Christian Missionaries are like the Mafia

Sandip Heble
 

You want to construct a house.

A person voluntarily approaches you. He says that the area in which you want to build consists of lots of thugs. He says he would protect you from the thugs and you have to pay him with a certain fee (Protection money).

You politely decline.

He then starts giving threats of his own. He says that if you will not give him the money, you will suffer a lot in the future in this area. He says that his Godfather is a very dangerous person and you will therefore have to face serious consequences if you do not give him the money. He says that you along with all others associated with building your house will have suffer physically, etc.

You are now scared of him. For he is the mafia.

The manner he operates is illustrated below

1. He would create the imaginary problems.

2. He would appoint himself as your savior.

3. He would seek protection money from you. He would threaten you using the name of his own Godfather.

He is thus the aggressor, although he has not physically assaulted you. In a way, this too is violence.

The above scenario aptly describes the modus operandi of the Christian missionaries.

1. They create the imaginary problems for you. They would come and tell you that you are a sinner and you are damned.

2. Then they would appoint themselves as your saviors and say that they would save you.

3. They would then start issuing you the threats. They would say that you have to follow their God, else you would be condemned eternally to hell.

The following words of Karen Armstrong in 'A History of God' would best describe the violent operation of the missionaries

"Conversions became a central preoccupation, a violent, tortured drama in which the "sinner" and his spiritual director "wrestled" for his soul. …..The heavy emphasis on hell and damnation combined with an excessive self-scrutiny led many into clinical depression: suicide seems to have been prevalent. Puritans attributed this to Satan, who seems as powerful ….as God..…. The Puritans God inspired anxiety and a harsh intolerance of those who were not among the elect".

Bishop Spong, speaking about religious conversions says "All evangelical and missionary activities designed to convert the heathen are base born. They are the expressions of our sense of superiority and our hostility toward those who are different".

Christianity, in its present form, is thus like the Godfather, and the missionaries are the Godfather's soldiers who create imaginary problems, issue threats, and seek souls in return.

In the mafia, the cruelest are rewarded the most. Christianity has also operated, many a times, in a similar manner. The canonisation of Francis Xavier, the cruelest and most horrible missionary, as a Saint most certainly would prove this.

Christianity is largely predatory and has over the years been destructive of the cultural systems of many countries. Christianity is thus the largest aggressor, it is the most violent doctrine, and its holy book, the bible, is mainly a gospel of hate.

Christianity will have to undergo a radical change. In this regard, Regina Schwartz in 'The Curse of Cain - The Violent Legacy of Monotheism', has made a few suggestions to amend the Bible that are definitely worth considering

"My revision would produce an alternative Bible that subverts the dominant vision of violence….It would be a Bible embracing multiplicity instead of monotheism….that new versions, decrying the violence of monotheism, will proliferate. The old "monotheistic" Book must be closed so that the new books may be fruitful and multiply."

It is indeed a pity that Christians, who are a 'highly indiginised community', are led by foreign Churches (whose evangelisation and conversion drives are part of their own agenda to revive Christendom and Western supremacy). Their agenda thus only results in destabilising our Nation, North East being a glaring example. The Justice Niyogi commission, appointed by the Government of India to inquire into the activities of the missionaries, had advocated the formation of a National Church that will not have religious conversions on their agenda.

The basic problem between the Church and the Hindus is the issue of conversions. The more our secularists try to side step this issue, the more Hindu backlash and frustration will be visible. And the violence being unleashed by the missionaries will result in retaliatory violence by the Hindu fundamentalists.

Making religious conversions a criminal offence should therefore be the top priority of the Government, so as to boost peace and harmony in the society.

Sandip Heble
July 04, 2002

*courtesy Navhind Times, Goa, India: Cybervoices*

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