Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism - they all divide humankind instead of uniting them.
So do us a favour all you 'Aggrieved of Tunbridge Wells' - become atheists. Then head for the US, earn a few dollars, and you'll forget about the Pope.
The author hasn't understood the message of the pope who has reflected what Jesus has told His believers to do. "GO & PREACH THE GOSPEL". There is a difference between preaching and conversion. Conversion can only occur if the person is willing. Nobody can force someone to convert. It should take place in their heart. What the VHP & all other Hindu fundemantalists are scared is that people will come to know the truth and that they'll know that Hinduism is just a meaningless, fruitless religion and that they can't cheat people in the name of religion.
RE:Spreading Christianity
by Gurudutt on Jun 13, 2003 04:02 PM
Dear 'Talk Sense'
This is from your post:
"...are scared is that people will come to know the truth and that they'll know that Hinduism is just a meaningless, fruitless religion and that they can't cheat people in the name of religion."
Spoken like a true Christian Evangelist shall we say? You will have to take another birth before you understand the greatness of what you call Hinduism.
I see no reason for India to take offense to the views expressed by the Pope. This is how he sees the it and is based on the inputs made by Christians who are Indian. The basis of any religion is to spread the "good news".
To keep it short I wish to express my views on the following points made by Mr Lavakhare.
The fact that the Christian Population in India is less than 3% shows that all missionaries have not spent their time "harvesting souls", but rather that the colosaal money & effort has gone into starting schools,hospitals ,old age homes, orphanages etc etc which did not exist in the agenda of our lawmakers.Please do not throw out the baby with the bath water. The problems with the North East are not due to 'religion" but years of neglect of the entire region by our lawmakers.
The so called Anti-conversion laws are political issues. After all only 3% of the population is Christian and even lesser in States where they have been passed.
Gandhiji's views must be respected as he practised what he preached. He worked for the uplift of the downtrodden. However this cannot be said for our lawmakers today whose interest seems to more in keeping the poor and the Dalits.
The ancient sages always realised in their search for God that the ways they had found to God were incomplete or insufficient in themselves, that's why they were not averse to searching for new ways; that's the reason why there are so many ways & philosophies of life in the Indian tradition. And many of them so contradictory to each other.. like dwaita to advaita or visistadvaita ways...all of them end up as theories.. and none of them has the final attestation of being the eternal truth - the precise reason why the Indian soul should continue his search for God. If you consider the life of Jesus, i can't see the life of any other person considered godlike anywhere near the life of Jesus in its values, virtues & holiness....And over that he said he'll rise up from the dead & he did....even if it might defy logic & reason to believe that, there seems to be more evidence to believe exactly that than any other theory...Which other prophet or god or sage could attest the truth of his life & teaching by his own bodily resurrection?... come to think of it... Seek him with all your heart... after all by seeking the truth you will be just following the true Indian way of life..
As a christian who grew up in India, I have to agree that foreign missionaries did dangle the carrot. However, telling about one's religion shouldn't be condemned. It is like, if I really cherish something, I would like to share with others. Now people people can use their better judgement and decide for themselves.
As far as funding goes, missionary orgs are spending less than 1% of their funds in India as opposed to rest of the world. They are going to Africa and other places to spread the Gospel.
First of all, I don't understand why Hindus fear conversion so much. Though religion is one's personal choice, why do these columnists talk about bringing in anti-conversion laws? Any person who has a little bit of common sense left in him/her can easily say that it's almost impossible to force a person upon sticking to a particular religion though he/she is converted "forcefully", whatever that term means. When some of the self-proclaimed Hindu leaders observed the fact that people are moving away from their religion, they started resorting to hooliganism and when that didn't work either, they are trying to get laws enacted by the puppet governments.
Christians and Christianity is suffering a lot of criticisms. But people need to understand why christians preach their Gospel. It is because of sharing something good you know to others out of love. The motive is not win foreign currency, name or a sure ticket to heaven. A person preaching the Gospel with this motive will himself be not accepted by Christ. Why would anyone lose two children and husband but yet say i would stay. This is nothing but sacrificial love which the Master Himself has taught. Forced conversion is actually against Christianity as Christ Himself is gentle to say "If u are willing to take up..." HE respects human beings and gave them choice to choose His way. It should be noted that people converted thru force or people who get converted for other motives will stand till the end. So i request people who comment should understand the complete meaning and implications of this
Aravind's article is thought provoking and an eye opener. The Church is heel bent on converting people using money. The sad fact is that most of our so called secular parties turn a blind eye to it with an eye on minority votes
Keep up the good work, aravind. Ask the pope to mind his business
