Meaning of Freedom of Religion

The Meaning of Freedom of Religion - Proselytization : A Challenge to Freedom and Peace - by Swami Nirliptananda



1. Conversion : a false concept



Freedom is an essential characteristic of Hinduism. Every Hindu has a freedom of choice and freedom to worship. This is implied by the concept of “Ishta�? (chosen deity). No one has the right to interfere, condemn, or impose his own beliefs on others. That is the general outlook of the Indogenic religions. That is why there is hardly any conflict among them.

But the proselytising religions have a history of religious wars because the followers of each try to impose their own system of beliefs on the others. The whole idea of conversion is based on a false premise. It is based on the perception that if there were only one religion there would be harmony and peace in the world. Apart from the proselytising creeds there are many freethinkers who hold a similar view, particularly in India. Such a viewpoint still persists in spite of glaring facts about interreligious violence that one witnesses every day. In fact, inter-religious and sectarian violence is one of the basic threats to harmony and peace today. In view of the circumstances that now prevail we have got to look seriously at any article of faith that can be used to incite people to hate, to denigrate or to create situations that can lead to conflict. Since the declaration of the United Nations’ bill of the freedom to convert, the world has changed immensely. Our world has become like a global village. There are large numbers of multi-faith organisations among the civilised nations which believe in the principle of mutual coexistence.

With the changed circumstances presently, new laws are enacted to control those who take advantage of the old system to commit violence. Similarly new laws are needed to regulate the conduct of those who believe that they have a fundamental right to convert and dominate over others. It is one of the last vestiges of imperialistic rifle that still remains. The idea of “global village�? is to adopt values of universal significance, values that promote unity and harmony and not values that influence divisions and conflicts.

In the view of this, we are of the opinion that the United Nations’ declaration of the freedom to convert has overlived its existence since it favours a concept that is linked with conflicts and wars. Our position is that a bill be passed to the effect that label conversion as a threat to peace and is dangerous to harmonious existence in the modern civilisation that is armed with powerful weapons of destruction. A fair proposal would be that “religious activity in any form should not be done with a motive to convert. If someone is satisfied that by adopting another religion in which he/she would find better spiritual satisfaction, then every one should respect that choice�?. Such a position would get rid of distrust and create an atmosphere of harmony and peace among religions.

The violence in most countries is connected with the proselytising religions. We can take the Middle East, Indonesia, Philippines, Bosnia, Russia, China, ‘Kashmir and Afghanistan, etc., as examples. But when we look at the Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism in India and Taoism in China there is relatively peaceful coexistence among them because they believe in certain principles that are of universal application. Both peace and violence are inherent in human nature. One is achieved through knowledge and self-control and the other because of ignorance.



2. Lifeline



It appears that conversion is the lifeline of the proselytising creeds and means such as freedom of speech, logic, dialogue and discussions to discover the truth which can lead to peace are not encouraged. Such principles are replaced by dogmas. In England for example the number of people going to church has drastically declined and there were many redundant Churches at one time that had been converted to other usages. This decline may be true also in other countries.

Hence various means are adopted to get hold of people even by tempting them which is contrary to their own doctrines. If the charity work they provide is properly scrutinised it will reval that the motive is not compassion but to recruit people to fill the vacuum which otherwise the church would not be able to function.



3. Charity without compassion



The Churches’ claim to be charitable cannot be sustained because whatever they do is done for the sake of some favour, namely to convert. A rich Charity in Jamshedpur (Bihar) used to run a 44-bed hospital. The beds were about two feet wide with a metal base on which was an inch thick mattress. To lie on such a bed must have been torturous. But beggars are not choosers and the poor had no alternative. If charitable work is not motivated by compassion, what else could be the reason?

The Bharat Sevashram Sangha started their leprosy project in the same area in a hospital made of thatched roof and mud walls. But the three feet wide beds with three inches thick mattresses which they provided were quite comfortable. Later, when they could afford, the Sangha established proper hospitals and the Charity’s hospital was handed over to the Sangha. It is an indication that conversion happens only because of material needs. To take advantage of another’s difficult situation cannot be called charitable. The objective of religion is to transform the exploitative instinct of man into the spirit of sharing and caring.



4. Temptation



To maintain their existences, some religions use conversion as a sort of commercial trade to get hold of people at any cost. It is like another kind of slave trade practised in a more subtle form. I was once targeted in the 1960s while in Britain and was offered a Parish church. I was told that I would be a good preacher. It was clearly a tempting offer but it was declined because of my understanding of both Hinduism and Christianity.

It can hardly be denied that temptation is one of the main approaches used to convert ignorant and poor people despite the fact that temptation is regarded as a cardinal sin. But, for the purpose of conversion everything seems to be excusable and religious ideals become perverted in the process. Families are divided, countries are divided, brothers and sisters fight with one another, and properties are looted; all these find support under the cover of conversion. Some of the countries in Africa and elsewhere still remain poor although their populations have been converted.



5. Conversion will not stop by pleading



Conversion cannot be stopped by pleading but by duplicating the services offered by the missionaries and educating the Hindus about the greatness of their culture. If the services offered by them are provided by the Hindus there will be no conversion. People only change their religion because there is no alternative service being provided.

During a recent discussion with one of those who believed in conversion I was made to understand that there were fundamentalists in Hinduism. I refuted her statement and pointed out that the people she called fundamentalists were reacting to conversion and if it was stopped the reactionaries would simply disappear. But I was told that conversion could not be stopped. My reply was that she was the fundamentalist because she thought that she had the fundamental right to convert others and they had no right to convert others and they had no right to resist.



6. proselytizers are sensitive to conversion from their own religion



I know of a lady who embraced Hinduism and those who belonged to her former faith tried to get her back into their fold but she refused. Finally, twelve of them went to argue and convince her that it was wrong for her to leave her religion. They are very sensitive to conversion from their religion but do not think that others feel the same.



7. Conclusion



Compare the above with the tolerant Hindu with a universal outlook and one gets the message. They are like pawns in the hands of the proselytising creeds whose hidden agenda and motives are concealed under the cloak of charity. The question one may ask is: how can one reconcile the multicultural spirit with conversion? The fact is that proselytizers often use the multi-cultural organisations and platforms to promote themselves. Hindus who are by nature multicultural are easily taken in by the pretensions of the proselytising religions. As I mentioned earlier, conversion is so central to the proselytising creeds that it is impossible for them to renounce it without dire consequences. Therefore, those belonging to the non-proselytising religions will have to work out their own strategies to confront them.

(A talk given at the World Congress for the preservation of Religious Diversity held In New Delhi, India, from Nov 15th to 17th 2001)



Author: Swami Nirliptananda

Source: Secularism Combat 2009 December



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