Source: Google photo of forced conversion
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Synopsis: The epidemic of forced conversion in many parts of the world is a very serious issue that has enormous social and religious implications that many countries have started to take seriously. New laws are needed to ban such practices to protect the poor and the vulnerable who are easy prey for the fundamentalists. We can all live in peace and harmony if we accept that all faiths must emphasize that tolerance and acceptance of others who are different is the only way forward.
There was a Peace Corps volunteer working in a country in South America where he saw a missionary mistreating a native person to force him to convert to his brand of Christianity. When the poor fellow refused, he was chained and beaten to submission. He was starved and physically abused daily by this so called missionary who said that he was doing God’s work and trying to bring the light of Jesus to this heathen so any means was fair to him including torture.
The Peace Corps volunteer was horrified and published this account in a book to inform his countrymen what was being done by these missionaries to spread Christianity among the non-believers but soon the book was taken off the shelves of bookstores under the pressure of the Bible thumpers. They said that the author was deliberately spreading fake news about their missionaries who were doing God’s work by spreading the Christianity among the non-believers so it was noble work.
The media stopped reporting about it and the story was quickly shoved under the rug because they were afraid of the pressure groups that wield enormous power who use it frequently to suppress any news that they consider unfriendly and misleading that may put their business of faith in jeopardy.
They put pressure on any Hindu preacher who was promoting Hindu religion, Hindu culture and philosophy in the Western world to stop their evangelical activities that were corrupting their countrymen and women so they banned the practice of Yoga in many schools. They said that it was a very unchristian thing to do so they opposed successfully. The worldwide evangelization of Christianity was solely reserved for their missionaries because they were doing God’s work so it was their duty to support such work financially or by any other means.
They raise millions of dollars to support the missionaries who are sent to the remotest parts of the world where they do whatever they need to do to bring the light of truth to the so called uncivilized people. They routinely abuse the followers of other religions and actively spread falsehood to demonize them and persecute them just because they prefer their own religion.
Source : Google photo of Osho who was persecuted in America for preaching Hinduism
There was a Hindu monk who was called Osho by his followers worldwide. He set up an ashram in Oregon where thousands of his followers came to listen to what he had to say about the Hindu philosophy, its culture and its Vedic religion that they adopted. When Osho became very well known in the world, he came under the radar of the fundamentalist Christians who found his preaching to be a threat to their brand of religion and demanded Osho to be put in jail. The government complied because they could not be seen as tolerant of a faith that the Bible thumpers were so uncomfortable about so Osho was treated as a criminal and very badly treated in a jail somewhere. His ashram in Oregon was bulldozed and all the property they had was confiscated.
When Osho was released from his jail because there was no evidence against him of the false charges, he was deported but his private plane was denied landing and refueling permission by many countries under the pressure of the US government. When Osho finally reached India where he died soon after his arrival, it led to the belief that he was given a slow working poison in the jail but it could not be substantiated.
The followers of Jesus during his lifetime suffered persecution and torture in the hands of the Romans and later others so they had to bury their dead in secret underground labyrinth of tunnels they dug outside Rome and under the streets of Paris. I have been to such places of burial outside Rome along the old Roman road called via Appia that are over 2 thousand years old. There are ossuaries in Rome that are just as old that will give your shivers if you dare to see them. The monks guarding the old bones do not allow photography because they want to sell you their photos and slides.
Later the Catholic Church established in Vatican became the spiritual guidance center of all the faithful from where the Pope still reigns supreme on spiritual matters related to their faith and routinely issues rules and directives that all the Catholic faithful have to obey.
What they do not like to focus on is the shameful chapter in their history when the infamous Inquisition tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people whom they labeled as heretics. The Inquisition was approved and supported by the Vatican for a long time so that they could write their history of persecution with the blood of the innocent people.
The question to ask here is this. Why the followers of Jesus who were persecuted by the Romans and the Jews at the time of Jesus became persecutors themselves later. What made them so intolerant of others who had different faith and why such intolerance persists even today? I will discuss this issue here and cite examples of other faiths that are taking this intolerance and hatred of others to new levels of hypocrisy leading to violence and great social turmoil in many parts of the world.
Recently a beautiful Hindu girl was murdered by her Moslem boyfriend who chopped her into 35 parts just because she had refused to be converted to his faith. He had tortured her for months with severe beatings and burning her with cigarettes but she refused so he killed her. He has been arrested by the Delhi police and is under investigation.
This is not the sole incident that has shocked the whole country. There are many such cases where people have been beaten and killed just because they refused to be converted. In fact the forceful conversion of Hindus into Islam has been going on for centuries giving rise to the phenomenal increase in the Moslem population worldwide that teaches and practices their religious intolerance of other faiths. In their Koranic schools, the Maulanas teach hate and intolerance to children that makes them Talibans later. Now the Indian government is cracking down on these madrasas to bring in necessary reforms in them.
The conversion of poor people using threats, intimidation or outright violence goes on unabated by the jihadists who are supported and funded in their activities by many Moslem countries. They consider it to be their duty to spread their brand using any means just like the missionaries in some countries I mentioned earlier.
The forced conversion is an old method used by the Christian and Moslem rulers since a very long time and still continues using deceit, lure of money, food and used clothes or the promise of a better future. The slavery of Africans and in the Latin American countries was a very profitable business for the British, Dutch and many Europeans but the practice of slavery is very ancient. The Egyptians, Romans, the Aztecs and the Maya people all practiced slavery. In Islam slavery is practiced and has the approval of their Holy book.
The Arab Moslem slave traders who captured Africans from their remote villages frog marched them to the ports like Zanzibar to ship them to various lucrative markets but those who converted to Islam by force were spared and freed. Those who refused were tortured and starved so many captives died in transit. Dr. Livingstone freed many such captives in Africa.
Recently it has come to light how the Catholic and Protestant missionaries in India are targeting the tribal and other poor people whom they convince to become Christians. They offer money, food or other forms of enticement so that they accept Christianity. This way the missionaries are destroying the tribal culture, their belief system, their ancient faith and their society based on tribal laws and rules that are very old.
I have seen the same thing in Haiti where the Protestant missionaries are working hard to destroy the Haitian culture, their Catholic identity and their African culture their forefathers brought with them. They fill the minds of young Haitians with poison who then go from village to village shouting insults to all who listen. They condemn the Haitians who practice Voodoo and believe in Catholic practices. I have seen myself such young people in their villages who shout insults while frothing in their mouth. James Michener wrote in his epic novel called Hawaii where he wrote about the American missionaries who did the same to the Hawaii culture, language and their heritage.
The spread of evangelization among the poor and the destitute people has gained speed in many countries because of the financial support they receive from their backers. An Armenian nun called Mother Teresa who lived in India became well known as a savior of the poor and destitute people whom she gave succor but the fact that she gave help only to those who accepted Christianity was hidden. She was declared a saint by the Vatican that ignored her methods because they believed that she was just doing God’s work. Now her methods are being questioned and her missionaries have come under the radar of the Government agencies that are investigating their financial irregularities. One of their sisters in Sudan hoodwinked me out of 250 liters of precious gasoline with their pathetic plea for help. In this they are very successful.
The conversion of people has now become a very profitable business run by very shrewd and cunning people who paint a glorious picture of new adherents, their new churches or madrasas and their church run schools and madrasas where they teach religious intolerance and hatred of others. (Read my blog here called the Faith as business )
The dark side of their activities is often revealed when some nuns report to the authorities how they were sexually abused by their priests or bishops so some padres have been arrested and are under trial in India. There are many stories of abuse of native children in orphanages by the nuns in many countries and the sexual abuse of children in Koranic madrasas by the mullahs come to light daily. ( Read my blog here called Abuse of native children in this context . Please also read the blog called The bane of negative programming here )
It is known that no one is as devout as a newly converted person. Such a person becomes a tool in the hands of those who have converted him. They send him as their agent to convert more people because he speaks the native language and knows the weakness of the poor people that he exploits and gains credit to his own benefit. It can be a scholarship to go abroad and get a degree somewhere that then qualifies him as a preacher who gets a green card and a job in the United States or other countries. I have met such people here in the Philippines myself and kept them from us as far as possible when I knew who they were.
The Protestant missionaries in Africa are a very determined lot who spend years learning the local language and try to translate the Bible so that the local uneducated people can be reached and converted. They are funded by their churches back home and are provided with all the tools they need to convert people in Africa, Latin America and even the natives who live in the deep forests of Papua New Guinea. One such fellow in Mali lived in a village where he used to go down a well and sit in the water to cool down and polluted the water as well so the villagers could not use it.
Once they showed me a folded cardboard with a pin attached to it that is used to play a small record. The sound vibrates through the triangular shaped form when you turn the record with a pencil or stick. It was truly a piece of authentic ingenuity that impresses a native living in the forests of New Guinea in complete isolation. They think that sound coming from a card board is nothing short of a miracle or a wizardry of immense proportion. The missionaries use such tools to impress their audience and succeed in converting them. To make it very effective, they produce a record in the native language so the people are doubly impressed.
Then they use the tools of temptation like free food and used clothes so you will see the African women wearing bras with wire that cuts into their skin and suppurates due to infection, but they are told to cover up their breasts.
The Moslems use the trick of what is now called Love jihad where a Moslem entices a Hindu woman into a relationship using the social media where there are numerous dating apps. Young and lonely girls looking for a boyfriend fall into their trap and learn to their regret that the so called Hindu boyfriend is actually a Moslem who hides his identity at first but later pressures the girl to accept Islam. One such girl ended up dead when she refused but there are many such cases that come to light daily.
Often very poor people sell their daughters to people who take them to other countries to keep them as sex slaves or sell them to brothels. The sex trafficking of young girls has now become a multibillion-dollar industry that is very profitable and completely tax free. These poor girls are also forced to convert to the religion of their abusers because they cannot escape.
Now the Supreme Court of India has warned the Government of the danger of such practices and demands new laws they must enact to stop this practice. They say that no one should be forced to convert because it violates their human right and the freedom to choose their faith out of their own volition. But this practice of forced conversion goes on in undemocratic countries where the fanatic mullahs preach conversion and use blasphemy laws to falsely accuse a Hindu or a Sikh and force him or her to convert to avoid harsh punishment and long jail terms.
In India, the Hindu religious NGOs organize “return home” events routinely for people who want to return to their native faith because they were deceived into believing the Padres or Mullahs and were disillusioned. So all over the world, huge numbers of Moslems and Christians are now embracing Hinduism and are building new temples where they can pray.
What is interesting is the fact many Moslem countries are now allowing Hindu scriptures like Geeta and Ramayana to be taught in their schools and colleges. Some are allowing the building of Hindu temples which is a sign that not all are convinced that conversion to their faith is the only way forward.
This world will be a better place where people of all faith can live in harmony without imposing their views and ideology on others. Bertrand Russell was once asked what his faith was. He answered that he was a humanist. I could have never imagined a better answer.
Source : Google photo of Bertrand Russell who was a humanist
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