Posts
A culture that promotes persecution
by Scott Gilbreath ~ April 4th, 2009
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) recently published a report on the plight of Christians in India. Hindus and Christians have lived in a tense relationship since independence in 1947, but those tensions exploded into widespread open violence in the state of Orissa in August 2008, which the report calls a “tipping point”. Christians were blamed for the murder of a Hindu religious leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, despite the fact that a Maoist group publicly claimed responsibility.
As has been suggested before, the reason Christians are hated is that they reject the caste system. Christians are persecuted because they refuse to persecute Dalits. From the section of the EFC report headed “A Culture That Promotes Persecution”:
Today one fifth of the Indian population are Dalits, and Hindu extremists (who see Dalits as “less than human”) are angry with Christians for converting those who are poor and uneducated. It is important to recognize that the issue of Dalits is both divisive and controversial for Christian and Hindu groups alike. This causes a twofold problem: One, that Christians who care to reach out to this large people group are seen to be undermining the Hindu culture; and Two, that this evangelism and conversion of Dalits provides the Indian states, in which these people live, with greater social and economical problems that the Christians cannot solve (for only the governments in these various states have control over the political, social and economic agenda that ultimately affects the livelihood and futures of these “forgotten people”). Recognizing these issues requires a greater call of unity for all religious, non-governmental and political groups.
Christians in India, who are descendants of low caste Hindu families, have historically rejected the caste system and still suffer the same sort of social and economic discrimination that low caste Hindus do (even from some Christians who are descended from high caste families). Additionally, low caste Hindus that convert to Christianity lose their eligibility for any sort of government affirmative action program. Consequently, discussion of the current status of religious freedom for Christians in India must be conducted and understood in this context.
In Orissa, Hindu extremists are forcibly “re-converting” Dalit Christians through intimidation and violence.
As noted in the above excerpt, the caste system is so ingrained in Indian society and culture that some Christians from high-caste backgrounds discriminate against Dalits. Clearly, the church has to do more to educate believers about the implications of the faith.
As Christianity continues to undermine the caste system through evangelisation and through Christian public projects such as schools and hospitals, ongoing persecution from radical Hindus can be expected.
h/t: Anglican Planet
Print This Post
April 7th, 2009 at 05:30 PM
[...] WHILE THE WORLD IGNORED… A culture that promotes persecution; Why do radical Hindus hate Christians?; Two imprisoned [...]