Hi,
I was trying to imagine a scenario whereby those who have never faced a person trying to convert you (when you are not interested) can realize why a Right to Convert Others is offesive and an invasion of privacy of those who face the onsalught of the evangelist/convertor. First I discuss how religions/ideologies develop and conversion process. The later I discuss how Right to Covert Others is an invasion of privacy - drawing parallels from the antics of hard nosed journos/ papparazis and hard selling salesmen.
Mass Conversions -a mediaval reality
Some might give the reasoning that all religions spread through mass conversions - through force or material benefits - example : In Asoka's reign Buddhism spread throughout India and also SE Asia. Also that in reign of Roman Emperor Augustus - when he converted to Christianity (subsequent to his
mother's coversion) all Roman empire adopted Christianity, so also perhaps in Ireland etc. The Khalipha converted to Islam in Iran etc and thus made it the state religion-- Parsees who did not want to convert had to escape to India. Similarly in Spain's "Inquest" under Ferdinand and Isabella - where those muslims and Jews who did not want to convert ran from Spain.
Right to convert oneself
Recently, the case in Afghanistan came to light where a person who had converted to Christianity (from Islam) was sentenced to death - later repealed under international pressure -esp Christian Roman Catholic Pope - and he was flown to Italy by Italian Air Force plane and granted asylum. That prohibition of right to convert ONESELF was wrong and against the Right to Freedom of Religion.
Right to convert
OTHERS
Now this right to convert others -can only be demanded by someone who is not satisfied in practicing one's own faith --- which mainly would include celebrating the faiths's festivals such as Eid, Buddha Jayanti, Diwali , Christmas, Easter, Passover, Hannukah, Guru's Prakashotsav of Sikhs --and going to their place of worship for prayer etc , reading their holy book/s and practicing the teaching of that faith in one's life.
Some religions might be called evangelistic faiths - whose religious prophets etc demand that the followers must spread the message among non-believers. Such prophets might include the likes of Muhammad, Christ, Buddha, Marx etc --- to make people follow Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Communism etc respectively.
The Process
So far so good - the prophet demands -
and followers do everything in their power to spread the message. As a convertee I have got the message of all the above prophets -- atleast most of those whom they would seek to convert me to . Still it is not enough.
These convertors want that I follow ONLY their faith and disregard ALL other prophets from any other faith . That is the crucial step -- when you are forced to admit that only what the starnger/converter is saying is right and what you have been following/believing so far is wrong. It is very difficult to admit that what one was doing earlier was entirely wrong and the new knowledge is entirely right.
Even in educated West - many well educated people are not ready to admit that Science of Evolution is true and what they believed in is completely wrong (Creationsm)
So what do you do --- thats where the question of utility
maximization comes in. What maximises the convertee's utility -- thats what the convertor would try to do. Among the rich West - cult Gurus seek to maximize a feeling of fulfillment or Peace --some in ver strange ways --such as Osho Rajneesh seeking to promote free sex coupled with Nirvana.
In the poor countries among the uneducated various strange tactics are used to convince that only the new faith is the best. Last year Benny Hinn went to conducct a crusade in Bangalore where he reportedly cured many of their illnesses. I myself was a Computer CD (accidently lying in the computer in the library in DC area ) showing such a crusade conducted in Africa -- actually showing poor semi-educated people being targettted and a few being cured right then and there. And the organizers exhorted -sometimes one to one with target groups - to accept thei faith and receive such miracles to better their lives. It reeked of fraud
-- who were those who were getting cured. My guess is that they were either paid actors who at first feigned illness (such as madness) and later reported cure.
On the other hand, there have been reports of use of science to create miracles for the "un-modern." Aspirin the wonder drug which cures so many diseases has widely been used to cure patients by these quack convertors (perhaps by mixing it in water - colorless and odorless) and claimin the water to be miraculous or holy - since it was blessed by that religious group's prophet.
Is this a problem??
Still, what is it you and me if others are getting befooled. They are ignorant and noone is losing anything. People are getting happier (maximizing their utility) so whats the problem?
One is issue when others of your faith convert to another one - is that of intolerance/belittling
of other faiths and economic/political issues. When you convert from Christianity to Islam then Pope Benedict would not want you inside Europe (as he said when he was Cardinal Ratzinger while exhorting EU NOT to grant Turkey its membership since it was a muslim nation - though secular). Perhaps this is becos conversion is not just in the mind of the convertee but also in the culture he or she believes in. When you convert to Communism you would seek to do away with industrialists, fashion models etc - your fellow faith members would demand that - as has been seen in erstwhile USSR in recent recorded history -- where ten of millions were killed for not following the doctrine of faith of communism.
Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park, MD 20740
1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now.
_______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
