Forced Conversions and Karl Marx

This time it got noticed when some Hindu outfits and some anti-social elements attacked some Christian establishments in Orissa. I thought it will end there. But to my surprise, it happened in some others parts including my State too, like Mangalore.

In Orissa, it wasn’t a reaction against forced conversion which is happening there since decades, but it all started when some Christian groups killed a Hindu Swami ( a religious teacher or mystic or yogi) and some of his disciples. Some Christian places of worships got attacked, hundreds of houses (of the converts) got torched and many got killed. In Kandhmal (Orissa) clash between Hindus and Christians weren’t new. And this has a long history too. And yes, forced conversions play a big role in all such incidents.

There are two tribal sects in this area Kandhs and Panas. Over a century, there was competition between these two tribes. What they had in plenty was nothing but poverty, illiteracy and deprivation. And there comes the missionaries for the ‘rescue’. Most of the Panas decided to embrace Christianity (how a whole community change faith? Well, the missionary approach is to lure the community head/chief offering anything he wants and thus he changes faith and then asks his people to follow his path). The newly converted became prosperous. ( it is money that helps to change the faith and not faith in Jesus). This is one major factor that leads to fights, the sudden financial difference. And not just that, many of these converts preferred to remain as Hindus in the official records to avail the Tribal minority benefits ( this clearly shows what rules, money or faith).

Thus, it’s natural for any human to feel jealous when they see their rivals becoming rich and prosperous, all of a sudden. Here, the Kandhs had limited choice. Either embrace Christianity and become rich or express their frustration thru agitations. They chose the second.

But something good happened at the end. Yesterday, The Orissa State government decided to implement the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act which makes forceful conversion illegal.

In my State, what triggered the violence against Christians was a literature issued by one Christian group called New Life Fellowship Trust which had contents directly attacking Hinduism. But here, something funny happened. It is these new brands of Christian faith groups who are into conversions (most of the ‘pure blooded’ and pedigreed Catholics like Roman, Sero Malabar, Syrian are not into forced conversions) and unfortunately for them, many catholic bishops spoke against them and even some Christian communities accused them of forced conversions and finally those people said they did not distribute any such book (The Times of India reporter was holding a copy of that book and showed it to that New Life Fellowship man, during the press meet). Here, the protests were carried out by the Hindu outfit called, Bhajrang Dal.

Is that as simple as that? Nope, there is this elections coming and some politicians need cover and some others need some weapons against their main rival parties and they all know that playing the minority card is the best thing to gain mileage. The trump card that can be used against any BJP ruling state is to start some communal violence and then fuel it….blame them, frame them and ask them to quit.

Some politicians (obviously Hindu) came in support of Christian organizations by telling that we should consider their contributions in the field of education and health. But was that out of love to humanity? Did they think beyond religion?

They also used these places for spreading religion and it wasn’t an act of kindness. My father-in-law owns a lodge. Can we find any picture of Lord Krishna placed in every room? Can we find a copy of Bhagavat Gita in the drawer, casually placed? Nope (btw, he will call it as wasting money). When I stayed in many hotels during travels, I have observed such things if the owner of the hotel is a Christian (may be not in all cases). And talking about the more number of orphanages run by these institutions, the idea is that they can raise these kids as Christians. So, in every act by the missionaries, they did not forget to leave a religious mark and gained/achieved something in their way/view.

But it’s not fully politics. Proselytisation (by Christian missionaries) are a reality which started centuries ago, not just in India, but in general. We saw what happened to the Serbs during the Second World War(Serbs got forcibly converted into Roman Catholicism). We know how Philippines became the only Christian country in Asia (Spanish Missionaries successfully converted almost everyone - 80%?85%? -, though it took 300 years for that) . And in India’s history, may be it was the people of Goa who suffered a lot.

“Religious Persecution took place by the Portuguese in Goa, India from 16th to the 17th century. The natives of Goa were subjected to severe torture and oppression by the zealous Portuguese rulers and missionaries. This persecution by the Portuguese in westerns parts of India has resulted in more then 5 million Christian faith followers in India today.”

(Courtesy: Wikimedia)

So, Christianity here did not flourish just coz people believed in that faith willingly but it started rooting here through third rate healing dramas played professionally, physical intimidation and threats and luring with money, jobs and overseas settlements.

These days , it’s that new brand of faith groups who are into conversions. It’s a big and highly profitable business these days. It’s very easy and simple. If one stick to ones ‘original faith’, there is little scope for ‘growth’ . There are lots of people in the hierarchy (like Fathers, Bishops, Arch Bishops etc etc). So, it’s not easy to access the funds, or impossible in most cases. So, form a new faith group, or take a franchise of already established and successful group and recruit people using tricks (there are professional people who can arrange healing camps and there are many TV channels to support) and ask the members to contribute at least 1% of their income. Have some trustworthy people around and offer them ‘benefits’ (money or money’s worth ) and you are ready. One can become richer and richer day by day (remember, slow and steady wins the race)…..

Funds will start flowing from abroad (the funds Indian missionaries receive from abroad amounts to billions, every year). These people ‘save’ only poor and illiterate village people. Thus it’s easy to achieve their yearly target. With educated mass, its not easy to sell their products. The latest in this is an Indianized Bible where Joseph and his family looks like poor Indian villagers. Mary wears a Sari and even a bindi (the religious Christians don’t wear that) and Joseph is in a loin cloth and he even wears a turban. To make things clear, this Bible takes help from Upanishads, The Ramayana , Bhgavat Gita and even Mahatma Gandhi! The translation liberally uses Sanskrit words like ‘moksha’, ‘punya’ , ‘karma’ etc and when its distributed wearing kind of saffron cloths, it becomes more appealing and convincing.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus in the New Bible


Here is a news report from The Times, about the all new Bible:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4402482.ece

(Those are the realities and not my personal allegations, personally, since I love Jesus, what I think is, if he comes for real, looking at these new firebrands and the methods they use, he would say : “Thank God, I am not a Christian”).

Whatever be it, the fact is that many humans lost life, buildings got damaged, there was tension, it affected the peace….all coz of religion.

Dear Karl Marx, I stood on the opposite side of Marxism when I was into politics. Thus, theoretically, you (your principles) were my political rival. But you were right. Religion is like opium, especially when it falls in the hands of those who sell faith and God.