Christian Missionary Role In India - 5

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Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 12-20-2005

Christian missionary work created the 1875 revolt!

http://www.geocities.com/genebrooks/sepoy.html
CANKERS OF A CALM WORLD:THE SEPOY REVOLT
Copyright Â© 1990 Gene Brooks Home

QUOTE Christianity and infidelity were set against the Hindu and Muslim religions. The telegraph was evil, and the railroads put crowds together, threatening caste.(10)

Fear of the loss of caste was a great problem for Indians. In 1856 the British brought in the General Service Enlistment Act which provided that new army recruits must serve overseas as well as in India. To cross the dark waters would stain a Hindu's caste standing beyond repair. The act was passed to ensure plenty of soldiers for Burma where four years before the native regiments there refused to obey orders to march, but the sepoys believed the act was a conspiracy to pollute the Brahmans and other high caste people, thus making them more likely to become Christian.(11)

Hindus made much of the canker they saw as a conspiracy to make all Indians Christian. The Case Disabilities Act of 1850 provided that Christian converts could inherit property, thus giving the religion of the West a material advantage. In 1856 an act was passed which permitted widow remarriage. Hindus believed these laws were direct attacks on their religion to force them into Christianity. The Hindus also disappoved of reforms suppressing suttee and infanticide.(12) When the problem with greased cartridges came, it was "proof of an insidious missionary plot to defile them and force their conversion to Christianity."(13)

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 12-21-2005

http://in.christiantoday.com/news/gen_618.htm

Anti-Christian violence on the rise in India

Indian Christians have expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on Christian community
Posted on: Dec 16, 2005 08:04:28 AM
New Delhi â The minority Christian community of India has expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on Christian churches by violent mobs across India.

On December 4, an unidentified mob attacked a Catholic Church called Jalalkhali in Nadia district of West Bengal, destroying furniture, tearing pages of the Holy Bible and setting them on fire.

The assailants also desecrated the communion bread and stole silver chalices, Reuters reported.

The objective behind the attack is unknown, but it is probably related to a recent anti-crime campaign led by the priests of the Church, a local police officer, Biswarup Ghosh, told the Reuters.

Despite having been threatened by the attack, the head of the Church has not given up the initiative. As Fr. Antony Kariyattil told the Associated Press (AP), "Some of the local youths used to get drunk and trespass on the church compound. They also teased the girls in the village. I tried to put an end to all that and sought cooperation from local village leaders."

Exactly one week before this attack in West Bengal state, three Bible distributors were brutally attacked in Panvel district of Maharashtra, a report by the Pakistan Christian Post unveiled.

The three members from the Panvel Brethren Church â Biju Jacob, Reji Paul, and Shaji Samuel â were beaten up by over 30 young people. They were distributing Bible and Gospel tracts on the street in Panvel district from their vehicle on the evening of Nov. 26.

According to the Pakistan Christian Post, the beatings lasted for over 15 minutes. Shaji was seriously injured on his face and was unable to talk or breathe. Later, it was found that all the Christian literatures were missing from the vehicle as well.

In speaking with the Pakistan Christian Post, Shaji explained that the Bible distribution was not illegal by the Indian law: "No one is compelled to buy it. We are sorry that the attackers have misunderstood us as anti-nationals. As Indian citizens the constitution has given us rights to âprofess, practice and propagateâ our faith. We are doing it like any other religious groups."

Shaji added that the church members had already forgiven the attackers and had made no complaint to the police, according to the Pakistan Christian Post.
In another incident, on December 4, at least 25 members of the Hindu extremist group Dharma Sena attacked a church in Raipur, Chattisgarh, "severely" beating five Christians, Compass Direct reported.

After beating Christians in the church, the attackers took four believers and a pastor from another congregation into a Hindu temple, where they tried to force them to bow down to idols.

The same day, a group of 15 activists from the right-wing Hindu outfit, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), reportedly attacked a pastor in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Police declined to arrest the militant Hindus and instead detained the pastor, Anil Mehra of Indian Evangelical Team, for several hours on charges of "disrupting public peace," Compass Direct reported.

The attacks on individuals or churches across many states of India have been worsening, forcing the human rights groups and church advocacy organizations to urge the central government to protect the Christian community.

The motives behind the crimes are often being reported as religious hatred, given the evidences that the hard-line Hindu political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been tying to restrict Christian minorities by implementing some anti-conversion laws.

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has already sent an open letter to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in September, urging the Indian government to launch urgent measures to curb the alarming trend.

According to a statement from GCIC on its website, the organization is "anxious about the trends of intolerance triggered by religious fundamentalists in the Indian society."

GCIC has added that these incidents of anti-Christian violence "have been happening in various parts of the country" and the culprits invariably are "religious fanatics."
Surojit Chatterjee
surojit@christiantoday.co.in

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 12-21-2005

Isn't this Surojit Chatterjee related to Angana Chatterjee?

QUOTE(acharya @ Dec 21 2005, 03:15 AM)http://in.christiantoday.com/news/gen_618.htm

Anti-Christian violence on the rise in India

GCIC has added that these incidents of anti-Christian violence "have been happening in various parts of the country" and the culprits invariably are "religious fanatics."
Surojit Chatterjee
surojit@christiantoday.co.in
[right][snapback]43505[/snapback][/right]

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 12-21-2005

Surojit Chatterjee is Angana Chatterjee's cousin.

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 12-23-2005

QUOTEHindu Teacher Ordered to Remove Bindi at Christian School - www.newindpress.com
BHOPAL, INDIA, December 21, 2005: (HPI note: Christian schools in India receive government funding for teacher's salaries and textbooks. Most of the students are not Christians.)

A Christian missionary school here is in the throes of a controversy after it sacked a Hindu teacher for wearing sandalwood paste on her forehead. Activists of the radical Hindu organization Bajrang Dal have taken up the case of the teacher and are up in arms against the school. Jyoti Sahasrabuddhe, 40, a computer science teacher at Saint Jones School in the Govindpura area of the city for the last 14 years, went to school on Monday with sandalwood paste smeared on her forehead. The principal, Suman Martin, allegedly objected to the paste and asked Sahasrabuddhe to wipe it off but she refused. This led to a heated argument between the two and the teacher tendered her resignation.

She later filed a complaint at the Govindpura police station against Martin's behavior. In her complaint Sahasrabuddhe said no teacher at the school was allowed to wear 'bindi' on her forehead. "Students are forcibly taught from the Bible in the name of prayers," she said in the complaint. Sahasrabuddhe has also accused the school authorities of carrying out religious conversions. Bajrang Dal activists took up the matter after learning of the incident. "We have got complaints against this school earlier too. We were told that the Bible was read out to the students against their wishes. The students were also forced to read the Bible in the name of morning prayers," said Devendra Rawat, an office-bearer of the Bajranj Dal. "We want that the teacher should be reinstated and the Bible should not be read out to the students. If the school management fails to do these two things, we will take action against them," Rawat said. Martin could not be immediately contacted for comments. However, another teacher at the school said on the condition of anonymity that the school management had rejected Sahasrabuddhe's resignation and she would be reinstated. "We are investigating the matter," a police official at the Govindpura police station said.

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 12-30-2005

Conversions threaten a way of life
Francois Gautier writes to India hater John Dayal.

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-03-2006

QUOTETamil Nadu churches split over free meals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.asianage
By R. Bhagwan Singh
Chennai, Jan. 1: The Church in Tamil Nadu is divided over support for chief minister Jayalalithaaâs scheme for providing free lunches in churches, inaugurated in a sample of seven places of worship on Christmas Eve with a promise to extend to 100 churches across the state.

While the Protestants have welcomed the scheme as confirming to the Bible requiring the haves to take care of the have-nots, the Catholic Church has strongly objected to the government providing free meals since it would "most certainly hurt the sanctity, cleanliness and peace" inside churches. "Chances of prayers becoming meaningless are bright because there will not be any difference between the true devotees and those visiting the church only to take food," said the Tamil Nadu Bishops Council, representing the Catholic Church in the state after its senior clergy held a meeting in Chennai to discuss the issue on Saturday.

Dr Peter Fernando, Archbishop of Madurai, who is also the president of the Bishops Council, and the Archbishop of Chennai-Mylapore Diocese, Dr Chinnappa, in a joint statement said there were "practical difficulties" in selecting churches and beneficiaries for the scheme under which the chief minister planned to provide free lunches to the poor Christians. Those churches left out of the scheme would feel slighted, particularly in the rural areas, which could well divide the church, the bishops feared.

They also apprehended that the scheme could ultimately lead to government interference in church affairs. Besides, said the Catholic bishops, Christianity "never believed in providing free food round the year."Â <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /> Even now, mass feeding was very much in vogue in the churches on special occasions. Besides, the poor should be fed from the offerings of the laity and not from government funds, they argued.

The Catholic bishops pointed out that the Catholic community was undertaking many social causes

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 01-09-2006

QUOTEIs God dead in Europe?

By James P. Gannon Mon Jan 9, 7:06 AM ET

Two snapshots from a recent tourist trip to Europe: We are in Prague, the lovely and lively capital of the Czech Republic, where the bars and cafes are full, the glitzy crystal and art shops are busy, and the dozens of historic cathedrals and churches are largely empty - except for gawking tourists snapping photos. In The Prague Post, an English-language weekly newspaper, a front-page article reports, in titillating detail, how the city has become Europe's new capital for pornographic filmmaking, while an op-ed examines why only 19% of the people in this once-religious country believe that God exists.

Change the scene to Rome. We are at the
Vatican, swimming in a sea of 150,000 people waiting in St. Peter's Square for
Pope Benedict XVI to appear at a special celebration for Catholic children who have made their first communion in the past year. Rock bands and kids' choirs entertain the faithful until a roar sweeps through the crowd at the first sighting of the "Popemobile," carrying the waving, white-robed Benedict down barricaded lanes through the throng. The crowd goes wild.

For an American Catholic visitor, Europe is a puzzling and sometimes discouraging place these days. Is God dead here? Many signs suggest that Europeans think so.

Decline in attendance

"Common wisdom has it that alcoholics outnumber practicing Christians and that more Czechs believe in UFOs than believe in God - and common wisdom may be correct," wrote Nate and Leah Seppanen Anderson in a Prague Post commentary; he's a freelance writer, and she's a political science professor at Wheaton College in Illinois and a specialist in Czech politics and society. Surveys show a sharp decline in church attendance and religious practice in most European countries. A series of Eurobarometer surveys since 1970 in five key countries (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy) shows that regular church attendance fell from about 40% of the population to about half that figure. Declines were sharpest in predominantly Catholic nations.

Even so, how do we account for the extraordinary outpouring of grief at
Pope John Paul II's death in April and the enthusiasm that his successor seems to evoke? Are these mere public spectacles, signifying nothing about Europe's drift from its religious roots, or are they signs of yearning for something more than peace, prosperity and la dolce vita?

As only an occasional visitor to Europe, I claim no expertise in these matters. But some who do see the emergence of a post-Christian era in Europe that has profound consequences for the continent and perhaps is an ominous portend for the United States. Where Europe has gone, America could be going - and that is a prospect that is frightening Christians and sharpening the religious divide in this country.

Western Europe, the cradle of modern Christianity, has become a "post-Christian society" in which the ruling class and cultural leaders are anti-religious or "Christophobic," writes George Weigel, a Catholic columnist and U.S. biographer of Pope John Paul II. In his new book, The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God, he argues that religious differences help explain the policy tensions between Europe and the United States.

"It would be too simple to say that the reason Americans and Europeans see the world so differently is that the former go to church on Sundays and the latter don't," Weigel writes. "But it would also be a grave mistake to think that the dramatic differences in religious belief and practice in the United States and Europe don't have something important to do with those different perceptions of the world - and the different policies to which those perceptions eventually lead."

A fierce controversy over any mention of Europe's Christian heritage erupted in 2004 when officials were drafting a constitution for the
European Union, Weigel notes.

Any mention of the continent's religious past or contributions of Christian culture - in a preface citing the sources of Europe's distinct civilization - would be exclusionary and offensive to non-Christians, many argued. Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who presided over the process, summed up the dominant view: "Europeans live in a purely secular political system, where religion does not play an important role."

'Demographic suicide'

Among the consequences of Europe's abandonment of its religious roots and the moral code that derives therefrom is a plunge in its birth rates to below the replacement level. Abortion, birth control, acceptance of gay marriage and casual sex are driving the trend. Europe is "committing demographic suicide, systematically depopulating itself," according to Weigel.

United Nations population statistics back him up.

Not a single Western European country has a fertility rate sufficient to replace the current population, which demographers say requires 2.1 children per family. Germany, Russia, Spain, Poland and Italy all have rates of about 1.3 children, according to the U.N. The Czech Republic's is less than 1.2, and even Roman Catholic Ireland is at 1.9 children. (The U.S. rate, which has remained stable, is slightly more than 2 children per woman.)

Fifteen countries, "mostly located in Southern and Eastern Europe, have reached levels of fertility unprecedented in human history," according to the U.N.'s World Population Prospects 2004 revision.

As children grow scarce and longevity increases in Europe, the continent is becoming one vast Leisure World. By 2050, the U.N. projects, more than 40% of the people in Italy will be 60 or older. By mid-century, populations in 25 European nations will be lower than they are now; Russia will lose 31 million people, Italy 7.2 million, Poland 6.6 million and Germany 3.9 million. So Europe is abandoning religion, growing older, shrinking and slowly killing itself. These are signs of a society in eclipse - the Roman Empire writ large. Is this any model for America?

In his 2001 book, The Death of the West, conservative commentator
Patrick Buchanan argues that a European-style "de-Christianization of America" is the goal of many liberals - and they are succeeding.

Court decisions that have banned school-sponsored prayer, removed many Nativity scenes from public squares, and legalized gay marriage are part of that pattern, as is the legal effort to erase "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency and "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Europe is showing us where this path leads. It is not the right path for America.

James P. Gannon is a retired journalist and author ofA Life in Print: Selections from the Work of a Reporter, Columnist and Editor.

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-10-2006

QUOTEBangalore Churches Convert Vulnerable Hindus by Hook or Crook
http://www.authorzone.com/view_articles.php?articleid=296

by Shwetal Pramod Kamalapurkar
authorzone.com

An article based on the religious conversion that is on in India. The methods adopted by missionaries to convert people. Who comprise the mass most lured into conversion? How does this affect the Indian culture? Does this affect the culture at all? Bangalore, August 1: Janmashtami, September 2004, the Infant Jesus Church Complex, Bangalore held a week-long festival during which a tent was set up in the community with long tables and benches and a shrine of Infant Jesus at one end.

The sides of the tent were covered with pictures of Meera, one of Krishna's greatest devotees, accompanied by peacocks. Meera seemed to be adoring the Infant Jesus, who wore a small peacock feather in his crown. It appeared that the residents of Koramangala were thus, being led to believe that Infant Jesus was the reincarnation of Krishna ( very similar to stamp controversy of UK )

Most of the dwellings in the locality are thatch huts or small houses erected with mud and used pieces of bricks and stones. Many of the nicer houses, built with new bricks, cemented and painted, are owned by recently converted Christians. They are given generous amounts of money for converting. The road leading to the Infant Jesus Church is proposed to be named âInfant Jesus Roadâ. The street earlier had a Hindu name.

The situation at the St. Maryâs Cathedral Complex, Shivaji Nagar is no different. Two hundred people, mostly belonging to the lower strata of society, have been converted about a week ago. It has been learnt that a plan has been made for converting more Hindus in the area.

Austin Town and Ulsoor are other well known hubs of conversion activities. They even have small community halls where sermons and other get-togetherâs take place. The missionariesâ strategy is well planned. They refrain from coercion but itâs the vulnerable (read unsuspecting Hindu) mind set that is played on. They are either manipulated or lured into Christianity.

Christian missionaries are all over Bangalore, preaching that Hinduism is an error and Christianity is the only true religion. They move from place to place like vendors of goods. They have no special spiritual merit that distinguishes them from the commoners. They however possess material goods which they promise to those who join their fold.

Recently, in Orissa, a missionary descended on a famine area with money in his pocket, distributed it among the famine stricken, converted them to his fold, took charge of their temple, and demolished it. He promised the converts material benefit and assured continued support if they attended Church.

It is an accepted fact today that fringe church groups are converting scores of Hindus to Christianity across India. In many South Indian villages, religion has boiled down to money. Flushed with funds from their headquarters in the United States, a number of church groups are converting hundreds of Hindus, especially those belonging to the low castes.

In Madurai, a year ago, around 250 villagers - all of them poor Dalits underwent baptism by water and converted to Christianity. The ceremony was conducted by the Seventh-Day Adventists Missionaries. In the span of six months after this mass conversion, reports say, Seventh-Day pastors have converted as many as 2,000 Hindus to Christianity in the Madurai region.

At around the same time, the Covenant and High Land Trinity, a church group working in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district, converted 70 Hindu villagers. Reports said that all the converts were paid money and given jobs for changing their religion.

In the latest of a series of conversion in Kerala, two dozen Hindus in a poor mason's colony outside Pathanamthitta town were converted to Christianity allegedly under the influence of a charismatic Christian prayer group called Master Ministry of Jesus.

Church insiders admit that church groups with plenty of foreign money have mushroomed all across South India with conversion as their main agenda. "They have exotic names like Exodus Church, New Life Evangelists, Covenant and High Land Trinity, Master Ministry of Jesus etc. They reject church rituals. They are very Westernized and fundamentalist," a senior Pastor, on the condition of anonymity, revealed.

An American missionary, Mr. Cooper came to India on a tourist visa, which prohibits missionary work. During his stay in Kerala, he overtly indulged in missionary activities and so was asked to leave the country for violating visa rules. The episode brought to light a plethora of facts. According to the residents of the Kilimanoor Dalit hamlet, Cooper spewed venom against Lord Krishna and attributed the modern scourge of AIDS to the avatar of a bygone yuga. Press reports suggest that around the same time, another foreign missionary in the area was hounded out by local residents for making derogatory remarks against Lord Ayyappa, the pre-eminent deity of the state.

[Mahatma Gandhiâs] message from Young India, speaks the minds of many, âI hold that proselytisation under the cloak of humanitarian work is unhealthy to say the least. It is resented by people here. Religion after all is a deeply personal thing. It touches the heart. Why should I change my religion because the doctor who professes Christianity as his religion has cured me of some disease, or why should the doctor expect me to change whilst I am under his influence? â

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Shambhu - 01-10-2006

If a missionary told me that Jesus is an incarnation of Krishna and therefore I should convert to Xtianity, I would ask the missionary why I need to become a Xtian when I already follow Krishna (the original form of Jesus as per the missionary). Why do I need to trade in my $67,000 BMW for a second hand Kia Spectra worth $2133?

My religion is older, has Much more philosophy than yours, did not copy anything from other religions (all of which are newer), did not go on Crusades, Jihads, did not condone slavery, and does not encourage human beings to slaughter poor animals ("you have dominion over them") while saying things like "Thou shall not kill" at the same time. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/b_evil.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='b_evil.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/b_cowboy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='b_cowboy.gif' /> :f*(k

And then I would invite the missionary to become Hindu and would ask him quite seriously to explain himself if he chose not to convert back to Dharma.

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 01-11-2006

http://www.infantjesusmangalore.com/main.htm

Decennial celebrations at Infant Jesus shrine tomorrow

Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE: Infant Jesus Shrine, Bikarnakatte, will observe its decennial celebrations and the annual feast of the Infant Jesus on Thursday, according to Nelson Pinto, priest in-charge of the shrine.

Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday he said the festive mass of the Infant Jesus will be made available live on the Internet at 6 p.m. People can log on to www.infantjesusmangalore.com to see the programme. Robert Miranda, Bishop of Gulbarga Diocese, will be the main celebrant.

The feast day masses will be held in Konkani, Malayalam, English and Kannada from 6 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. The Novena prayer service for non-Christians will be held in Kannada at 1.30 p.m.

Prior to this a special prayer for non-Christians has been arranged in Kannada at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Hence there will not be Konkani mass at 6 p.m. tomorrow. Alwin Sequeira, Assistant Superior, and David Fernandes, secretary, Carmel family, were present.

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-12-2006

Pastor who abused girl ends lifeQUOTECOIMBATORE: Charles (45), a pastor, who had sexually abused 13-year-old Lakshmi, an inmate of his orphanage, committed suicide on Tuesday by throwing himself before a running train at North Coimbatore Railway Station.

Police had been searching him.

The orphanage run by pastor Charles had been functioning at Mongampalayam village on the Annur-Mettupalayam road. Lakshmi alleged that he had been sexually abusing her for a year.
A complaint was lodged with Karamadai police on Sunday. Charles had been at large and the police were in search of him. On Tuesday, around 8.30 AM, Charles threw himself before the Palakkad-Tiruchy train at North Coimbatore Railway Station.

Though he was immediately rushed to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), doctors could not save his life. The condition of Lakshmi was said to be critical.

The lower part of her body was not functioning and her kidneys were totally damaged, police sources said.

Lakshmi, daughter of Maarathal, belonged to Karattumedu near Mettupalayam. Her father Mariappan died in 2001. She has a sister Chithra (10) and brother Aruchamy (5).
Pastor Charles had approached Maarathal a year ago and told her about the orphanage for poor children. He assured her children free education, accommodation, clothing and food at the orphanage.

Maarathal, who was struggling to make both ends meet, agreed to send Lakshmi and Chithra to the orphanage. Later, she used to visit her children quite often. Both the girls stayed there for a year.

Lakshmi attained puberty in November last and Charles told Maarathal to take her home. A few days after the girl returned home, she developed urinary problems and her health began to deteriorate fast.

She was admitted to the Mettupalayam Government Hospital. The doctors found that her kidneys had been damaged and the lower part of her body had slowly begun to stop functioning.

She was later taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for treatment. Only then, Lakshmi told her mother that pastor Charles had been sexually abusing her. Charles had been giving her contraceptive pills.

Maarathal lodged a complaint with the Karamadai police on Sunday. As the pastor was said to be in Chennai, the police filed a case and spread a net for him.

After the pastorâs suicide, the Railway police have filed a case and are investigating. The incident was reported to the Karamadai police, who were in search of him.

Pastor Charles was a native of Ernakulam, Kerala. He was married to Vijaya and had been living in Coonoor. He had two sons, Ditto and Daniel. Vijaya was taking care of a prayer house at Mettupalayam while Charles was running the orphanage.

A few years ago, he started the orphanage at Karattumedu and then shifted to Mongampalayam on the Annur-Mettupalayam road

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 01-18-2006

Dr. John Dayal

Member: National Integration Council

Government of India

National President: All India Catholic Union (Founded 1919)

Secretary General: All India Christian Council (Founded 1999)

President: United Christian Action, Delhi (Founded 1992)

505 Link, 18 IP Extension, Delhi 110092 India

Email: johndayal@...

Phone: 91-11-22722262 Mobile 09811021072

23d December, 2005

Dr Manmohan Singh

Hon'ble the Prime Minister of India

South Block, New Delhi

Re:

Dear Prime Minister

It is a privilege to greet you in this season of Advent and wish you a Merry
Christmas on behalf of Christian Community in India represented by the All India
Christian Council, the Catholic Union and UCA. Trough you, we also wish our
fellow Indians a prosperous New year 2006 with prayers that it bring Peace,
Security and happiness to our land.

Dear Prime Minister, we however regret our joy in the approaching Christmas, the
festival that brings with it the promise of Freedom, Liberation and Salvation in
the birth of Christ, is diminished and overshadowed by daily reports of violence
against Churches, Priests and the faithful, police atrocities and incidents of
miscarriage of justice in which the victims are the poorest of the poor
Christians and their fellow Dalits.

As we informed the Government of India in an earlier letter, we fear that the
total number of incidents of violence against Christians in the country in the
year 2005 may be as many as 200, a large number of them in the Udaipur division
of Rajasthan and in parts of Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa. Our appeals to State
governments have been in vain. In many cases, local political leaders and
officials are part of the conspiracy of violence. The National Commission for
Minorities remains a silent spectator and is Chairperson has given us cause to
suspect his own attitude towards Christians, a minority that his Commission is
sworn to protect.

Even in this dismal scenario, there are some incidents that stand out, and that
cry out for your sympathetic consideration and urgent action.

Christian Tribals of Jhabua still in Jail while their tormentors roam free: 14
Christian members are in an Madhya Pradesh jail for the past
2 years. They were arrested during the riots of 2004. They are all innocent poor
illiterate tribals and their families of all these people are in pitiable state.
At least three BJP MLAs are involved in the violence together with some Sadhvis
of the RSS who had come from Gujarat and took part in the violence. They remain
free. Situation in Rajasthan: As far as Christians are concerned, there seems to
be a free season against them in this state. This is so both in the tribal
areas, and in urban places such as Ajmer, Kota and Jaipur. The police and the
political apparatus are entirely supportive of the RSS aggressors. Anti Dalit
Violence: Christians have suffered as much as members professing other faiths in
the general sharp rise in caste violence against the Dalit community. Even
within a few kilometers of Delhi in places such as Sonepat, Christian families
have had their houses burnt. The bureaucratic approach to relief, as in the case
of the Tsunami victims, leaves the double-disadvantaged out of reckoning Dalit
Christians: We had great hopes that the return of the Congress at the head of
the UPA government would restore human dignity, civil rights and protection of
law to Christian converts from the Scheduled castes. An earlier Congress
government had in 1996 brought to Parliament a Bill to restore to the Dalit
Christians all rights enjoyed by Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh Dalits. Our hopes have
been belied. While we thank you for giving the Justice Mishra Commission the
addition task of discussing this issue, it falls far short of the demand of
justice. May we request you once again that your government reintroduces the
Bill in Parliament to give our people the rights snatched by the Presidential
order of 1950 without waiting for the Mishra commission report. Assessing
Economic Disempowerment of Christians. We have requested you to establish a
commission to asses the poverty and economic status of Christians, especially
the Dalit Christians so that they are incorporate in Government's poverty
alleviation and relief plans. Such a Commission has been already set up for the
Muslims under Justice Sachchar. Giving Christians the Right to Adopt Children.
We continue to be discriminated by the law in the case of adoptions. The tsunami
and other natural disasters, the death of young parents in terrorist attacks
such as the explosions in New Delhi, have left many orphans who need to be
adopted into loving families. The government must expedite the law. The church
has been campaigning for it for more than a decade.

Visa bias: Hundreds of wives of Christian NRIs are either denied visas to come
home with their families. In many cases that we have personally investigated,
wives married to Indians for two decades and with three or four children and
valid visas, have been turned away from Delhi and Mumbai airports. This amo8unt
so using the Visa as a form of religious persecution, and sheds a shadow of
bigotry on our regulations. I am sure our government will look into this matter.
These women are wives and mothers, no anti-Indian terrorists. Nor are they
persons out to forcibly convert Indians to Christianity. Indian priests of all
religions are of course never refused a visa go enter any foreign country.

Dear Prime Minister, as Christians we want justice for all victims of violence,
discrimination and economic and social deprivation in the country. The Church is
itself involved deeply in this process. The government from its side is
apparently is doing much in these matters, but in implementation and by default,
Dalit and poor Christians are always left out, as much as Church workers fail to
get the protection of the law.

May we humbly request that your government take urgent steps in the above
matters to make the New Year happier for the Christian community and everyone
else in the country.

With warm personal regards.

John Dayal

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 01-18-2006

I happened to be browsing a website called <http://www.christianaggression.org/>
www.ChristianAggression.org, presumably run by right wing Hindu groups, and saw
a sensational news item under the link:

<http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1117399556

http://www.christianaggression.org/item_di...S&id=1117399556,
which read:

Missionary School Admits Converting Hindu Children with Free Meals

Posted May 29, 2005 St James Plaindealer News By Paul Murray, News Editor

about a talk by pastor Nirmala (Peters) Reinschmidt, who had just returned from
Chennai, India. I read the full report and realized to my horror (but not to my
surprise!) that the headline bore no resemblance whatsoever to the substance of
the report, which was actually talking about how poor children are attracted to
schools by free meals (which, by the way, is a major strategy adopted by the
government to encourage school attendance--in fact, there is now a policy
consideration for making Mid-day meals program a national priority). Then I went
to the Plaindelaer News web site and noticed that they had titled the report as
'Christianity in India under pressure,' which more correctly summarized pastor
Nirmala's statement that parents in India often send their children to Christian
schools, but "this does not mean that either the parents or their children
convert from Hinduism to Christianity." (Actually, if there was anything
offensive [to me personally] in the report, it was pastor Nirmala's contention
that Hindus feel that they must struggle to get to heaven in comparison with
Christian beliefs!)

So, here is another example of right wing Hindutva groups blatantly distorting
news reports in the hope that an average reader is unlikely to go beyond the
headlines to check out the source links. I remember [another Hindutva site]
employing similar tactics during the Gujarat pogroms, when one of the news items
on its web site blared something like 'x more Hindus killed in Gujarat,' [this
was a couple of weeks after Godhra] when the actual news link they indicated
reported another incident of more Muslims being killed! [in rural Gujarat]

Raju Rajagopal

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - acharya - 01-19-2006

http://www.nobeliefs.com/DarkBible/darkbible5.htm

QUOTEBeat That Slave

"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." (Luke 12:47)

Comment

Note, the word "servant" here means slave. The Biblical Jesus lived in a time when slavery flourished, yet He never spoke or fought against it.

Â Â "English North Americans embraced slavery because they were Christians, not in spite of it... It was Christianity that perverted the African's way of life. Not leaving them alone was the real tragedy."
Â Â --Forrest G. Wood

http://www.nobeliefs.com/DarkBible/DarkBibleContents.htm

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-20-2006

QUOTETwo arrested for forcing woman to convert
1/19/2006 3:42:47 AM Newkerala

Kendrapada (Orissa): At least two persons have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a Hindu woman and setting her house on fire in Orissa after she refused to change her religion, police said Wednesday.

The woman Kabita Mallik, a resident of Matiapada village in the coastal district of Jajpur with two children to support was eking out a meagre living doing household work at nearby houses, ever since her husband disappeared five years ago.

Her husband Purnachandra Mallick had gone to New Delhi to work as a plumber, but did not return.

Three villagers Gunanidhi Mallick, Tikan Mallick and Kulmani Mallick, recent converts to Christianity, were persuading her to adopt a similar step, which she was resisting, a senior district police official told IANS citing the complaint lodged by the woman.

The trio Tuesday allegedly assaulted her and set afire her thatched house as she refused to convert, according to the complaint.

The fire also engulfed five nearby houses.

"Acting on the complaint, we have arrested Kulamani Mallick and Gunanidhi Mallick on charges of attempting forced conversion, assault on the woman and torching of her house," the police official said.

Another culprit Tikan Mallick is absconding, he added.

The arrested persons were produced before the local sub-divisional judicial magistrate's court Wednesday. The court rejected their bail applications and remanded them in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, tension mounted in the village and nearby areas after this incident. Senior police officials rushed to take stock of the situation.

While state Christian leaders described the charge as false, leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who visited the village, alleged that some people were forcing people to convert, which was in gross violation of the Orissa Hindu Religion Freedom Act.

Two years back, village Kilipala of the same district witnessed an incident where some villagers had tonsured seven Dalit women after they embraced Christianity

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Bhootnath - 01-20-2006

"The past of Civilized Europe."

The Bull Inter Caetera (Alexander VI.) May 4, 1493 Alexander, Bishop,
servant of the servants of God, to the illustrious sovereigns, our very
dear son in Christ, Ferdinand, king, and our very dear daughter in Christ,
Isabella, queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, and Granada, health and
apostolic benediction. Among other works well pleasing to the Divine
Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks highest, that in
our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be
exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls
be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the
faith itself.

Wherefore inasmuch as by the favor of divine clemency, we, though of
insufficient merits, have been called to this Holy See of Peter,
recognizing that as true Catholic kings and princes, such as we have known
you always to be, and as your illustrious deeds already known to almost
the whole world declare, you not only eagerly desire but with every
effort, zeal, and diligence, without regard to hardships, expenses,
dangers, with the shedding even of your blood, are laboring to that end;
recognizing also that you have long since dedicated to this purpose your
whole soul and all your endeavors--as witnessed in these times with so
much glory to the Divine Name in your recovery of the kingdom of Granada
from the yoke of the Saracens--we therefore are rightly led, and hold it
as our duty, to grant you even of our own accord and in your favor those
things whereby with effort each day more hearty you may be enabled for the
honor of God himself and the spread of the Christian rule to carry forward
your holy and praiseworthy purpose so leasing to immortal God.

We have indeed learned that you, who for a long time had intended to seek
out and discover certain islands and mainlands remote and unknown and not
hitherto discovered by others, to the end that you might bring to the
worship of our Redeemer and the profession of the Catholic faith their
residents and inhabitants, having been up to the present time greatly
engaged in the siege and recovery of the kingdom itself of Granada were
unable to accomplish this holy and praiseworthy purpose; but the said
kingdom having at length been regained, as was pleasing to the Lord, you,
with the wish to fulfill your desire, chose our beloved son, Christopher
Columbus, a man assuredly worthy and of the highest recommendations and
fitted for so great an undertaking, whom you furnished with ships and men
equipped for like designs, not without the greatest hardships, dangers,
and expenses, to make diligent quest for these remote and unknown
mainlands and islands through the sea, where hitherto no one had sailed;
and they at length, with divine aid and with the utmost diligence sailing
in the ocean sea, disscovered certain very remote islands and even
mainlands that hitherto had not been discovered by others; wherein dwell
very many peoples living in peace, and, as reported, going unclothed, and
not eating flesh. Moreover, as your aforesaid envoys are of opinion, these
very peoples living in the said islands and countries believe in one God,
the Creator in heaven, and seem sufficiently disposed to embrace the
Catholic faith and be trained in good morals. And it is hoped that, were
they instructed, the name of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, would
easily be introduced into the said countries and islands. Also, on one of
the chief of these aforesaid islands the said Christopher has already
caused to be put together and built a fortress fairly equipped, wherein he
has stationed as garrison certain Christians, companions of his, who are
to make search for other remote and unknown islands and mainlands.

In the islands and countries already discovered are found gold, spices,
and very many other precious things of divers kinds and qualities.
Wherefore, as becomes Catholic kings and princes, after earnest
consideration of all matters, especially of the rise and spread of the
Catholic faith, as was the fashion of your ancestors, kings of renowned
memory, you have purposed with the favor of divine clemency to bring under
your sway the said mainlands and islands with their residents and
inhabitants and to bring them to the Catholic faith. Hence, heartily
commending in the Lord this your holy and praiseworthy purpose, and
desirous that it be duly accomplished, and that the name of our Savior be
carried into those regions, we exhort you very earnestly in the Lord and
by your reception of holy baptism, whereby you are bound to our apostolic
commands, and by the bowels of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, enjoy
strictly, that inasmuch as with eager zeal for the true faith you design
to equip and despatch this expedition, you purpose also, as is your duty,
to lead the peoples dwelling in those islands and countries to embrace the
Christian religion; nor at any time let dangers or hardships deter you
therefrom, with the stout hope and trust in your hearts that Almighty God
will further your undertakings. And, in order that you may enter upon so
great an undertaking with greater readiness and heartiness endowed with
benefit of our apostolic favor, we, of our own accord, not at your
instance nor the request of anyone else in your regard, but out of our own
sole largess and certain knowledge and out of he fullness of our apostolic
power, by the authority of Almighty God conferred upon us in blessed Peter
and of the vicarship of Jesus Christ, which we hold on earth, do by tenor
of these presents, should any of said islands have been found by your
envoys and captains, give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and
successors, kings of Castile and Leon, forever, together with all their
dominions, cities, camps, places, and villages, and all rights,
jurisdictions, and appurtenances, all islands and mainlands found and to
be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and south, by
drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole, namely the north, to
the Antarctic pole, namely the south, no matter whether the said mainlands
and islands are found and to be found in the direction of India or towards
any other quarter, the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards
the west and south from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores
and Cape Verde. With this proviso however that none of the islands and
mainlands, found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, beyond
that said line towards the west and south, be in the actual possession of
any Christian king or prince up to the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ
just past from which the present year one thousand four hundred ninety
three begins.

And we make, appoint, and depute you and your said heirs and successors
lords of them with full and free power, authority, and jurisdiction of
every kind; with this proviso however, that by this our gift, grant, and
assignment no right acquired by any Christian prince, who may be in actual
possesssion of said islands and mainlands prior to the said birthday of
our Lord Jesus Christ, is hereby to be understood to be withdrawn or
taking away. Moreover we command you in virtue of holy obedience that,
employing all due diligence in the premises, as you also promise--nor do
we doubt your compliance therein in accordance with your loyalty and royal
greatness of spirit--you should appoint to the aforesaid mainlands and
islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled, and expeienced men, in
order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents in the Catholic
faith and train them in good morals.

Furthermore, under penalty of excommunication "late sententie" to be
incurred "ipso facto," should anyone thus contravene, we strictly forbid
all persons of whatsoever rank, even imperial and royal, or of whatsoever
estate, degree, order, or condition, to dare without your special permit
or that of youraforesaid heirs and successors, to go for the purpose of
trade or any other reason to the islands or mainlands, found and to be
found, discovered and to be discovered, towards the west and south, by
drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole to the Antarctic
pole, no matter whether the mainlands and islands, found and to be found,
lie in the direction of India or toward any other quarter whatsoever, the
said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south, as
is aforesaid, from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and
Cape Verde; apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other decrees
whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. We trust in Him from whom
empires and governments and all good things proceed, that, should you,
with the Lord's guidance, pursue this holy and praiseworthy undertaking,
in a short while your hardships and endeavors will attain the most
elicitious result, to the happiness and glory of all Christendom. But
inasmuch as it would be difficult to have these present letters sent to
all places where desirable, we wish, and with similar accord and knowledge
do decree, that to? copies of them, signed by the hand of a public notary
commissioned therefor, and sealed with the seal of any ecclesiastical
officer or ecclesiastical court, the same respect is to be shown in court
and outside as well as anywhere else as would be given to these presents
should they thus be exhibited or shown. Let no one, therefore, infringe,
or with rash boldness contravene, this our recommendation, exhortation,
requisition, gift, grant, assignment, constitution, deputation,
decree,mandate, prohibition, and will. Should anyone presume to attempt
this, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and
of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the incarnation of our Lord
one thousand four hundred and ninety-three, the fourth of May, and the
first year of our pontificate.

Gratis by order of our most holy lord, the pope. June.

For the referendary, For J. Bufolinus, A. de Mucciarellis. A.
Santoseverino. L. Podocatharus

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related contact information:
United Confederation of Taino People
U.S. Regional Coordinating Office
P.O. Box 4515
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10163
Phone: 212-604-4186
E-mail: uctp1493@yahoo.com

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-27-2006

Bari: Five persons have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a Hindu woman and setting her house on fire in Matiapada village under Sahupada panchayat after she refused to change her religion, police said Wednesday.

http://www.orissasambad.com/english/othernews.asp?otn=389

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-27-2006

I've converted and uploaded some videos from Maranatha to this site. Prepare to be shocked!

http://s95327140.onlinehome.us/FundRaisingVideos/

They show how unscrupulous they are and how they use lies to raise funds for their evil purposes.

-Rajesh

Christian Missionary Role In India - 5 - Guest - 01-28-2006

Andhra seems to be going down the tubes. Any idea if this pace has quickened after govt change ? Meanwhile there is a nut on sulekha who has posted this..

http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=41280