Stop organised conversion Eduardo Faleiro Pope Benedict XVI is reported to have raised the question of religious freedom in India at a recent meeting with the Indian ambassador to the Vatican.
Freedom of religion is the freedom to maintain one's religion or to change it without being subjected to any pressure or inducement. Freedom of religion is protected by the Indian Constitution and is enshrined in the Universal mnation. Proselytism is defined as the use of unscrupulous methods of persuasion such as material inducements, psychological pressure or spiritual threats to compel a person to change his or her religion. Proselytism is opposed on several grounds it attacks other religious beliefs and practices and proclaims that its own religion is the only way to salvation. It is often supported by financial resources and marketing techniques that make local religions seem second rate and inferior. The Catholic Church condemns proselytising activities. Pope John Paul II often called the Evangelical sects in Christianity "rapacious wolves devouring Catholics and causing divisions and discord in our communities". He stressed the danger of underestimating "a certain strategy employing notable economic resources to crack Catholic unity". The issue of conversions has again become a major issue in India. In some tribal areas, Christian and Hindu missionaries confront each other. Organised attempts at mass conversion or reconversion backed by financial and political power can have an explosive backlash to the point of undermining public order. Mainline Christian theologians see both the sangh parivar's Hindutva ideology and Christian campaigns for evangelisation in India as a fundamentalist attitude and an aggressive method to achieve their respective goals. Most Indian Christian theologians disapprove of organised conversions, favour inter-religious dialogue and express the need to study other religions such as Islam, Hinduism,Buddhism and tribal faiths. Organised drives for conversion and reconversion should stop. They violate the Constitution. Yet specific legislation such as the anti-conversion laws passed by some states in India can only promote religious intolerance and animosity, may be misused by executive authorities and is not justified from the very limited positive results obtained. Government should rather, in a discreet manner, promote an agreement among religious heads of all major faiths in the country to stop proselytism. Given the positive mindset of Indian theologians this is possible. The Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) articulates its theo-logical vision thus: "Asia is the womb of the great world religions. All great scriptural religions were born on Asian soil. The Church has to be in constant dialogue with the religions of Asia and to embark on this with great seriousness... There may be more truth about God and life than it is made known to us though the Jesus of history and the Church. As such Christians who take Christ's injunction seriously must search for this truth in the various religions of the world". On the question of proselytism the FABC says, "A phenomenon which continues to awaken the most resentment among the peoples of Asia is that of proselytism and conversion. In the minds of Asians, the Church's primary objective seems to be to convert as many people as she can so as to increase her little flock. Church expansion is also seen as a western extension. The increase in the number of Church movements engaged in aggressive and militant evangelisation (understood in the very narrow sense of the word) is certainly a cause for concern for our brothers and sisters of other faiths. Perhaps, it might be good to be reminded of the golden rule which nearly all religions speak of: Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself". One hopes that Cardinal Ivan Dias as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples will assert firmly and unequivocally the Asian perception of freedom of religion even if it appears to differ from that of the Vatican. The writer is a minister in Goa. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1621240.cms ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Everything you need is one click away. Make Yahoo! your home page now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/AHchtC/4FxNAA/yQLSAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
