09-05-2009, 09:24 PM
benedictg Says:
September 5, 2009 at 7:40 pm | Reply
Ven you are right⦠apparently as i trace my own family history my forefathers who lived along the coastal regions embraced Christianity for material favours (milk powder and bread)⦠Post independence the systems left behind by the British (schools and colleges) nurtured people like me. My son is very different he has relinquished all the family bondages and thinks on his own. One of the many things the Christian church is grappling with is post modernism particularly in the Indian Contextâ¦
You may be right about people being paid money for attending church, I have heard of it too â I find it extremely obnoxious and foolish.
So Ven let me ask you a question? Did I choose to be born as a Christian or did you have a choice of being a Hindu? You need to dig deep and find out â not all Christians are for conversion or proseletyzation.
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benedictg Says:
September 5, 2009 at 7:30 pm
You got me wrong, I only saying that market mechanizations have consumed a large indian population that they are spurning our culture and are getting Americanized. One might attribute it to the phenomena of Globalization.
Any thought, if needs to do a work in a human being need emotional arousal and attentional focus in short it has to do with the heart.
Most of the reactions that I read comes out of anger and disgust. If India has build institutions and been a source of religions that has survived history its certainly not through the methods of force and violence. Its all done through love, and that has been our preoccupation over the ages and that is our domain of strength.
Snuffing out lives to kill a thought has never worked and will never work, regardless of the thought being noble or ignoble.
Benedict
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benedictg Says:
September 4, 2009 at 7:21 pm | Reply
For most of my life as a Christian I was under the impression that the express job for any Christian is to convert or to redirect the âfriends from the other faithâ to accept the Christian point of view. There are many who work on this mandate, I guess you should appreciate that its the belief system and the teaching of the religion that makes a man do what he is actually doing. We see the violence perpetuated by the Islamic militants and we should never make the mistake of judging every follower of islam as a man who is capable of indulging in violence.
Personally Iam converted to a more Indian system now, I see the Indian culture from a more objective view point not with the Christian tinted glasses. I have made many startling discoveries ever since. One of the major finding is that the Hinduâs have not understood their own heritage and culture. Believe, as a teacher teaching children with learning difficulties, I tell the parents to read the scriptures (Gita) to the children, and surprisingly they find it humorous. I even take Gita Classes much against the displeasure of my Christian bretheren, who dont seem to understand me. I am even planning to do a Ph D thesis on the Saiviate tradition. This I believe does not make me a less christian in anyway, I still follow Christ.
What pains me from the comments is the reaction, now I dont blame those who made these comments⦠I know the provocation. But let us cast this aside and seriously engage in issues that are likely to set back our nation. I really do not believe that a YSR or Sonia can work on converting people to Christianity. Believe me its not that simple, its got to do with the heart not with some change of name or religion in the gazette.
September 5, 2009 at 7:40 pm | Reply
Ven you are right⦠apparently as i trace my own family history my forefathers who lived along the coastal regions embraced Christianity for material favours (milk powder and bread)⦠Post independence the systems left behind by the British (schools and colleges) nurtured people like me. My son is very different he has relinquished all the family bondages and thinks on his own. One of the many things the Christian church is grappling with is post modernism particularly in the Indian Contextâ¦
You may be right about people being paid money for attending church, I have heard of it too â I find it extremely obnoxious and foolish.
So Ven let me ask you a question? Did I choose to be born as a Christian or did you have a choice of being a Hindu? You need to dig deep and find out â not all Christians are for conversion or proseletyzation.
--
benedictg Says:
September 5, 2009 at 7:30 pm
You got me wrong, I only saying that market mechanizations have consumed a large indian population that they are spurning our culture and are getting Americanized. One might attribute it to the phenomena of Globalization.
Any thought, if needs to do a work in a human being need emotional arousal and attentional focus in short it has to do with the heart.
Most of the reactions that I read comes out of anger and disgust. If India has build institutions and been a source of religions that has survived history its certainly not through the methods of force and violence. Its all done through love, and that has been our preoccupation over the ages and that is our domain of strength.
Snuffing out lives to kill a thought has never worked and will never work, regardless of the thought being noble or ignoble.
Benedict
---
benedictg Says:
September 4, 2009 at 7:21 pm | Reply
For most of my life as a Christian I was under the impression that the express job for any Christian is to convert or to redirect the âfriends from the other faithâ to accept the Christian point of view. There are many who work on this mandate, I guess you should appreciate that its the belief system and the teaching of the religion that makes a man do what he is actually doing. We see the violence perpetuated by the Islamic militants and we should never make the mistake of judging every follower of islam as a man who is capable of indulging in violence.
Personally Iam converted to a more Indian system now, I see the Indian culture from a more objective view point not with the Christian tinted glasses. I have made many startling discoveries ever since. One of the major finding is that the Hinduâs have not understood their own heritage and culture. Believe, as a teacher teaching children with learning difficulties, I tell the parents to read the scriptures (Gita) to the children, and surprisingly they find it humorous. I even take Gita Classes much against the displeasure of my Christian bretheren, who dont seem to understand me. I am even planning to do a Ph D thesis on the Saiviate tradition. This I believe does not make me a less christian in anyway, I still follow Christ.
What pains me from the comments is the reaction, now I dont blame those who made these comments⦠I know the provocation. But let us cast this aside and seriously engage in issues that are likely to set back our nation. I really do not believe that a YSR or Sonia can work on converting people to Christianity. Believe me its not that simple, its got to do with the heart not with some change of name or religion in the gazette.