Sandesh Anvekar wrote:
They cant tolerate a word of criticism...I 'd rather expected that someone
would give some sane advise to mr floriano
over his unbridled criticism of hindu gods which was totally unasked for
here...(that only reflects poorly on him.... I could have answered him in
his own language, but that's not something befitting a proud Hindu).
instead they are busy trying to associate me with fundamentalist groups and
commenting on my english langauge.
As for me.. I have never said that Christian people make me feel
insecure... nor is the question of disbelief in Christian religion
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I've been on this forum for about six years and this is the first time I've
come across Sandesh Anvekar's posts. For the first time to be an attack on the
Church does not bode well.
Sandesh, who professes to have a little more knowledge than a kindergarten
child, should know in Christianity the Church is synonymous with its religion.
It sees no distinction. Hence an attack on the Church is very similar to
"unbridled criticism of Hindu Gods."
But criticizing each other's Gods and religions means nothing to me. Rama,
Jesus, Mohammed, Superman and Santa Claus are all same-same to me. What I find
subversive is the continuous and incessant propaganda machine which is
unleashed in India. First of all, the Church in India is least bothered about
converting people. Perhaps Sandesh can give us statistics on how many Hindus
have been converted in all of Bombay's leading colleges run by Christians.
Surely, a place of learning would be prime opportunity for influencing the
mind. Alas, more Hindus avail of Christian-run education then all of the
Christian world put together.
Secondly, if at all proselytizing does occur in India, it is likely to be by a
splinter evangelical-styled missionary group. But the point is, which Marshall
makes adequately, proselytizing isn't the same as forcing people to convert.
The term "forced conversions" implies that an organisation has political state
sanction whereby it can exert power. Christians of India have none. So if
people are converting that speaks to their desperation and desire to attain
some sort of salvation, whether spiritual or economic. But in a democracy, that
is an individual's choice and no one has the right to take away that choice.
Lastly, as to the point that I am over-reacting, I don't think so. To believe
that India is somehow a mature, functioning democracy in my opinion is a highly
optimistic point of view. We are anything but a secular, liberal society. We
are at best two shades lighter than conservative theocracies with ever
shrinking space in the domain of individual and collective freedoms.
Furthermore, it is naive to believe that only militant, extremist groups pose a
threat to India. The threat to Indian democracy in terms of its tolerance for
plurality will come from the vast burgeoning Hindu middle-class who for some
reason continue to feed on their own sense of victim-hood and genuinely believe
that they are under threat of some sort. My favourite line is, "I'm not an RSS
or anything but I believe MF Hussein should be killed." (luckily he died before
it came to that, broken and in exile.)
Best,
selma
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