The conversion issue

[Robert Zydenbos]

At 19:21 19.01.99 -0500, Bijoy Misra wrote:

>I do observe RZ's various postings to have anti-Indian
>stance.

Let me assure you that your observation is baseless (and that I would not have been living in India for almost 16 years if I were anti-Indian). Please critically review your own views on what constitutes 'anti-Indian'.

>The reason I write this note is to remind us that
>it's not our goal (I think) to impose our views on people.
>That's is the job of the people's leaders and they
>know what to do.

People's leaders must impose their views on people?...

>To impose one's belief on another is called conversion.

No. This is a patently false statement. Although I am not a Catholic, I have quoted a leading, representative Catholic theologian as an example of what conversion means. (Also Catholic persons and institutions have been targeted by delinquents in India; that is why I quoted him.)

>There is no known Hindu preacher across the borders of India
>until Swami Vivekananda started his ministry in NY in 1893.

What were the 'borders of India' in former centuries, e.g., when the Ahoms were converted to Hinduism? Your argument is anti-historical and frivolous.

>Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada followed with a different tradition
>in 1969.

Do you deny that Prabhupada was a Hindu? Was he not merely extending a practice overseas which was already established (e.g., in Assam), because he had the determination and means of doing so which previous generations did not have?

>While various discourses and rituals are arranged in India,
>there is no hindu initiation ceremony.

False again. I will give only one example: the Virasaivas, from the 12th century onwards, have initiated people through li:ngadiik.saa.

And please bear in mind that I do not condemn missionary activity by Hindus, or by anyone else for that matter. Genuine missionary activity leads to dialogue and forces the followers of every faith to rethink and invigorate their faith, irrespective of what that faith is. Through that rethinking they become more conscious of what their faith means; everybody can use that.

The issue of the obsession with conversions, and the kinds of falsehoods that are spread, has been discussed in detail years ago in an article by Hans-Werner Gensichen, "The Future of Christianity in India", in: H. van Skyhawk, _'Minorities' on Themselves._ = South Asian Digest of Regional Writing vol. 11 (Heidelberg, 1985), pp. 29-40.

RZ