Author: PK Balachanddran
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 2, 2004
URL: http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_860519,00050002.htm
[Note from Hindu Vivek Kendra:
The laws in India target the same disruptive forces using the same disruptive
methods.]
The Sri Lankan government has said
that the proposed legislation against 'unethical conversions' (mainly from
Buddhism to Christianity) is aimed only at the new-fangled evangelical
movements bent on converting people, and not the established churches (such
as the Catholic or the Methodist church).
This was stated in a letter written
by the minister of Buddha Sasana, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, to Dr Janet
Epp Buckingham, Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, released
to the media on Wednesday.
"I wish to categorically state that
those professing the Christian religion should not be afraid, as this legislation
is only against the misdeeds of those whose only ambition is to convert
people of other religions by force to their evangelical faiths," Wickramanayake
said.
He said that the proposed legislation
stemmed from requests made by the clergy and religious organisations.
But he did not indicate whether
the clergy and the religious organisations encompassed all religions.
Wickramanayake also said that government
would form a Conciliatory Council comprising of members of all religions
to "foster religious harmony".
The new fangled evangelists, who
are also known as "Fundamentalists", are mostly foreign funded.
They are accused of brazenly using
money and other allurements to convert poor Buddhists and Hindus to their
brand of Christianity.
They are not part of any of the
established Christian churches. In fact, the mainstream churches also complain
that these new fangled churches are weaning away their flock with various
promises.
The new evangelists register their
organisations under Sri Lanka's Companies Act as non-profit making companies,
borrow money from banks, and indulge in "non-profit making" economic activities,
which allegedly aid the conversion process.
Though themselves victims of the
new evangelists, the established churches are afraid that the anti-conversion
law will be used against them too.
Though conversion is not their main
aim or activity, some amount of conversion is done by them too.
They do a lot of charity, which
can be misinterpreted as a means to get converts. Spreading the word of
Christ and saving souls are considered legitimate spiritual activity.
But their methods are subtle, not
brazen and unprincipled, like those of the new evangelists.
In a statement issued on Tuesday,
the Catholic Bishops' Conference and the National Christian Council said
that while they were opposed to unethical conversions, the proposed legislation
would "pave the way for the oppression of minority religions in the country."
The legislation will 'seriously
erode' the freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed in the
constitution and sanctioned by international conventions.
It would tar the image of Sri Lanka
abroad, they warned.
"Our already oppressed people simply
cannot be burdened with more restrictions of this nature," they added.
All religions urged their followers
to do charitable works and it would be wrong to dub all such acts as allurements
to get conversions, the statement argued.
It pointed out that all the four
religions of Sri Lanka had cherished their right to propagate their doctrines
throughout the world.
In other words, what the Christian
churches are asking is: If Buddhism can be spread abroad, why cannot Christianity
be spread here in Sri Lanka?
The two organisations called for
discussions to find a 'democratic way' to deal with inter-religious tensions.
