Till my college days, including that of post graduation, I
never had any inkling of being a convert or someone different from the other
Indian friends. All my friends at that time were Brahmins and Hindus. They went
to temples and I went to church, that was all the difference I could tell or
they could fathom. However, once I joined the Service, the difference was
thrown at my face. My colleagues, well educated and well placed upper caste Hindus,
taunted me saying after all people like me are the rice-Christians.
It took me some research to even find out what they meant!
Then I realized that these people are calling the Christians, who were in any
case converts from the original Hindus, were attracted to convert Christianity,
by inducements like rice, biscuits or chocolates, provided by the then
missionaries. So I learnt that there could be rice Christians, biscuit
Christians and chocolate Christians, let alone brown Christians!
To delve on some family history, my family from Nagercoil,
was converted during 18th century, 1799 to be precise, by the
missionary activities of local preachers like David Sundaranandan in the area
now called Thirunelveli. The foreign missionary, who was active at that time in
south India, based in Tarangambadi (Tranquebar) was Benjamin Schultze.[1]
It was a mass movement. And persecution followed. In spite of it village after
village turned to Christ. It was due to the move of His Spirit.
I am the seventh generation Christian of that tradition set
in 18th century. If it was initiated by some gift of rice or
biscuits or chocolates, will such a transition survive this long and not just
survive but thrive? My family can boast of preachers, teachers, pastors and
District Superintends. My own grandfather was the District Superintend of the
churches in Nagercoil, having started his ministry as pastor in Marthandam.
Even if it were to be so, that my ancestors converted because
of some material benefits, I am still happy we converted, from people who do
not know what gods they worship to people who know the Lord God whom they
worship. That is a great transition; from people who walked in darkness to
people who walk in the light.
Coming to the point, what is this debate on conversion? Why
is it such a hot topic? Why is such animosity from the Hindus, especially from
the well educated and well placed Hindus, of course belonging to the upper
castes? What is the threat they perceive behind such conversions that they hate
it so much? What is the psychological fear that lurks in their minds that they
want to stamp away such transformations? Any logical reason one can fathom?
Well, without entering into the legal aspects of
Anti-conversion laws that have become so common in India these days, I would
like to point out the Constitutional guarantee provided for in Indian
Constitution. Article 25 of the Constitution states that, “all persons are
equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess,
practice and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health.”
The right to profess, practice and propagate one’s own religion is guaranteed
as a fundamental right of every citizen of India.
The communal or fascist political parties see it differently.
They do not like the term ‘right to propagate’ one’s religion. And they have
brought in Anti-conversion Laws in the country, starting with the State of
Orissa in 1967, followed by the States of Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Anti-conversion laws presume forced or induced conversions,
especially to Christianity, exactly like the missionaries of yester years, who
were supposed to have given biscuits or rice or chocolates to induce one to convert!
Now Government in India and some States like Tamil Nadu are supplying free
rice, free sugar, free wheat to its citizens. Wonder to what they are
converting such poor people! To secularism or may be to democracy or is it to
Hinduism?
After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the
centre in 2014, there have been many incidents of violence against minorities,
mainly Christians and Muslims, Dalits (the Outcastes) and women. The present
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, when he was the Chief Minister in Gujarat,
allowed Muslims to be massacred and driven away from that state. Today he is
letting his party workers do such atrocities all over the country, without not
so much as a word of condemnation or assurance of proper inquiry or punishment
of the guilty.
Christian Pastors have been harassed, killed, humiliated and
threatened not even to conduct their weekly worship services. Recently a video
of a pastor in Utter Pradesh, whose head was half-shaved and made to ride a
donkey, while being taunted and ridiculed by an angry crowd of Bajrang Dal
activists, went viral. The offence? He was converting people by force. Proof?
Nothing but concocted stories.
All over the country poor Christian are being forced or
threatened to come back to the fold of Hinduism, a movement sponsored by BJP,
called “Ghar Vapasi” (Return Home). Lots of incentives are offered, including
rice/wheat, money and household articles. Again, educated and highly placed
upper caste Hindus approve of such actions, saying “they did it then, let our
people do it now!”
After condemning the missionaries for converting people by
giving rice, biscuits, chocolates, how is that the Hindus are doing the same
now? You condemn corruption in others, but if the situation provides an
opportunity, you also indulge in corruption! How right is that? Is there
integrity in such an act, let alone honesty? It is a spineless and cowardly
response of a desperate population.
But why are they so desperate? Why are they so worried over
conversions to other religions, especially to Christianity? Is it just a move
to consolidate the Hindu vote by the political party? But then why educated
upper castes are so driven by it? What are they worried about? Is it a number
game?
To me it looks like a number game, where the upper caste
would like to maintain the status-quo, whereby their position of superiority
and privilege in the society hierarchy will not be questioned or disturbed.
Today in India the Hindus are in the majority, with 83% of the population.
Muslims are around 16% and Christians 2.5% of the population.
The worry of the upper caste Hindus is that they, either the
Muslims, by biological growth or Christians by means of conversion might become
the majority and supersede them! They want to retain power and the ruling of
the country. To ensure that power is retained in their hands, they would go to
any length of lynching and harassing and killing of the perpetrators of the
crime. In their eyes, the Christian pastors, who convert Hindus, thus reducing
the number of Hindus and others like Dalits, who question their authority and
hold over the society and the country, are the perpetrators.
What the educated Hindus and the others of their kind forget
or do not want to remember or scared of even thinking of, is the reality of the
conversion of a Roman Emperor in the 4th century, at the height of
his power to Christianity and the turning of the tide in favor of Christianity.
A persecuted religion became the State religion. In a few centuries most of the
Roman Empire became Christian.
Was it human power that made such an impossible thing a
possibility? No, it was the power of God, His Holy Spirit that made such a
transformation possible. Can it be avoided or stopped if it were to happen in
India? Not at all! Christ is the living God and He will accomplish what He
desires or plans. No human persecution or Anti-conversion rules could stop the
tide once it starts.
Paul is another example of the persecutor turning the promoter
of Christ and His Way in the first century AD. In his encounter with Christ,
Saul asks ‘Who are you Lord?’ And Christ answers, “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting.” With that Saul became Paul and spread the good news about Christ
throughout the Roman Empire.
What every persecuting Hindu communal group must realize is
when they hate and persecute Christians, they are persecuting Christ himself. They
touch the very apple of the eye of God, when they persecute the followers of
Christ, for children, they are the very apple of His eye.[2]
So watch out, that you do not affront the very God whom Christians worship, for
His wrath could fall on you.
Time is nearing for the Second Coming of Christ. When He
comes in glory the whole world will know Him and fall on their knees to worship
Him. What will the Christ-haters do at that time? Where will they hide their face?
It will be a terrible let down for them.
The conversion the Christians talk about is not from one
religion to another. It is the whole transformation of a person, a conversion
of the heart, which makes him/her to accept Christ as his/her Savior and Lord. Repent
for their mistakes/sins, seek forgiveness from Jesus Christ, who has the power
to forgive and enter the family of God.
Eternal life in the presence of God and Christ is assured to
that person in the afterlife. That is the glory one should seek and not the
earthly glory of numbers or the authority or the power or the prestige in the
man-made society. It will all go away, so let’s hold forth to the non-transitory
and permanent glory which Christ alone could give.
From a 'persecuted religion to the state religion"- nicely written
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you.
ReplyDelete