Faith, Diplomacy And India

03-29-2005, 03:10 AM

03-29-2005, 04:38 AM

A good data point.. This faith business in action..... Would be interesting to draw up a case study based on happenings and events in India..
QUOTEThe Faith - Charity Initiative and the American Experiment.
by Gordon L. Anderson 

Gordon L. Anderson is the secretary-general of Professors World Peace Academy International. He lives in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

When George W. Bush became president, he quickly set up the White House Office on Faith -Based and Community Initiatives for the purpose of helping religious people provide social services to the needy. This was one of the first expressions of Bush's "compassionate conservatism," a way to streamline government while still serving the needs of the poor. His intentions seemed sincere. One might have expected a protest from the Left, especially those who favor the welfare state or view religion as a tool of oppression. Many were surprised when Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other members of the religious Right became the most vocal opponents of the plan.

Are these evangelists sore losers? After all, their ministries focus on teaching the word of God, not social services. Many of the more liberal churches and Catholic charities would stand to gain; some already receive federal funds for providing social services. Are leaders on the religious Right bigots threatened by the prospect of their tax dollars going to religions they do not like? Robertson accuses the Unification Church of "brainwashing," and Falwell accuses the Nation of Islam of being a "hate group." Or are they concerned about the fundamental relationship of church and state in the United States? Clark Morphew, religion editor of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, argues that despite the noblest of intentions, the faith - charity initiative would lead to government bursars playing favorites; public funds would have strings attached, which would allow the government to invade or manipulate church finances. In either case, he says, the initiative violates the separation of church and state.1

These issues are not easy to sort out because the criticisms have some legitimacy. Competition for federal funds may serve to pit religious groups against one another. In Europe, many religions have their hands tied by governments that play favorites. The state churches do not want other groups to receive funds they now receive. New religions in Germany, France, and Russia have suffered bitter persecution in recent years because traditional religions have used their political power to retain their cultural hegemony. This is a far cry from the free expression of religion most Americans cherish. Religious freedom helps a culture stay dynamic and adapt to new challenges, whereas those societies with official religions tend to be more stagnant and backward looking.

Here I want to look at government support of faith -based charity in the context of the evolving roles of religion and freedom in Western civilization. It is my opinion that social welfare should return to the local level in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, meaning that any governmental or public policy initiatives should be carried out at the lowest level that has the ability to accomplish it.

SIMPLE SOCIETIES 

In simple societies, there was no division between politics and culture. Their language had no word for what we now call "religion." There were no laws that guaranteed "freedom." The world was an immediate consciousness, derived from sense perception and the teachings of elders of the family, tribe, or clan who had some memory of those who lived before. Of course in such simple or "primitive" societies, there is culture, even if undifferentiated, which contains elements we now ascribe to religion.

Unlike other species, humans complete much of their neurological development outside the womb, becoming who they are by learning from and adapting to their environment.2 Family and culture are the second womb for human development. In the words of anthropologist Clifford Geertz,

"The apparent fact that the final stages of the biological evolution of man occurred after the initial stages of the growth of culture implies that "basic," "pure," or "unconditioned," human nature, in the sense of the innate constitution of man, is so functionally incomplete as to be unworkable. Tools, hunting, family organization, and later, art, religion, and "science" molded man somatically; and they are, therefore, necessary not merely to his survival but to his existential realization.3"

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND AXIAL SHIFTS IN CULTURE 

Just as individuals develop, so does culture. The human consciousness embodied by culture is carried forward by each successive generation. While this process has occasionally suffered setbacks from disaster and war, human consciousness has evolved over the seven millennia of our recorded history.

The philosopher Karl Jaspers noted that human cultural evolution involved an "axial" shift in consciousness from roughly 800 to 200 b.c. This is described by philosopher Ewert Cousins as follows:

"The Axial Period ushered in a radically new form of consciousness. Whereas primal consciousness was tribal, Axial consciousness was individual. "Know thyself" became the watchword of Greece; the Upanishads identified the atman, the transcendent center of the self. The Buddha charted the way of individual enlightenment; the Jewish prophets awakened individual moral responsibility. This sense of individual identity, as distinct from the tribe and from nature, is the most characteristic mark of Axial consciousness. From this flow other characteristics: consciousness that is self-reflective, analytic, and that can be applied to nature in the form of scientific theories, to society in the form of social critique, to knowledge in the form of philosophy, to religion in the form of mapping an individual spiritual journey. This self-reflective, analytic, critical consciousness stood in sharp contrast to primal mythic and ritualistic consciousness.4"

The world's major cultural spheres emerged from primal clan and tribal societies. While Jaspers refers to major figures who openly preached a critical consciousness characteristic of the world's great religions, this axial shift did not simply occur because these leaders arose. It is most likely that these axial teachers and reformers arose because of developments in technology and the rise of the ancient cities and empires from Egypt to Babylon.

We can trace the roots of the Ten Commandments back to the Code of Hammurabi. Civilization flourished under Hammurabi, the sixth king of the first Babylonian dynasty.5 People were free to farm their own land and run their own business as long as they did not infringe on the rights of others. The code had laws regarding marriage, property rights, murder, violence, theft, taxes, and slavery. When people obeyed the code, they were protected by the king and allowed to prosper, and Babylon prospered as well. Here we find an ancient example of a large- scale society that flourished when laws were obeyed and relative freedom was enjoyed. Babylon was not a democracy, but the Code of Hammurabi defined clear relations between citizens and the government. Many religious practices were left to families, and families were expected to rear their children to be responsible and law abiding. Babylon had a successful combination of personal responsibility and freedom not known in other civilizations two millennia before Christ.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF FREEDOM 

As religious consciousness has evolved, so has the desire for freedom. But the acquisition of freedom has not been easy. People with power do not give it up easily. It is commonplace to hear the phrase "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."6 This applies to both religious and political authorities. Most of recorded human history has involved power struggles for the control of land, resources, and people. No one enjoys being under the yoke of an oppressor, being forced to sacrifice one's own dreams for the sake of another.

Throughout Western history, freedom has advanced through the gradual development of checks and balances. Such checks and balances have often come unwittingly or with the great reluctance of those in power. This was true of the Roman Empire, where the Church became a check on the power of the emperor. In the words of Lord Acton:

"Constantine, in adopting [Christian] faith intended neither to abandon his predecessor's scheme of policy, nor to renounce the fascinations of arbitrary authority, but to strengthen his throne with the support of a religion which had astonished the world by its power of resistance; and to obtain that support absolutely and without a drawback he fixed the seat of his government in the East, with a patriarch of his own creation. Nobody warned him that by promoting the Christian religion he was tying one of his hands, and surrendering the prerogative of the Caesars.7"

In Rome, society was differentiated into political and religious spheres. A term developed to describe the empire's numerous groups with their various rituals and beliefs, which came to be referred to as religio.8 In the first century b.c., Lucretius' poem De rerum natura welcomed scientific materialism as liberating people from the terror of religion.9 Cicero, in De natura deorum, connected the term religio to the divine.

The proliferation of pagan cults and barbarian hordes made the Roman Empire difficult to govern. Lactantius used the terms vera religio and falsa religio to express the belief that Christian worship is true and other forms false.10 The union of church and state was seen as the only way to govern the empire, and most "pagans" were rapidly being converted. After persecuting Christians for nearly three centuries, Rome reversed its position and adopted Christianity as the official religion of the empire.11 Saint Augustine's City of God spelled out a relationship between two powers, the sacred and the secular, or the Church and the emperor. The domain of the Church was moral and spiritual, while the domain of the emperor was temporal and political. Each had a legitimate domain, and appeal could be made by one to check misuse of power by the other. After Rome fell, the lack of religious and intellectual freedom led to the Dark Ages.

In the Holy Roman Empire, while the spiritual and temporal authorities each exercised, at least in theory, a check on the power of the other, each power was absolute within its own domain and could be ruthless.

THE MAGNA CARTA 

In England, the monarchy's near absolute power was opposed by the feudal lords, who rebelled at taxes levied from their districts and soldiers being drafted from their men to fight petty wars or interests of the king. In 1215, King John set his seal on the Magna Carta, a document that evolved into the symbol of the primacy of the law over the king in the British Parliament.

The rise of the merchant class and towns in Europe following the Crusades also served as a check on the power of the feudal landholders. People migrated from the country to the towns, where they were relatively untrammeled by the feudal machinery. According to Lord Acton:

"When men found a way of earning a livelihood without depending for it on the good will of the class that owned the land, the landowner lost much of his importance, and it began to pass to the possessors of moveable wealth. The townspeople not only made themselves free from the control of prelates and barons, but endeavoured to obtain for their own class and interest the command of the state.12"

The fourteenth century was characterized by struggle between various forms of democracy and feudalism. Many free cities arose along the Rhine, in central Germany, and Belgium. Their governments were experimental and often failed to serve the suffering poor. Insurrections were quelled by the armies of the monarchs, who reasserted their authority. In the Middle Ages, forms of representative government, unknown in the first millennium a.d., were almost universal.13

The Protestant Reformation ushered in developments that would have profound consequences for Europe, for Christendom, and especially for what would be instituted later in America. Martin Luther (1483--1546) began to loosen the Catholic Church's monopoly over religious life in the West. His protest against the papacy led to the establishment of an independent church in Saxony. About the same time, Henry VIII declared the Church of England free from the Church of Rome. John Calvin, in Geneva, carried on a reformation there. Each of these divisions led to religious denominations that were state churches. But the era just before and during the Reformation saw the rise of religious groups that explicitly denied that they should be allied with state power, such as the Albigensians in France at the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the Anabaptists in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. In 1568 the Netherlands instituted religious freedom after the revolt led by Prince William of Orange. But a real flowering of both religious and political freedom had to wait for the social experiment that took place in America.

THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT 

Two factors were required for the American experiment to work. First, the people had to be self-sufficient and possess a general respect for the law, and, second, adequate checks and balances had to be put into place to prevent new tyrannies from arising. If they did, the people needed the means to put an end to them.

Colonial America was made up of self-sufficient people who were ripe for democracy. Early settlers risked great hardship to create new lives for themselves. Many had fled some form of oppression in Europe. These immigrants farmed the readily available land or brought the means to establish their own business. The Puritan way of life was a rigorous form of Protestantism that promoted self-reliance. Early America did not have much of a welfare class. It was a land for the self- sufficient. Those who were timid or dependent on others remained in Europe.

Aristotle wrote that democracies work best among agricultural and pastoral people, because they are capable of maintaining themselves.14 He argued that where people are hirelings or laborers, dependent upon others, or gathered in mobs in cities, democracies will not work. The problem for such populations is that the majority will pass laws to maintain themselves at the expense of the few who are productive and successful. Thomas Jefferson must have read Aristotle, among other political theorists, for in a letter to James Madison in 1778 he wrote, "I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe."[FR 15]}15

Religion played a more important role than Jefferson had considered; it served as a basis for responsible and independent action even after the people began to crowd into cities and work in industries. The Protestant work ethic, which by the nineteenth century had become the "American work ethic," embodied a type of moral self-governance suited for a republican form of democracy.16 The Protestant churches had instilled the idea that all work was for the glorification of God. The result was a work ethic, a tremendous quality and quantity of work, and little need for supervision, a prescription for prosperity. The American belief in personal responsibility and the work ethic was the source of the personal self-governance and self-sufficiency required by democracy.

Even those Americans who had not fled tyranny in Europe came to see the imposition of taxes on the colonies under the reign of King George III as unbearable. After the Boston Tea Party, even the old colonial aristocracy began to support the pietists in their bid for American independence.17 The framers of the Constitution sought to devise a system of government in which no person and no portion of the government could impose some form of tyranny. Thomas Jefferson wrote "a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth."18

The founders had an unprecedented opportunity to establish their government with many checks and balances on power. Very few citizens wanted to see a central government with power to do anything beyond providing them freedom and physical protection from those who would encroach on that freedom. Hence, the founders created a constitutional and representative democracy, with a tripartite government, the largest body of which was elected by citizens. Systems of majority votes, vetoes, and veto overrides added to the protection of the citizens.

A further development was the practical necessity of establishing religious liberty in the United States, because nearly every state was ethically and religiously diverse. In The Lively Experiment, Sidney Mead noted:

"On the question of religious freedom for all, there were many shades of opinion in these churches, but all were practically unanimous on one point: each wanted freedom for itself. And by this time it had become clear that the only way to get it for themselves was to grant it to all others...."

"Most of the effectively powerful intellectual, social, and political leaders were rationalists, and these men made sense theoretically out of the actual, practical situation which demanded religious freedom. They gave it tangible form and legal structure. This the churches, each intent on its own freedom, accepted in practice but without reconciling themselves to it intellectually by developing theoretical defenses of religious freedom that were legitimately rooted in their professed theological positions.19"

The disestablishment of state religions (Massachusetts was the last state to abolish an official state church in 183320) meant that the people had to be persuaded to join churches--they could no longer be coerced. The result was a flurry of revivals and awakenings previously unknown in Christendom and a more active participation in churches than occurred in nations with state churches.21 Americans, regardless of religious background, were prompted to feel that each person is responsible for his own spiritual destiny.

In the end of his presidency, Thomas Jefferson said, "We have solved by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to laws."22 Historian Sidney Mead referred to the pietists and rationalists as the "heart" and "head" of the revolution; in his view, the American experiment depended upon the cooperation of these two groups, which are traditionally at odds with one another.23 The pietists educated citizens for personal responsibility, and the rationalists established the protection of freedoms and rights necessary for the free exercise of responsibility. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the 1830s, he commented:

"Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion--for who can search the human heart?--but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.24 "

Thus, the American experiment was based on two factors: virtuous, self- sufficient citizens raised in the private sector and freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. Over time both these factors were weakened.

THE SOCIAL GOSPEL MOVEMENT 

A major blow was dealt to the American experiment by the mainline churches themselves through the adoption of state welfare in a movement known as the "Social Gospel." In the 1870s a pastor of the Congregational Church, Washington Gladden, and an economist at Johns Hopkins University, Richard T. Ely, began to promote the view that the state could better handle social welfare than the churches. They made a good case; many unchurched Americans were falling through the social cracks and were not being cared for by the churches.

The Social Gospel arose at a time when mainstream Christianity had become "Christocentric" and evangelical, without sufficient concern for social welfare. If the state governments took a major responsibility for social welfare, church leaders believed, the churches could focus their efforts and financial resources on evangelism and the care of souls. The Social Gospel became increasingly popular by the turn of the twentieth century and was canonized in Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907) and A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917) by Walter Rauschenbusch.25 It became part of the theological landscape of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ, USA, organized during the first decade of the century. The Social Gospel did not concern itself with the issues of separation of church and state, and the lines became blurred in American consciousness. The mainline churches were pleased to hand the traditional social responsibilities of religion over to the state.

Early Americans did not believe in income taxes. (They were used briefly to pay for the Civil War, however.) Only in 1913 did the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution give Congress legal authority to tax income of both individuals and corporations, and, thereafter the income tax became a permanent fixture in the United States. The establishment of such authority reduced the checks and balances on political rulers that had been instituted by the founders, for it meant that the people in charge of levying taxes (Congress) also determined their own salaries and office expenses. When the Social Security Tax Act was instituted in 1935 a tax of 2 percent (1 percent paid by the employer and 1 percent withheld from the employee's paycheck) was quite modest, and the benefit of a social safety net was widely appreciated.

With the legal right to tax and spend on social welfare established, the U.S. government gradually expanded its bureaucracy and social services. By 1980, it was not uncommon for citizens to be paying more than 50 percent of their income as some type of tax. What began as modest discomfort had become a noose around the neck. Progressive taxation also virtually wiped out the possibility of amassing private fortunes that could be set aside for philanthropy, as had been done during the nineteenth century. Progressive taxation and the welfare state greatly restricted an individual's freedom to determine his own destiny.

The Social Gospel ultimately contributed to the declining influence of mainline churches on American society. There was irony in the fact that no income was left in citizens' pocketbooks for the traditional 10 percent tithing. Further, with the welfare of citizens firmly in the government's hands, replacing the traditional social role of the churches, many people felt less moral obligation to support churches. By the 1960s, a number of liberal Christian thinkers began to endorse the secularization of religion and the demise of the traditional church. Harvey Cox's controversial 1965 best-seller, The Secular City, was a celebration of "the progressive secularization of the world as the logical outcome of Biblical religion."

RESTORING RELIGION'S ROLE 

The American experiment was based on the premise that people are able to achieve their own happiness if given the freedom to do so. Before the Social Gospel movement made protecting citizens' welfare government's duty, it was handled by families, churches, and communities. No king or government could perfectly identify each person's needs, find the perfect job for each person, prescribe the perfect medical treatment, and levy the perfect amount of taxes from each person. Yet, by the 1960s, a culture had been fashioned, with the encouragement and blessing of established Christian churches, which essentially said that the government is responsible for the welfare of its people. Was this the logical outcome of biblical Christianity? Did it lead to God's Kingdom on Earth? Are the religious fundamentalists merely throwbacks to a more primitive past? Was the American experiment flawed and the welfare state necessary? Did the whole evolution of freedom in the West and the increased system of checks and balances on power that developed go too far? Should the American experiment be considered a failure?

The election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 was, in part, a revolt against the welfare state, which had led to double-digit inflation and economic stagnation in the United States. Even theologian Michael Novak, trained in the theology of the secular city, began to champion a move toward "democratic capitalism," arguing that the welfare state was choking off the productive incentive for Americans to work. The prosperity that followed the "Reagan revolution" led to a continual effort to shrink the federal government, reduce taxes, and return the role of welfare to the American people and private organizations over the last two decades. The faith - charity initiative of President George W. Bush should be seen as the outcome of this movement.

Asking the American people to increase private philanthropy when federal and state taxes take up to 50 percent of wages is unreasonable. The government is still gobbling up the money formerly available for religious groups and philanthropy. Thus, there is a move to dole out federal funds to do the job. Does this make sense, or is the use of taxation still coercion? Will federal distribution become corrupted? Is it inefficient to tax and redistribute? Is this simply another way for the welfare state to masquerade as a religious society? Will we witness the creation of a new welfare bureaucracy with different players?

TOWARD THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY 

When de Tocqueville visited America, families, churches, and towns were organized to look after the needs of community members. Nevertheless, as society became pluralized and many people remained unchurched, it needed to devise a means of caring for the indigent that did not wholly rely on churches. The major problem was that American churches and citizens asked the government to handle the welfare of all citizens. The welfare state became more than a safety net for a few people who fell through the cracks. Social security became viewed as a right for all. This was a contradiction to the philosophy of the American founders.

If we can understand social policy in terms of its ultimate objective, then we can devise strategies to undo the damage that has been done. I believe that ultimate objective should be the principle of subsidiarity. Let's refer to the well-articulated statement by Pope Pius XI on the principle of subsidiarity:

"It is true, as history clearly shows, that because of changed circumstances much that formerly was performed by small associations can now be accomplished only by larger ones. Nevertheless, it is a fixed and unchangeable principle, most basic in social philosophy, immoveable and unalterable, that, just as it is wrong to take away from individuals what they can accomplish by their own ability and effort and then entrust it to a community, so it is an injury and at the same time both a serious evil and a disturbance of right order to assign to a larger and higher society what can be performed successfully by smaller and lower communities. The reason is that all social activity, of its very power and nature, should supply help [subsidium] to the members of the social body, but may never destroy or absorb them."

"The state, then, should leave to these smaller groups the settlement of business and problems of minor importance, which would otherwise greatly distract it. Thus it will carry out with greater freedom, power, and success the tasks belonging to it alone, because it alone is qualified to perform them: directing, watching, stimulating, and restraining, as circumstances suggest or necessity demands. Let those in power, therefore, be convinced that the more faithfully this principle of subsidiary function is followed and a graded hierarchical order exists among the various associations, the greater also will be both social authority and social efficiency, and the happier and more prosperous too will be the condition of the commonwealth.26"

As larger-scale social units grew in the United States, many individuals and smaller social units handed over responsibility for social maintenance to larger units. This injurious act was built on the fiction of receiving more by doing less. Their dependency reflected a passive faith that someone else would take care of their needs, an attitude inconsistent with a postaxial religious impulse, the Protestant work ethic, or the present-day teaching of the Catholic Church.

For Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Thomas Jefferson, political theorists of three different ages, the ultimate success of any political system depends upon the same thing: moral virtue and good education. Leaders of a society must have the well-being of the entire society at heart. Whether the society is organized as a monarchy, aristocracy, or polity, the need is the same. For anything to survive and be strong, it must be nourished rather than emptied. This is true of a person, a house, or a nation. The goodness and nobility in people that calls them to serve others cannot be legislated. It cannot be created by freedom alone. The glue that holds a society together is rooted in love. Acts of heroism and personal sacrifice for the well- being of others are required for social cohesion. They derive from one's character, which has been shaped by parents, schools, and general cultural values. Thus larger society depends on smaller society. A state, in principle, is incapable of maintaining itself.

Without citizens of good character, any society will crumble. A danger today is that a government cannot govern itself if it employs people who cannot govern themselves. For example, our government seems incapable of providing the type of fiscal transparency and accounting it requires of its citizens. Further, it seems incapable of using taxes raised for highways to maintain the highways, or Social Security taxes to further social security. This is a reflection of individual citizens, who are raised by an inadequate culture and, as adults, are unable to control themselves. The principle of subsidiarity encourages responsibility at the lower levels of social organization, and thus the cultivation of the type of citizens that good government requires.

CONCLUSIONS RELATED TO FAITH - CHARITY LEGISLATION

What conclusions can be drawn from this discussion regarding the faith - charity initiative proposed by President George W. Bush?

1. That the impulse toward faith - charity legislation and character education is an attempt to address actual failings of the liberal welfare state.

The impulse to institute faith - charity legislation and character education in schools is based on the recognition that the American welfare state became a Leviathan and could no longer maintain itself. The rise of religious conservatism and the decline of liberal Christianity indicate that the "secular city" represented the acquiescence of religion, not its logical outcome.

2. That federally funding faith -based groups would at best be a patch on a flawed system and, at worst, the further growth of the Leviathan.

If the federal government supports with hard dollars groups that promote social welfare, it does little to shrink the size of the budget. Efficiency may be increased by farming out welfare services, but a bureaucracy will still be required to determine who gets what. Corruption and favoritism are inevitable, and tax dollars are still used to pay for the services. This approach does not place more responsibility on lower levels of government, nor does it move society toward the principle of subsidiarity. Such a system would not make more private money available for freewill tithing and philanthropy. It would not encourage the development of self-sufficient individuals or religious communities, or be consistent with the principle of subsidiarity. One can understand objections to this proposal coming from conservative Christians.

3. That the government can enact legislation which would genuinely encourage the faith - charity initiatives and restore subsidiarity through tax credits and deductions.

Tax credits and deductions, unlike cash handouts, do not encourage the accumulation and redistribution of funds at the federal level. Rather, they can be used to eliminate the collection of taxes for social services already being performed. They ensure the shrinking of the federal government in proportion to the amount of services it really needs to provide. Tax credits are thus a guarantee against favoritism, corruption, and the inefficiency of tax collection and redistribution. They are a genuine encouragement for lower-level groups to organize, because citizens might find it less expensive to take care of many welfare-related needs at lower levels of social organization. Such legislation would be a bitter pill for any government to adopt, and a push from citizens would be needed to secure it.

4. That Social Security and health insurance reforms could also increase subsidiarity and efficiency.

Social Security was originally intended to serve as a safety net. Legislation that allows individuals to opt out, if they prove they are investing a minimum amount for their own retirement, would make people feel more in control of their own future, as well as provide a guarantee to the government that they would not be indigent in old age. Similarly, legislation that gave tax credits to those who purchased their own health insurance would encourage people to establish lifelong plans. Employers could be given incentives to fund their employees' plans and relieved of a major problem in the health industry: third- party funding of health plans that inhibits the normal efficiency of the market.

5. That some government safety net will probably always be necessary, but a huge reduction in the U.S. welfare budget is quite possible.

In a system of government that encourages the principle of subsidiarity, there will always be some people who lose their families, do not belong to a church, or otherwise fall through the cracks. However, given the fact that 95 percent of Chileans, for example, opted for private social security when given the opportunity, it would be reasonable to expect that most people in United States, especially younger people, would do the same.

The Christian churches and the private sector failed, in the nineteenth century, to deliver minimal social welfare to all people. This was unacceptable to the American conscience. Asking the government to do what individuals, families, churches, and communities could do is an abdication of personal and social responsibility. We discovered that too much reliance on the welfare state is destructive to both personal freedom and the economy. Personal freedom and responsibility lead to greater happiness and social prosperity. We must expect, however, that a minimal government role will be required when people are incapable of helping themselves.n

1.Clark Morphew, "Government Can't Help but Play Favorites in Faith - charity Initiative," Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 17 March 2001.

2.There is of course the "nature vs. nurture" debate. The social aspect of brain development is supported by neurobiology, however. Neurobiologist Jose M.R. Delgado, for example, has discussed this in the International Journal on World Peace 4, no. 2 (April--June 1987): 55.

3.Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 82--83.

4.Ewert Cousins, "Jesus' Challenge to World History," Third Millennium & Jubilee Year 2000 (Washington, D.C.: Paper submitted to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, 1997). Available on the Internet at http://www.nccbuscc.org/jubilee/publicatio...97/session2.htm.

5.W.W. Davies, The Codes of Hammurabi and Moses (Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1905), 7--9.

6.This famous quote comes from John Emerich Edward Dalbert Acton's letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, which is found in Selected Writings of Lord Acton, ed. J. Rufus Fears, volume II (Liberty Fund: Indianapolis, 1985), 385. When Creighton wrote A History of the Papacy During the Period of the Reformation in 1887, Acton reviewed it, complaining that certain papal actions were not judged with sufficient moral rigor. This initiated a correspondence, in the course of which Acton wrote as follows:

"I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. That is the point at which the negation of Catholicism and the negation of Liberalism meet and keep high festival, and the end learns to justify the means."

7.John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, "The History of Freedom in Christianity," The History of Freedom (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Acton Institute, 1993). Available on the Internet at http://www.acton.org/publicat/books/freedo...ristianity.html.

8.Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978), 19--23.

9.Smith, End of Religion, 21.

10.Smith, End of Religion, 27.

11.Acton, History of Freedom.

12.Acton, History of Freedom.

13.Acton, History of Freedom.

14.Aristotle, Politics, Book VI, chapter 4.

15.The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 12, ed. Julian P. Boyd (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1958), 442.

16.The classic text cited is Max Weber, Protestantism and the Spirit of Capitalism. It was amplified by R.H. Tawney in Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1926).

17.Many people wrongly assume that the intellectual class brought about the American Revolution. Actually, religious people were the driving force behind the rebellion, and only after it had begun did the aristocrats feel pressured to support independence. This case is well argued in Alan Heimert, Religion and the American Mind: From Great Awakening to Revolution (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966).

18.Heimert, Religion and the American Mind, 440.

19.Sidney Mead, The Lively Experiment: The Shaping of Christianity in America (New York: Harper, 1976), 35--36.

20.Sidney Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People, vol. 1 (New York: Image Books, 1975), 461.

21.Mead, The Lively Experiment, 35--36

22.Cited in Mead, The Lively Experiment, 59.

23.Mead, The Lively Experiment, chap. iv.

24.Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, chap. XVII.

25.Robert Handy, ed., The Social Gospel in America, 1870--1920: Gladden, Ely, and Rauschenbusch (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966).

26.Pius XI, in Quadragesimo Anno, issued in 1931. Cited by George Weigel, "Catholicism and Democracy" in Morality and Religion in Liberal Democratic Societies, ed. Gordon Anderson and Morton Kaplan (New York: Paragon House, 1992), 232.

COPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

03-29-2005, 04:09 PM

QUOTEMarch 29, 2005
US Grants $1 Million to Egyptian 'Pro-Democracy' Groups
by William Fisher

President George W. Bush has taken a baby step toward fulfilling his
pledge to spread democracy in the Middle East by giving grants
totaling one million dollars to six civil society groups in Egypt,
including perhaps the most controversial in the country â the
organization whose leader spent a year behind bars on trumped-up charges.

The grants, which went totally unnoticed in the U.S. mainstream press, were announced in Cairo by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID). While the agency has provided grants and training to other nongovernmental organizations over the past five years, most of the recipients were trade-related or community support groups.

This is the first time USAID funding has gone directly to Egyptian
organizations dedicated to political and electoral reform. The
influential Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram called the grants "a bombshell."

An international development expert familiar with USAID's programs in Egypt told IPS, "This is the first time that USAID has directly
supported Egyptian organizations with an explicit democracy focus."

"Not only has USAID Egypt not supported Egyptian democracy
organizations â it's never supported the main American ones either,"
said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The grants came on the heels of an announcement by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he would alter the nation's constitution to permit multiple candidates to run in the forthcoming presidential election.

The 76-year-old Mubarak has been reelected by plebiscite for the past 24 years as the only candidate on the ballot.

They also appear to be in sharp contrast to recent statements from the speaker of the People's Assembly, Egypt's parliament. Speaker Fathi Sorour, who is among key legislators working on the constitutional amendment, said that the People's Assembly plans to criminalize political parties and NGOs receiving foreign funding to monitor presidential and parliamentary elections or fund election campaigns.

The founder of one of the recipient organizations, Dr. Saad Eddin
Ibrahim of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies, spent more than a year in prison before being exonerated in 2003 on charges related to election-monitoring activities.

The incident sparked a crisis in Egyptian-U.S. relations, with
Washington withholding $350 million in aid. Ibrahim was accused of
accepting a grant from the European Union without permission and
misusing the funds. He was acquitted after two high-profile trials.

The grants were announced at a press conference by U.S. Ambassador
David Welch, who has been nominated to be assistant secretary of
state. He said they were offered in response to Egyptian ideas for
democracy-building activities, which the six civil society NGOs had
submitted to the U.S. embassy. He added that the Egyptian government
had agreed to the grants.

In addition to the Ibn Khaldun Center, other NGOs receiving grants
include the United Group, the Egyptian Association for Developing and Disseminating Legal Awareness, the Egyptian Association for Supporting Democracy, the New Horizons Association for Social Development, and the Alliance for Arab Women. Projects awarded USAID funding are:

Promoting Transparent Elections in 2005 and Beyond (The United Group); Promoting Democracy within Egyptian Political Parties (The Egyptian Association for Developing and Disseminating Legal Awareness); Future Leaders Workshops and Community Meetings (The Egyptian Association for Supporting Democracy); Empowering Youth in Old Cairo (The New Horizon Association for Social Development); Political and Electoral Rights Program (The Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies); and Combating Terrorism through Community Participation (The Alliance for Arab Women). Welch said the new grants were geared toward achieving Bush's stated goal of Egypt being "the great and proud nation â¦ which showed the way toward peace in the Middle East â¦ now show[ing] the way toward democracy," according to al-Ahram.

The project planned by the Ibn Khaldun Center is similar to the
activity that led to Ibrahim's jailing in 2000. Last December, Ibrahim announced that his Center planned to monitor parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005, whatever the legal cost. He has also said he plans to run against Mubarak.

Welch reportedly told al-Ahram that the U.S. decision to provide
grants to Egyptian NGOs had "absolutely no link" to the arrest of
Ayman Nour, head of the political party Tomorrow.

However, Welch said the U.S. has strong concerns about the opposition leader's arrest, which "we have expressed to the government."

Nour, a member of the People's Assembly, was jailed by Security
Service police in late January on suspicion of forging signatures on
the petitions he presented to the government in order to register his political party. He was released on bail on March 14 and then led a parade through downtown Cairo.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice canceled a scheduled visit to Egypt after Nour's arrest, but U.S. authorities have dismissed the idea that the cancellation of Rice's visit to Cairo was a protest against Nour's arrest.

Twenty human rights NGOs told Reuters newswire earlier this month that they would be monitoring Egypt's parliamentary and presidential
elections this year.

The NGO grants are part of a systematic U.S. effort to implement
Bush's Greater Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).

"The events of 11 September led to more active U.S. involvement in
Egypt and the region," according to the USAID/Egypt Strategic Plan
Update for Fiscal Years 2000-2009, which required adjusting the focus of USAID/Egypt on "vital sectors such as education, NGOs, democracy, and governance." USAID funds will be directed to providing citizens with more avenues
to participate in political life via improving the legal environment
governing political activities. Electoral system assistance would go
toward improving voter registration, training of candidates, and other interventions deemed necessary for this purpose.

USAID programs will also target reform-minded leaders, promote
knowledge of democratic practices such as model parliaments, and
facilitate joint democracy programs between U.S. and Egyptian
universities.

Since early 2000, USAID/Egypt has funded an NGO Service Center to
strengthen the capacities of Egyptian NGOs. Most of the organizations signing up for training are community development and business support groups.

The impact of the constitutional amendment permitting multiple
candidates to run for president remains unclear, as the People's
Assembly works to craft its language. Political parties require
permission from the Assembly in order to enter candidates, and the
Assembly is heavily dominated by Mubarak's own political party.

Mubarak has not yet announced whether he will stand for another term
as president. He took office in 1981 after Anwar Sadat's assassination and is Egypt's longest-serving head of state.

(Inter Press Service)

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/fisher.php?articleid=5371

03-29-2005, 08:54 PM

In the "races in RgVeda" thread "Vikram" had posted this image..

<img src='http://radio.weblogs.com/0126951/images/myPictures/2004/06/02/Indo-European%20Family%20of%20Languages.JPG' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Ignoring the "indo-iranian" family for a moment would it be fair to say that the other branches picked up their own religion/faith and used that to expand their influence ? Maybe fits in the "clash of civilizations" model too.. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' />

If someone has link to USCIRF report(s) please post. My guess is they will be trying to promote the White Anglo Saxon Protestant meme.

03-29-2005, 09:12 PM

The Rise of Global Christianity

04-12-2005, 07:40 PM

Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China

Christianity and Islam Expanding Dramatically in Africa

04-26-2005, 04:42 PM

QUOTEThe Big Scam of NGO's

Posted April 24, 2005
THE FERENGIâS COLUMNS
(A Western journalist opening his eyes to the true India)
By FranÃ§ois Gautier

You think that the most corrupt organizations in India belong to the Government? But you may be wrong, because some of the biggest scammers in this country could be the Non Governmental Organizations, or NGOâs, and it is all done in the name of the poor of India.

In the old times, the leaders of NGOâs used to be working in the field, dressed simply, lived in humble dwellings, and had minimal salaries, sufficient for their most essential needs. But nowadays, the new breed of NGOs you meet in Delhi, or Bombay, is smartly dressed in jeans, he or she usually comes from Indiaâs upper elite class, carry the latest laptop and often travel around in a/c cars. These NGOâs spend half of their time abroad, in London, Paris, or New York, doing smart presentations, with mesmerizing slides and Excel spreadsheets, in front of gullible westerners, always ready to shed a tear for the poor "downtrodden Indians", so as to convince them to grant more funds.

And what is usually all about? 70% of the time "woman empowerment", or "uplifting" the villagers. It is nowadays fashionable in India to always highlight the downtrodden condition of Indian women and their underprivileged place in Indian society. But no country in the world has granted such an important place to women in its spirituality and social ethos. And even today, behind all appearances â arranged marriages, submission to men, preference of male children in some rural areas (but girls are loved in India like nowhere in the world) - it can be safely said that very often, from the poorest to the richest classes, women control âeven if behind the scenes â a lot of the family affairs: the education of their children (men in India are often "mamaâs boys"), monetary concerns, and husbands often refer to them for important decisions. Countries such as France or the United States, who are often preaching India on "womenâs rights" never had a woman as their top leader, whereas India had Indira Gandhi ruling with an iron hand for nearly twenty years; and proportionately they have less MPâs than India, which is considering earmarking 33% of seats in Parliament for women, a revolution in human history!

But this obsession of NGOâs with women and village empowerment (usually they take one village and make it like a showcase, for the benefit of visiting donors from abroad) has completely eclipsed the burning issue that would require NGOâs attention with the tremendous amount of funds they attract from abroad : afforestation, as there are hardly any forest worth the name left today in India. Take the Himalayas for instance, and a region like the lovely Kumaon hills. Less than forty years ago, people in Almora, the ancient capital of the Kumaons, still remember the beautiful blue cedars forests. Today, there are no forests left around Almora - they were cut down in the early 70âs by contractors from the plains with the full knowledge of the Government - except commercial pine forests, which impoverish the soil and do not hold it properly. Yet, there is terrible shortage of water in Almora, the climate has warmed-up considerably in the last twenty years and wood is fearfully expensive.

There are literally hundreds of NGOâs in the Kumaon hills, who are doing lots of women empowerment, lots of village uplifting, lots of weaving this and weaving thatâ¦ but absolutely no tree planting. Why? "Because the others do not do it", is the usual answer, when you ask some of the NGOâs or :"because it is too hard work". But the beauty of the Kumaon hills around Almora is fast going: more and more hotels are coming up, cutting more trees, like near the Kassar Devi temple, above Almora, where Vivekananda is supposed to have meditated and which has been bought to make into a resort by a non- resident Muslim who is suspected to have links with Ibrahim Dawood.

Most of the big NGOâs are funded by Western countries; but what is not always known is that they often get the bulk of their budgets from big Christian organizations, such as Christian Aid, or Oxfam. There is no doubt that Christians are doing selfless work in India and that they still provide the best in health care and education (work which Hindus should do themselves). But it may so happen â more in the case of American Protestants than European Catholics, who are more tolerant - that there is a slight catch, a string attached to the money donated, not only because there is always that western obsession with "woman empowerment" and the "exploited" low caste Indian (by the Brahmins, of course), but often also, these charitable organizations have a downright bias against Hindus and even towards the BJP ! Some of them even had posters advising people not to vote for the BJP in the last elections. Can you imagine an Indian NGO asking Indians settled in France not to vote for some pro-catholic party? They would be immediately kicked out!

This is not to say that there are no selfless NGOâs who are not fattening themselves on money meant for the poor. Some of them do bring drinking water to remote villages in the Himalayas, or like the Young India Group, teach villagers to stand for their own rights. But there has to be a shift away from empowerment, to fight the real burning issues which are affecting India such as afforestation and water collection (there is no Government policy for collecting the tremendous amounts of water India gets from monsoons, which would save millions of gallons of precious ground water which is fast depleting). And the Government, while leaving to NGOâs the freedom of expression they already have, should make it mandatory that they have a certain percentage of their activities dedicated to these two areas.

04-26-2005, 05:10 PM

QUOTEDiplomacy of India: Then and Now.

by Rene Wadlow

Harish Kapur New Delhi: Manas Publications, 2002 399 pages

Harish Kapur, emeritus professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, has written a first-rate study of the making of Indian foreign policy, following up on his earlier India's Foreign Policy 1947-1992: Shadows and Substance. 

Kapur looks in particular at the environments that India inherited at birth--domestic, regional and global--for as he notes, all states "have to adapt their foreign policy to the changing realities of the planet--realities which often escape them, and over which they hardly have any control." What control they do have, however, is the result of the decisions made by individuals in positions of power, individuals influenced by their education and experience, by their evaluation of the possibilities for action and by the domestic pressures which often limit their choices. Thus Kapur looks in particular at the role of the Prime Ministers in the making and execution of foreign policy.

India began its independent life with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. Nehru was a man educated for leadership with wide experience in Europe in the 1930s, where he met others active in the anticolonial struggle and who were to play important roles in their countries. With his close friend, Krishna Menon, who shared a similar background, Nehru was able to play a high profile role in world politics, especially at the start of the Cold War and as a mediator in the 1950-1953 Korean War, which some feared was the forerunner of a broader armed conflict. Indian diplomats were also able to work on compromise formulas during the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indo-China.

In many ways, Nehru had a free hand in setting foreign policy goals and in creating a diplomatic style. The first real foreign policy issue at Independence was the creation of Pakistan with the resulting population flows and the division of Kashmir. However, Pakistan and Kashmir were considered by most Indians as a "domestic" problem. Although the Kashmir issue was taken to the United Nations and was one of the first major issues which the UN had to face, relations with Pakistan, the integration of refugees and relations with the domestic Muslim population have always been the focus of domestic political activity.

Thus the 1950s were a period when the Cold War structures were being put into place, and the function of neutral-non-aligned mediators was needed for no one could know how stable the bipolar system was to become.

This period of international mediation combined with proposing international norms came to an end in 1962--the result of the frontier conflict with China. The conflict was widely considered a defeat for India and India was seen as an unsuccessful state in the international system. As Kaput writes,

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE Since nothing blights more the image of a nation than failure, theÂ defeat at the hand of the Chinese conjured up an internationalÂ perception of India whose attributes were that of a country whichÂ had become weak, incoherent, unable to defend its own interests, andÂ which had to turn to the outside for help and protection. NothingÂ is forgiven in international relations, least of all the defeat of aÂ country that has the normative pretensions of building aÂ self-reliant and self-sustaining nation.Â 

Krishna Menon left political life, and Nehru was personally targeted for not having been vigilant enough of the Chinese menace. Nehru died in 1964 before he was able to change this image of India. Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, Prime Minister from 1965-1977 and again in 1980 until her assassination in 1984, had been educated in Europe and had known many foreign leaders as her father's official hostess. While she tried to control both foreign and domestic policy decisions, the international environment had changed. Although there were still crises, the Cold War had become stable, and neither Russians nor Americans felt the need for intermediaries.

Thus, only the regional area was open for action, which Indira Gandhi took in the lead up to Bangladesh independence in 1971. Regional politics became the main focus of Indian diplomacy seeking to influence events in Sri Lanka and Nepal whose tensions could spill over into domestic Indian politics. As Kapur points out,

QUOTE But after Nehru things began to change. The balance slowly tilted inÂ favour of regionalism. While the global policy began to graduallyÂ lose its lustre, its coherence, its framework, and, what is more,Â its importance, the broad contours of a regional policy began toÂ emerge--a policy that was more coherent, more pragmatic, moreÂ national-oriented and more forceful.Â 

Such a pragmatic and regional focus also fit better the talents and possibilities of many of the subsequent Prime Ministers and the contours of domestic politics. The Indian domestic political structure moved from a domination by the Congress Party to one of coalition governments often made up of "strange bedfellows." This was first seen in the government of Morarji Desai (1977-1979). Kapur analyses this change: "By its very nature, a government composed of different political parties, is disparate, making it exceedingly difficult for the one who is heading it to exercise the same degree of authority as a one party government." In his summing up, Kaput poses fundamental questions:

QUOTE One can validly ask what is in store for India in the post-cold warÂ and post-Soviet international system? What can India do to safeguardÂ national security? Where is the threat emanating from? Who are itsÂ present and potential adversaries? Can they really be identified?"Â India needs to seriously examine all that goes under nationalÂ security in order to establish an overall picture of present andÂ future threats, of direct and indirect menaces, of possible externalÂ attacks, of externally inspired internal upheavals, and of theÂ possible linkage between ecological degradation and nationalÂ security.Â 

There is a need for a strong domestic base in order to carry out a successful foreign policy. There are two structural requirements for such a strong domestic foundation. The first need is a national consensus on the nature of a viable political-economic regime and using this broad consensus to counter disintegrating forces operating within the country such as secessionist movements and caste and religion -based politics. The second requirement for a strong domestic base is modernisation within a global world economy. Kapur asks, "But, will this globalization of the economy help India to tackle the economic problems it is currently faced with? Will all this new ongoing globalization of the economy finally open possibilities for it to grow rapidly, to obtain the necessary transfer of resources, and to become more export-oriented?"

In this book, Harish Kaput provides the methodological tools for analysis of Indian diplomacy and the interplay of domestic and external influences. This is an important guide for understanding South Asian diplomatic politics. 

Rene Wadlow

Transnational Perspectives

F-07140 Gravieres

France </div>

05-13-2005, 06:26 AM

Russia Said to Uncover Spying by 4 Nations
Russia:NGOs are Spy Fronts
By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Russia's security chief said Thursday his agency has
uncovered spy activity that was being conducted under the cover of
non-governmental organizations from the United States, Britain,
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev also suggested that
foreign governments are using NGOs to fund and support changes of
power in former Soviet republics.

Patrushev's remarks reflected concern in President Vladimir
Putin's Kremlin as it grapples with waning regional influence
following the ascent of pro-Western governments in ex-Soviet states.
The Kremlin is also worried about outside influence within Russia
amid U.S. accusations of backsliding on democracy.

"Along with classic forms of influence on political and economic
processes, foreign intelligence agencies are ever more actively using nontraditional methods," including working through "various non-governmental organizations," Patrushev told lawmakers.

"Under cover of implementing humanitarian and educational programs in Russian regions, they lobby the interests of the states in question and gather classified information on a broad spectrum of issues," he said.

Patrushev said his agency, which is known by its Russian acronym FSB
and is the main successor to the Soviet KGB, "has prevented a series
of espionage operations" carried out through foreign non-governmental organizations."

He named the Peace Corps â which pulled out of Russia in 2003 amid
FSB spying allegations â as well as the British medical aid group
Merlin, the "Saudi Red Crescent" and a Kuwaiti group he called the
Society of Social Reforms.

Patrushev reiterated claims by Russian officials who have accused the United States and other Western nations of using NGOs to aid
opposition forces that have brought down governments in other ex-
Soviet republics in the past two years.

His comments came just two days after President Bush visited
Georgia, site of the "Rose Revolution" 18 months ago that marked the
start of a wave of uprisings against entrenched leaders in ex-Soviet
republics. One followed in Ukraine, then in Kyrgyzstan.

"Our opponents are steadily and persistently trying to weaken Russian influence in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the
international arena as a whole," Patrushev said. "The latest events
in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan unambiguously confirm this."

Patrushev said the International Republican Institute, a U.S.
democracy support organization, held a meeting in Slovakia last month during which "the possibility of continuing 'velvet revolutions' on the post-Soviet space was discussed."

Patrushev suggested Russia believes the next Western target is Moscow ally Belarus, where U.S. officials have not masked their disgust at authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and have called for free elections next year. Bush has called Belarus the last dictatorship in Europe, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was time for a change there.

He claimed that the IRI has earmarked $5 million to finance
opposition groups in Belarus this year and asserted that there were
efforts under way to bring Ukrainians involved in last year's "Orange Revolution" to train opposition forces in Belarus, which has close ties with Russia.

In Washington, Peace Corps spokeswoman Barbara Daly dismissed
Patrushev's charges as "completely baseless, without merit and not
true." She said 700 volunteers have served in Russia since the
program was started in 1993, mainly as teachers of English and
business education.

A spokeswoman for Merlin, speaking on condition of anonymity from its London office, said it "categorically denies any allegations that it has been involved in espionage operations or activities."

She said Merlin had worked in Russia since 1996 on anti-tuberculosis programs, and that the group believed it could continue to work in close collaboration with its Russian partners.

Patrushev is considered a close ally of Putin, a longtime KGB officer and former FSB chief.

The FSB routinely claims to have uncovered spying by foreign
countries including the United States, but Patrushev's remarks in the lower parliament house came just days after Putin and Western leaders Bush celebrated unity during commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. Putin also reached a new agreement this week deepening cooperation with the European Union.

Patrushev's statement was the latest from a top official assailing
civil society groups in Russia, which Putin criticized last year as
often being more interested in foreign funding than in helping
Russian people. He called for tighter legislation governing NGOs,
saying current laws were not sufficient to stem "activity by foreign
non-governmental organizations that damages the security of our
country."

The Russian security services have long expressed alarm over U.S.
NGOs. In 2003, Russia refused entry to a longtime resident U.S. labor activist. It has also frequently expelled foreigners considered a threat to the nation, including missionaries and Peace Corps volunteers. Patrushev accused Peace Corps volunteers of spying in 2002, and that year Russia refused to extend volunteers' visas or issue new ones â forcing the program to shut down.

05-18-2005, 04:46 AM

QUOTEJehovah's Witness is key advisor to the King of Nepal

The BBC News Online carried an interesting article on 1 March about the Hindu nation of Nepal.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4304001.stm

It was an overview of the situation in Nepal one month after King Gyanendra took direct power and the BBC quotes Tulsi Giri, the cabinet deputy chairman.

What makes this interesting is that further on in the article Mr Giri is identified as belonging to "Nepal's tiny Jehovah's Witnesses religious community." Explaining that he has now returned from self-imposed exile in India the article continues, âA minister in Nepal's first democratically elected government of 1959-60, he then sided with King Mahendra - Gyanendra's father - when he sacked
that administration, and played a key role in 1960-1990, when there was no democracy, serving as prime minister."

The cause for concern is that an active Jehovah's Witness convert is now a key advisor to the King of Nepal and wields immense power over Nepal.Â This probably explains the spurt in fraudulent Christian conversions in Nepal in recent years. From 15,000 in 1970 to over 400,000 Christian converts today, Nepal is considered to be having fastest growth of Christian population in the world, says
Mr. Anil Stephen in Christian Today Magazine.

Nepal once considered to be one of the most peaceful countries has turned out to be a country burning with conflicts after the Christian Conversions Game started in Nepal. Is this a coincidence or there is some religious or political connection?

**acharya** · 05-18-2005, 04:50 AM

Liberation theology

=

Is this a coincidence or there is some religious or political connection?

05-18-2005, 05:18 PM

QUOTEUN Backs Missionaries in Lanka: Opposes Religious Freedom BillÂ <!--emo&

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rolleyes.gif' />
COLOMBO
The Star Online, Malaysia
Friday May 13, 2005

Sri Lanka's efforts to legally ban induced or forced religious conversions may
result in the persecution of minorities, a visiting United Nations official
warned yesterday.

Sri Lanka has a Buddhist majority, and monks here complain that Christian
missionaries offer money and jobs to entice poor Buddhists to change their
religion.

The Buddhist monks have been pressing the government to stop such practices, and the government is already discussing two draft laws.

However, a UN official balked at such a step.

âIn my opinion, the provisions of both draft bills could result in the
persecution of religious minorities rather than protection and promotion of
religious tolerance,â UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion Asma Jahangir said at a news conference in Colombo.

Jahangir said the proposed legislation might contravene human rights laws and
the right to freedom of religion, and that people might use the laws for
personal revenge in disputes. She did not elaborate.

Jahangir said the government failed to act against those responsible for attacks
on Christian churches since the death in 2003 of prominent Buddhist cleric
Gangodawila Soma, who worked against religious conversions.

Some Buddhists claim Christian missionaries were responsible for Soma's death, which occurred while he was touring Russia.

Jahangir also said, however, that some religious groups helping thousands of Sri Lankan victims of the Dec 26 Indian Ocean tsunami had been âexploiting the vulnerability of the population.â

She urged non-governmental and religious charity organisations to respect a UN
resolution calling such groups to provide aid without asking recipients to
espouse particular religious opinions.

âI have noted that in most cases perpetrators (of church attacks) have not been
brought to justice,â she said.

âMoreover, in many cases, the police and other competent authorities appear to
have been reluctant to take appropriate actions despite the identification of
perpetrators.â

05-18-2005, 08:02 PM

Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik
by Douglas Johnston 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books

QUOTEEditorial Reviews

Book Description

For most of the twentieth century, the most critical concerns of national security have been balance of power politics and the global arms race. The attacks of September 11, 2001 and the motives behind them, however, demand a radical break with this tradition. If the United States is to prevail in its long-term contest with extremist Islam, it will need to re-examine old assumptions, expand the scope of its thinking to include religion and other ""irrational"" factors, and be willing to depart from past practice. A purely military response in reaction to such attacks will simply not suffice. What will be required is a long-term strategy of cultural engagement, backed by a deeper understanding of how others view the world and what is important to them. In non-Western cultures, religion is a primary motivation for political actions. Historically dismissed by Western policymakers as a divisive influence, religion in fact has significant potential for overcoming the obstacles that lead to paralysis and stalemate. The incorporation of religion as part of the solution to such problems is as simple as it is profound. It is long overdue. This book looks at five intractable conflicts and explores the possibility of drawing on religion as a force for peace. It builds upon the insights of Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft (OUP,1994)--which examined the role that religious or spiritual factors can play in preventing or resolving conflict--while achieving social change based on justice and reconciliation. The world-class authors writing in this volume suggest how the peacemaking tenets of five major world religions can be strategically applied in ongoing conflicts in which those religions are involved. Finally, the commonalities and differences between these religions are examined with an eye toward further applications in peacemaking and conflict resolution. 

Another Review

QUOTEReligion is a powerful factor in many conflicts around the world. Sometimes it is a cause for conflict, sometimes it simply helps sustain conflict, and other times it is used as a pretext for conflicts that have deeper roots in other issues. Considering just how much of a role religion plays here, is it at all reasonable to think that we can find solutions and resolutions that don't involve religion?

This is basically the question that Douglas Johnston asks in the book Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik. He and the other contributors all answer "no" - if any real solution is to be reached in religious conflicts, it will require that we engage people on a religious level. In other words, religion must be employed in order to help combatants achieve some sort of stable peace.

President and Founder of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, Johnston has brought together renowned scholars and diplomats for their insights into both how religion has contributed to five major conflicts and how the peacemaking attributes of five world religions might be applied in these situations. There is no attempt to sugarcoat the fact that religion contributes to violence and war, but there is also an emphasis on the fact that the negative attributes of religions which contribute to these conflicts are not those religions' only legacy.

In all cases, religions also have attributes which encourage peace and harmony. These may not be factors which receive the most attention or which get promoted by the loudest adherents, but they do exist. The question is, how can they be best employed as a counter-balance to the more violent tendencies? Of course, that question assumes that we pay any attention to religion at all, which is the first hurdle that Johnston and the other contributors recognize must be overcome.

For much of the twentieth century, Western diplomacy has been characterized by the principle of Realpolitik (although that term itself did not come into use until the latter twentieth century). In essence, Realpolitik stipulates that a priority must be a balance of power and influence on the international scene. These are the "rational" concerns of nation-states. There are of course other concerns, like religion or culture, but they are deemed "irrational" - which means that they must be subordinated to more rational interests. If religion of culture must be compromised in order to achieve stability, so be it. 

There is a long tradition of this sort of practical approach to international relations and national politics in the West. King Henry IV effectively ended the French Wars of Religion on July 25, 1593 when he declared that Paris vaut bien une messe (Paris was worth a Mass) and permanently renounced Protestantism. This conversion to Roman Catholicism secured the allegiance most his subjects: rational political considerations forced a compromise of personal religious principles.

The Peace of Westphalia, which not only ended the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War but also formed the basis for diplomacy and relations among European states, was formally established a similar principle. No longer would there be conflict among the European powers based upon religious differences - in a sense, the rulers simply agreed to disagree on matters of religion and then relegate them to the list of things that just weren't worth fighting over.

While Europe may have decided that religion shouldn't be the basis for conflict and shouldn't become a foundation for national or international policies, much of the rest of the world never followed suit. In many non-Western cultures, there is no separation of church and state: religious beliefs remain a principle motivation for political or social action. {INCLUDING OUR OWN VERSION OF SECULARISM} While Western nations have long tried to ignore religious differences in order to achieve more "rational" goals, other nations will ignore "rational" goals in order to pursue "irrational" ends like religious solidarity and religious purity.

As a consequence, Western diplomats who try to work in such regions end up operating from a different set of premises and assumptions than everyone else; in the end, not much gets done. This is what Douglas Johnston hopes to change: to get Western diplomats and political leaders to understand that while religion may not play a significant role in the relations between Western nations, it can't be excluded in how they relate to other nations. In fact, excluding it may only exacerbate the problems they are trying to solve in the first place.

While these observations may be fine in principle, is there any realistic hope that they can be applied in practice? Johnston thinks so, although he also recognizes that he can't offer any final answers on how that might be achieved. He and Brian Cox describe in broad terms what faith-based diplomacy might look like while other contributors explain how those principles might be used in conflicts in Kashmir, Sudan, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, and Kosovo. 

It certainly might be nice if peaceful religious ideas could be used to counter violent religious ideas, but I'm frankly skeptical about how well any of that would really work. For one thing, it would be difficult to ensure that anyone promoting peaceful religion isn't simply regarded by those personally involved in the conflict as a lackey for the godless West.

Another problem is the fact that if "faith-based diplomats" work for Western governments, those governments will have to make decisions about who represents the "right" kind of religion for their purposes - a task fraught with dangers. We really need to ask if the United States government, for example, has the authority to decide what the "right" Islam or the "right" Buddhism really is - and, assuming that such a decision is made, we are led back to the previous problem: how do we get those involved in religious conflicts to accept the person representing that "right" religion?

Despite my skepticism, though, I am glad that Johnston is trying to get people to think about these conflicts differently. Even if it isn't possible to realize all of his recommendations, it would still be a good idea to take them seriously and consider how we might, in some fashion, achieve the goals he outlines. Anyone interested in the role of religion in politics and international relations would do well to pick up this book and read it.

08-09-2005, 10:35 PM

RAND's report titled "Exploring Religious Conflict"

http://rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/20..._CF211.pdf

10-14-2005, 07:20 PM

QUOTEDalit Freedom Network Hosts Historic Conference on Capitol Hill: Conference and House Hearing Mark a New Awareness of Caste Atrocities in India.

US Newswire
US Newswire; 9/28/2005

WASHINGTON, Sep 28, 2005 (U.S. Newswire via COMTEX) -- On October 6, 2005, the Dalit Freedom Network will host an historic Conference entitled "Racism and Caste Based Discrimination in India: Implications for the US-India Relationship" followed by a House Hearing on ongoing Caste atrocities. The event marks a new awareness among U.S. lawmakers about the struggles of lower caste people in India. DFN will host a press conference on this event on October 5 at 9 a.m. in the National Press Club's Zenger room.

"The growth of the Indian economy has not affected the 250 million Untouchables (called Dalits) who are denied economic opportunity, education, and equal treatment under the law," said Joseph D'souza, international president of the Dalit Freedom Network. "It is time for the United States to work with the government of India to end caste and stop atrocities against low caste Indians."

The conference and hearing will address the problem of caste in India. Caste, a social stratification rooted in Hinduism, organizes people by a combination of descent and employment. The lowest group in the caste system is the Dalits. While atrocities against the Dalits have been practiced for thousands of years, caste-based atrocities are reaching new heights and are causing tension across many areas. If not addressed, the social and economic problems facing the Dalits, including educational and economic disenfranchisement, the AIDS crisis, and growing religious tensions could threaten the stability of the US-India partnership

The conference will include speeches from notable Dalit advocates and leaders from India, including Dr. Joseph D'souza, Dr. Udit Raj, and Dr. Kancha Ilaiah.

Dr. Joseph D'souza is the International President of the Dalit Freedom Network and also the President of The All India Christian Council, one of the largest interdenominational alliances of Christians dealing with human rights and caste based discrimination. The Council is ecumenical in its composition. D'souza is also the co-convener of "FORCE", a body that brings together oppressed communities and castes in India such as the Dalits, the backward castes, the tribals, the Buddhists, the Christians and the Muslims to champion the implementation of their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Dr. Udit Raj is the national chairman of the All-India Confederation of Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe Organizations. He is also the Chairman of the Justice Party. Udit Raj's Confederation represents nearly 5 million Dalit government employees. Raj, who was formerly known as Ram Raj is known all over the world for leading over 100,000 Dalits into Buddhism on November 4th, 2001. Raj has emerged as one of the main voices for Dalit emancipation at the present time.

Dr. Kancha Ilaiah is Professor Head of the Political Science Department at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. He is the author of several books on the Dalits and Other Backward Castes in India, including "Why I am Not a Hindu: A Critique of Sudra Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy," "Democracy in India: A Hollow Shell" and "Buffalo Nationalism: A Critique of Spiritual Fascism." In many ways Kancha Ilaiah has become the main ideologue for the Dalit- Bahujan movement against caste discrimination.

The Dalit Freedom Network is a Denver-based organization that seeks to work with individuals, foundations and organizations outside of India to knit together their combined resources on behalf of those who are working for the emancipation of the Dalits within India. The work of the Dalit Freedom Network in the aftermath of the December 2004 Tsunami was covered by the Rocky Mountain News on January 17-28 in a series called "Wave of Hope: Mission to India," available at http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/news/india/.

DFN is a registered 501 Â© 3 organization.

http://www.usnewswire.com

Â Â
Nanci Ricks of Dalit Freedom Network,Â
303-221-1333, 866-921-1333 (toll-free)Â
Or info@dalitnetwork.org ;Â
Web: http://www.dalitnetwork.orgÂ
Â

Copyright Â© 2005, U.S. Newswire

COPYRIGHT 2005 COMTEX News Network, Inc.

11-08-2005, 07:46 PM

via email...

QUOTENothing Secular about the Right to Convert

== Introduction ==

There were four letters published in âThe Hinduâ during August 29, 2001 and September 5, 2001. Sri Ramagopalan of the âHindu Munnaniâ published a letter on August 29. This was followed by letters attacking him and Hinduism (a ratio 1:4.)

The following is a record of my replies to the attackers. The Hindu has once proven its true credential that it is a communist worthy and unworthy of Hindus and had again suppressed the voice of Hindus. My replies were never published. This is for record and for publication. I feel that the anti conversion acts enacted in various states must in earnest be renamed as âThe protection and preservation on endangered cultures, religions, flora and fauna, art, architecture, and heritage of particular Bharat (or of a state say Rajasthan).This is to give a positive touch to the legislations and also stop the poachers on their track. The act now renamed would have very wide scope and empower the state to act tough against evangelical poachers, to the extent of giving death sentence. The state need not feel defensive and bitter for having enacted an anti-conversion act that is being interpreted as interfering in religious freedom. This makes the act very broad with wide and sweeping powers and indeed very sophisticated in the arsenal. This will put the western powers not to give a negative portrayal of the act that seeks to prevent religious conversions.

-- Laura Kelly

* * *

Please refer to four letters from your readers (The Hindu: August 29th, August 30th, September 1st & September 5th, 2001) and the acrimonious debate that followed on the issue of the âRights to convertâ. Whereas the world over, anthropologists, sociologists, ecologists and all right thinking people are trying very hard to preserve Social, Cultural and Biological diversity.

To argue that every single individual in the world, be converted to one particular faith or religion is audacious. There is nothing secular about the ârights to convertâ, even if it be permitted by the constitution of India, other than theological raison d'Ãªtre, which do not withstand the scientific temper of the modern world except for fanatical Christian who alone buys the argument. Across the globe, the call is to preserve diversity-bio diversity, cultural diversity, linguistic diversity, religious diversity and even culinary diversity. These are as much endangered as the flora and Fauna. Many indigenous civilizations have simply vanished, and are vanishing due to various reasons. Many small tribes and native people are disappearing, and hence it is important to take into account the unique heritage of each group in the Socio-Religious and cultural (bio) sphere of the Indian subcontinent, and the dire imperative to protect it from evangelical poachers.

The best example for institutions that have understood the importance of attracting, retaining and developing diversity are the US universities that attract and retain the diverse student population. MNCS are dotted with multiplicity of employee profiles and language groups. It is discernible as well down-to-earth to foster alternative thinking patterns and for getting better solutions to the pressing problems that corporations are facing now, but also to the complex problems that they may face in the future.

âDIVERSITY EMBEDDED IN THE UNIVERSEâ was the theme of a biodiversity convention. To bicker against this central law -- is to work against nature itself. A single religious credo cannot become the dominant idea that threatens the survival of all others. Nature has not designed the universe that way â that a set of human beings impose their dogma on all people as the ULTIMATE TRUTH. Gandhi made this momentous remark to a group of missionaries who sought his guidance on 12 March 1942 âamong all agents of the many untruths that are propounded in the world one of the foremost is Theology, I do not say that there is no demand for it, there is demand in the world for many a questionable thingâ. (Collected works volume 71, page 328.)1

== Endangered cultures ==

The destructiveness and belligerence of human beings are endangering not only the flora and fauna, but also the various religious cultural and linguistic groups. Innumerable original cultures and languages have simply vanished due to this vicious activity, and many others have become endangered. With the disappearance of each cultural group, the collective wisdom of the group also dies out. (E.g. pre-Christian Rome and Greece, and pre Islamic Egypt) Each civilization is a rich repository of collective knowledge, symbols, and insight; that may hold crucial keys not only to Eco logical wisdom--co-existence--medicinal âknow howâ, and -âknow whatâ-- but also to the centuries old life styles, values and sacred beliefs, that sustains these knowledge systems. Indian, Chinese and Japanese are three ancient civilizations that have withstood the test of Time. India has been a great repository of tribes and native people that are rapidly dwindling, much to the apprehension of anthropologists. Consequently, it is imperative to take into account the incomparable richness of each group, their role in the civilizing (bio) sphere of the Indian subcontinent, and the urgent call to protect them from poachers. It ought to be the central theme of the Indian constitution to care for all endogenous cultures and ensure their continuity -- the great families of homegrown faiths that have survived until now, after having evolved over thousands of years are being endangered now, and they need to be PRESERVED AND PROTECTED FOR POSTERIORITY. These cultures have as many rights to exist -- live to tell the tale -- and pass on their traditions to their children, grand children and their children. In this they are much like their contenders, who are ever keen to rub salt at the genuine rights and persuade these people to break with their traditions, cut family ties and destroy the connections, and thereby strike at the very roots of these magnificent cultures. That is why it is the bounden duty of the constitution of India to protect all these cultures and the people, who are citizens of the land, as much as their contenders are. If the civil rights are not applicable to all sections of the population uniformly at this instant â one has to take a closer look at what makes the charter of the Indian constitution undemocratic, and hence the dire need to amend it now.

Rev. Dr. Verrier Elwin the famed missionary anthropologist (who was impressed by Gandhi, and whose testimony is given elsewhere in the article) was alarmed at the destruction brought about conversion of tribals, married a tribal woman and renounced his missionary career altogether in order to work for their welfare without uprooting them. Now I have taken the opportunity presented by the readers of The Hindu, to reply to them in the framework of the most recent findings. The objective is to sort out the mess between, Myths, History, Doctrine and Theology of the primitive ideologies that spearhead conversions in India; versus, the policy of Hindus that aims âto live and let liveâ. The basic premises of the predatory policies of evangelicals are questionable. In addition, the evangelicals make use of the favorable host climate of tolerance amongst the Hindus, and the prevailing policy of secularism in India, to further âharvesting of soulsâ, which is greatly unfavorable not only to the Hindus in India, but also to Buddhists, Jains, Jews and Zoroastrians.

== Understanding the Debate ==

RAMA GOPALAN: [The Hindu: Wednesday, August 29, 2001] convener Hindu Munnani: kicked off the debate. He said: âThis has reference to the news report âPM hopeful of solution to Ayodhya issue by Marchâ. August 27. Your correspondent, Mr. J. P. Shukla, may have misquoted the Prime Minister, and / or misunderstood the constitution when he reports. In fact, Conversion had been guaranteed by the constitution.â Nothing can be farther from the truth, Article 25 of the constitution grants to every citizen âfreedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religionâ. This right is given not just to the minorities as is often made out, but to every citizen including Hindus (â¦) missionaries have insisted that article 25 provides them the constitutional right to proselytize and convert (â¦) then, through means of fraudulent representation an allurement of money (â¦) It is with these examples and dangers in mind the supreme court delivered that historic judgmentâ.

Mr. Rama Gopalan did not in fact furnish the verbatim text of the Judgment -- the Historical juncture, in which it delivered, during the emergency, not by a solitary judge, as alleged by I. D. Jawahar Raj in his letter dated 5th September--but by a constitutional bench of five judges.

Mr. N DHARMESWARAN: [The Hindu dated August 30th reacted]: âMr. Ramgopalan put up a spirited rebuttal; the lacuna is that it is legalisticâ (...) he continued, â People also need material support, education, heath care etc, in this Hinduism lags way behindâ. The reason, he stated, âthat Hinduism lags way behind in charityâ. Could this be an ample reason, to defy and negate the supreme courtsâ Judgment, the law of the land? He made a stilted remark that the Hindus are woefully inadequate in charity is obsolete and old fashioned, and ill au fait. We are going to see how this myth perpetrated by those having stakes, will be demolished.

Dr. Ebe Sunder RAJ: [the Hindu: Saturday, September 1, 2001]: Joint convener, united Christian forums for Human rights 2. See his article âThe Indian church and nationalityâ, published in the Hindu dated 7 November 2000 refers to his role].

Pastor Ebe Sunderarj comments: (â¦) â Freedom of the seeker to profess, practice and propagate (â¦) Mr. Ramgopalan will do well to document ten cases of a dalit or tribal embrace the Christian faith by force or fraud, as convicted by a court of law in the last 50 years anywhere in India .A thousand repetitions do not convert false allegations into truthâ. Well, authentic documentation is available for the asking, running into thousands of pages, but who will punish the guilty? Will missionaries and their western allies allow this to happen?

I. D JAWAHRARAJ: [The Hindu September 5th 2001 said]: (â¦) âThe supreme courtsâ pronouncement of 1977 on the propagation of religion has been lambasted by eminent non-Christians, who recommended its review by a large benchâ (â¦) He further says âlet us all strive to understand the tenets of each otherâs religion for the sake of enduring peace and good will among different communitiesâ. No doubt, his intension is a laudable one. He failed to substantiate as to who the âeminent non-Christiansâ were. Moreover, when he stated, that these non-Christians âwho recommended â¦to review of the supreme courtsâ pronouncement by a large bench.â All these are grossly imprecise information.

Rama Gopalan did not spell out how the provisions of the constitution under the Article 25, 26 and 30 are wholly disadvantageous to the Hindus -- the Article 25 of the constitution that guarantees the rights to âProfess practice and propagateâ is between uneven followers. Hinduism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, do not have a tradition of proselytizing unlike Christianity and Islam. They both stretch lock, stock and barrel by proselytizing and thrive on proselytization. âIt is like the wolves are given a right and also sheep given liberty to prey each otherâ 3

Reverent Stanley Jones, when he sought the counsel of Rajaji during the creation of the constitution, suggested to incorporate âProfess Practice and Preachâ, instead of âProfess Practice and Propagateâ in the constitution. The due weight of this proposal and the vision of the Gandhiji were discarded as âuncalled-forâ and during the creation of the three contentious articles: 25, 26 and 30.4

In a rejoinder like this, I am not going to examine the evidence of powerful lobbies that were at work; both Indian and overseas that were monitoring the day-by-day proceedings of the constitutional assembly and influenced its outcomes considerably.

The scope of the counter is restricted to:

Primarily the question is, is it indisputable to convert any body âas a matter of rightâ, to some other faith, just because the constitution permits even if the person is a minor?

To assume that these people are eager to convert just because they are economically and socially poor is but a grand delusion. These people are keen to protect their ways of life. Eager to follow the path of their forebears, that distinguishes them from the rest of the world, and have no will and desire to put an end to that way of life, come what may. They may not be modern, may be syncretic idolaters, animists, and pagans. Nevertheless, they have as much right to exist and they need not be apologetic for their existence, as those who try to convert them portray in their propaganda. It is worthwhile for to us examine, whether the law protects these vulnerable people and what it bellows?

The Judgment delivered in the Stanislaus versus the State of Madhya Pradesh in January 1977 {AIR 1977 SC 908} by the Supreme Court of India was a landmark Judgment. The verdict was emphatic. The judgment acquires paramount importance as it was delivered either by a solitary judge, or by a bench of two judges; neither by a bench of three judges â nor by a bench consisting of four judges; but by a full constitutional bench comprising five judges, having flawless professional acumen and credentials; Honorable Justices A. N. Ray, M. N Beg, R. S Sarkaria, P. N Shingal and Jaswant Singh. It was not a BJP in power at that time, but the Congress party. Indira Gandhi was the prime minister; she had, all her opponents, in Jail she was overriding with iron fists. Hence the pronouncement of the Judgment itself, at the heights of emergency, in January 1977, acquires paramount importance. The judgment itself is given in full. The verdict itself has not been superseded by any other judgment and so it stands. Therefore, this is the commandment.5

The Supreme Courtâs JUDGMENT on âRIGHTS to convertâ {1977, SC: 908}

âWe find no justification for the view that if article 25(1) grants a fundamental right to convert a person to onesâ own religion. It has to be appreciated that the freedom of religion enshrined in the article is not guaranteed in respect of one âreligion only, but covers all religions alike, and can be properly enjoyed by a person if he exercises his right in a manner commensurate with the like freedom of persons. What is freedom for one is freedom for the other in equal measure, and there can, therefore, be no such thing as a fundamental right to convert any person to oneâs own religionâ 6.

Pastor Ebe Sunder Raj mentioned about his rights to convert, enshrined in the constitution and arrived at this conclusion âwhether a santhaali or kuki or dalit or any section has the right to choose a faith of his choice.â He did not mention Muslims in the list, why is he selective â¦ Santhals and kukis alone. He assumes that these people do not have a âfaith alreadyâ; colonial missionaries from the days of Claudius Buchanan adopted the convenient missioligical position to launch proselytizing in India. It made Claudius Buchanan, a chaplain attached to the east India company to say: âNo Christian nation, ever possessed such an extensive field for the propagation of Christian faith, as that afforded to us by our influence over 100 million natives of Hindoostan. No other nation ever possessed such facilities for the extension of the faith as we have in the government of a passive people, who yield submissively to our mild sway, reverence our principles, and acknowledge our dominion to a blessingâ {Claudius Buchanan, Memories of expediency of an ecclesiastical establishment for British east India; both as a means of perpetuating Christian religions among our country men: and as a foundation for the ultimate civilization of the natives. London 1805. Part 2, paragraph 6.} The colonial ambitions were expressed without inhibitions, missions offered lucrative careers, and pastor Ebe the Joint convener, united Christian forum for Human rights, does not lag behind when he used warped reason âbecause vast segments do not practise any initiation ceremony through a priest. Our 200 million dalits belong to this category (â¦)â a missiological argument used to âcreate a vacuum and then fill it up with what? The answer is, âChristianityâ.

âIn the constituent assembly, debates initiated by K.M. MUNSHI. A Harijan member came up with a demand for a specific clause for prohibiting conversion by material allurements and fraudulent means.â Mr. R. P Thakur, who clarified his position: 7

âSir, I am a member of the depressed classes. The clause of the fundamental rights is very important from the standpoint of my community. You know well, sir that the victims of these religious conversions are ordinarily from the depressed classes. The preachers of other religions approach these classes of people, take advantage of their ignorance, extend all sorts of temptations and ultimately convert them. I want to know from Munshiji whether âfraudâ covers all these things. If it does not cover them, I should ask Munshi to redraft this clause so that fraud of this nature might not be practiced on these depressed classes. I should certainly call this âfraud.â (Constitutional assembly debates vol 3.pp490-491). 8â Hence Mahatma Gandhi called âconversions a fraud on humanityâ. 9

Ebe Sunder raj mentioned about (â¦) âthe rights of santhalis kukis dalits etcâ (â¦). It is not known whether the church to which he belongs authorized to speak on its behalf or the kukis santhalis and dalits authorised him to do soâ¦.

Joseph Troisi, a Christian Anthropologist and author testifies about the santhlhalis on whose behalf, Ebe supposedly speaks. âWhile among the non Christian (santhalis) the most important part of the marriage ceremony is the sindhradhan, or smearing the bridesâ forehead with Vermillion, among the Christians the exchange of rings by bride and groom marks them as husband and wifeâ the applying of sindhoor is tabooed. The clean break is also in evidence in funeral rites (...) the converts are, largely being alienated from their village communities. Moreover, converts also become estranged from their own kinsfolk. They are prohibited by their own religion from taking part in the ritual offerings and ceremoniesâ¦ that act as a strong force among the family membersââ10 (Joseph Troisi, Tribal Religions, p.270).

Eminent anthropologist Christoph Von Furer Haimendorf laments âThe missionary influence has eroded much of the tribal cultural heritage, linked inseparably with traditional mythology, beliefs and rituals and wilted when these were abandoned. Above all, the conversion of part of a community tends to destroy the social unity of the whole tribeâ. I would like to add, the whole knowledge and wisdom regarding flora and fauna and herbs that could prove to be sources of wonder drugs is lost with the loss of each tribal wisdom. Christian missionaries have done nothing to save this heritage, let alone caring for them.11 (C. Von Furer âHaimendorf: Tribes of India, pp.307 &308)

Sigmund Freud has studied the hatred of converts toward their mother religions See Sigmund Freud: Der Mann Moses und die Monotheistische Religion: Der Abhandkungen (1939), republished by Penguin Freud Library Volume 13. Vintage books, 1939, pp.117-117). (â¦) 12 âA good many nishi youths have been converted to Christianity (in the north east India) â¦ this in itself need not have created any difficultyâ¦and if the Christian converts had been equally tolerating, â¦ However, the converts seem to have been lacking tolerance â¦ to whom I spoke in 1980 complained bitterly that Christians deliberately disrupted the harmony of community life (â¦) old parents were abandoned by their converted children, who claimed that they could not stay in dwellings where âdevilsâ were worshipped (â¦). My informants insisted that the missions encouraged the establishment of separate settlements for Christiansâ¦the Christians refused to participate in village festivals, thereby demonstrating their dislocation from the tribal community.(â¦) Moreover, that converts, not satisfied with this symbolic withdrawal from village life , went a step further by abusing and physically attacking priests as they invoked the gods in the performance of traditional nishi ritualsâ(...)âNishi teachers at the government schools in yazali, who were members of youth organization formed to promote traditional tribal culture, told me how frustrated they were because they could not match the large sums lavished by the missions on propaganda which is undermining the old Nishi life âstyle.(â¦) The conflict created by the impact of Christianity on the Nishis stands in striking contrast to developments taking place in neighboring kameng district, where tribal groups such as khovas have come under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism (â¦). Among the khovas, there is a spontaneous trend towards Tibetan Buddhism; in two villages small gompa are und construction, and the villagers have invited Monpa lamas to perform Buddhist rituals (â¦). Unlike the christian converts among nishis, those khovas who are attracted to Buddhism do not opt out of the social life of their community and continue to participate in traditional tribal rituals (â¦) among the Monpas too, elements of the ancient Bon religion co exist with the dominant Buddhist faith (â¦) and the practice of both religions within the same communities has not sparked off any conflicts comparable to those threaten to destroy the social fabric of nishis affected by rivalriesâ13 C. Von Furer âHaimendorf, Tribes in India. P.308, 309 and 319 (â¦)

== Theological Persecution ==

The letter of Rev. Ebe Sunder Raj is also full of missiological polemics; he calls it â the rights to chooseâ, as âthe rights to convertâ, a term that no lay Hindu could understand. There is world of difference between, âchoicesâ versus a âreligious conversionâ. The dictionary connotations for âchooseâ are: decide, want, prefer, desire, wish, opt, select and pick. You can choose toothpaste but cannot convert to toothpaste, however while pastors are adopting choose, marketing managers prefer a stronger word âConvertâ-- Converting a customer from X brand to Y brand, much to the chagrin of ministers. While you can convert to a religion of your choice the significance for âReligious Conversionâ would incorporate: âchange, exchange, adapt, alter, translate, renovate, switch, and transformâ. He has furthered the aims of proselytization, when he stated; (â¦) âthe supreme courts verdict of 1977 deal only with the freedom of the seeker to profess practise and propagate and does not speak of the rights of the pastor or purohit or moulavi to convertâ He said the purohits, mullahs and pastors to be engaged in âinitiationâ.

WHAT IS THE SANCTITY OF THE law IF It DIFFERENTIATES between individuals WHO DEFY THE LAW AND THOSE WHO ABET?

== Truncated meaning ==

The dictionary meaning of initiation which would include; âlaunch, start, commence, open, instigate, introductionâ) while he could have restricted himself technically to the Judaic use of the word âBaptismâ, instead of attempting to make an â all inclusiveâ presentation. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and does not have Baptisms in the English sense of term âInitiationâ. John the Baptist in whose name the ceremony came to be known, who baptized Jesus âChristâ the baptismal rite is not the same as the initiation rites into Mysticism of Meditative and contemplative religions. There is a world of difference between âDikshaâ, a Hindu expression and âbaptismâ a Judaic one. Equating the Judaic meaning of initiation expressed in English, with Diksha in Sanskrit will give only a truncated meaning. May be the Hindu religion is âsyncreticâ but not Sanskrit -- the language, its grammer and vocabulary and their meanings are precise and exact ---unlike the ambiguous English language. Hence, Sanskrit is considered most qualified for AI or artificial intelligence applications. Revelatory religions as Christianity and Islam have ceremonies those terminologies are not to be equated with that process, beliefs, rites and philosophy of Hinduism, Buddhism (Hinayana, Mahayana, ZEN) and Jainism. {Alternatively, is it the part of the larger proselytizing efforts of âinculturisationâ? Where Christianity is trying to adopt and take over the symbols and practices of Hinduism? Like the ochre colour of Hindu Sanyasis adopted by missionary women instead of the traditional white skirts with European looks, a process that has been documented by missionaries themselves.} He argued, âThe imagery of a converter comes into play because of the initiation ceremony done via the pastor, purohit or maulaviâ .The roles and duties of Hindu purohits are prescribed for them in the Grihya sutras and by other sastras with references to the particular orientation; the agamas, they are trained in and to the deity; are not exactly the same, as that of the social agenda of the pastors. Further Hinduism does not thrive on proselytizing, unlike Christianity and Islam.

Hangs Kung, the fore most Christian Scholars and Catholic Theologian of Thubingen University Norway observed: âWe have failed, because we have regarded Europe as the center of the world and have thought ourselves superior to the other parts of the worldâ. 14 He classified the Religions of the world as follows 1) Religions of Semitic origin; they have Prophetic character, always begin from, contrast between god and human beings, and are predominantly involved in confrontation (â¦) 2) Religions of Indian origin; they are primarily supported by a basic mystical mood, tending towards unity, and are dominated by inwardness â¦ of Upanishads, Buddhism and Hinduism (â¦). 3) Religions of Chinese origin; they have wisdom stamp and are in principle characterized by harmony; Confucianism and Taoism (â¦). Hans Kung the catholic theologian coined the terminology âSemitic exclusivismâ, when he sought to differentiate between different religions of the worldâ. A revelatory religion does not believe in exhorting its follower to taking personal responsibility towards oneâs thought, word or deeds. These are secondary only to joining the community, the congregation, and the umma. The confrontational ideology was evident when a lone letter of Ramagopalan received three counters, representing Christian viewpoints.

Pastor Ebe sunder Raj has tried to give a superficial and simplistic interpretation of Hinduism to suit his needs âmillions of syncretic believers who believe in more than one faith who do not go through any initiationâ. He is optimistic when he stated, âour 200 million Dalits belong to this categoryâ The motive of Ebe is clearly scheming when he said our constitution is âwisely silentâ. This is precisely the âlacunaeâ pointed by Hindus, that is disadvantageous to them and that is exploited to the core by the Proselytizers.

The âyamaâ or âniyamaâ that a person has to adopt following the diksha by the âGuruswamiâ as in the sabarimala yatra are rigorous, unlike in revelatory religions. Infact two to six crore Hindus in south India alone, under go these intense spiritual exercises voluntarily every year, and not as portrayed by Ebe So the attempt by the pastor that there is no religion for the dalits is farce and that would have to be filled with deviatory interpretation. Some statistics: (2 crore visit Mookambika every year, 3 crore visit Dharmasthala, 3-4 crore visit Tirupathy, 3-4 crore visit Palani 2-6 crore visit Sabarimala). Even to visit a village deity before undertaking the journey, often done on foot, they have to observe the set of formal procedure and its own accompanying diksha rites, like every year millions of Hindus under take âpal kavadiâ to palani,â fire walkingâ and âflower showeringâ to hundreds of Maari Amman temples of Tamilnadu. Millions walk all the way to Thiruchendur Temple during Soorapada vadam. The rites prescribed for anchorites In Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are much tougher than that prescribed for a householder. The Upasanas themselves are graded in difficulty, from primary school to PhD levels. Accordingly diksha is given. What applies in one level does not apply at another level. What is apparently a paradox in one level is resolved in the next level, when we take into account that they are aimed at the ultimate spiritual need of the individual 13. The individual has extreme freedom to select his deity or Ishtadevata, or even an aspect unlike the â the onlyâ âmy godâ of Christianity. Ultimately one has to outgrow the dependence on deity. This in a vague way resembles the English saying âit is good to be born in a church but bad to die in itâ15

The âDikhshaâ is not initiation, as often translated into English. Each of the mystical, philosophical and yoga methods are distinct from each other, and profoundly deep. It is not an intellectual study, of theology, as in seminaries, but the transformation of the entire change of constitution of the human personality and its nadis, and the five vital sheaths. It is again highly technical. The kriya yoga of Paramahamsa Yogananda is so vastly different from the traditional and popular Patanjali school. The Sri Vidhya Upasana as depicted in the Lalitha Sahasranama is again technically different from that of the raja yoga school. As often very few get diksha into this; in the life of the Kanchi senior Sankaracharya, he never gave diksha to more than a handful of persons (single digit) in the Sri Vidhya in his entire 80 plus years of spiritual service.) Even Paramahamsa Yogananda used to compare the real diksha, to connecting to a million volts power line, even though he taught kriya yoga to a hundred thousand persons. âUttama Adikariâ or the âfitness-of-the-seekerâ is the criteria. The techniques change with the level and preparation of the seeker. The Zen masters and Jains talk about the right mental attitude and emptying the mind. While revelatory religions never speak of the disciplines related to mind. Their contents stop with prayer, confession, acceptance of the saviour etc this according to Hinduism is kindergarten school of religion. They are belief and dogma oriented. In addition, they do not have scientifically proven methods, to achieve higher states of consciousness. Even astronauts under go Yoga and Prananyama training to withstand the rigors of space travel. Yoga does not want any body to believe in anything. All of the eastern religions never speak of conversion in numerical terms, but speak of transforming the individual. They are against uprooting an individual from his family and culture moorings. While the ritualistic school necessitates the three Varnas to undergo the Dwija ceremony, so that one becomes eligible for performing the rites meant for a householder, the same is diksha into the effulgence of Gayathri, not in the English sense. For its inner meaning is opening the third eye or the inner spiritual eye. While diksha is given to all who opt for yogic training, whose inner self is much developed than the outside core, and are willing to under go the rigors of Tapasya and austerities. Valmiki the author of Ramayana was hunter, who was given diksha into Rama Nama, that he could produce a magnum opus. Hanuman was received diksha into Rama Nama from Naradha Muni. Ramana Maharishi in our own times advocated self enquiry or âwho am Iâ, as the mantra, when he was a youth of 17 years. Among thousands of people who visited him, only Paul Brunton, who was in turn advised by Kanchi Sankaracharya in 1930s, to approach Ramana, for gaining insight into the ultimate-16 which in fact he realized. The Shankaracharya did not directly advice Paul Brunton; shows how complex indeed are human nature and how the path varies for every individual.

On the one end of the spectrum, it is qualified by rigidity and on the other end, extreme liberty. The higher a person goes up in the spiritual ladder, the more rigid are the controls16. The higher a person goes the less dogmatic he/she becomes17. Finally, diksha is not joining an organization, paying subscription, attending its ceremonies, but connecting oneself to onesâ roots.18 Yoga means seeking tracing the origin of oneself and connecting to it within oneself, not in any reveled dogma or son hood of god, not getting into formal organization and subscribing to its theology19. Yoga in Hinduism including the so-called âidolatryâ is only a tool to help in the concentration 20. While the other religionists are even bigger idolaters trapped by their organizations, the kitab, the ideologies of collective thinking and living. That is why the Hindus laugh at others, when pastors are pointing their fingers at them for, âsyncretismâ and as âidolatrousâ.

Pastor Ebe, challenged Ramagopalan: âMr. Rama Gopalan will do well to document ten cases of a Dalit or tribal embracing the Christian faith, on force or fraud as convicted by a court of law in the last 50 years any where in India. A thousand repetitions do not convert false allegations into truthâ

Unlike Christian missionaries, Hindus have nothing to protect and hence do not pay much importance to document development. Further, in rejoinder we are going to see documented, well-documented evidence against the pastor that pastor Ebe had invited. They say one picture is equal to 100 words.â Ebe said, âA thousand repetitions do not convert false allegations into truthâ. I would like to add a new dimension; âone testimony is equal to 100 convictions.

== The testimony of Rev. Dr. Verrier Elwin ==

Verrier Elwin reported: â In Madala, 1944: the situation has grown serious here, for the fathers of apostolic prefecture Jabalpur are proselytizing on an unprecedented scale, and on methods that would have been considered disgraceful in the middle ages â¦.The missionaries usurp the functions of Government officials, try to interfere in the work of the Courts and the business of local officials and gave the Gonds (a tribe) the impression that they are the real Sirkar (local government authorities) and the fathers finally have an extensive money lending business and that is one of the most effective means of bringing aboriginals under their control and forcing them into the church. â[Niyogi committee Report, July 1956, Volume 1.pp 107 â157 &Volume 2, Part B, p.61.] 21

== New harvest of Faith ==

Is money lending it ethical Mr Ebe and is it the permitted method of proselytizing? Well, you may have to produce enough evidence to disprove that missionaries are not adopting this method of money lending at present, contrarily enough evidence that they are engaged in large-scale money lending business even now, is available. Many are engaged in lucrative real estate business. âOne of the dropouts of a famous missionary college in Bangalore confessed that he mainly dropped out because the priest in charge of his group was having extensive money lending business and having at least a dozen bank accountsâ. (Roman Catholic Case no 291 Recorded, August 20th 2001). Another case of a Vedic Brahmin was literally purchased for Rs eight lakhs his debts up to three lakhs was cleared by a missionary (North American evangelicals Case no 486 Recorded, July24th 1995) and he was provided a modern house, and guaranteed free education to his children, on stipulated conditions, that he with wife and two children are converted to Christianity, that his duty would be to preach their version of Christianity using Vedas as reference text. He is very much in business twisting and distorting the Hindu scriptures to suit the missionary agenda. Last, I found him preaching a blatant lie that âthe Gayathri Mantra refers to the Yeshiva and that Jesus completes the Vedasâ. While the truth is, that Hinduism had achieved its present shape at least 1000 years before the arrival Clement of Alexandria a Greek theologian and missionary (circa 150-235 AD). The imperial design of Christianity started with 428-431 AD, when Nestorian the bishop of Constantinople demanded the fanatic emperor Theodosius. âGive Oâ, Caesar, the earth plunged of heretics, and I will give you in exchange the kingdom of heaven. Join me and exterminate the heretics and with you I shall exterminate the Persiansâ Within no time no pagans were left. Hundreds and thousands were burnt at stake. {See Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity, Penguin. 1973.} 22

In a lecture delivered in the late 1880s Sir Richard Temple a (governor of three provinces) said: âIndia is like a mighty bastion, which is being battered by heavy artillery. We have given it blow after blow and effect is not remarkable: but at last with a crash the heathen religions of India will come toppling down, and it is our hope that some day the heathen religions of India will in like manner succumbâ. Richard temple, Oriental experience, essays and addresses delivered on various occasions, John Murray, London 1883, pp. 155, 165 and 142. 23. This is the great ambition of missionaries, then and now. However, the Great Britain crumbled before the half naked fakir, and before the dream of Richard temple could be realized.

Further Dr. Ebe, has not cared to explain the churchmenâs polemics when he hailed that âmillions of syncretic believersâ. Perhaps the utterance is a shade better than kafir used in Islam. Syncretism is a churchmanâs choicest epithet used to explain away the Hindusâ belief of treating all religions as reflections of the same truth and very often used nastily against Hinduism by the colonial missionaries, to explain the âexcusive nature of Christianityâ and its superiority over other religions, about which progressive theologians like Hans kung, Dr. Herman H. Somers Edward Schillebeeckx and Jesuit Professor Vermeersch are critical.24

To a Swiss professor Rahm who was bewildered by many warring creeds Gandhi said, on 10 May 1936: âit depends on Christians, if only they would make up their minds to unite with the others! But, they will not do so. Their solution is universal acceptance of Christianity as they believe it.â25 (All annotated refernces are duly acknowledged)

== Psychology of Conversions ==

Professor William James has written a whole chapter on Religious Conversions, in his classic book on psychology, âVariety of Religious Experiencesâ16. He classified religious experiences, into various categories, and differentiated between genuine conversions and counterfeit conversions. A whole range of literature is available on the psychology of conversions. The religious conversion cannot become an object of âchoiceâ that could be picked up in a supermarket shelf from varieties of toothpaste. Spiritual conversions are few and far in-between that happen to one in a million or even billion individuals. Genuine Spiritual conversions (not just religious conversions) like what happened to young Siddhartha, St. Paul on the road to Damascus (whose conversion has since been debated by theologians-researchers and psychiatrists like Dr Herman H. Somers 1986. It has since been traced to a heat stroke) Teresa of Avila, Ramakrishna and Naraendranath, (Vivekananda) (quoted by William James) 16 and we can include Mahatma Gandhi17. In all the cases of higher religious conversions the person tends become more Magnanimous and Universal, and less superstitious and fanatical and he /she has out grown the religion in to which he or she was born into.18

While forcible religious conversions, and human interventions on the contrary, tend to develop hatred and animosity towards others18. The individual tends to become more rigid, dogmatically attached to forms, rites, rituals and books and lesser to inward development and acquires an arrogant air of superiority.19 (Sigmund Freud has studied the hatred of converts toward their mother religions See Sigmund Freud: Der Mann Moses und die Monotheistische Religion: Der Abhandkungen (1939), republished by Penguin Freud Library Volume 13. Vintage books, 1939, pp.117-117) 20

Professor Samuel Reimarus (1694- 1768) a professor of oriental languages, of the University of Hamburg Germany, set the ball rolling when he wrote in secret, some 4000 pages, of Higher criticism of the Bible, which was posthumously published by his friend Ephraim lessing seven years after his demise. Lessing also published the last piece of the writing âThe Aims of Jesus and his disciplesâ in 1778 21.

The first real psychopathological study of Jesus Christ as undertaken separately by three psychiatrists: W. Hirsch, Ch. Binet Sangleâ and G. L de Loosten. After examination of the Gospels, they independently reached the same conclusion. That Jesus was mentally ill and suffered from paranoia. 118. (See laâ folie de Jesus in French) Meaning âJesusâ Madnessâ, Paris 1908-1912; W. Hirsch: Religion and Civilisation, Munchen 1910: G.L de loosen: Christus Vom Standpunkt des psychiaters (German; Jesus Christ the psychiatrist point of View Bamburg 1905.) 22

Edward Schillebeeckx a well-known Contemporary progressive theologian ascribes the gospel stories to the imaginations of primitive Church, which wanted to glorify Jesus Christ23. Another ex Jesuit professor Vermeersch said âIf these Bible stories are only stories, do you think that common faithful will remain Christians if they are told about these mere âstoriesâ? The crux of the Christian faith is precisely that God has intervened in history, by sacrificing his only begotten son and resurrecting him. Then the Christian myth is at best of the same order as all pagan myths and Christianity must forsake its claims to uniqueness and finality.â24

No Hindu Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim or Jew has had the least objection to Christians having their beliefs and look for salvation through Jesus (Ebe Sunder Raj the minister), nor do they bother about the dogmas as long as Christians keep it to themselves. It is only when they impose their beliefs trouble starts. When aggressive ministers impose their dogmas on unwilling Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Jews they are forced to register a protest and take closer look at the History of Christianity. 25

Dr Herman H. Somers born on October 3rd 1921 studied at catholic University at Leuven and at Rome. MA in philosophy, PhD in Theology and PhD in Psychology and PhD in classical philology; was in the Jesuit order for 40 years, and led the Jesuit News paper De linie, studied the Bible with the eye of a scientist. He developed serious doubts about the divine origins of the bible and its authors. In 1986, he published the Book Jesus De Messiahs: Was het Christendom een Vergissing? Wrote it inDutch. EOP, Antwerp. (English âJesus the Messiah was Christianity a Mistake?). In 1990 he published a very detailed work on his analysis of Old Testament Prophets titled; Toen God Sliep, Schreef De Mens De Bijbel, De Bijbel Belicht door een Psychloog (When God Slept, man wrote the Bible. The Bible explained by a Psychologist Faucet publishers Antwerp 1990) He has also written on the Jesuit order, A psychological study of Mohammed, and a study of Christian fundamentalist groups like Jehovahâs witness26.

He developed serious doubts and left the order. His studies deal with the psychology Prophetism of and Old Testament in the light of mental health. None of these books have made way into Indian bookstores.27

The church in India is jealous to guard its laity and clergy from coming anywhere near those research findings. The churches in Europe have long since forsaken that logic. The historicity and contradictions abounds within in the bible and Christianity has been brought to light28. The most recent findings of Dead Sea scroll little of which is known in Asian countries

== Higher criticism ==

These Critical Biblical studies have revealed, that the accounts narrated in the Gospels contradict each other and contains innumerable interpolations. The missionaries often use the following quote âgo and preach to all nationsâ, is an interpolation. Most editions of the Bibles being published in western countries, faithfully document it in the footnote, but none of those Bibles being published and handed-out in India carry this footnote. The words âGood Newsâ in the New Testament also has been shown to be an interpolation. It is now widely known that Mark 16.9-20 was added at a future date. The original one stops at 16.8 in all the ancient manuscripts.

== Startling Discovery ==

Professor Morton Smith of Colombia University while he stayed in a monastery in Jerusalem in 1958 discovered startling correspondence between Clement of Alexandria, a Greek theologian and missionary (ca 150 â235 AD) and one Theodore. The most glaring case of expunction came to light as to what happened to the passages after Mark: 10.46, what happens to Jesus after he arrived in Jericho? With this discovery, the centuries old riddle was resolved. It is too sensitive to be mentioned in a newspaper article. See: Professor Morton Smith Clement of Alexandria and the Secret Gospel of Mark, Harvard University, 1973. USA.

Mr. N. DHARMESHWARAN [The Hindu: Thursday, August 30, 2001] reacted to Ramagopalan. âMr Ramgopalan has put up a spirited rebuttal; the lacuna is that it is totally legalisticâ (...) The reason he stated that âwhile religions provide spiritual sustenance, people also need (â¦) material support, education, heath care etc, in this area Hinduism lags way behindâ. That âHinduism lags way behind in charityâ, and that it could not match the others charity; is it reason enough to justify evangelical poaching, and to defy and negate the Indian Supreme courts Judgment? 29

Dharmeshwaran implored Ramgopalan âto improve matters.â Further he added, âthat the apex court has not only struck at forcible conversions, not at the right to propagate which is to spread oneâs own religion â¦ or proselytize; otherwise of what use is this rightâ 30. The writer did not draw the fine distinction between forcible conversions, and voluntary conversions. He was keener to defend the Christian missionaries right to convert, because they are numerically more in service, as compared to the paucity of Hinduism; which itself is a fallacy, as we are going to examine in detail. He did not refute the point of Rama Gopalan that illegal conversions are not occurring.

He probably does not know that, the Janatha regime 1977-78, made an attempt in the rightful direction to segregate between genuine conversions and forcible conversions, however, Powerful missionary lobby, thwarted this effort. He also presumably did not see any connection between Article 25 which âstates that Freedom of conscience and free âprofessingâ âpracticeâ and âpropagationâ of religion is directly linked with the following clause 1) â subject to public order morality (â¦) and, clause 2). âNothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law or prevent the state from making any law: a) regulating or restricting economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice (â¦) â. The right to profess practise and propagate religion is not absolute. These rights are subject to âpublic order, morality and healthâ (â¦) when this was violated, the state had to invade the Golden temple, when it was used as âfortress-golden-templeâ by Sikh extremists. 31

The clause 2 b emphatically states that the freedom of conscience to profess, practise and propagate does not come in the way of âthe state providing for social welfare or reformâ. Not only article 44 directs the state to formulate a common civil code for all citizens, the clause 2b of article 25 give the complete authority to the state to ensure â social welfare and reformâ. (Shah Bano case, regardless of the out come of the case, the state did attempt to provide alimony rights and welfare for the aged divorcee) 33

== Legal Discrimination ==

ARTICLE 29

âArticle 29 says that every minority has the right to protect its religion, language, script and culture. Article 30 says that every minority group has the right to establish and run educational institutions of its choice.â34

âUnder Article 30 of the Constitution, minorities have the most precious right of running educational institutions in accordance with their own cultures and values, but Hindus have been denied this right. This discrimination means that the Indian State is more liberal in helping propagation of alien cultures than the promotion of Hindu culture. You cannot find such a perverse provision in the constitution of any independent nation of the world.â35

ARTICLE 30

Article 30 of the Constitution lays down that the minorities can set up government-sponsored denominational schools, implying their right to a communal bias in recruitment of teachers and students and a religion-centered curriculum. When the Constitutional Assembly voted this article, many delegates probably assumed that the extension of the same rights to the Hindu majority was self-understood; but in practice, this right is denied to the Hindus.36

In 1980, when the Ramakrishna Mission deemed it necessary to declare itself a non-Hindu minority (a self-definition challenged in court by its own members and finally struck down by the Supreme Court in 1995) in order to prevent the Communist West Bengal government from nationalizing its schools. 37

Likewise for the Sikhs, the Lingayats, even the Hare Krishnas, who have all come to profess: âWe are not Hindusâ. The ultimate Supreme Court ruling surprisingly did give an assurance of protection against state interference to the R.K. Mission schools, on grounds not of Article 30 but of the recognition of special privileges for the R.K. Mission under an old Bengal state law. At any rate, Article 30 constitutes a very serious discrimination on grounds of religion, and is in conflict with the professed secular character of the Indian Republic.37

K. R. Malkani says: âOther private schools and colleges have to reserve teaching and non-teaching jobs for SC-ST-OBCs, but minority institutions can appoint whomsoever the like. â¦Private schools have to get prior permission of the Chief Educational Officer for appointing outsiders to higher posts; minority institutions do not have to follow this ruleâ¦ the Department can withdraw recognition for violation of rules. However, authorities cannot withdraw recognition from a minority institution.38

However serious the violation of rulesâ¦ while the Hindu institutions [have] no fundamental right to compensation in case of compulsory acquisition of their property by the state, a minority educational institution shall have the fundamental right to compensation. In Malkaniâs view, âa lasting solution to this problem lies only in amending Article 30 of the Constitution, giving the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice to all religious denominations and not only to the minorities.â39

The combative CPM Government in West Bengal did go out of its way to harass the Ramakrishna Mission schools, but most Congress Governments never did anything of the kind. And sometimes, attempts are made to take control of minority institutions as well, for example in 1992, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Recognised Private Schools (Regulation) Amendments Bill and Recognized Private Colleges (Regulation) Amendments Bill, empowering the state government to exercise some control over the private schools and colleges: âThe Bills are strongly supported by the unions of university, college and school teachers and other staff. But they are equally strongly opposed by Christian and Muslim school and college managements.â 40

So, in practice, the discrimination against Hindus in education is limited. Nonetheless, it remains unjust that it is on the statue book, even if it were not actually implemented anywhere. Thomas Abraham from Madras, writes: âLet the Hindus also be given the same right as any other minority to run educational institutions, protect their language, etc. That is to say, the ambit of Article 30 in our Constitution should be changed. The state must be debarred from regulating, supervising or interfering in any way with the administration and practices followed in Hindu temples. Educational institutions run by Hindus will be free to propagate and preach Hinduism with the same constitutional protection now afforded to the minority religions.â What he proposes is simply the extension of the special rights enjoyed by the minorities to the Hindu majority. â41

On the crucial issue of Article 30, a very official form of support has come from very unexpected quarters: Syed Shahabuddin, who introduced âThe Constitution (Amendment of Article 30) Billâ in the Lok Sabha, 1995. As already discussed, Article 30 discriminates against the Hindu majority by laying down the following provision: âall minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.â This means that minorities can establish state-subsidized schools where they have a free hand in conducting religion-based curricular, admission and recruitment policies, but the majority cannot. Shahabuddin wants to change all that. The central part of the amended version of Article 30 would read like this, as per Shahabuddinâs bill: âAny section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof, professing a distinct religion or having a distinct language, script or culture of its own or forming a distinct social group shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of its choice.â This is Shahabuddinâs statement of objects and reasons.42

âBy judicial interpretation, the term âminorityâ has been extended to include identifiable social groups which form a minority in the population of a State even if they form a majority in the Union as a wholeâ¦ In a vast and complex plural society, almost every identifiable group, whether identifiable by religion, including denomination or sect, or by language, including dialects, forms a minority at some operational or functional levels, even if it forms a majority at some other levels. In the age of ethnicity that has dawned in the world, all identifiable groups are equally anxious to maintain their identity and they too wish to have the privilege of the right to establish educational institutions of their choiceâ¦ The aspiration for conserving and communicating religious and cultural traditions and language to succeeding generations is legitimate and applies to all groups, big or small. It is, therefore, felt that the scope of article 30 of the Constitution should be widened to include all communities and all sections of citizens who form a distinct social group at any level. Of late, Article 30 has been criticized as bestowing a privilege on the minority communities, which the majority community does not enjoy. The majority community or any section thereof should also be allowed to establish and administer educational institutions of its choice, if it so desire.43

âHence this Bill.

New Delhi, April 20, 1995.

âSyed Shahabuddinâ

Like so many Private Bills, Shahabuddinâs Bill never made it to the voting stage, but it showed how he is aware of the mobilizing potential of the Article 30 issue. Apparently, he wanted to defuse it before the BJP would acquire the acumen to perceive and exploit this potential.â44

ARTICLE 370

Another de facto discrimination, though no religious denomination mentioned by Hindus, exists in the articles giving a special status to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu & Kashmir and the Christian-majority states of Mizoram and Nagaland.â 45

âConversion in the constitution: âthe constitution also contains several provisions which do not formally discriminate, but which are disadvantageous to the Hindus in practice. One sore point is the rights to convert, which in theory also protects the rights of rights of Hindus to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism, but was in fact enacted (overruling Hindu opposition to protect the rights of Christian missionaries to convert Hindus to Christianityâ 46 Even Hindu minors are not protected under the constitution. True that the right to propagate applies to all religion, yet it is a competition among in equals. 47

Discrimination in the constitution: Article 29 and 30

According to this article minorities can set up schools, etc implying the right to have a communal bias in teachers selections, promotions and students and also a religious curriculum. But in practice this right is denied to Hindus. Article 30 constitutes a serious ground for discriminating against the Hindus. The state of India could be sued in the international court of justice, for meting out this injustice. 48

The article 29â protects the interests of minorities: religion, language and script âis and article 30 Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions â¦of their choice.â What are the characteristics of a minority institution? Controversies have centered on Articles 26, 29, and 30. These articles focus at different citizen groups. Article 26 guarantees rights to all citizens. While article 30 is specific about minority rights: whether based on religions or language. In addition, it gives âall minorities ââ¦ the right to set up religious institutions. Could it be that only religious minorities are permitted and not linguistic minorities? Article 30 has been interpreted to provide âan absolute rightâ for the minority institutions. Many Hindu institutions like Ramakrishna mission, Brahma Samaj have declared them as minorities, Hare Krishnaâs, in order to take coverage, under this article 30. The article states: â the state shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institutions on the ground that it is under the management of a minority whether based on religion or languageâ. Private (non minority) reserve posts for teaching and non-teaching jobs to BCs, OBCS, SCS and STS. Nevertheless, minority institutions are free to appoint the persons of their choice.49

This has put these institutions well beyond supervision and control. This is major lacuna in the constitution itself, a sore spot, and grievance for the Hindus, and gives opportunity for others to jibe at, that âthe Hindus are less charitableâ, Ludicrous. The articles 26, 29 and 30 have to be examined and re written, in order to ensure equal rights guaranteed under the constitution be covered to all Indian citizens. âThe state should support only secular, non-religious, non-denominational institutions. All educational institutions must be recognized to be on par and no favorable treatment meted to any body.â Last but not the least, the exercise of rights under all articles in this section of the constitution must be subject to the domain of public national interest of the constitution. âOne cannot expect the Hindus to run marathon race with both foot bound,â much to the chagrin of Hindus. Hindus should seek to remedy the disadvantage. They are pushed into the pit to compete against unequal competitors with rules of the game favoring the other side. Mr. Syed Shahbhuddin, did in fact recognize the problem faced by Hindus and made an attempt. He moved a private membersâ bill in the parliament to amend the constitution suitably. (20 April, 1995). It never made it to the voting stage. Mr. M. M.Beg, Chairman of minoritiesâ commission recommended todisband the minoritiesâ commission. Justice Muhammad Currimbhoy Chagla wrote in his autobiography (1973): âI have often strongly disagreed with governmental policy of constantly harping upon minority status and minority rights. It comes in the way of national unity and emphasis the differences between the majority and minority. Of course, it may serve well as a vote catching device to win Muslim votes (also Christian) but I do not believe in sacrificing national interests in order to get temporary party benefits. Although the directive principles of state enjoin a uniform civil code, the government has refused to anything about it, on the plea that minorities will resent any attempt at imposition.â 50 (References 31 to 50 from K. Elst Decolonizing the Hindu Mind.) (All annotated refernces are duly acknowledged)

11-08-2005, 08:03 PM

Continued and ties in with the thread's theme..

QUOTE
== âWho is lagging behind in charity?â ==

Who said that the Hindus âare lagging way behind in charityâ? (N. Dharmeshwaran (The Hindu dated August 30th); this is a grandmas story. The information has to be updated. May be, Christians have an edge in having more number of institutions. Ever since the Ramakrishna Mission started its service activities 100 years ago now, innumerable Hindu Institutions have come up not only in India, but in other countries as well. May be organizationally and funds wise Christian institutions have an edge. Nevertheless, in India, qualitatively Hindu Institutions are far ahead of Christian Institutions. They are up to date in terms of the range of services and the state of art facilities. Mother Theresa herself never under went any treatment in her destitute hospitals. When she was ill she was admitted to hospitals best equipped--where the best care was available--the BM Birla Heart research center--a Hindu charitable hospital. She never was admitted to her own institutions. 68

I was amazed when I visited Dharmastala (Karnataka state) where an estimated 25000 people are fed at the Manjunathaswamy temple free of cost. Each pilgrim can avail this for a minimum of three days. This works to almost a staggering figure of, 10000000 pilgrims every year, 1% of Indian population; this act of Dharma is happening day in day out without governmental support or international Aid for the last several centuries. Other temples too have similar arrangements, for pilgrims, like Mantralayam, Mookambika, and Tirupathi etc. so what is seen here is but remnants of what it was like earlier, only a glimpse of the glorious past. So charity is nothing new and foreign that Hindus have to take lessons from missionaries. The Sikh langars (kitchens) in Gurudwaras in India and else where, offer âdalâ, ârotiâ, and âsweetâ to devotees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. The Kala Kambli Wala Baba Ashrams, though in a decaying state, after a century or so of existence, still provide blankets, against bitter cold; accommodation and food for over night pilgrims, in the entire Himalayan belt. So is charity foreign to India that missionaries have to teach Hindus A..B..Câ¦ of it?

The Dharmastala Temple, in Karnataka provides free food for an average of 25000 devotees every day. This has been going on for the past hundreds of years. This figures add up to approximately one crore people every year, or one percent of the Indian population.67 Sri Satya Sai Super Specialty Hospitals, Puttaparthi68 and White field provide FREE FIVE STAR treatment for heart and kidney diseases, regardless of caste, creed etc. since its inception thousands of patients, mostly poor patients, have under gone bye pass, valve replacement etc. (none of the Christian institutions, in India can come even closer to this record). The Satya Sai trust has provided water supply to the entire district of Rayalaseema, covering 600 villages, and to more than a million people69. One of the largest and complex projects successively completed in a record time, by an NGO in any part of the world. Former President Shankar Dhayal Sharma said âwhat governments are expected to do you doing, I am ashamed to say thisâ70. He said this in a public meeting. Further the education offered by the trust, is free, for ALL (capital A) in the deemed university, from nursery to PhD; for not only to Hindus or devotees of Sai, but for all71. There is no overt or covert compulsion, to abandon oneâs religion. Matha Amrithanada Mayeeâs Super specialty hospitals, in Trivandrum72, have taken the challenge into traditional Christian strong hold in Kerala. Thousands of patients, Christians apart from Hindus have under gone bye pass, angioplasties etc, in these institutions. Other notable Hindu charitable institutions include the Chinamaya Missions73, Bangaru adigalar74, Adi Parasakthi foundation has innumerable charitable institutions; Shankarcharyasâ Hindu Mission Hospital, and educational institutions74, the Poorna Pragna institutions of the Admar Math, Udipi, 75 are doing exceptional service. The combined strength of this volunteerâs corps of these bodies would exceed more than 10 million. The Sai organization has overwhelming branches in 117 countries with over 8000 centres in India alone76. It will be matter of time before they exceed the Christian charities. Nevertheless, none of these organizations talks in terms of competing with Christianity or any one else or use it as a plank for conversions.

If one has to use that fallacious logic of N. Dharmeshwaran (The Hindu dated August 30th) all those Christian patients including Mother Theresa. Could be, âas-a-matter-of-rightâ ought to be converted to Hinduism. Nevertheless, not a single Christian was ever converted, as a pre condition for the expensive treatment, or to get benefit from the water connection. The chief minister of Karnataka, Mr. SM Krishna 77 requested Sai to start a similar hospital in Bangalore. He said that âdiseases do not differentiate between rich and poor and between people of various statesâ. The hospital came up in record time of 11 months is located near the IT Park, Bangalore, White field. (If Dr. J. Jayalaltha makes a formal request, (though I am not a official spokes person) to the Sai trust, to give a solution, to the Chennaiâs perennial water problem, the Sai trust may take up the challenge, to give a permanent solution to Chennaiâs world famous water problem.)

Mr. Ebe Sunder Raj (The Hindu dated, 1st September), challenged Mr. Ramagopalan âMr. Ramgopalan will do well to document ten cases of a Dalit or tribal embrace the Christian faith by force or fraud, as convicted by a court of law in the last 50 years anywhere in India. A thousand repetitions do not convert false allegations into truthâ. 78

Well, Ebe has taken a chance, a rash and exuberant approach. The Published statistics by missionaries would disprove his challenge. The baptismal records available in all churches would disprove his contention. Conversions are taking place, all the time, all the places, and all over India, which is vast territory. No individual organization could collect statistics on conversions, from such a vast territory. Hindu organizations are poor producer of documents, is a fact well known, hence Ebe decided to take his chance. It is job of the government -- both central and well states, or a high profile enquiry commission that could dig into the data on conversions -- Hindu organizations have not spent a single rupee to collect all the vital statistics79, related conversions, leave alone documenting them. They would not be even interested in such a proposal.

Even the Niyogi committee faced enormous problem to get the details of Baptisms from church records.80 (the Niyogi committee report p.11) the missionaries did not co-operate with the committee. Initially the missionaries cooperated with the commission. Later they stopped. Subsequently they also moved the high court for a mandamus Petition No. 263 of 1955. The petition was dismissed by the high court on April on 12. 1956. âThe judges said that it was within the competence of the state government to appoint a fact finding committee to collect information and that there has been no infringement of any fundamental right of the petitionersâ. See: The Niyogi Committeesâ Report, Page 21 81 we can produce even a 100-year record.

== Gandhi and Missionaries ==

In India, when the missionaries found out that after 50 years of efforts they could not convert one Gandhi, with that half of India, Reverent Stanley Jones mounted a direct attack on Mahatma Gandhi. [The National Christian council review April 1946, Page 40]. What do you call this behavior, if not âimperial designsâ?

The official position of the Church has been different from the loyalties expressed by individual Christians, as seen in the Goa episode, or that of C.F Andrews and Verrier Elwin. âOne or two black sheep does not make all the flock white.â

The missionaries were expressing unhappiness with Mahatma Gandhi. Despite their best efforts for over five decades, they could not convert him to Christianity. (Reports of the Tambaram conference 1938) Their hopes were dashed, when they could not convert one Gandhi, and with that half of India. To Dr. John R. Mott a supremo, the leading American evangelist, fundraiser for protestant missions, and who won Nobel Prize in later years, it was a personal challenge. He came to meet Gandhiji to convince and convert him to Christianity. The final meeting lasted over six hours. He asked in one of the interviews on 21st march 1929,â what was the contribution of Christianity to national life of Indiaâ Gandhiji said: âAye, this is the rub. It is not possible to consider the teachings of the religious teacher apart from the followers.

Unfortunately, Christianity in India has been intrinsically mixed up for the last one hundred years with the British rule, to us synonymous with the materialistic civilization and imperialistic exploitation by the strong white races of the weaker races of the world. Its contribution to India has been largely negative in character. It has done some good in spite of its professors. It has shown some good into setting our house in orderâ. Collected Works, vol.40, and pp. 58-59.

The laws related to conversions exist in Indian States like Arunachal pradesh MP and Orissa; these are stringent legislations against Proselytizing. The Arunachal Pradesh freedom of religion act 1978 82 provides for prohibition of conversion from indigenous faith to any other faith by fraudulent means. The state intelligence report says, âthat the missionaries have made a mockery of the freedom of religious actâ. Missionaries were known to break and attack the âinner lineâ regulations even up to 1989, when this was in force.83 According to CBCI 1994: In the tribal districts and Northeastern States catholic Bishops conference have majority Christians, the trend is showing: âThe Tribal Church of the North Eastâ As a whole people of the Northeast have welcomed Christianity in a big way. Today in three out of the seven states, Christians constitute the majority: Mizoram (83%), Nagaland (80%), Meghalaya (52%). 70% of the Christians in the N.E are either Presbyterians or Baptists. Catholics account for one-fourth of the Christian population of the area and 5.6 % of India. The catholic population which was less than 60000 at the time of independence has sharply increase to climb up to 7.1 lakhs in 1990, thanks to the missionary zeal of salesiansâ¦â 84

== Boom in Christian Population in NE ==

Growth of Christian population in North East India 1951 â1971

STATE CHRISTIAN POPULATION GENERAL POPULATION

NAGALAND 76.29% 39.88%
MEGHALAYA 75.43% 31.55%
MANIPUR 83.66% 37.33%
TRIPURA 56.52% 36.28%

See: F. S. Down. âChristianity in northeast India Historical perspectivesâ, Gauhati 1983, pp 3-4:85 quoted by Sita Ram Goel in Hindu Christian conflits.

The Orissa freedom of religion bill Act 2 of 1968 25 has its stated objectives; to provide for prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by the use of force or inducement or by fraudulent means and for matters incidentals there to .the Orissa act defines force and fraud as follows. âForce shall include a show of force or a threat of injury of any kind including threat of divine displeasure or social excommunication â. Inducement shall include the offer any gift or gratification either in cash or in kind. The Act was passed in 1967, but rules were framed in 1989 only. 86

The Justice Wadhawa commission reported, âNo one was aware of the freedom of Religion Act or Rules framed there under in the state at least in the districts of Mayurbhgang and Keonjar. These provisions of law were lying dormant and had never been put into operation for the last many years. ADMITTEDLY, there were conversions to Christianity in these two districts. No person intending to convert his religion ever gave a declaration before a magistrate prior to such conversions of his intent to convert his religion on his own will which was the requirement of ârule 4â. Similarly, the religious priest did not give intimation of such conversion as per âform Aâ under the rules. District magistrate did not maintain a register of conversion as per form prescribed. Since they did not make any record of conversions, they did not send any report of conversions to the state government. Mr. Balkrishnan, District magistrate, Mayurbhgang and Mr. Saurab Garg district magistrate were examined to know if any action had been taken under the freedom of religion Act and rules framed there under. They expressed ignorance of the provisions of the law relating to conversions and said that they had become aware of these only after the incident at Manoharpur on the night of 22/23/1/1999.87

âTo meâ, Justice Wadawa stated, 28 âit appears that even now they do not understand the full scope and intent of the provisions of the Orissa act and rules.â These are salutary provisions and prohibit conversions from one religion to another by the use of force, inducement or by any fraudulent means. Even any abatement to such conversion has been made an offence. If these provisions of the law, in my view, are strictly followed no one can have any grievance to contend that gullible and innocent tribals are being convertedâ¦88

The Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantra Adhiniyam 27 of 1968 also seeks to prohibit conversions by any fraudulent means and has similar provisionsâ¦. 105 â make fraudulent conversions, including those done by holding out promise of economic or social benefits, a punishable offence; and produce a system of registering conversionsâ90

Because they failed to register 94 conversion, of tribals to Christianity, as required by this Madya Pradesh Act two missionaries were sentenced to undergo six months imprisonment (One 82 year old Flemish and one 50 year old nun) (Indian Express: 30.1.1996). 91 In 1988, two separate incidents involving the fathers of the Dengtol mission and the sarabil center pointed to their association with Bodo activists. In 1992 two British nationals were caught, they had been advocating a separate Naga country through a Naga vigil organization and had been receiving active support from insurgent Naga national councilâ¦ and now intelligence reports to government of the secessionist NSCN (k) coordinating contacts with the tribal Baptist mission in areas adjacent to Myanmar.

The report speaks of âliberal financial contributionsâ between NSCN (K) and a specific church organization.â Intelligence reports mention that having entrenched themselves in other states in the northeast missionaries are concentrating in the strategic Arunachal pradesh. In 1971, less than 0.8 Christians were there in Arunachal pradesh, and today one eighth of it has already been converted. The conversions leading to social tensions,â aided and abetted by anti-India propaganda machinery âprepare the ground for anti-national forces to secure allies and clients they noteâ.

In a single baptism ceremony more than 350 were converted, the figure mentioned in an intelligence report sent to Home ministry by IB. Arun Shourie and Christian Critics page 64, 65. Emphasized.31. Quoting from top-secret intelligence reports: âPoints to the association of Nagaland council led by Adrino Phizo have been given support by church groups to advocate separation from the main land. In Mizoram, the role of the church is overtly political. The Don Bosco schools which are everywhere in the north east are known by Tripura intelligence bureau to sometimes harbor extremists at night. (The militants shot three priests two months ago when they refused to pay extortion money).

But Tripura government chooses to closes its eyes Does the common man know that the nexus between separatists and the church is so strong in Tripura and Assam that temples are being demolished, that people are scared to practice pujas, except in stronghold of agartala, that Hindu social workers do not dare to go in the interiorâ¦that power and water to Ramakrishna missions were cutâ¦ Extracts from the writings of Francois Gautier on India) Christ and northeast pages 38 39 & 40.92

Lessons not learnt: Justice Wadawa commission reports that missionaries, including the slain Graham Staines, regularly put the regulations in the back burner. The parent organization âOperation worldâ, âTidingsâ the journal in Australia, to which Staines used to send customary dispatches, did not cooperate with the enquiry committee nor it did send copies of the progress reports sent by Graham Staines, as solicited for the enquiry, by the commission, and the commission has put it on record that it had to get it from alternative sources. If everything were as transparent as projected by Ebe Raj why the family (Gladys) of the deceased and the parent organization did not cooperate with the enquiry committee? Why should it hide the reports? The Hon. Justice Wadhawa has given a sample of the reports sent by Graham Staines and Gladys Staines to the parent organization Tidings in Australia. 108 93

# 1. Graham Staines and Gladys Staines, Mayurbhganj, 25 April, 1997: The first jungle camp in Ramachandrapur was a fruitful one... About 100 people attended and some were baptized at the camp. Five were baptized at Bigonbadiâ¦109 94

#2. Graham Staines and Gladys Staines, Mayurbhganj, 23 July 1997: Praise the God for answered prayers in the recent Jagannath car festival at Baripada. A good team of preachers came from the village churches and four OM workers helped in the second part of the festival. There was a record book sales, so a lot of literature has gone into peoplesâ handâ¦[OM is a code word used to refer to one of the largest missionary publisher, âOperation Worldâ and distributor of missionary literature Located in Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom, about whom we shall see in the next paragraph. 110. (Courtesy Arun Shourie who noted this and made an observation even in the parliament) 95

From 1998 onwards, the disgusting stories about India started appearing in the websites, many are missionary websites, should be seen as part of the larger effort, to tip the worldwide opinion, against India and are aimed at disinformation, destabilization and balkanization. Operation world a missionary organization located in Carlisle UK, in 1993 showed the map of India with J&K and Arunachal Pradesh like it was to be found in some othersâ territory. It was to the same Operation World located in Australia that the deceased missionary Graham Staines used to dispatch his progress reports. Justice Wadawa committee reports that when these progress reports were solicited for the enquiry from, âTidings âthe magazine, which financed Graham Stainesâ mission in Orissa, Manoharpur, concerned persons did not cooperate. The commission had to source the copy of Stainesâ reports through a different channel.96

#3. Graham Staines and Gladys Staines, Mayurbhganj, 19 December 1998: it is encouraging to hear of some improvements in the church at manoharpur and that they are preparing for a jungle camp. Misayel, Paul, and Nehamiah, visited Patana. As many were away for Rice harvesting, they could meet only fewâ¦ and encouraged a new believer who had been a head priest of the Sana Dharom, an animist sect. The village people pleaded with him not to become a Christian, saying, âhow can we continue our worship if you leave us?ââ you can do as you like, I am following Christ, he saidâ¦37 [NOTE: Staines is labeling Hinduism as âSano dharmâ, Sanatana Dharma an animist sect, like all other missionaries he focused on converting head priest obviously a Brahmin, in order to facilitate mass conversions]

He disturbed the harmony between villagers by converting the head priest. However, the minoritiesâ commission is so blind that it mentioned cordial relations prevailed in the area against all evidence. Tension prevailed in the region for several years because of the arrival of Staines and his team. B.P Panda the Director General of Police (October 1997 to March 1999) stated âMr Staines was attending Jungle mela in manoharpur area for 20 years. Majority of Adivasi Christians had been converted to Christianity through his efforts.â Was it legitimate Mr Ebe? He was violating the law of the land. S. C. Bala, the Superintendent of police of the Crime Branch who investigated the case, stated to the Wadawa Commission the motive for the murders âappeared to be that non-Christian people were aggrieved on the Ground that Christian fathers missionaries are converting the people to Christianity in a deceitful manner by giving allurementsâ-- a flagrant violation of the law of the land, who should be blamed? 112.

Meanwhile the police threw 51 innocent persons into jail blindly violating all Human rights. âIt would appear that 51 persons underwent the agony of going into judicial custody for two months or more. Initially the state government took a great deal of pride in the arrests. Ultimately further events showed that in the state of Orissa as far as the 51 persons are concerned there was no rule of law. Prakash Mehra (DIG) in his supervision note had stated that there was no evidence in respect of all the five FIR-named accused persons or the 51 persons arrested by the local policeâ¦ asks Justice Wadawa,â the question then arises in view of the contradictions, what was the motivating force behind it? He concludes, âWhy so many persons were arrested between 23 and 28 January 1999? The state government rattled by its failure to maintain law and order to protect the innocent and then show speedy and decisive action. Presenting a false pictureâ. The whole incident points out the result of failure to nip the violations to law and order and the resulting costs. It also raises another key issue âwhether the life of white men were more valuable than the lives of 51 brown Indiansâ, why this servile attitude? 97

I.D Jawahraraj, [the Hindu September 5th 2001, said âMr Rama gopalan will do well to give the concept about mission of Christian missionaries and let us all strive to understand the tenets of each otherâs religion for the sake of enduring peace and good will among different communitiesâ,101 Perfect. However, to whom is this being addressed? His intention is all right. However, he has to consider the official position of the church also. Christian missionaries should prove more by their acts than by their words, the position of individual Christians are often eclipsed by official positions of church bodies including the Vatican, and its newer tenets like âdominus Jesusâ etc.102

The Pope John Paulâs Book âCrossing The Thresholds of Hopeâ103 a 229-Page Book, Alfred knopf (Bill Clinton was offered a million dollars by the same publishers) published with his official signature, wherein he attacks all the Eastern religions; Hinduism, Buddhism TM, Meditation and Yoga He also makes it a point to condemn all the New age schools of thinking, in polite words; as the church cannot use the harsh words of yester years. He praises the western civilization for the progress it has made, but fails to say, that this was in spite of the church, that the champions of liberty had to fight the Church tooth and nail at each step. He gives credit to all the good things it brought to life; Science and invention, but fails to say about the anti-scientific attitude of the Vatican. He denounces those church members who take to these eastern yoga and meditative practices, and warns the churchmen and women against the dangers of taking to these contemplative techniques of âinteriorityâ; 104 though these methods have been proved scientifically, for their efficacy in all major research labs, and hospitals in over 1000 scientific experiments.

He issues a general warning against the growing popularity of eastern religions in Europe and Americas. His comment on Buddhism as a ânegative religionâ 105 drew wide protests from the Buddhists of Srilanka, when the pope visited the island 20000 police men had to be assigned to contain the angry Srilankans106. It is not the Hindus, who need to show tolerance, as suggested by Jawahar Raj, [The Hindu September 5th 2001] which they have been showing to the point of their own destruction, but it is for the Christians to show tolerance, now. No Shankaracharya or Dalai Lama or Jain Acharya, or Shinto master has ever written a book condemning Christianity like what the pope has done. Even in the Survey of RSS, BMS, BJP, VHP literature, covering 50 years, I have not come across a single sentence condemning Jesus Christ or his teachings107. They are all against missionary methods of converting Hindus. Christianity has to go long way before it can lay claims to tolerance, broadmindedness and appeal to universality, as Ebe Sunder Raj would like others to believe; the stories which can probably be sold to hapless Tribals in the Northeast, who will swallow it without a pinch of salt. The Dalai Lama called conversions â foolishâ. However, the missionaries continue, for they believe in the doctrine of absurdum âI believe because it is absurd.â108

According to ACS churches in need, the official religious rights organization, located in Rome, May 2000 report, 65 countries have banned proselytizing completely, including Israel, China, Myanmar and all the Islamic countries.109

In this context it is imperative to examine the imperial doctrines of the church related to âConversion-Syndromeâ and what worldâs foremost theologians have to say about this that does not figure out in any of the issues debated in India. Even though Hans Kung is considered the foremost authority on Christian Theology and a Catholic scholar, the credentials did not however save him from the wrath of the Vatican. On the orders of Pope John Paul II he was removed from the faculty of the university of Tubingen Norway. Kung is a strong critic of the Vatican and questioned the infallibility of the pope, its doctrine of excusivism which he calls, âSemitic exclusivsmâ. 110

It is not that Hindus are alone facing problems of losing out to Christianity, even within Christianity less aggressive Roman Catholicism is losing out to North American evangelicals. Which made the pope remark In the South American countries there is severe competition between the American evangelical churches and the Roman catholic one, which led the pope to issue a warning, when he was in South American against the predatory âevangelical wolvesâ, who steal the Catholics.111 It is against this backdrop that one must evaluate Pope John Paulâsâ pronouncements about the ânew harvest of faithâ in manila in 1995, which he repeated during his Diwali 1999 address in India. He did not of course tell that without this new harvest the church is all but doomed to failure. Further, the âchurch taxesâ levied in many European Countries, on the salary of wage earners, force people to declutch from any organizational membership.111. Protestants, leading tensions in family and social tensions, have breached Roman Catholic strong holds of southern India. Buddhism and Judaism are as much suffering.

âFor years now Indian clergy have been outspoken in criticizing the Vatican and its official dogmas. Cardinal Josef Tomko in his address to the cardinals in Rome, on 4-5 April 1991, accused India as an epicenter of new heresies. As for the sensibilities of Hindus, Buddhists and others, they may be injured but can hardly be shocked. When he visited India in 1999, Pope John Paul II delivered the official conclusion to the Synod for Asia, which emphasized that Jesus was the unique savior of humanity and called for a more energetic proclamation of the Gospel throughout the region. 111 .

In December 1864, Pope Pius IX issued a document âSyllabus Errorumâ33 condemning â80 Principal errors of our ageâ. It was one of the most important documents of the first Vatican council {1869 â 1870 AD}. It condemned the liberal values of Europeâfreedom of thought, freedom of opinion, liberty of conscience and opinion, scientific temperament and tolerance were denounced as heresies. In 1907 Pope Pius, his successor added Lamentability34 another list of heresy of 65 items condemning modernity, individual liberty, and freedom of thinking etc. as anathema. With the changing times the Vatican and other churches could no longer interfere in individual liberty and freedom of conscience as reflected in the modern European value systems so they continue to invent newer theologies; inculturation, liberation theology, ecumenism etc. The Vatican could no longer use force or issue âSyllabus Errorumâ, from where this rejoinder, gets its bearing, a full response to readers of âThe Hindu.112

During the quit India movement August 1942 most of the missionaries took sides with the British. William Paton, secretary of international missionary council denounced Gandhiji and called the movement the âmoral imbecilities of Mr Gandhiâ in a letter that he wrote on July 24 1942, to the secretary of state of India Mr. L. S. Amery. Also were atypical priests like C.F. Andrews and Verrier Elwin who were trustworthy of Gandhi. 115 (All annotated refernces are duly acknowledged)

== âPrice of Liberation Theologyâ ==

Gandhi said to a group of missionaries who sought his guidance on 12 March 1942 âamong all agents of the many untruths that are propounded in the worlds one of the foremost is Theology, I do not say that there is no demand for it, there is demand in the world for many a questionable thingâ. 114 (Collected works volume 71, page 328.)

In this Part we are going to examine few of the underpinning the root cause of the church, which most of the lay Christians, have left it to their pastors, even less Hindus have ever bothered to know about these doctrines developed by human beings. Many a drop out of theological college, who have been earlier exposed to scientific ways of reasoning, call it 'loonyâ â priestlyâ, âmedievalâ etc.

Time-honored Christianity has all but buckled in the west. The aged dogmas have been replaced by technology and science driven by a business economy, fundamentally altering the foundation of the church, called by social scientists as politicization of the church. Opinionated and dominant social values continue to heavily influence the church. The post Freudian thinking makes the church to change its moral teachings to fit the circumstances. Religion is recast in a new mould for organizing political action as decided by the state. In attendance is a fundamental difference to be appreciated -- the deep shift that has taken place: involvement of religion with politics versus reinterpretation of religious values as political ideologies. The church has gone astray in its influence in the traditional sense, with vanished jurisdictions and on questions of societal morality, which is quickly getting crammed with reactionary evangelism .In their bereavement agonies the churches are infecting their malady to third world countries in Asia and Africa. This is a hazardous trend and vital to be understood in proper attitude as religion and spirituality have not deceased yet, in these parts of the world. {See for more information: Christianity and the world Order by Edward Norman, Oxford University Press, 1979.}116

Andrew M. Greeley an ex parish priest , is an acclaimed novelist and writer who has to his credit more than a dozen books including âHow the Popes are electedâ, confesses, in his autobiography; that â The fashion in clerical circlesâ was âturning towards liberation theologyâ¦ he says, â but liberation Theology is in fact neither religion â not theology but political and social ideology disguised as a religion-and it can be called liberation only in the sense that Marxist dictatorship means liberation. Liberation Theology demand acceptance in the name of the poor, implying, it would seem, that Marxism and Marxism alone could solve the problemsâ¦â He asks the clergy who propound this theory (â¦) âto take a close look at Poland or Cubaâ (the book was printed in 1987), that âwould correct the notion,â âbut the liberation theology people are enthused about their mission to look at the worldâ. Does it have any scientific foundation at least? âTheir theology is devoid of serious economic or social analysisâ. What then is it? âWhen one comes to the places in their books to where one might expect them to demonstrate some Understanding of economic and social processes one finds either quotes from Marx or diatribes against the United Statesâ. Just as opposition to the Vatican council can only be intellectually satisfying to those catholic traditionalists who have no sense of the history of the tradition, so liberation theology can be satisfying only to those enthusiasts who have no sense of the complexity of the worldâ. 117, P 308. âIn all solutions are simple. Liberation theology may make sense. But when one charges the supporters with enthusiastic over simplification, they reply: our cause is the cause of the poorâ118 p.: 309. He Cautions: The dangerous part however is when missionaries try to stir up revolutions in other countries. âThey become imperialists indistinguishable from the multi national conglomerates they denounce, although the MNCs provide employment and income for the poor countries and the missionaries provide nothing at allâ. 119 Why donât you leave us alone? Said college studentâ¦ why donât you take your politics and religion and go home? 120 P. 309 Liberation theology is bad theology and worse social reform, but I donât believe the church should condemn those who teach it. In fact, although it makes much noise in the seminaries of South America, it had little impact on the life of the people. While theologians have been preaching Marxist revolutions, the actual historical trend in South America has been the direction of social democracyâ¦ 150p.309.Small wonder we were a minority and small wonder we were infuriating when we were also loud mouthed and smart assed as I wasâ¦. 121 P.309. Confessions of a parish priest Pocket books 1987, New York. Right wing Christian missionaries have given no rest to governments in Latin America and other regions of the world by their ridiculous policy ofâ liberation theologyâ, including northeast India and the tribal belt. 122

With the advent of reason and science, traditional religion has collapsed all over the western countries. The further division of the church and the state is complete. It is the divorced of the church state relationship that necessitated for pragmatic via media involving a political approach. The post world war phenomenon has taken the new shape of liberation theology. The Stockholm conference 1925 postulated the slogan âdoctrine divides service unitesâ. Dissenters point out that political philosophy of Doctrine unites service divides has now taken its placeâ. The developed countries are making serious effort to subvert and over throw the governments established by law in the developing countries using churches as their tools.â âTo Set at Libertyâ the Oppressed, World Christian Council, Geneva, 1975. 123

âAnyone who cares to look can see that Christianity is on steep decline. This is especially in Europe. Where church attendance levels have fallen below 10% or even 5%â¦ even for the survival of Christianity is the decline of priestly vocation. Many parishes that used to have two to three parish priests now have none, so that the Sunday service has to be conducted by a visiting priest, who has an ever-full agenda as his colleagues keep dying, retiring or abandoning the priesthood without replacingâ {Koenraad Elst, Psychology of Prophetsim} The same trend is continuing in the Americas (â¦) It is less than 2000 seminarians in the USA.124 Even in India the trend is showing. Only one in 22 completed the entire priest training, in a leading seminary I surveyed (â¦) 125. Christianity now depends on India for replenishment of missionaries.

The Church and Post Second World War Policy. John foster Dulles the former secretary of state of USA wrote in is book, WAR OR PEACE, 1957, Macmillan N.Y, the chapter on âPolicies in Asia â made it clear that the USA has been using the Church and the mission organizations to build up its close relations with China.

The church had co-opted. In the cold war period, all the Roman churches all over the world prayed for the early demise of communism. Earlier the church was at loggerheads with the communists. Bertrand Russell called communism the "heresy of Christianity". With the advent of Liberation Theology, missionaries are working feverishly on this ideological footing, making it difficult for the WCC, which is dependent on funds from the capitalist world. They have to accommodate the political ambitions of the capitalist west. The church is only a too willing partner. The expression of partnership in obedience came into vogue in the church circles at the meeting of the committee of the international missionary council held at Whitby in 1947. Page 94 of the world Christian handbook 1952. It has a bearing on the expression of particular churches to be rooted in the soil and yet supranational in their witness and obedience. Page 29. in an effort to extend the kingdom of god. In plain language it means that churches in Europe and America would continue to plan, direct, control and finance the missionary activities in Indiaâ] {The Niyogi Committee report, page. 100.] In addition, the churches will continue to defy the state and have scant regard for its laws. What the future holds for India depends on how fast the intelligentsia wakes up to see the pattern writ large all over the wall [with proto types fully operational in place] take defensive measures and prevent its balkanizationâ In August 1948 the assembly of World council of churches met at Amsterdam at which John Foster Dulles read a paper on Reverent Joel Lakhra of the Gossner evangelical mission of Ranchi also attended that meeting.ââ NC report, Page 11.126

âIf Carl Bernsteinâs long report in Time on the 1980s operations of the CIA, NED, the VATICAN, and their vast network to undo communism in Eastern Europe had any truth, and I believe it did, then can anyone imagine that, with their feet already through the door, they wouldnât follow up their success? The beneficiaries of this and other 1980s operations are now the key to transforming former Soviet bloc countries into traditional Third World-style markets and sources of raw materials and cheap labor. <> The CIA- NED team can be crucial in exercising political influence and in forming the permanent structures to assure that American transnational get their hot hands, in the race against Germany, on the resource-richest land mass on the globe. India, one extended and big world market> (Robert Black Will the then US ambassador to India, a CIA veteran, who told in the Rand institute discussion, that one of the major failures of the Clinton Administration was in its foreign policy area, Its failure to deal with India especially the nuclear testing). 127

The missionary paper Nishkalanka wrote âWhy should India desire that Portugal which has been exercising sovereignty for 400 years over Goa should surrender itâ¦â Niyogi committee. Page, 126. 128

The Vaticanâs role in the down fall of the former soviet socialist republic is not small, it co-opted with several generations of US administration starting from Ronald Regan requires no elaboration, as it would make a study by itself. The heavily doctored secret documents now open to investigators under the right to information act within USA lend a hand to plunge into the minds of the policy makers.129

== The Church and the Global Police Woman/Man. ==

In USA the federal council of churches was founded in 1908. President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met in Newfoundland in 1941 to draw up the Atlantic charter before setting up an international body. Roosevelt felt the need to set up policing the world. Since then the USA has {acquired the in famous reputation of the Global Policeman. The Eisenhower administration referred always to the Korean War as âpolice actionâ} the churches both Catholic. Protestant and Jewish clergy took active part and leadership position to set up the international organization. The federal council of churches founded in 1908 appointed a special commission on just and durable peace under the chairmanship of John foster Dulles. The Commission arranged for a round table, which declared a Christian message on world order. It stressed on christianisation on a global basis on available opportunity. The commission of churches, on just and durable peace declared in its meeting held in its meeting in November 1945: â Now, with the war ended, world wide organization of the Christian church can be developed so as to coordinate as to substance and timing, the Christian effort for world order in many lands. The Christian forces of the world, though still a minority must on that very account quickly become a well organized militant authorityâ. 130 Niccola Machiaveli observed in 1613 AD in his Prince and discourses: The change of religion and Claudius Buchanan, a chaplain attached to the east India company was certain: âNo Christian nation, ever possessed such an extensive field for the propagation of Christian faith, as that afforded to us by our influence over 100 million natives of Hindoostan. No other nation ever possessed such facilities for the extension of the faith as we have in the government of a passive people, who yield submissively to our mild sway, reverence our principles, and acknowledge our dominion to a blessingâ {Claudius Buchanan, Memories of expediency of an ecclesiastical establishment for British east India; both as a means of perpetuating Christian religions among our country men: and as a foundation for the ultimate civilization of the natives. London 1805. Part two, paragraph six. } The colonial ambitions were expressed without inhibitions and missions offered lucrative careers131.

Pastor Dr. Ebe Sunder Raj Joint convener, united Christian forums for Human rights does not lag behind Claudius Buchanan132. He mentioned about âour 200 million dalitsâ, whom he sought to distance from Hinduism, a mischievous attempt indeed.. He asked for documentary evidence of missionaries convicted. Why, they havee even engaged in seditious activities as the following documentary evidence from the niyogi committee report shows.

January 1948: Reverent Joel lakra the head of German Lutheran Mission, carried on propaganda for a separate Jharkhand province, which could be administered by Christians, who predominated in the area concerned. Three meetings of concerned Christians were held in the Jashpur state for carrying on the propaganda. Page 11.133â

The material gathered at the initial stages of the enquiry itself revealed to the committee that its significance far transcended the bounds of any one country or region in world and that it was calculated to have worldwide repercussions. Page 4.135

1954: The intelligence community was afraid that the missionaries were trying to form a state within state. {The Niyogi committee report page 11& 96} A sum to the tune of 29.27/- crores from January 1950 to June 1954 had been pumped into the country. The N C Report Page 102, the origin of the funds pointed out to: 12 sources: among them USA, UK, CANADA, SWEDEN, DENMARK figured prominently the sum equivalent to US $ One billion in 2001.See table (not shown in this article) 136

Some articles published in the Christian missionary papers such as â Adiwasiâ, âJharkandâ and â Nishkalanka were found to echo the writings of Muslim papers published before August 15 1947 for separate Pakistan. Niyogi committee report page 7. The Jharkhand news 6th march, 1949 reported a controversy between âShri Jaipalsingh and Professor Hayward, his secretary, as regards the person who had received the amount of Rs. 50000 from the Muslim league.[NC report page 23â¦.]137 This will put to insignificance the Bofors or the Tehelka expose of scams.138

== Diplomatic offensive: Churches Lobby in the UN ==

1941: The churches in US and Britain had set up committees to examine post World War II scenarios from the Christian viewpoint to preserve and propagate Christendom. These bodies saw great opportunities for evangelization. The British body was the commission on international friendship.

The counterpart in the USA was under the chairmanship of Mr. John Foster Dulles the future secretary of state. The report contained 604 pages and was published by the international Missionary council in January 1945 in New York. It was entirely a Christian viewpoint of the world written in post war scenario. The Christian lobbyists, who were used to gunboat diplomacy earlier had to invent better methods. They invented rather, cleverly coined the words â fundamental right to convertâ. They exercised considerable pressure in the United Nations, maneuvered the proceedings, and were able to ensure that this declaration could be used as a bludgeon in countries of Africa and Asia, as part of next leg of colonization. Meanwhile, the Chinese had woken up, and hounded out thousands of foreign missionaries from the Chinese mainland.

October 7 1944: The program was referred to the UN to be incorporated in the Dumbarton Oaks agreement of October 7 1944. There was no whisper in this document about the rights of Pagans, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, Confucianians, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Taoists, Heathens, Natives, Gypsies, Tribals, & Aborigines to defend themselves against the Anglo Saxon Christian aggression.

âThe church should play an important role in part promoting the work of the United Nations, it is imperative that Christians develop an intelligent understanding what the UN is what its duties are and the manner in which these duties are to be dischargedâ In short the missionaries had manipulated the UN. . It was with this aim the world council of churches and the international missionary council was set up on international affairs. The Christian lobbyists were in position to leverage out candidates. The church lobby has a powerful presence in the United Nations. Other ancient world religions were left out as to how they would protect their interests. 115134

âThe concentration of missionary enterprise on the hill tribes in remote and inaccessible parts of the forest areas and their mass conversion with the aid of foreign money were intended to prepare ground for a separate state on the lines of Pakistan.â139

âThe idea of change of religion as bringing about a change of nationality appears to have originated in missionary circles. The census officer isolates certain sections of people from the main bodies, the missionaries by converting them give them a separate nationality so that they may demand a separate stateâ {the Niyogi committee report page 56-57.} 140

Coming to the agitation of Jharkhand the Niyogi committee reported even as early as 1956 said â the separatist tendency that has gripped the minds of the aboriginals under the influence (Liberation theology came much later in 1968 and it was no where in sight in 1930s or 50s) Of the Lutheran and Roman Catholic mission is entirely due to the consistent policy pursued by <> The final segregation of the aborigines in the 1931 census from the main body of Hindus considered along with the recommendations of the Simon commission which were incorporated in the GOI act of 1935 apparently set the stage for the demand of Jharkhand on the lines of Pakistan. {Page 49.}141

The report mentioned that evangelization appears to be part of the uniform policy to revive Christendom for reestablishing western supremacy. The objective is to disturb the solidarity of non-Christian societies, and the mass conversions of considerable sections of adiwasis with this ulterior motive are fraught with dangers to the security of the state. Page 132.The Christian missionaries are making deliberate attempts to alienate the Indian Christian community from their nation. Page 144 and 142

The demand for Adiwasistan was accentuated with the one for Pakistan in 1938. The Muslim league is reported to have donated Rs. one lakh for the propaganda work. With the advent of political independence the demand for adiwasistan was intensified with view to forming a sort of corridor joining east Bengal with Hyderabad, which could be used for a pincer movement against India in the event of a war between India and Pakistan. N.C Report. Page 9.143

There were 480 missionaries working in Madyapradesh alone at that time and 236 were Americans. Most of that amount was spent for creating preachers, except one Rev. Hart man who declared his income as $63 per annum others did not submit returns, to the utter dismay of the committee.144

The supremacy of the Christian flag over the national flag was depicted in a drama that was staged in Jabalpurâ¦ Page 125.145

== NEGATIVE PROPAGANDA FROM ROME ==

The propaganda arms of the missionaries are very active. The Italian site on âReligious Rightsâ paints the religious rights available in India in the darkest possible colors. But it paints the religious rights in Fiji, in all white. It is quoted to in order to understand the âChristo-Centric--left-over-Colonial-Euro-Centric-bias-in-human-Rightsâ as propounded by powerful Christian organizations, and to understand what was flesh and blood to the Dumbarton oaks agreement of October 7, 1944.

No word about the coup or carnage committed against minority Hindus, who form 38% of Fijian population - their businesses destroyed, residences burnt down, temples defiled - the elected Mahendra Choudery kept in prison after a coup by Spieght and his bunch of hooligans is reported in the ACS website. The coup itself which targeted mainly the minority Hindus, by Christian hoodlums has not found a line of mention in this worldwide official website of Catholic organizations based in Rome. It goes to the extent to mention that religious relations are friendly in Fiji. What a mockery. The news that attracted international headlines for several weeks is sidelined by the Catholic website. If Christians commit crimes on non-Christians, Rome closes its eyes instinctively and engages in dishonest propaganda. But this is an official Catholic website of ACS, at Rome, dated May 2000.

âDifferent political parties, predominantly ethnic Fijians, in 1999 wanted the return to a âChristianâ State and the re-introduction of certain measures like the limitation of work on Sundays. In general, the relations between the religious communities are friendly. At times, the Muslim community has lamented some discrimination.â

ACS aid to church in need: Report 2000, On Religious freedom In the World. Researched and written by ANDREA MORIGIV, Published by: Auto alla Chiesa che Soffre Piazza San Calisto 16 00153 Roma Authors: Andrea Morigi Vittorio Emanuele Vernole Chiara Verna Office: Ufficio Stampa Segretariato Italiano ACS 146

One cannot help concluding that much of the fuss over âDominus Jesusâ (September 2000) stems less from what it means for inter-religious dialogue than from a fear that, in the twilight of John Paul's pontificate, Vatican bureaucrats are closing the options available to his successor to chart a new course for the church.147

âBut how much of a change of course is actually acceptable? We live in a shrinking world that also, for the moment, remains a pluralist one in matters of faith. Until we recognize the truth to which all religions speak, the sheer fact of their variety stretches the credibility of each. Survival dictates Rome's claim to superiority - and just as much, it seems, the indignant responses to it of othersâ159 Says Chris McGillion, the Sydney Herald's religious affairs columnist. [He teaches in the School of Communication at Charles Stuart University, Monday, October 2, 2000, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, Australia.}148

The American news channel The CNN online, datelined Jerusalem âMarch 31st 1998 reports: âThat 50 Christian groups promised no missionary activity in Israel. (AP) Representatives of 50 Christian groups have agreed to make an unprecedented joint statement promising not to carry out missionary activity in Israel, as a result Israeli legislator Nissim Zuili said that he would drop his sponsorship for an anti âproselytizing bill that has drawn protests from around the world. Zuili said to the AP âthis is a big accomplishment this is better than lawâ. The proposed bill would have banned possession of any written material that proselytizes,â said Mr. Nissim Zuili. He had proposed the bill after he had received a proselytizing tract in the mail. (More than 65 countries have banned proselytizing163)â). 150 This may well serve as a pointer for Indian missionaries and Hindu organizations about what they should do, if they want to have peace or strife in India. Hindu organizations should press for ending the constitutional discrimination. Ending this should become their single point agenda, before one can hope for a better deal for Hindus in their own land.151

Laura Kelly
(All annotated references are duly acknowledged)

11-08-2005, 11:10 PM

Sonia's Blessing and Vatican's Grace on India -

Yindoo Land not cited in State Dept Report <!--emo& Tongue

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /> <!--emo& Tongue

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

From LATimes

QUOTEState Department Set to Cite Saudi Arabia
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON -- The State Department, in a report being released Tuesday, cites Saudi Arabia and seven other countries as restricting religious freedom.


QUOTEIn addition to Saudi Arabia, they are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Vietnam. Eritrea and Vietnam also were newcomers to the list last year.

QUOTEIn September, the State Department notified Congress that Rice had banned commercial export of certain defense articles to Eritrea. It was the first time sanctions had been applied to any country under the U.S. religious freedom law.

Vietnam, meanwhile, reached an agreement with the State Department in May to improve religious freedom conditions. President Bush is expected to visit Vietnam next year for an Asia conference.

11-08-2005, 11:38 PM

Nah, its all about equal, equal. They want to keep Pakistan and India in good humor.
US want to sell F16 to Pakis and Nuclear plants component to India so that thousands can keep jobs in critical states. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

11-15-2005, 10:28 PM

Now, what to say about missionaries in India, who are openly sponsoring separitism, terrorism in NE and wreaking havoc in 10/40 window?

QUOTEFormer Sen. John Danforth to pen book on religion and politics

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Former senator and Episcopal priest John Danforth will pen a book on religion and politics, a publisher has announced.

Danforth's "Faith and Politics," to be published in fall 2006, "will explore the widening rift between left and right, conservative and liberal, believer and nonbeliever," Viking said Monday in a press release.

The book will urge tolerance and aim to help readers "dilute the meanness that imbues American politics today," the release said.

Danforth, a former ambassador to the United Nations, said last month that he believes the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the Republican Party and dividing the country.

Considered a conservative on social issues, Danforth was elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in 1976 and served three terms. He served as ambassador to the U.N. from June 2004 to January 2005.

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