A perspective from USA

Here is another view of what we Indians think of proselytizing sent by one of our boys from the States.


Mr. Radheshyam

I have been keeping up with your weekly e-mails and postings on the blog about the violence directed against the Christians in Orissa, Karnataka and elsewhere. I have done some soul searching and thought of sharing my thoughts with you and if you deem appropriate with a larger audience on your blog.

Your weekly updates always keep me interested with events back home and the blog is an excellent medium to keep in touch and share ideas even when we disagree. Your effort and time in this endeavor is sincerely appreciated.

Best wishes

Saibal Basu

ICSE - 1982


I have been following the incidents of sheer barbarism directed at the minority Christian community in various parts of India and the heated debate that has been happening in various forums including your blogsite. I can understand how the violence in Orissa got started after the killing of VHP leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati. However, I am still confused about the immediate reasons behind a similar carnage in parts of Karnataka.

In my view, the fundamental reason behind all religious hatred, violence and wars is the fanatical belief in the superiority of one religion over another. This unshakeable belief then becomes the driving force for all proselytizing efforts either through violent or non-violent means. I would argue that all religions that promote or encourage proselytizing are professing the superiority of their own faiths and therefore guilty of planting the seeds of social discord. There can be no exceptions to this. It should not matter whether you employ brutal coercion or selfless love as your tools. If you are proselytizing you are committing or aiding to commit violence through the intolerance of ideas about the supremacy of your faith.

Religion is not a commercial product that is to be sold. Mass marketing of religion in the name of saving humanity is one of the biggest scams of modern times. The one and only reason to mass market a product is for increased profit. In the case of religion it is increase in the number of the faithful which eventually leads to larger earnings for that religious institution. It’s that simple! The subservience and allegiance of the followers are just an additional bonus. Throughout history all proselytizing religions have convinced their believers to journey down this road bringing largely misery, death and devastation to anybody who opposed. These efforts have reincarnated themselves in modern times through mass multi-level marketing of religion. The bigger the budget the more widespread and sophisticated this marketing campaign is.

Having lived in the U.S. for almost a decade and a half, I am not new to the existence of mega-religious institutions with thousands of followers. One of the primary functions of such religious bodies, usually of the evangelical persuasion, is to raise boatloads of money that could then be used for proselytizing efforts in developing countries. In recent years, these religious behemoths with their multitude of followers and gargantuan budgets have begun to influence domestic politics in a big way. Traditionally these religious entities constituted the core support group for the conservative Republican Party. However, in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign these religious congregations are being wooed by both the Democratic & Republican parties. In August 2008, pastor Rick Warren of one such institution, the Saddleback Church in California, hosted the leading presidential candidates in a debate that was designed to probe the candidates’ personal beliefs and faith. At this event, the Democratic party candidate Barrack Obama had to repeatedly assure the nation (and he has done this many times since) that despite what his name suggests, he is a devout Christian. This is tantamount to saying that in constitutionally secular United States it is a crime to be Muslim and hope to be the President. I am very certain that if any leader contesting elections in India had emphasized his/her Hindu identity so blatantly, he/she would have been branded a Hindu zealot and ostracized by the media. Yet, amazingly here in the U.S. I have not heard even a murmur of protest in any major media outlet. This is yet another way that violence is being committed by imposing the supremacy of one faith as the minimum criteria to occupy a public office in a constitutionally secular and a developed country.
I shuddered at the harrowing stories recounted by the victims of this violence. We know that in India such religious violence are cyclical in nature. They continue to happen because the underlying causes remain unsolved. Eventually people succumb to their primordial instincts to sort out things the way they seem fit. If we truly want to end religious hatred or violence we really have two choices – ban all religions and become atheists or stop imposing, preaching, ingratiating yourself and your ‘one true’ religion into the hearts, minds and ‘pockets’ of others who have a different belief system. If you truly feel compelled to help the poor and miserable bring your money, your boundless energy and enthusiasm, your kind heart but please, PLEASE leave your religious beliefs at home. May peace prevail!