Tide Of Intolerance

Well it is interesting to note that the author has finally decided to see faults in India as well. Most of his time is spent in biased Pakistan bashing. Even now he adopts a very diplomatic tone and refrains from suggesting that the local government is itself biased and WANTS these mad extremists to kill the innocent christian population.
All in all he is making efforts to "look balanced" as far as international newsworthy stories are concerned but he still has a long way to go.

Well it is interesting to note that the author has finally decided to see faults in India as well. Most of his time is spent in biased Pakistan bashing. Even now he adopts a very diplomatic tone and refrains from suggesting that the local government is itself biased and WANTS these mad extremists to kill the innocent christian population.
All in all he is making efforts to "look balanced" as far as international newsworthy stories are concerned but he still has a long way to go.

Part-1:

I WAS born in a Catholic family . My uncle was a priest, a wonderful man of warmth and compassion and I spent most my early years in Catholic boarding schools. When I was young I wanted to become a missionary and to ???convert??? pagans in Asia. What I was taught by priests was that Hindus worship false gods and they needed to be brought back to the True Word by Jesus Christ.

Other Side of the coin!

Why are we constantly looking for reasons, and a rational for the radicalization of Muslims? Perhaps they are inherently bad and evil people.

There is growing resentment against conversions, mostly by christian missionaries. I have seen this first hand as a student in missionary schools and having lived in a hot spot for conversions during my childhood. In one instance a class teacher mocked hindu Gods and beliefs without mincing any words. This would NOT have happened anywhere in the US without raising a furore. Unfortunately, the concepts of keeping religion separate from educational and academic institutions is not people are very aware of and pay attention to, especially so in the remote tribal areas that the missionaries target.
Using a front of good education or health facilities to work on an agenda is what seems to make some people lose their nerve.
Another thing is, poor people are lured to convert by missionaries. The cultural artifacts and religious symbols handed over to the tribal familes over generations are shown scant respect and are destroed. I am sure a significant portion of the crowd participating in this discussion would pay thousands of dollars to have such items to show off in your front halls. What the missionaries are doing here is to reinforce the idea that these poor tribals are leading a worthless life and are further hurting their already low esteems due to multiple reasons.
The neo-convert priests and evangelicals are the worst perpetrators in the latter case. Many of them convert not necessarily out of conviction but out of greed. They get hands on larger funds if they prove to be more succesful convertors and so, they do not hesitate to use any means good, bad or wile to achieve the numbers. Those who manage them are only too happy to turn a blind eye because they are only too happy to see the numbers, no matter what. This competitive number game, with scant respect to the actual welfare of the poor tribals is what is casting larger and larger clouds of doubt on the evangelical missionaries and is sometimes spilling over as violence. They are not without blame.

This is a perfect example of making "mountain out of a mole." Nothing could be more idiotic then to say that some incidences, which actually are between SC and ST communities in India will impede its growth. If that would have been true, China would be Rawanda.

The Christian faith is based on Jesus who preached Advaita Hinduism, thought not as explicit as Shankara, circa 800AD, nor many thousands of others in India today. Place God first and God is within and Rebirth for Heaven Within. This universal oneness or Divine Principal goes against the interpretations being accepted by so many churches in the US and abroad, which preach salvation after death and is only based on faith.
I can see where Christians invite being attacked by their Jesus is Lord approach. I do not condone any violence but India is not a country in need of conversion from ignorant interpretation either.

Its interesting that some readers say that there is no conversion by Christian missionaries. As a child at school in Ooty, India, I have seen Toda tribals being courted by missionaries, given money, clothes, housing over a period of years, and converted to Christianity. Tribals in Nagaland - same story. I recall in the 1970's when Arunachal Pradesh become a Union Territory, Christian missionaries were barred from entering the tribal areas to protect their culture, their beliefs and their heritage. Working with NGO's in Tamil Nadu, I have seen and heard from people affected by the tsunami who were coerced into conversion. Who is the target audience of these missionaries? usually the poor, the uneducated, the populaiton of India who will convert for the promise of some food and clothes and some money.
Christainity and islam are religions that go out and spread the word and convert people. Hinduism, buddhism, jainism are religions that tolerate other religions and by the very nature of the religions, live and let live.
As an international student in the USA, one of the most frequent "visitors" I had at my dorm room door were friendly visitors from local churches, bible in hand, offering to "save" me.
Why is it that one cannot be left alone to follow whatever one believes in, without missionaries imposing their beliefs?
Its important to respect another persons beliefs and lives. As a Christian or Muslim missionary, would you like it if someone knocked on your door and sat down to convince you that you were doomed to burn if you didnt convert to my religion?
Consider the other persons right to be what they are and don't go imposing your beliefs on others. If you insist on doing so, don't rise up in arms when you are met with resistance.
That being said, it doesnt condone the violence of any religious group against another. If people would only RESPECT each other, all of these incidents and hate and negative feelings would not arise.

You've been drinking the kool-aid.

The article points out that it is the country's failure to secularize that is the reason that religious violence is on the rise. All religions, including those based on "the good book", and those 4000 years old, are based on fear and superstition. Try making a decision for yourself instead of looking to an institution for the answer, and see how it works out. It's got to be as good or better than throwing yourself to the mercy of the knowledge and ethics of people who have been dead for 2000 years.

Ay yi yi. It was the failure to actually secularize the country that has led to religious-fueled violence. Religion-on-religion violence is just a symptom of fear and hate. Don't wave your good book around to excuse it or explain it. Get over it. All of your religiosn are based on fear and superstition. Try making a decision for yourself and seeing how it works out.

It is really unfortunate that a religious group would kill people belonging to another religious group because of diverent opinions. This raises seriousethical and human right questions. What is that religion preaching? Where is love and tolerance. My opinion, from analyzing different religions is that any religious group that promotes destruction of human lives is EVIL. What I know about christianity is that christians would try to explain to people why they are convinced of their beliefs, but would never force anyone to believe in what they say, or even think of killing people who do not believe in the Bible.