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Faith Under Fire:Hindus force Christians to 'reconvert' - Pastor Dale Morgan, Manoj Padhi and Jibanendra Mahanty
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 16:31:00 -0500
From: manojpadhi at gmail.com
To: dgrmorgan at telus.net
Subject: OTN: Faith Under Fire:Hindus force Christians to 'reconvert'
Respected Pastor Dale Morgan,
I have come across your reaction to following event and it appeared that you are upset by all these "reconvert" events. A Hindu's caste is only suspended when he converts to X or Y religion. When he reconverts "lower caste" remains as "lower caste". Why ? Hinduism - The Santanana Dharma - is one of the ancient religions of this universe and we believe in "Universal Brotherhood" i.e. the whole world is our family.
In India around 70% people live in villages and many of them tribal. They have been so far the soft target of Evangelists. religion is just a way to reach the supreme soul and there are many ways. Jesus Christ is just one among many paths available. Any help for the poor people are acceptable - but why it is necessary to convert people to Christianity ? We ,hindus have our own gods and there are many son gods like Jesus Christ available e.g.Lord Ganesh - son of lord Shiva. Our ancient religious practices are second to none. In America - please visit ISKON temple and ask them about Hindusim. in fact the need of the hour is to spread Hinduism - the most peaceful religion of earth and we invite you to join us. We have equal respect for Jesus Christ - but we request you to please leave us with our own religion.
In Islamic religion - there are several "Terrorists" and please preach them first to the peace messages of Jesus Christ. Change the souls of "Suicide Bombers". Visit all the Madarsas (Muslim religious schools) and teach them about "World Peace".
To conclude - Any help to poor tribal people of India in education , jobs etc are welcome. But please don't preach to convert as they have their own faith and there are also several ways to reach god. In fact several of our saints have experienced the presence of god. Please come and meet them. Please try to know "What is Hinduism and why ISKONs like Lord Krishna". Then probably if you don't like or some thing is missing in Hinduism - debate with our religious scholars.
Thanks
Manoj padhi
*Faith Under Fire
Hindus force Christians to 'reconvert'*
Attack is just a part of increasing worldwide antagonism
Posted: May 12, 2007
Voice of the Martyrs
Hindus have confronted a group of Christian evangelists, forcing them into a nearby village temple to perform a ritual to "reconvert" them to the Hindu religion, according to a new report from the Voice of the Martyrs which is documenting some of the increasing persecution by
Hindus around the world.
While this most recent physical attack was reported by VOM sources inside the Indian state of Orissa, other attacks albeit verbal also have reached into the United States.
Hindus have been launching a series of attacks against Christian organizations dedicated to promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A report from the Hindu American Foundation accused a long list of Christian organizations, including some providing aid in India, of promoting hatred.
"The proliferation of websites promoting religious hatred is an unfortunate consequence of the universality of access to the internet," said Vinay Vallabh, the lead author of the report.
Among those targeted verbally included the Southern Baptists' missions board, Gospel for Asia and the Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries, which aims its ministry at teaching Christians about their beliefs.
"We must vigorously identify, condemn and counter those who use the Internet to espouse chauvinism and bigotry over the principles of pluralism and tolerance," Vallabh said.
While the attacks in the United States have so far remained verbal, those within India almost always result in physical violence, according to VOM.
In Orissa, more than 15 Hindus stopped a small number of Christian evangelists on a village road, verbally abused them, and then forced them into the local temple for the ritual, the report said.
Sources within India told VOM that the evangelists were witnessing and handing out New Testaments and Gospel tracts.
"When chaos broke out, the extremists took the evangelists to the police who put them in jail
and confiscated more than 30 New Testaments and Gospel tracts," the report said.
A short time later, in Andra Pradesh state, a mob of Hindus attacked a pastor and a team of women evangelists, VOM sources reported.
"As believers completed distributing literature, Hindu extremists first started beating [Pastor David] and then assaulted the ladies sitting in the car," the sources said. "Some Muslim women joined the attack and started verbally abusing the women.
"They asked Sister Sarita why she was working to convert people to Christianity and yet she looked Muslim," the sources said. The Christian literature was burned, they reported.
In yet another recent violent attack, VOM sources said two Christian leaders were attacked and beaten by Hindus in Maharashtra state. Local media reports said they were accused of converting Hindus to Christianity before they were attacked.
"It's highly shameful. It's as if the [extremists' organization] just does not understand the concept of law and order, " Congress leader Rajiv Shukla told area media.
There have been many other reports of pastors and leaders being beaten for representing Christ in India. Voice of the Martyrs Canada noted just a few:
* A Christian worker identified as Pawar was attacked in his home.
* Rev. P. Abraham and a college professor were seriously hurt while returning from a church meeting.
* Evangelists from Salem Voice Ministries were attacked and beaten by militants in Kerala state.
The incidents are being reported even as Indian states adopt various pieces of "freedom" legislation concerning religion.
"Rajasthan State has a so-called 'Freedom of Religion Bill' that is used as a tool in the hands of fundamentalists to harass Christians," said VOM contacts, who report on the various attacks, discriminations and persecutions of Christians because of their beliefs.
"The cases of anti-Christian attacks in this area keep increasing, and the State Administration turns a blind eye to the persecution," they said, according to The Voice of the Martyrs.
"The situation for our brothers and sisters in India is deteriorating," VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton said. "But God is faithful, and even in these difficult times with so much persecution, the church there is growing. We are thankful for the courageous example of Indian Christians."
Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.
It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.
He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.
The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.
Dear Mr. Pastor,
According to Hindu philosophy, it is the God's Will that some one( say Mr. 'X') is born in a family following a certain Religion and that Man does not have any right to brain wash/persuade X to change his/her religion( which has been decided at the time of birth). Such acts of human beings is considered an act against the God. This is the finer spirit( can be appreciated by those who have true and unbiased faith in God, the Almighty) of Hinduism, which believes the entire Mankind as one entity.
Hence, as a Pastor, if you have true faith in God ( irrespective of what you name your God), then it is your moral and spiritual duty to stop converting Innocent/gullible/ deprived/illitearte Human Beings to the Religion, you are following. It is quite natural that, if you fail to heed the good sense and continue with your Hidden Agenda, it will give rise to Social tension, mob violence and anarchy, for which Pastors like you will be fully held responsible.
Further, Indian Society is by and large, peace loving and it is the people like you, who are trying to disturb the peace of Land. There are so many Countries in the World, who are supporting Terrorists and terrorism, disturbing the Global peace. If you are really concerned to change lives of misguided people and bring them back to the Peace Loving Society, then by all means, please set up your Camps in such countires( if you have the guts!) and try to transform these misguided youths to good human beings.
Thanks,
J.N.Mahanty
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