Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:08:02 -0700 From: "Rina Mukherji" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *Since conversions are obviously the root cause behind what has escalated into large-scale violence against innocent Christians in its wake, I feel Goanetters ought to read this piece from Indian Express.* ** *Mind you, not all Christian churches are into such proselytization, but there is a new crop of missions that makes this their agenda. It is this that must be opposed-in the cause of secularism and peace!* ** > Mario responds: > Dear Ms. Mukherji, > With all due respect, what we are seeing is simply the barbarism that lurks just below the surface in India, and always has. > There is no excuse for mob violence in any civilized society, with mobs taking the law into their own hands, regardless of whether they perceive a "root cause" or not. That's why civilized societies have laws and legal systems. > If Christians have engaged in any illegal activity they should be prosecuted and brought to justice, not beaten, raped and burned alive by rampaging mobs of homicidal hooligans who happen to be radical Hindus. That is barbarism, pure and simple. > The last time I checked, India was a secular democracy, or was pretending to be. To begin with, where is the evidence that entire groups of Hindus were illegally converted? Isn't it possible that some were converted voluntarily? > Secondly, religious conversions are not physically hostile actions requiring a physical defense. Why are you so concerned if someone decides to change their religion, unless the person was unlawfully converted by coercion against their will? It would still be none of your business. There is a legal system in India to deal with illegal activities. > You simply cannot be allowed to excuse mobs of radical Hindus in this case to simply take the law into their own hands, decide that there is a "root cause" for their outrage and go on a rampage of violence against their fellow citizens. > If the majority of Hindus in India made excuses for communal mob violence India would soon be as ethnically cleansed as Pakistan. > Thank God, the majority of Hindus do not make such inappropriate excuses. >
