Introduction
On August 23, 2008 (Janmāṣṭamī day), an armed group from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) killed revered Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and some followers at his ashram in district Kandhamal, Orissa. Although early on the group that murdered Laxmanananda had been identified as insurgent Maoists, the incident nevertheless sparked protracted Christian-Hindu riots across Orissa and further Christian-Hindu unrest across the rest of India. Hindus continue to blame Christians, not Maoists, for killing Laxmanananda.
Despite the fact that Maoists are outspokenly atheist, their killing of Laxmanananda clearly coincided with Christian interests. As reported in the Indian Express, Orissa Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda explained why they killed Laxmanananda:
Laxmanananda was encouraging Brahmanism and simple tribals were being converted to Hinduism. Tribals are not Hindus as they have their own culture and God. They practice animal sacrifice. They have separate religion. He was attacking people who ate beef and converting Christians into Hindus. That’s why we killed him (Mohanty “Maoists Own Up”).
Police believe that Laxmanananda’s killing split the CPI(M), with some Hindus forming the IDGA-Maoist party.1 The IDGA-M has denounced the CPI(M) for the killings. In response, CPI(M) leader Sabyasaci Panda admitted the affiliation between Maoists and Christians in Orissa. “Our supporters in Orissa’s Rayagada, Gajapati and Kandhamal also belong to the Christian community,” said Panda. “The persons who have broken away could be Hindus” (Mohanty “Hindu Maoists”).
This incident demonstrates that the conflict between Christians and Hindus is fundamentally religious. Theoretically, Maoists should object to Christianity as much as they object to Hinduism. As Mao Tse Tung himself once told the Dalai Lama, “Religion is poison.” Yet here we find a Maoist leader who effectively cites religious reasons for the killing and speaks without discernable apprehension about the Christian affiliation of his party’s cadres. However informal the alliance between Maoists and Christians, the ties between them appear to go beyond that of convenience. The conflict between Christians and Hindus is perhaps better understood as a religious conflict instead of a class conflict. Conversion, not class conflict, is the central issue underlying all aspects of the conflict between Christians and Hindus.
Using a comparative religious approach, this essay examines four areas related to conversion: the theology of conversion, welfare work as it relates to conversion, the impact of demographics on conversion, and the relationship between politics and conversion. For the foreseeable future, Christianity is poised to be the long-term winner in its conflict with Hinduism. There are, however, emerging conditions on both sides of the conflict that could make Hinduism the long-term, decisive winner instead of Christianity. This essay will also explore these emerging conditions.
Nevertheless, as compared with Hindu doctrine and belief, Christian doctrine and belief presently encourages religious, social, and political behavior that is better suited to the survival and propagation of Christianity. Each of the four parts of this essay will attempt to explain from different perspectives why Christianity has the upper hand in this conflict and what Hindus will most likely have to do to counteract the progression of Christianity.
The full article (Part 1 of 4 - The Theology of Conversion) is available at http://samprajna.org/sites/default/files/christian-hindu-conflict.pdf
1 Idealise of Democrat Garila [Guerrilla] Army [Maoist].
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written by karigar, 2009-06-30 15:28:56
Your further nuancing the Karma-Conversion connection now makes what you're saying much clearer for me. Thanks
I'm enjoying the rest of the discssions..Thanks Gangp for the discussions also.
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written by Krishna Kirti Das, 2009-06-30 12:07:13
You wrote:
The very fact that there are 1 billion Hindus in India today and Hindus are found everywhere is India, is the evidence that Hindus have in the past carried out conversion.
I agree. In my paper, I made a similar point at length by enumerating some of the more prominent classical missionary movements in India, which existed before the word "Hindu" in its modern connotations had come into existence.
Also the presence of Hindus of non-Indian origin in Indonesia is another evidence that belief in karma is not a hindrance to convert.
Also agreed. But I think here you are mistating my argument. I did not argue in my paper that belief in karma is a hindrance to conversion. Instead, what I had argued was that an emphasis on the doctrine of karma as a part of an emphasis of the more materialistic doctrines in religion. I quote from my paper below:
Lack of Hindu interest in preaching and converting the religious “other” seems in large part due to a general mood of worldliness. Religious concerns of the transcendent kind have been pushed to the periphery of Hindu culture. As some Hindu scholars have pointed out, few Hindus nowadays consider religion as a vocation or as an academic field of study. Instead, they are “they are all off to become doctors and engineers and management consultants” (qtd. in Banerjee 325). In such an atmosphere of worldly sentiment, dharma is engaged in more for the sake of artha, economic gain, and less for the sake of higher religious purposes like mok?a or bhakti. In support of worldly pursuits, the more worldly doctrines of Hinduism are given emphasis—particularly the Law of Karma. (pg 9)
What I argue is that it is an emphasis of the more worldly doctrines, including the Law of Karma, that creates a disinterest in missionary activity.
In this regard, and as I had explained in the paper, the Law of Karma is important because as compared with the Christian doctrine of eternal life in Hell, the Law of Karma makes the business of saving souls considerably less urgent. As per the Law of Karma, souls eventually will get future opportunities for mukti or to perfect their bhakti. Not so under the Christian doctrine of eternal Hell. For Christians, a soul missed in this lifetime is a soul permanently missed. This Christian doctrine therefore creates more of an urgency for missionary work.
In the Hindu context, when the more transcendent doctrines are emphasized over the more worldly doctrines, then we also see develop a similar urgency for saving souls. A modern example of a Hindu missionary movement is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. [Disclosure: I'm a member of ISKCON.] In ISKCON theology emphasis is placed on the perpetual suffering concomitant with the Law of Karma, and emphasis is also placed on bhakti as the permanent solution to that perpetual suffering. Conversely, ISKCON theology also emphasizes various shastric statements that deprecate or outright condemns religious activity for worldly gain. As I quoted it at length in my paper, Gita verses 2.42 - 2.44 in this regard are quite explicit. The point I make in my paper is that all the classical missionary movements that I had enumerated shared this characteristic of having emphasized the more transcendent doctrines over the more worldly doctrines. When those doctrines are emphasized and the more worldly doctrines are deemphasized, there is a corresponding rise in interest for missionary activity.
My argument was not that the law of karma itself results in disinterest in conversion. As you point out, the law of karma is quite compatible with missionary activity. Instead, I argued that a greater emphasis on the law of karma leads to disinterest in conversion. It is the emphasis, not the law itself, which makes a difference.
I hope this helps clarify the paper's argument.
Best regards,
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written by Dr. Pradip Gangopadh, 2009-06-30 07:27:04
The very fact that there are 1 billion Hindus in India today and Hindus are found everywhere is India, is the evidence that Hindus have in the past carried out conversion. There can be no other way but conversion to have such a geographical spread. Also the presence of Hindus of non-Indian origin in Indonesia is another evidence that belief in karma is not a hindrance to convert.
Frankly, I had problem with the following:
"According to karmic laws, if taking birth as a Hindu is the most enlightened birth one can take .... Because belief in karmic laws is presently emphasized... Hindus are disinclined to convert others."
I believe that the essence of all religious systems when freed from human theology is the same and so "Hindu is not the the most enlightened birth one can take". Karmic laws have nothing special to say about Hindu birth because they apply to everyone. There is no inevitability about conversion through rebirth into a Hindu family. Laws of Karma do not say anything about such a conversion through rebirth. Yes, Hindus are presently disinclined to carry out conversions. The reason is not because of influence of law of Karma.
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written by Krishna Kirti Das, 2009-06-30 05:14:37
For you, what would count as evidence?
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written by Dr. Pradip Gangopadh, 2009-06-29 12:17:36
I have not seen any evidence supporting such a claim.
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written by karigar, 2009-06-25 14:11:11
One thing is certain, hindu intellectuals better start clearly analyzing the situation and come up with deliberate & considered responses before things keep spinning more & more out of control.
Looking forward to more from you here.
Best Rgds.
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i beg to submit a correction in your article 'KK das', you stated that
first up, there is nothing like hindu...the persinas couldn't quite pronounce Sindhu (The Vedic Civilization by the banks of Indus River)...as that was a shibboleth for them...they called it hindu...
(Reference: http://www.encyclopediaofauthe..._dharm.htm)
Actually, the Vedas being eternal had no real need of identifying them with any religion. Wonder if there was only one TV Channel, it'd never have required any distinct recognition...but with the advent of new channels, just to make an easy reference, a unique identity is assigned to the first channel...
This is quite a similar case with Vedic Civilization or San?tan Dharm.
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