mentality where some of us close the door when we get inside the train. Second, it again is a sort of casteism, frowning at that poor adivasi becoming the same Christian that the learned professor is. And third, such persons forget that somewhere, one of their own ancestors had converted into Christianity! Jesus was neither born into India, nor did the Indian soil need him to be born here! A foreign religion brought in and spread with pounds and guns – is a ‘push’ process rather than ‘pull’ one.
Coming back to the incidents of attacks on Churches in India, given the historical background, there is much mess within the surface, as much blood flows over it. Unrestricted conversions don’t only change the religions and places of worship, but also changes attitudes, creates group formations, sows seeds of disharmony in the village system, and results in hatred on both sides: nothing that Jesus wanted.
It is historically proven that India has suffered whenever the Hindus have become weak from inside. Attacks on Somnath were not only because the invaders Muslims had better ammunitions – it was also because the Hindus were not united and had become too custom-oriented. I wonder if today, the same case is being repeated: this time the invaders are not outsiders: it is our own elected governments who would act in great loss to the country by not acting up.
Our governments have proven that unless people protest and do violence, they won’t hear them. This happened recently in Jammu when young Hindu men committed suicides and families spent days on the roads protesting, and then only the government listened to their demands. This sets a bad example and it is sad that we are all loving towards that direction.
Today, we all remember the religious riots in Gujarat as attacks on Muslims – and we don’t remember how it all started – Hindus being burnt alive enclosed in a train. Why? Because it makes us better ‘intellectuals’ if we speak like ‘true’ seculars. Even our scriptures told us: "satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam"! So we all choose to speak the lovely truth. And we keep the bitter truths in the closet. And then one day the closet gets opened and such incidents happen...
Orissa violence started when a Hindu saint was murdered whose influence on the tribal people was causing resistance to the conversion drives of Christian missionaries. What happened afterwards was sad. No one has the right to burn any place of worship. The government should act fast and stop all the violence that is going on: no one can justify the violence against Christians or burning of the Churches.
But even then, some one will have to take bold steps to stop this business of conversions.
But even after all said and done, one brother will shrug it off and go settle abroad – may be he will also become a ‘true’ Christian one day…
Today, the elder brother is well settled abroad and didn’t even invite his parents when he married there. Younger one had his own learning curve and after much struggle and a personal disaster, he survived all and is now well settled and lives in peace.
Should we think about religion then?
The recent attack on Churches in Orissa and then Karnataka should not be seen in isolation. First, taking law in hands and attacking any place of worship is wrong – not tolerable by any means. But it would be madness if we try to douse the fire cause by electrical short-circuit by throwing water over it. We would get hit in return and fire will spread more…
At one time I was that innocent kid who used to think that Christian Missionaries were like Mother Teresa – helping the poor, educating them and in turn doing a service to our society. And then, I grew up. Diverse non-political literature tells the tales of how Christian missionaries lured the poor unsatisfied Hindus by showing them dreams and then booking them in their rolls…
Whenever I go visit the Siddhivinayak Temple in the evenings, I reach there taking a shortcut. The temple is mostly crowded, where people compete with each other to take a glimpse of the idol, to touch the idol for maximum number of times and this competition gets frustrating in peak hours. On the way back, I get to see a small gathering around a small temple-like structure. That structure is made on a land encroached from a playground – looks very much like the small temple that people make in order to grab government lands. People gather there, mostly ladies in sarees and they all pray as if they were singing aartis. They also burn incense sticks. The whole atmosphere looks exactly like as if happening in a Hindu temple, except that the idol is of Jesus Christ and not of Lord Krishna. This is just a small example.
The level to which the original practices of Christianity have been altered and customised to suit the local needs of India is amusing. It is said that at one point the missionaries were very frustrated, because there were no parallel to the Indian and Hindu mythology in their original religion. Indians grow up learning moral lessons from Ram and Krishna. From Hanuman to Goddess Kali – the diversification and the scope – the ambit and the touch points – of Hinduism are totally unparalleled. And when they realised this, then started the customisation of Christianity for India.
And hence on one hand, articles were written how Jesus may be an Avatar just like Krishna was, and on the other hand, attempts were made to prove to the younger generation that Hindu symbols and icons were nothing but pieces of fiction. The religion and philosophy which won the world over – by just one man – Swami Vivekananda – was shown as if it was confusing and not cultured enough. The younger generation, which is anyway going the Western way of life, has started seeing the world from a different angle. And hence, when asked to imagine a wedding – it is highly likely that a kid will think of “now you may kiss the bride” kind of ceremony. Kissing is cool, saat-phere is not so! Anyways ladies have started not using sindoor – lady Clinton never applies that! Innumerable websites have propped up – with conflicting views on Hinduism – with a hidden agendum of creating confusions among the younger generations.
On the other hand, the business is still business. So, all the missionaries will always work in states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa – where the untapped recruits lie. The argument is that – the adivasis don’t practice Hinduism formally anyway, so when they would accept Christianity, it won’t be called conversion! So, the record books get filled up.
In order to make the numbers they don’t focus on ‘quality’ – and hence there is a separate section called ‘Dalit Christians’ made up from the discriminated castes from Hindus. I won’t quote many articles here, but a small article will tell you the status: [Link]:
============
As churchgoers dwindle in Europe—according to pollster Gallup International, attendance declined from 60-65% in 1980 to 20% in 2000—countries such as India with its enormous potential for conversion have become more important for the Vatican.
In the district of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, P.B Lomiyo, editor of the magazine, Christian Restoration, says, “The clergy raise funds for schools for Dalits, but don’t give admission to them. When Dalits demand their rights, they react and encourage the parish to boycott the Dalits.”
R.L. Francis, president of the Poor Christian Liberation Movement says that it is because the Vatican has one lone interest in India: conversion. “They have only set up a business enterprise here,” he said, “... solely for promoting conversions, none for Dalit upliftment. We are asking the Vatican to stop all conversion in India for the next 100 years and spend the money on healing those who have already come to the faith.”
============
The exact way in which petro-dollars are funding the global terrorist activities in the name of Islamic Jihad, the funds raised in the Western countries are spent in India in the name of carrying out the business of conversions.
And then there is also a growing breed of Christians in India who say that the Hindus who convert to Christianity shouldn’t be allowed into the faith because: when they couldn’t stick to their religion to birth, they won’t do great in the new religion also. First, this mentality is the same mentality where some of us close the door when we get inside the train. Second, it again is a sort of casteism, frowning at that poor adivasi becoming the same Christian that the learned professor is. And third, such persons forget that somewhere, one of their own ancestors had converted into Christianity! Jesus was neither born into India, nor did the Indian soil need him to be born here! A foreign religion brought in and spread with pounds and guns – is a ‘push’ process rather than ‘pull’ one.
Coming back to the incidents of attacks on Churches in India, given the historical background, there is much mess within the surface, as much blood flows over it. Unrestricted conversions don’t only change the religions and places of worship, but also changes attitudes, creates group formations, sows seeds of disharmony in the village system, and results in hatred on both sides: nothing that Jesus wanted.
It is historically proven that India has suffered whenever the Hindus have become weak from inside. Attacks on Somnath were not only because the invaders Muslims had better ammunitions – it was also because the Hindus were not united and had become too custom-oriented. I wonder if today, the same case is being repeated: this time the invaders are not outsiders: it is our own elected governments who would act in great loss to the country by not acting up.
Our governments have proven that unless people protest and do violence, they won’t hear them. This happened recently in Jammu when young Hindu men committed suicides and families spent days on the roads protesting, and then only the government listened to their demands. This sets a bad example and it is sad that we are all loving towards that direction.
Today, we all remember the religious riots in Gujarat as attacks on Muslims – and we don’t remember how it all started – Hindus being burnt alive enclosed in a train. Why? Because it makes us better ‘intellectuals’ if we speak like ‘true’ seculars. Even our scriptures told us: "satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam"! So we all choose to speak the lovely truth. And we keep the bitter truths in the closet. And then one day the closet gets opened and such incidents happen...
Orissa violence started when a Hindu saint was murdered whose influence on the tribal people was causing resistance to the conversion drives of Christian missionaries. What happened afterwards was sad. No one has the right to burn any place of worship. The government should act fast and stop all the violence that is going on: no one can justify the violence against Christians or burning of the Churches.
But even then, some one will have to take bold steps to stop this business of conversions.
But even after all said and done, one brother will shrug it off and go settle abroad – may be he will also become a ‘true’ Christian one day…
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