should amrikan christians kill hindooz, demolish temples, what do you think
hindoo?
Why do Hindus violently assault Christians?
Bishop Angelo Gracias of the Roman Catholic diocese of Bombay separates
fact
from fiction and explains why claims of forced conversions by Christians
are
lies. He says no religion is as missionary as Hinduism, while Christian
have
the right to convert.Mgr Agnelo Gracias, auxiliary bishop of Bombay, looks
at anti-Christian violence in Orissa and other Indian states. Separating
fact from fiction, he explains why claims that Christians engage in forced
conversions are lies, asserts that Christians have a right to evangelize
and
that anyone has the right to convert, and shows that there is no religion
as
missionary as Hinduism.
Let us look at the phenomenon of the recent attacks against Christians. We
shall examine first the alleged reasons for these attacks, and then go
into
what are perhaps the real causes for the attacks. And since conversion is
one of the main reasons brought forward, in a third part, we shall examine
the issue of conversion.
I. Alleged Reasons for the Attacks:
1. Christians are being attacked because of the killing of Swami
Laxmananda
Saraswati in Orissa. Investigations point to the involvement of Maoists in
the killing.
In fact, the killing was condemned by Christians. Leaders like Cardinal
Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay, condemned the killing in his
press
conference. The official Catholic body of the Church, the Catholic Bishops
Conference of India (CBCI) also condemned it in its press release. The
Chairman of the Orissa Catholic Bishops Conference, Bishop Thomas
Thiruthalil, condemned it. If I may quote the words of his press
conference,
"The Catholic Community in Orissa was once again terribly shocked by the
brutal murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his close
associates... We, the Catholic community in Orissa deeply condemn the
barbarous incident."
In spite of this, the VHP and Bajrang Dal whipped up the mobs to attack
hristians. They wanted a pretext to launch their attacks.
2. Christians are being attacked because of a pamphlet denigrating
Hinduism
supposedly published by the New Life Movement.
If such a pamphlet has actually been circulated, one must first
investigate
who published it and punish the evil-doers, not use it as a pretext to
attack Christians indiscriminately. New Life has denied that they
published
any such pamphlet. It is extremely unlikely that any Christian group would
have engaged in such a foolhardy act at this point of time. For all one
knows, the pamphlet might have been published by some anti- Christian
group
themselves to stoke up communal flames!
There is a common misapprehension that Christians disdain other religions.
The stand of the Catholic Church on this point is clear. With regard to
other religions, Vatican Council II spelt out the Church's position very
clearly: "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in
these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct
and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many
aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect
a
ray of that Truth which enlightens all men". Therefore the Church exhorts
Catholics "prudently and lovingly, through dialogue and collaboration with
the followers of other religions, and in witness of Christian faith and
life, to acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual and moral goods
found among these people, as well as the values in their society and
culture" (Nostra Aetate, art 2).
3. Christians are being attacked because of conversions; the bogey of
conversions is constantly used by the VHP and Bajrang Dal. Let us look at
this issue squarely:
If there were so many thousands of conversions, as claimed, the number of
Christians should have skyrocketed. The opposite is true. The Census of
India shows a decline in the percentage of the Christian population of
India
vis-à-vis the total population: 2.6 per cent in 1971; 2.44 per cent in
1981
and 2.32 per cent in 1991, 2.3 per cent in 2001! This decline continues.
Forced conversions? The Catholic Church is totally against the use of any
form of force. Vatican Council II has declared: "The Church strictly
forbids
forcing anyone to embrace the Faith, or alluring or enticing people by
worrisome wiles. By the same token, she also strongly insists on this
right
that no one should be frightened away from the Faith by unjust vexations
on
the part of others" (Ad Gentes, art 13).
Canon Law is explicit: "No one is ever permitted to coerce persons to
embrace the Catholic faith against their conscience" (Canon 748.2).
Conversion by allurements? This is an oft-repeated lie. Blessed Mother
Teresa wrote in 1979: "Do not belittle the Hindu religion saying that our
Hindu poor people give up their religion for 'a plate of rice'. To my
knowledge, I have not seen this being done, though we feed thousands of
poor
of all castes and creeds, though thousands have died in our hands,
beautifully in peace with God."
The opposite is true in India: those who become Christians forfeit the
benefits given by the Government, the reservation quota. In spite of
losing
so much economically, the dalits still embrace Christianity!
Several States have passed anti-conversion bills. The first was Arunachal
Pradesh in 1978, Gujarat in 2003, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in 2006,
Himachal Pradesh in 2007. There exist very stringent punishments for
conversions by force or allurement. Till today, not a single case of such
conversion has been brought forward. We have publicly challenged the
governments to produce evidence of any such cases.
The fact that the governments have not been able to bring up even one
case,
is an indication that this charge is a fabrication. The very fact that
these
Hindus vie to send their children to our schools for education is a sign
that they do not really worry about conversion. They should have been
worried that we would influence these tender minds. Quite the contrary!
They
are begging us for admission.
II. What then is the real reason for antagonism towards Christianity and
to
our work amongst the tribals and dalits?
1. The answer is Socio-economic. With education, these tribals and dalits
will no longer allow themselves to be exploited. The economic apple-cart
will be overturned. Let's not forget that the RSS is made up of the upper
castes which have a vested interest in retaining the status quo.
2. According to the teaching and example of Jesus, love of God and love of
fellow humans are inseparable, like two sides of one coin: "For he who
does
not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not
seen"
(1 Jn, 4:20). Jesus described his mission in the following terms: "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed"
(Lk, 4:18).
When Jesus went about healing the sick, mixing with outcasts and assisting
the poor, these works were not allurements, but the concrete realisation
of
the "Kingdom of God" which he preached: a kingdom of love and justice. So
also, the humanitarian activities of the Catholic Church are by no means
an
allurement. She is walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
Rather than be apologetic, we can be proud of the service we render to our
country, especially to the poorest and most downtrodden. I wish some of
the
fundamentalists who are attacking us would visit Mother Teresa's Home for
the Dying and the Destitute in Sankli Street etc. Count how many of them
are
Christians and how many have been baptised. Visit Niramay Niketan in
Trombay
(a northern neighbour of Mumbai), the home looking after the
AIDS-afflicted!
An HIV-positive man who needed to have his legs amputated was turned down
by
almost 100 doctors, before one finally accepted to do the operation. He
and
many others like him are being lovingly cared for by the Sisters. These
fundamentalists would not have come close to these patients, much less
touch
them. For them, they are human refuse to be consigned to the dustbin. For
us, they are not Christians, Hindus or Muslims, but human beings to be
loved
and cared for.
III. Issue of Conversion
1. None of us is born a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim - nothing in our
blood that marks us out as belonging to a particular religion. Rather we
are
born within a religion - or better, in a religious community. People
generally remain in the religion in which they were born. However, some
exercise their freedom to embrace the religion which best satisfies their
quest for God and for fulfillment. In matters religious, no one is to be
forced to act in a manner contrary to his/her beliefs; nor is anyone to be
restrained from acting in accordance with his/her beliefs. This is what
"conversion" is all about. It is not so much a religious right, as a human
right.
2. We do not have a right to convert others. We have a right to speak
about
our beliefs and our religion - the right to propagate our faith. This is
guaranteed by the Constitution. The other has a right to be converted, if
he
chooses to.
3. Today, more than ever before, we live in a 'global village', an open
society where ideas freely cross all boundaries. Just as there will always
be people who change their ideology or political affiliation, so there
will
always be people who change their religion. If I can change my political
party, why cannot I change my religion?
In conclusion, we can point out that the oft-made claim that Hinduism does
not make converts, nor does it send missionaries, is not really true. No
country in ancient times sent out more missionaries than India to
propagate
(Buddhist and Hindu) religion: from Sri Lanka to China! And at present,
there are more Hindu missionaries in India and in the West, than Christian
missionaries in India. Temples abound and continue to be built in Europe
and
America.
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