good work Varsha A very nice and detailed article. Our so called "secularists" while pointing thier fingers at hindus and lecturing about hiduism and asking for changes in hinduism should first have a look at the news channels. Scores and hundreds of these evagelists conduct meetings and gatherings all over india, more than the bearable number. These conversions and meetings have been growing in south india also. In vijyawada and hyderabad and even tirupati every week there are 2 or 3 of these meets. there are even television channels in india spreading Christianity. I even remember some of these eveagelists by seeing them continously on posters. why do they spend so much? spending does not bring loyalty to a religion. They attract people by conducting different events and giving prizes and all that. these are events like singing competetion where all the songs are on christ. This is getting too much. Atleast a religious missionary should not look like a propaganda machine. In india if government funds any hindu religious organaisation everybody starts shouting, Here in US the so called secular government funds many christian orgnaisations. I dont want to see a converted India and women without any Bindi when i return back
I would suggest that, people who do not understand the intricaces of religion, nation , unity and other stuff and talk about crappy secularistic stuff won't make you a great person ...
I have time and again suggested REDIFF please stop publishing such stupid articles ...
A pen is mightier than the sword ! And Varsha is just doing that ! So many criticisms to her article and I wonder whether they would have come if written by some pinko -so-called secularist journalist even though he or she may have just used statistics to spread the venom.Its our mind-set because of years of ghulami.
Macholay had plan to change indian head by imparting diff education and that is showing results after so many years !!
Fine -Food,clothing & shelther are the basic essentials but they do not mean that one should exploit people based on such things.
I am not critizing Christianity or Islam as Mohammed or Christ have given moral orders to lakhs of people.But the interpretation of fundamentalist Islamists and Christain missionaries is causing all religious violence in our country.
Has india ever invaded any country ?
Has Hindus ever converted people on basis of providing food,clothing & shelter ?
The way all Christians are not like their missionaries -similarly all Hindus are not like their Fundamentalist leaders who just do things for political motives.
We need to understand this in the whole context and not discourage people like Varsha who show real courage in bringing out facts to people.We need to mature to understand the broader perspective and only then we can foster a true democracy,a true secularism...
Varsha, I think the facts mentioned in your article are mostly right, and being a chrisitan myself, it hurts me to think that these evangelists should use such methods to convert people to chrisitanity. But is death the punishment for this? How could you condone with murder? If my statistics are right, all the chrisitian groups put together form less than 4% of India's population - yet, a lot of educational institutions and hospitals are run by christians. Generally speaking, the average christian in India is peace loving. In most of the "forced conversion" stories that you have mentioned, the main trick used by these missionaries seems to be tempting the underprivileged with privileges. Instead of lashing out at these evangelists and murdering them, why don't the Hindus or Muslims or any other religious group that feels threatened by such activities, and feel so much about protecting the numbers of their religious group go out and help their own people? It's ironic that they would not give a damn when their own people die of poverty, but would kill somebody who provides them with amenities.
"They are not critics with counter-arguments (thank you, Rajender and Omkar!); they are insignificant little people momentarily shaking off the angst of their miserable little lives by directing their venom at a target that, they think, dare not fling it back. They err; rules aren't for mavericks. As for the "journalists" on the message board who hate my output... what can I say? Their obscurity says it all..." Great! I lost any respect I had for you. "Little people?" Please, who do you think you are?
