(This post may not necessarily be in conformance with the tenets of “securalism” as preached by the “Secular parties” and the country’s intelligentsia.
In a sense, it is an irony or even a contradiction that this author believes in spirituality more than religion but yet is concerned about religious conversion and feels it has to be countered not by sloganeering but by some concrete, bloody work.
If you are put off by any of the above, please dont read any further.
This post is more a commentary on the state of affairs in the religion the author was born into and the way its being practised today and the scope for improvement. In other words, this is a post to true secularists wherever they are.)
New Life. That’s what the church is called.
Have any of you tried GST/Mount road on a Sunday Morning?? Especially the stretch between Guindy and Saidapet??
The traffic, which is almost mon-existent on a sunday will match the peak hour traffic of week days in this particular stretch. If you are lucky, you would be able to cross that stretch alone in about 20 minutes. But then, not many are lucky. Traffic comes to a standstill. The cars are parked right upto the Adyar River Bridge in Saidapet…
In about 12 years, the Church’s membership has gone from 7000 to 20,000. It’s all there in the church website.
Quite a jump, isn’t it? But i find it hard to believe that the number of Christians who live in that area and who follow that church would’ve tripled in 12 years…
We all know what’s happening.
But hey, this is not a post ranting about religious conversion. I realise that no matter how many people rant for how long, unless there is a mindset change in us, religious conversions will happen.
It happened even during the aftermath of Tsunami.
It has happened, it is happening and if nothing is done to address that, it will always happen.
By addressing, i do not mean “Forcible Anti-conversion” laws.
That is like dressing up a dead body.
It is important that people understand that shouting Anti-conversion slogans is not going to help. What is required, to my mind is something much more deeper and has to be began at the grassroots level.
The prime culprit, to my mind, is the members of the majority community like me. We, along with our religious leaders, have contributed in no small measure for all this with our apathy.
One may argue that there is always a gap between religious texts/ God’s teaching and how the people behave in other religions too. After all, there is always a gap between what we advice to others and how we behave no matter who you are and where you live.
Surely, there are caste discriminations in other religions as well. Agreed, Agreed. But still i think, there are some glaring gaps in Hinduism in the way it has failed to reach out to the masses and communicates its glorious philosophies.
First, there is hardly any link between the religious establishments and the social setup in Hindusim. For eg, we don’t even conduct marriages in a temple. We would rather conduct our weddings in AVM Rajeshwari. It’s considered uncool to conduct the weddings in temples. Only the poor do it.
The Church is there not only for prayer, but also for marriage, during childbirth for baptism, during a calamity. I’ve seen Church fathers coming 20 kilometers to conduct funeral proceedings. It’s also a community gathering and socialising every Sunday, which also happens to be a holiday in ’secular’ India.
Second, In the last 29 years of my existence, i am yet to come across a Church where those who are willing to pay more is seated next to Jesus Christ statue. The less said about our temples, the better. The more famous the temple, the more atrocious this is.
Third, We make such a hue and cry about our Archanai’s being in the native language and not in the “God’s own language” of Sanskrit. But the church father does not have any issues in conducting the service in tamil, or malayalam or any other language of the masses for that matter.
It’s sheer irony that a Bethlehem born jesus communicates to the people in their mother tongue while our own Perumals and Shiveperuman still are incorrigible Sansrit-lovers, or so it looks like or made out to be in big temples.
Fourth, the church and its fathers are past masters in adapting a local culture and spreading christianity. I was really surprised when a local church in velachery was conducting special ceremonies during “pongal” time. Only that the God was changed from Sun to Jesus.
On the other hand, i was pained to learn that a particular elite sect will not take active interest in a Mariamman kovil festival in my native place.
Fifth, Take the GST road to Chengalpet. Take any right at any junction, travel a few kilometres in that bumpy village road, you are more likely to see a church, a missionary-run primary school, and a missionary-run primary healthcare center with basic facilities.
On the contrary Hindus take special pride in having our mutts and religious heads seated conveniently inside the temples in the heart of the city so that they could perform their rituals undisturbed.
This is not to suggest that christian missionaries are always right, noble etc.. There is as much politics in a church as its in Lok Sabha.
But what we need to understand here is that does not preclude the Church from reaching out to the people. They are able to. No matter what, the church is involved with the people from their birth till death.
Religious, orthodox Hindus can give N number of reasons for the present state of affairs. And i’ve heard it all..
“Oh, there is no necessity for us to do all the service. We dont convert.”
“Oh, they receive millions from abroad”
Oh this. Oh that.
Hey, there are thousands of Hindu NRIs as well. Will they contribute to spread their religious teachings?
Even if they do who is prepare do selfless community service in the remote Nilgiris or tribal areas??
There is a lot to learn from Christianity especially in areas like bringing religion closer to the masses in an organised way wherever they are. And in channelising the flow of funds to propogate their religion.
I’ve heard enough people rant about how Hindusim is not a religion but a way of life, blah blah.
I agree that the core principles of Hinduism is timeless and will always remain so. The teachings will remain intact but sooner or later, the label will change from Hindusim to Christianity. Like the way Sun God gave way to Jesus Christ for Pongal.
And trust me, the likes of Shiv Sena are doing their best to antagonize people away from Hinduism.
Lets not get too emotional. And sorry for such a stupid anology for lack of a better one my mind can conjure now. Till recently DoT(not even BSNL) was the only recourse to people for telephone connectivity. Now, people have options.
Unless Hindusim reinvents itself and adapts to the changing times like BSNL is attempting to, it would soon be extinct. If one could not care less, that’s fine. But one does, then one needs to do something about it.
In short, Hindusim needs one Adi Shankara and very badly at that.
It maybe crude transitions… But i just wanted to add one bit of complexity to this series