On Kandhamal, Conversions and Proselytization
Dear All, pl. continue the robust discussion on “Why are Christian Missionaries targeting India - III” below.
I have reproduced the last four comments for the sake of continuity. Please continue the discussion via comments to this post.
*** Comments from Why are Christian Missionaries targeting India - III ***
# ‘42,000 converted, only two followed law’
KANDHAMAL (Orissa): There has been a 66 percent growth in Christian population in Orissa’s Kandhamal region, which has seen attacks on Christians and churches. Of the 42,353 who adopted Christianity between 1991 and 2001, only two followed law to change religion.
According to data available with the district collectorate, the Christian population in Kandhamal was 117,950 in the 2001 census, up from 75,597 a decade earlier.
“The Christian growth rate in the district is 66 percent as against 18.6 percent for the overall population growth in the district,” District Collector Krishan Kumar told IANS.
Of the over 650,000 people in the troubled district, at least 53 percent are tribals, less than 20 percent Christians. Of the nearly 118,000 Christians, a majority has converted from Dalit families.
more here.
Comment by Bharat | October 27, 2008
# Crime Branch sleuths chasing Congress RS Member Radhakant Nayak
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
By Anurjay Dhal
Bhubaneswar: Congress Rajya Sabha member Radhakant Nayak is on run. If unconfirmed reports are to be believed, Nayak, alleged villain behind Swami Laxmananda Saraswati’s murder, is in trouble.
Crime Branch of Orissa Police looking into the brutal murder of noted Hindu saint has reportedly listed name of Nayak as an accused, who is very close to Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi for his Church back-ground and searching him in several areas for his role.
Sources pointed out that police might lay it hand either on Radhakant Nayak or his men. Nayak, a former bureaucrat, was considered the chief patron of Pana Christians and protector of the Church in the district.
However some adverse IB report against him came as a hurdle. In 2004 he was elected to Rajya Sabha on Congress ticket. Hindutava forces always suspected his hand behind the killing. Alleged involvement of Nayak would also help BJP to target Sonia Gandhi.
more here.
Comment by Bharat | October 28, 2008
# …On the other hand, Swami Vidyanand is white and Bhakti Swami Thirtha Krishnapad is an African American but are revered by all Hindus, regardless of race. There is no talk of white swami or African American swami.
My take: ISKCON have brown, white, black, etc Swamijis, and devotees from all color spectrums, race, nationality, languages. And they are nobodys concern, but the devotion and love to Krishna.
========
Christian church is obsessed with race
Published:Oct 26, 2008
The Times
It is a white supremacist mindset that claims “Pope Benedict XVI has created India’s first woman saint”.
Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception is not “India’s first woman saint” but the first Christian, or more specifically Catholic, woman saint in India. India has many woman saints belonging to the homegrown faiths.
If race consciousness were not so pronounced in the Christian church, especially the Catholic church, she would have been a saint for the entire Catholic world.
After all, the media did not refer to Mohammed Siddique Khan, the mastermind of the London bombings of July 7 2005, as a British terrorist (although he was born in Britain) but as an Islamic terrorist.
Similarly, a Catholic saint, even if born in India, is a Catholic saint, not an Indian saint.
For instance, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, although he resided in the West for a great number of years, was always described in the media as an Indian Rishi, Yogi, spiritual master, etc.
On the other hand, Swami Vidyanand is white and Bhakti Swami Thirtha Krishnapad is an African American but are revered by all Hindus, regardless of race. There is no talk of white swami or African American swami.
Another noteworthy example of the Christian obsession with race was the picture of former Miss Deaf World, the lovely Candice Morgan, sporting a symbol of Hindu affirmation, the bindi, on her forehead. On April 15 2007, in an interview on the TV1 programme Spirit Sundae, Morgan stated that she was a Christian.
Many Indian Christians have taken to sporting such symbols of Hindu affirmation in the new South Africa in order to repackage their racism as culture, in order to segregate themselves from Christians of other races, especially black Christians.
Some Indian Christians no longer want to be buried in what used to be called “sanctified ground” but choose to enter the Christian heaven via the back door, the Clare Estate Hindu Crematorium, previously regarded as a “demonic” place! These are the clever ways of racism. — REALITY CHECK
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=870299
Comment by Bharat | October 28, 2008
# Hi to all
Check this website
Comment by Indian | October 28, 2008
Related Posts:
“Why have Missionaries chosen to attack India?”
“Why are Christian Missions targetting India?” - II
Why are Christian Missionaries targeting India - III
Dear Indian,
Dharma is on its way to victory. The example is Kandhamal. In spite of the rantings of the secular press and the western media and the leaders led by the noses for a few votes to make more crores; WHO IS ON THE RUN? It is the Christian baiter Nayak and a cohort of a top leader.
Regards,
vck
Comment by v.c. krishnan | October 29, 2008
http://www.blogs.ivarta.com/india-usa-blog-column191.htm
Missionories are active from 1546 and how brutal were they regarding Hidu faith. Peolpe,please read this
By V. Sundaram (IAS)Retd., Officer
Comment by Indian | October 31, 2008
Atrocities on Hindus by missionaries in Goa–I
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=33&id=10290
Atrocities on Hindus by missionaries in Goa–II
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=33&id=10312
Atrocities on Hindus by missionaries in Goa–III
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=33&id=10339
Atrocities on Hindus by missionaries in Goa–IV
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=33&id=10408
Atrocities on Hindus by missionaries in Goa–V
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=33&id=10463
They are just a tip of an iceberg.
Comment by Bharat | November 1, 2008
Bharat,
You have to be in the pay of foreign agents looking to incite a civil war in India.
The ” atrocities on Hindus” refers to the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa c. 1560-1600. And, you put up these links here PRETENDING that there is CURRENT?
If you are typical of a “Hindu”, then the Hindu community would be well cautioned to ignore all your rants.
Before the British united India/Bharat ….. India was broken up into over 15-20 kingdoms, if I count only the major one, more like 70-80 states, if I take the minor ones, as well.
With your hate campaigns, you (and those of your ilk) are all very much on your way to completely disintegrating India again. Congratulations. Be happy with your “piece” of Bharat, Bharat.
Comment by Patriot | November 1, 2008
Violent missionaries and beleaguered Hindus of Orissa
“Hinduism and many of the occult activities that come out of the Orient are inspired by demons and demon worship…There’s this concept that all religions are the same and all are good. That is not true. The worship of the Devil is not good’.” —Pat Robertson (one among the deadly devils from the west!!)
The UPA government today has become an apex missionary organisation for pro-Christian, and pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu propaganda.
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=33&id=10262
Comment by Bharat | November 2, 2008
Thought-provoking Op-Ed by Francois Gautier “The Hindu Rate Of Wrath“. I am reproducing it in full below:
The Hindu Rate Of Wrath
When the Mahatma’s cowards erupt in fury, it hurts. It isn’t terror.
Francois Gautier
Is there such a thing as ‘Hindu terrorism’, as the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for the recent Malegaon blasts may tend to prove? Well, I guess I was asked to write this column because I am one of that rare breed of foreign correspondents—a lover of Hindus! A born Frenchman, Catholic-educated and non-Hindu, I do hope I’ll be given some credit for my opinions, which are not the product of my parents’ ideas, my education or my atavism, but garnered from 25 years of reporting in South Asia (for Le Journal de Geneve and Le Figaro).
In the early 1980s, when I started freelancing in south India, doing photo features on kalaripayattu, the Ayyappa festival, or the Ayyanars, I slowly realised that the genius of this country lies in its Hindu ethos, in the true spirituality behind Hinduism. The average Hindu you meet in a million villages possesses this simple, innate spirituality and accepts your diversity, whether you are Christian or Muslim, Jain or Arab, French or Chinese. It is this Hinduness that makes the Indian Christian different from, say, a French Christian, or the Indian Muslim unlike a Saudi Muslim. I also learnt that Hindus not only believed that the divine could manifest itself at different times, under different names, using different scriptures (not to mention the wonderful avatar concept, the perfect answer to 21st century religious strife) but that they had also given refuge to persecuted minorities from across the world—Syrian Christians, Parsis, Jews, Armenians, and today, Tibetans. In 3,500 years of existence, Hindus have never militarily invaded another country, never tried to impose their religion on others by force or induced conversions.
You cannot find anybody less fundamentalist than a Hindu in the world and it saddens me when I see the Indian and western press equating terrorist groups like simi, which blow up innocent civilians, with ordinary, angry Hindus who burn churches without killing anybody. We know also that most of these communal incidents often involve persons from the same groups—often Dalits and tribals—some of who have converted to Christianity and others not.
However reprehensible the destruction of Babri Masjid, no Muslim was killed in the process; compare this to the ‘vengeance’ bombings of 1993 in Bombay, which wiped out hundreds of innocents, mostly Hindus. Yet the Babri Masjid destruction is often described by journalists as the more horrible act of the two. We also remember how Sharad Pawar, when he was chief minister of Maharashtra in 1993, lied about a bomb that was supposed to have gone off in a Muslim locality of Bombay.
I have never been politically correct, but have always written what I have discovered while reporting. Let me then be straightforward about this so-called Hindu terror. Hindus, since the first Arab invasions, have been at the receiving end of terrorism, whether it was by Timur, who killed 1,00,000 Hindus in a single day in 1399, or by the Portuguese Inquisition which crucified Brahmins in Goa. Today, Hindus are still being targeted: there were one million Hindus in the Kashmir valley in 1900; only a few hundred remain, the rest having fled in terror. Blasts after blasts have killed hundreds of innocent Hindus all over India in the last four years. Hindus, the overwhelming majority community of this country, are being made fun of, are despised, are deprived of the most basic facilities for one of their most sacred pilgrimages in Amarnath while their government heavily sponsors the Haj. They see their brothers and sisters converted to Christianity through inducements and financial traps, see a harmless 84-year-old swami and a sadhvi brutally murdered. Their gods are blasphemed.
So sometimes, enough is enough.At some point, after years or even centuries of submitting like sheep to slaughter, Hindus—whom the Mahatma once gently called cowards—erupt in uncontrolled fury. And it hurts badly. It happened in Gujarat. It happened in Jammu, then in Kandhamal, Mangalore, and Malegaon. It may happen again elsewhere. What should be understood is that this is a spontaneous revolution on the ground, by ordinary Hindus, without any planning from the political leadership. Therefore, the BJP, instead of acting embarrassed, should not disown those who choose other means to let their anguished voices be heard.
There are about a billion Hindus, one in every six persons on this planet. They form one of the most successful, law-abiding and integrated communities in the world today. Can you call them terrorists?
***
Comment by B Shantanu | November 2, 2008
Sophisticated evangelism: http://www.cbnindia.org/in/about_us/
and amazing outreach: http://www.cbn.com/worldreach/worldreach_region_asia_india.aspx
CBN is founded by Pat Robertson, a television evangelist & a hugely successful one at that. Also involved in illegal mining in Africa!
Comment by Sanjay | November 3, 2008
From Sandeep’s Op-Ed in The Pioneer: Pope gets Gandhi wrong (reproduced in full):
On October 26 this year, Pope Benedict invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s name in an appeal to end “violence against Christians” in Orissa. It would have been ridiculous if only it had not been so ironical. This reminds us of a proverb about pinching the baby and pacifying it.
Reiterating a few facts would be in order. The Pope has chosen wisely when he chose to invoke Gandhi’s name. While Gandhi’s relevance and legacy in contemporary India is debatable, he is still much revered by millions of people. Equally, he is deeply respected in Christian countries because he comes close to the Christ-like figure that those countries are intimately familiar with. Gandhi’s life, and writings and speeches show him to be a moralist in the Christian mould: An overt emphasis on suffering, heartfelt compassion for the poor, and a non-violent fighter against oppression. Yet, he was a self-proclaimed, “proud staunch Sanatani Hindu.”
Whatever his understanding of core Hindu philosophical tenets, Gandhi’s attachment to Hinduism was so steadfast that it is touching at different levels.
He unequivocally upheld his opposition to all attempts at destabilising Sanatana Dharma. In the August 1925 issue of Young India, he wrote:
“I am unable to identify with orthodox Christianity. I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism, as I know it, entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being, and I find solace in the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount… I must confess to you that when doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of external tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
A more assertive proclamation of Gandhi’s firm Hindu moorings is not required. Gandhi rightly recognised proselytisation as a problem and condemned it as fiercely as he upheld Hinduism. He discerned that the psychology that drives conversion is innately flawed and dangerous. We only need to look at a few samples from Gandhi’s copious writings to learn his stance vis a vis conversions:
“Why should a Christian want to convert a Hindu to Christianity? Why should he not be satisfied if the Hindu is a good or godly man?” (Harijan, January 30, 1937)
“I hold that proselytisation under the cloak of humanitarian work is unhealthy to say the least.” (Young India: April 23, 1931)
“If I had power and could legislate, I should certainly stop all proselytising. It is the cause of much avoidable conflict between classes and unnecessary heart-burning among missionaries…”
And here the Pope invokes Gandhi’s name in utter ignorance of the Mahatma’s stand on Christian proselytisation. Pope Benedict’s message is addressed to all Hindus on the occasion of Diwali.
We are immediately struck with wonder at the sheer presumptuousness of this singular Diwali greeting: The subtle subtext seems to reprimand the Hindus for attacking Christians while completely omitting any mention of the root cause for the communal/social unrest!
More fundamentally, the Pope has no authority to interfere in what is exclusively an Indian social problem. In this context, is he prepared to admit that the remote control for missionary activities in India lies in his hands?
The Pope’s message confirms the fact that selective quoting is not merely restricted to media and mischievous rhetoricians. While it self-righteously assumes these attributes to itself, it doesn’t come clean on its own record. Pope Benedict’s predecessor’s triumphant announcement during his 1999 India visit is a good instance. Till date, not one soul in the entire Christendom has condemned his intent to “harvest souls”.
One wonders what gives these religious leaders the right to arrogate to themselves such licence. Are non-Christians — in the Indian context, this primarily means Hindus — a harvest waiting to be reaped? It is precisely against this form of mischief that Gandhi raised his voice.
The Pope’s interpretation of Gandhi’s message of non-violence is false. Non-violence in the Gandhian doctrine does not stand for a cowardly acceptance of injustice and unprovoked violence. In that light, Gandhi’s call to oppose proselytisation is — like his freedom struggle mantra — but opposition to any form of oppression. He viewed proselytisation as not just a form of cultural invasion but a hindrance to world peace. At the microcosmic level, he observed how a Hindu family is disrupted if just one member converts to Christianity.
“In Hindu households the advent of a missionary has meant the disruption of the family coming in the wake of change of dress, manners, language, food and drink.” (Harijan, November 5, 1935)
“It is impossible for me to reconcile myself to the idea of conversion after the style that goes on in India and elsewhere today. It is an error which is perhaps the greatest impediment to the world’s progress toward peace.” (Harijan, January 30, 1937)
If we observe the social conditions of mostly-poor nations that have been weaned away from their native traditions, Gandhi’s remark becomes clearer. Angola is a Christian-majority country now, but was torn by civil strife for over 27 years.
Religious tensions exist till date between the native Bantu tribal traditions and the ‘Christian network’ of villages. Numerous African countries are torn by strife, thanks to missionary activity. Philippines, the Christian-majority state has mostly lost its native traditions thanks to centuries-long Spanish colonisation followed by aggressive evangelism. Papua New Guinea’s former Chief Justice, an outspoken Pentecostal, urged legislative and other bridles on the activities of Muslims in the country. Although it is home to some very diverse cultures and faiths, 96 per cent of its population is Christian. Its native, animist tradition is all but lost.
The clashes between Christians and followers of native traditions in South Korea still make headlines. Evangelist leaders openly call for political activity against North Korea by accelerating the spread of Christianity. This is not dissimilar to evangelists-backed secessionist movement in India’s North-East States.
This list is just a sample but is sufficient evidence to show the truth in Gandhi’s astute observation more than 70 years ago that evangelical activity poses a threat to peace.
If the present Pope wanted to spread the Mahatma’s words, he should have presented the whole story instead of just a twisted interpretation. Besides, we do not need to take lessons about Gandhi from the Pope. Not at least when the lesson is fraught with frivolity.
Comment by B Shantanu | November 5, 2008
Soul harvesting business run by the only True God’s agents uses 2000 years proven deceitful tactics. They perfected the art of destroying others cultures, civilizations, social systems and relations, way of life. They have no iota of shame for this, as that is their ideology.
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Faith is dangling between God and Money
http://www.odishatoday.com/Analysis/Faith_dangling_between_God_Money_011108-57687989074653125364.html
Comment by Bharat | November 5, 2008
Also read.
Conversations with foreign-funded charity
Excerpts.
Has the time come for the Government to set up a National Commission to investigate religious conversions in India? Certainly. Let the Nation know how many conversions have taken place from—and into—Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and other faiths since 1947. Let the commission throw light on the districts where, and how, significant changes in religious demography have taken place, and whether conversions have created resentment and social disharmony in their wake.
An unbiased commission would reveal three irrefutable facts: (1) Christianity accounts for the largest number of
converts; (2) Christian organisations conduct service activities—schools, hospitals, poverty-alleviation programmes, relief during calamities, etc.—with exemplary dedication and professionalism. However, some of them, though not all, make the conversion agenda a part of their seva agenda; (3) Foreign funds supporting these charitable activities have greatly aided conversions.
read more here.
http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=995&Itemid=1
Comment by Bharat | November 6, 2008
I read the article on vigilonline. That was the first time I heard about Hindus killed on Makara Shankranti. It is really a pity that with one billion Hindus in the world, we don’t have proper representation in the media. How long are we going to accept the atrocities committed on our fellow citizens.
One of the things I learnt from living in the US is that the Christian Evangelical groups were greatly aided in their political ambitions by having a TV network (Fox) which tilted every story and presented only the christian conservative point of view as legitimate.
I wonder if such a network of TV and other media which exclusively covers stories from the Hindu perspective is currently in the works. I realize we have TV channels which give spiritual guidance and teach yoga etc. But not a single channel deals with social, political news with a HIndu perspective. I am definitely interested in being a part of such an effort.
Comment by K.Harapriya | November 6, 2008
A must read wonderful exposition of Fraudism (download free online book by Sita Ram Goel). Every Hindu must read this book.
Jesus Christ
An Artifice for Aggression
http://www.burningcross.net/crusades/artifice-for-aggression.pdf
1. Christianity Crumbles in the West
In spite of Bultmann and the rest resorting to endless blah
blah, the twentieth century West has refused to buy the Christ of Faith. What we find flourishing over there, as we have seen, is the Jesus of Fiction. “Anyone who cares to look,” writes Koenraad Elst, “can see that Christianity [in the West] is in a steep decline. This is especially the case in Europe, where church attendance levels in many countries have fallen below 10% or even 5%. In most Christian countries, the trend is the same, even if less dramatic. Even more ominous for the survival of Christianity is the decline in the priestly vocation…
2. Jesus is Junk
It is high time for Hindus to learn that Jesus Christ
symbolises no spiritual power, or moral uprightness. He is no more than an artifice for legitimizing wanton imperialist aggres-sion. The aggressors have found him to be highly profitable so far.
By the same token, Hindus should know that Jesus means nothing but mischief for their country and culture. The West where he flourished for long, has discarded him as junk. There is no reason why Hindus should buy him. He is the type of junk that cannot be re-cycled. He can only poison the environment…
Comment by Bharat | November 7, 2008
Patriot seems to think if Hindus forget the past and try to pursue peace at all costs, that Indian territorial integrity will somehow be preserved. Yet, even now various Christian groups in the Northest and Muslim groups throughout India have no respect for the Indian state and repeatedly state that their goal is the vivisection of India. I think it is about time that Hindus stand up and demand a Hindu nation in India–a nation that will live in peace with its minorities but not allow them to dictate to the majority and usurp the majoritY’s position and not seek to de Hinduise and de-nationalize India.
Obviously these changes need to take place legally thru changes in the constitution. But I do believe that we can start a movement first by getting our religious institutions out of the hands of the various state governments.
Secondly, sufficient numbers of educated people who have a clear vision might want to join the BJP. Yes I know it is a lame duck party right now but maybe we can instill a little sense into it. Since it is the only one which has national presence and Hindu nationalistic leanings, plus an enormous grassroots movement in the form of the RSS, it will probably be around for sometime. Thus it makes it easier than starting a new party .
Comment by Kharapriya | November 8, 2008
Dear Sir,
When it comes to history Hindus should lose as always.
Babri Masjid should kept alive! Modi should always be bashed at any cost! Godse should always be recalled as a murderer!
Kandhamal - Call the Seventh fleet to hit the Hindus!
Karnataka - Call Bin Laden!
Portugese inquisitions– Forget it happened only to Hindus!
Kashmiri Pundits- Forget it they are also Hindus! Assam - Again only Hindus!
The breaking of temples during the Islamic regime- what a joke it is only Hindu! Where is history!
Regards,
vck
Comment by v.c.krishnan | November 11, 2008
From Inculturation: Fooling Hindus by Nithin Sridhar
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/NithinSridhar/fpDx9VH841579433
In early 1982, Father Joseph Parekatil of the Catholic Church of Parasahi, Madhya Pradesh, destroyed the sacred murthi of the Goddess Visweshwari Siddheswari enshrined on the nearby Nawain Tekdi hill and erected a small wooden cross. Later, the father erected a 31 - foot high concrete cross illegally on the hill on February 18th, 1983. Enraged villagers destroyed the cross a month later on March 17th.
On February 20th, 1985, with the intent once again of trying to gain possession of the hill, Father Parekatil put on the orange robes of a Hindu sannyasin, built a hut on the hill, sat on a tiger skin and began performing worship in the Hindu style. As a result, thousands of simple Hindus came to the hill on Fridays, unaware of the deception they were witnessing. On May 18th, a complaint was registered, but to no avail. Again there was agitation in the area, and this time, on October 1st, 1985, the villagers tore down the priest”s hut and tossed away the remaining pieces of the concrete cross. Father Parekatil only gave up when he was arrested a week later for breaking the peace and released on bail with instructions to behave [1].
This tactics used by Father Parekatil of adopting Hindu symbols, to further his missioanry goal is called as “Inculturation” or “Indigenization”. Christianity has always been following a policy of “Inculturation.” This means that it adopted Pagan elements in Christianized form in order to ease the transition from Paganism to Christianity. Pagan gods became Christian saints. Pagan Festivals became Christian festivals.In this process of inculturation, the Christian Church adapted old forms to its new message, but made sure that through the Pagan veneer the Christian doctrine was impressed upon the converts [2].
“Indigenization,” says Kaj Baago, “is evangelization. It is the planting of the gospel inside another culture, another philosophy, another religion [3]“. In Indian case, “Inculturation” or “Indigenization” means “the incorporation of Jesus in Indian spiritual tradition”. Fr. Bede says “In India we need a Christian Vedanta and a Christian Yoga that is a system of theology which makes use not only of the terms and concepts but of the whole structure of thought of the Vedanta [4].”
Shantivanam Ashram on the banks of the sacred Cauvery River at a forested place near Trichy in South India appears Hindu. It has a Hindu shrine; saffron-robed “swami” seated cross - legged on a straw mat; devotees practising yogic meditations, even chanting Hindu scriptures.
But these impressions gradually prove false. First, the eye detects that the courtyard shrine is for Saint Paul and that “puja” is actually, a daily Mass, complete with incense, arati lamps, flower offerings and prasadam. Finally, one meets the “swami”, learning he is Father Bede “Dayananda” Griffiths, a Christian “sannyasin”. This is a Christian ashram, one of more than 50 in India, which are variously described as “experiments in cross-cultural communication,” “contemplative hermitages that revolve around both Christian and Hindu ideals.Fr. J. Monchanin [5], one of the founding members himself defines his mission in these terms: “I have come to India for no other purpose than to awaken in a few souls the desire (the passion) to raise up a Christian India. It will take centuries, sacrificed lives and we shall perhaps die before seeing any realizations. A Christian India, completely Indian and completely Christian will be something so wonderful the sacrifice of our lives is not too much to ask.” His words clearly show the motive behind these ashrams.
Lausanne Movement (for world evangelization) published a paper “Christian witness to Hindus [6]” (1980). In the report, under the title “Methodology Issues” lists some of the methods to be implemented to convert Hindus. Some of them are-
(1) We should enunciate theology in Indian categories so that the Hindu can understand the gospel.
(2) We must develop a truly Christian world view consistent with the Indian context.
(3) While presenting the gospel, we must be aware of the fact that the Hindu understands the doctrine of God, man, sin, and salvation in a way entirely different from the biblical doctrine.
(4) Communicate the gospel through indigenous methods such as bhajans, drama, dialogue, discourse, Indian music, festival processions, etc.
Sita Ram Goel, in his book “Catholic Ashrams [7]“, lists 108 such Christian ashram in India, 4 in Nepal and 8 in Sri Lanka. His list includes Asha Niketan, Bangalore, Karnataka, Bethany Ashram (1938), Channapatna, Karnataka, Christa Sevakee Ashram (1950), Karkala, Karnataka, Christian Institute for the study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, Karnataka, Yesu Karuna Prarthanalaya, Kote, Mysore istrict, Karnataka. The present Catholic ashrams have inherited a history of intrigue and subterfuge.
Here is a description from the “Madhya Pradesh Report(1956) [8]“: “Robert De Nobili (A Catholic Jesuit priest) appeared in Madura in 1607 clad in the saffron robes of a Sadhu with sandal paste on his forehead and the sacred thread on his body. He gave out that he was a Brahmin from Rome. He showed documentary evidence to prove that he belonged to a clan that had migrated from ancient India. He declared that he was bringing a message which had been taught in India by Indian ascetics of yore and that he was only restoring to Hindus one of their lost sacred books, namely the 5th Veda, called Yeshurveda (Jesus Veda). It passed for a genuine work until the Protestant Missionaries exposed the fraud about the year 1840. This Brahmin Sannyasi of the “Roman Gotra”, Father De Nobili, worked for 40 years and died at the ripe age of 89 in 1656. It is said that he had converted about a lakh of persons but they all melted away after his death”.
This is the situation the Hindu finds himself in. Christian missionaries have adopted Hindu ways of life, Hindu religious symbols, architecture, worship forms and declared themselves as Swamis. A Catholic priest who calls himself “swami” instantly attains the status and authority of a holy man in Hindu society, which he can use to make converts. By using Sanskrit terminology in his sermons he implies a close relationship of Hindu theology to Catholic theology, a relationship which does not really exist. Such missionaries speak authoritatively on Hindu scriptures and argue that their [Christian] teachings are consonant with everything Hindu, but add a finishing touch, “fullness” to the traditional faith.
References & Notes:
1 Hinduism Today, Indian Ocean Edition, December, 1988.
2 Salvation: Hindu influence on Christianity by Dr. Koenraad Elst.
3 Kaj Baago, Pioneers of Indigenous Christianity, Madras, 1969, p. 85
4 Bede Griffiths, op. cit., p. 24.
5 “Liberal” Christianity, Ram Swarup
6 “Christian Witness to Hindus”, 1980, Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization
7 Catholic Ashrams- Sanyassins or Swindlers, By Sita Ram Goel
8 Niyogi Comission Report on Christian Missionary activities.
Comment by B Shantanu | November 15, 2008
From: Pope Questions Interfaith Dialogue
ROME — In comments on Sunday that could have broad implications in a period of intense religious conflict, Pope Benedict XVI cast doubt on the possibility of interfaith dialogue but called for more discussion of the practical consequences of religious differences.
…Pope Benedict XVIThe pope’s comments came in a letter he wrote to Marcello Pera, an Italian center-right politician and scholar whose forthcoming book, “Why We Must Call Ourselves Christian,” argues that Europe should stay true to its Christian roots. A central theme of Benedict’s papacy has been to focus attention on the Christian roots of an increasingly secular Europe.
In quotations from the letter that appeared on Sunday in Corriere della Sera, Italy’s leading daily newspaper, the pope said the book “explained with great clarity” that “an interreligious dialogue in the strict sense of the word is not possible.” In theological terms, added the pope, “a true dialogue is not possible without putting one’s faith in parentheses.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html
Comment by B Shantanu | November 24, 2008
Courtesy Indian, a very disturbing example of Islamic proselytization (with some implications for national security).
From IBN
Comment by B Shantanu | November 30, 2008