--- On Mon, 12/22/08, Dr. U. G. Barad <[email protected]> wrote:
> My response: But conversions in India, as they are
> happening today, are not
> merely about empowering the poor. It is about a sinister
> and subversive
> strategy, hatched in the US, backed by the Bush
> administration over the
> years.
--------------------------------------------
Barad, we are not talking about people being given sweeties here or enticed to
eat a dollop of ice-cream. We are talking about a change of religion, a change
that for most people would require deep examination of their conscience and
then an informed decision. There cannot be a "sinister and subversive" plot
when people have a power to say no. That is the point I am trying to make.
Knowing evangelical groups, I bet they are appealing to people not through
money but with the promise of miracles. The miraculous possibility that one's
life can change through embracing a new philosophy is a powerful motivator to
anyone. You don't have to be poor, living in the tribal belt of Orissa to
believe in fairytales. Most of our Catholics living in Goa also believe in
these "Born again" fairytales nowadays.
The answer to this problem is not legislation or violence. It is education and
continuous counter-information. Once you understand something about evangelical
groups and the sort of ideology they profess then you can be well on your way
to tackling it.
I am as much against evangelicals as I am against some of our Goan activists.
But I defend the right of both to exist without hindrance in a civil society.
Because if we undermine this basic right then we are inturn undermining
democracy.
Best,
Selma
