Don't convert! - A Rejoinder to "Don't target converts"
Don't convert! - A Rejoinder to "Don't target converts"
Author: Dr Mrs Hilda Raja
Publication: Haindavakeralam.com
Date: October 12, 2008
URL: http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HkPage.aspx?PAGEID=7265&SKIN=C
[A rejoinder (11 Oct. 2008) by Dr. Mrs. Hilda
Raja to the article "Don't target converts" by Michael Pinto in
the 'Times of India' dated 8 October 2008.]
'Don't target Converts ' by Michael Pinto (TOI 8th OCT) - poses many questions
than it answers. No amount of provocation can justify violence is easily said
but humanly not easy to follow. All are not Gandhians or Jesus to show the
left cheek when slapped on the right. Some countries follow a justice system
which is based on 'eye for an eye'.
Aggressive policy of conversion followed by some fundamentalist churches and
fundamental Christians cannot justify taking law into one's hand and no amount
of provocation can justify violence is correct theoretically and logically.
But if such logic rules the hearts and minds of men/women why is there so
much of violence in the world? Why do countries violate the rights of other
countries? Why do law makers turn into law breakers? Why do those in the Khaki
who have to operate the law on the streets become violators of human rights?
In the midst of such oppression, exploitation can we expect the people to
meekly be submissive and subservient? Or is the author's theory held good
only in the provocation rising in the business of conversion?
When Indira Gandhi was assassinated why thousands of Sikhs were butchered
in the capital? Was it not justified by the Congress party?When the Brahmin
pundits were killed and chased away from their homes in the Valley and forced
to become refugees in their own country under ethnic cleansing no voices were
raised against such an abuse and violation?When a holy man held in great reverence
was brutally murdered with his three disciples in his own ashram will the
author's theory be strong enough to hold back the emotional, social, and religious
upheaval of the hurt psyche?
Every action has a reaction. When a nun is raped then all hell breaks loose-Daily
children are sexually violated and raped and murdered, no protest voice is
heard -no church rallies are held, no Archbishop/bishop rebukes Chief Ministers
and express pain and anguish. And no EU raises the issue with the PM in a
foreign land. So Christians have global brokers and Christian lives become
sacred and the PM is accountable to foreign powers for their safety - the
lives of others can be snuffed out without even a whimper.What is the root
cause of this warped perception but religion? This is not to down play the
rape of the nun but to point out that it is a harsh world we are living in
and to high light the discrimination in our perception. Does a crime become
more heinous because the victim belongs to a particular religion?
'Terrorists do not belong to any one community knows no religion', pontificates
our political leaders. Is this again reserved only when it comes to the terrorists
of the Minority community? It must be said that violence is nurtured within
religious ghettos, madrassas, and only religions/beliefs are strong enough
to provoke and sanctify spilling of the blood of the innocents. It is in the
name of religion that the world had witnessed violence, genocide, torture
and oppression and a Talibanism justifying the imposition of religious domination
and curtailment of the rights of humans.
It is a utopia that Michael Pinto is envisaging when he states that no amount
of provocation can justify violence. This is armchair wistful thinking.When
the Christians were oppressors this theory vanished. The tables are turned
and when there is an assertion of the Hindus to retain their culture, their
religion and their heritage then the drum beating of the Constitutional guarantees
is heard. It is the right of the Hindus to protect the Hindu ethos of this
country which they feel is threatened. Was Art 30 not enacted to ensure the
Right of the Minorities to establish manage and administer institutions to
safeguard their ethos?
It is shocking that politicians are equating the Bajrang Dal and the VHP with
the SIMI. The latter is a terror outfit with its branches now functioning
in new names. The suspects belonging to these outfits are involved in serial
blasts all over the country, they are trained in Pakistan and in POK .These
are anti national outfits. What is the purpose/aim of these serial blasts-killing
of innocent people who are about their daily business? The aim is to destabilize
the country, create panic and insecurity and unrest within the country. Why
was Parliament targeted? And who were behind it? But the same cannot be said
of Bajrang Dal and the VHP. They are nationalists-they may be attacking a
particular community for reasons of their own- the root cause being forced
conversion and a reaction to the denigration of the Hindu gods and goddesses.
Those involved in such violence and criminal activities must be apprehended
and brought to justice. But where is the justification to demand a ban on
such outfits? This is indulging in vote bank politics. Till date not a single
terrorist has been brought to justice. The reality of wars, underworld dons
killing, custodial deaths, political bosses unleashing terror against their
opponents are all part of the harsh reality of today's world.
Conversion from time immemorial has a concomitant - violence. Indian history
is replete with it. The oppression, force, torture, massacre of the Indians
to convert them to Islam, and Christianity is not a fable. The Inquisition
and all that it wrought is world record. Again it is in the name of religion.
What you sow you reap. Violence begets violence-this is nature's order. In
'don't target converts' the author finds it strange that converts are targeted
in a country which constitutionally upholds the right to preach and propagate
one's religion. But then to preach and propagate one's religion does not mean
to force and use fraudulent means to pressurize people to change from one
religion to another.I am shocked that in this context the author compares
inducements like 'buy one and get one free' in the market of commodities,
to faith changing.If the market goods can be sold with inducements why not
it be extended to faith and belief changing is the author's argument. Can
faith and belief be brought to the market level of sales of commodities?By
this analogy the author accepts that there is inducement.Money is flowing
from foreign based churches and the gods of these churches need recruits-the
greater the strength the greater the power of these gods and hence the brokers
of these gods are all out targeting the poor. The inducement-a plate of rice,
a loaf of bread to the hunger, shelter for the homeless, and also the promise
of the green pastures in the next world.The strategy has first an entry point-first
denigrate, abuse, degrade and demolished their gods and icons. Second instill
in these victims the doubt that their gods are false and then promise to lead
them to the true god. A vulnerable victim, with a vacuum inner self is then
ready for the initiation into a "New Life"/to be "Born Again".
The false propaganda is vicious because of its attack on another religion.
This kind of provocation is not easy to overlook because human nature is to
refute and repel this atrocious slander/blasphemy.
What will the author say if one prints pamphlets that the mother of Jesus
was a prostitute and Jesus' birth was not a virgin birth? That after her marriage
Joseph found her pregnant and toyed with the idea of putting her away. Only
the intervention of an angel restrained him from taking such a drastic action.
This is what the bible narrates. Will the Catholic Church and other fund churches
sit back and humbly submit to such provocation? When posters depicting Jayalalitha
as a Virgin Mary appeared in Chennai there were massive rallies and protests.
But if Madhuri Dixit is depicted as Durga and the goddess is painted nude
it comes under the freedom of expression of a painter.Only difference is that
the same painter will not dare to let his artistic acumen and constitutional
right to freedom of expression to depict Allah even in the best form. This
is how we perceive the operation of guarantees/Rights enshrined in our Constitution
If opting for a "New Life"/ "Born Again", demands discarding
of one's culture, social practices, adapting a western life style and adapting
western forms of worship then the convert becomes an alien to the Indian/Hindu
'ethos', and is sucked into a process of alienation. This has other ramifications.
Why did East Timor break away from Indonesia when its Christian population
swelled to 27percent just in a matter of ten years? Similarly in our own context
the partition of India was based on the theory that two religions-Islam and
Hinduism cannot co-exist as a nation-that was the contention of then Muslims
leaders. World history and Indian history is replete with the experience that
'peace cannot co-exist with conversion. The reason being conversion has an
inbuilt violence: physical, psychological, social and cultural. It may even
abet one to be anti-national.
At times church laws and rules are in variance with national rules and laws.
The Christians and the Muslims have their own Personal laws. Whom will the
Christians take orders from-their respective church leaders or the government
of India when it comes to a national decision? When loyalties of a person
are divided and clash then the likelihood of becoming a victim to schizophrenia.
A leader from Kashmir proclaimed on the floor of the Parliament that he is
a Muslim and an Indian. No Muslim/Christian will state, 'I am first an Indian
and then a Muslim/Christian'. One can change one's religion but not one's
nationality into which one is born. Politicians too have abetted this by not
addressing citizens but focusing on communal/caste/religious divide.
Another aspect to be noted in the business of conversion is that conversions
are made even in proxy. A few years ago in Trichy district of Tamilnadu a
whole list of names were produced in paper and the bishop of that evangelical
church baptized them in absentia! Would this qualify as conversion? I belong
to the Catholic Church and my understanding of conversion is that it is a
process-a life long search for truth.
Conversion is a private affair and not a street tamasha-neither is it an activity
intended to swell numbers. It is not that conversion is from one religion
to another the Fundamentalist churches poach on the grounds of other Christian
sects. So the Jesus of one church is different from the Jesus of another.
This creates also distrust and disharmony among the Christian community. Freedom
is always accompanied by restrictions. Freedom is restricted when it encroaches
the freedom of others and of a whole society. Rights are not hierarchically.
When conversions are a threat to peace then it needs to be banned. Like the
curfew order-the ban to strike etc. The million dollar question is why conversion?
Is it a prerequisite for development work? Why are the foreign agencies funding
conversion activities? It is strange that the fundamental Christians and the
churches to which they belong do not turn their attention and energy in this
salvation ensuring business to the Muslims.Development and upliftment of the
poor is the camouflage of evangelization all the more why the need for the
churches to work with the Muslims.Because according to Sachar report the Muslims
are the lowest in India-both economically and educationally. Is it not strange
that not a single Muslim has been converted? According to Michael Pinto the
Christian population has fallen from 2.6 percent in 1971 to 2.3 percent in
2001.This does not mean that lakhs are not converted by the hundreds of fundamental
churches that have mushroomed in the country. Today we are one billion so
what does the 2.3 indicate in absolute numbers? When one reviews numbers a
few other indicators must also be listed-Christians follow Family planning,
the celibacy of nuns and priests, and the fact that most of the converts for
the sake of reservation and other benefits retain the religion and the caste
in which they were born on records.
Conversion has been commercialized by the Fundamentalistic churches. The number
of converts is co-related to the quantum of funds that flow in. This must
not be overlooked. Why not ban foreign funds and watch how evangelization
evaporates? All laws have their accompanying lacunae/loopholes and difficulties
in implementation, do we on such grounds fight shy of enacting laws? Conversions
must be banned to ensure peace and harmony. Let us give peace a chance-for
peace and conversion cannot co-exist.
Dr Mrs Hilda Raja
(Former member of the National Advisory committee of the CBCI)
Editors Note: The authoris a Retired Professor of Social Science from "Stella
Maris College", Chennai. Apart from being a practicing Catholic Christian,
she is a true nationalist, who values the cultural heritage of this great
country and respects the Hindu tradition too.