Missionaries and Media
Missionaries and Media
Title: Missionaries and Media
Author: Shyam Tiwari
Though, Hindu society, till day, remains disunited in fight
against social and cultural onslaughts and many times even
ignorant of political subversions, it has never tolerated an
attempt on its soul. Surprisingly, the present attack neither
comes from a superior military power nor from a spiritually
advanced culture but rather from a sophisticated not so
conceivable front; a fierce combination of missionaries and media.
The former is trying to seek new followers for a belief system
frozen in time almost 2000 years ago whereas the latter often
finds itself at odds with the Hindu society while examining it
only from the Colonial and Evangelical perspective.
English media is surely the biggest convert missionaries have
made. Unaware and many times even caught not listening to the
other point of views, Media, over a period of time, has gone dumb,
deaf and blind to the inherent dangers of the exploitative nature
of the mass conversions and its ill effect on the Indian society
as a whole. Media, in its usual charge against Hindus for not
being tolerant enough to remain indifferent to the plight of their
fellow countrymen lured by money or muscle into Christianity with
rest of the Hindu society left to bleed, often argue that despite
Islamic invasions and British colonialism, number of converts has
not increased proportionately and attribute this phenomenon solely
to the tolerant nature of Islamic rulers and noble hearted
Christian Missionaries who had only welfare of the Hindu society
in mind. Is it as simple as it looks?
First, Islamic invasion wasn't as bloodless as it is often cited.
It can be easily summarized in the words of American Historian
Will Durant "The Mohammadan conquest of India is probably the
bloodiest story in the history". It was only due to the
sacrifices of several well known and unaccounted number of
unknowns to maintain and preserve the cultural and spiritual
integrity of the Hindu society, it could remain in its present
form. Based on several references available from Islamic and non
Islamic sources, the forcibly converted people were brought back
into the Hindu fold once situations improved.
Secondly, the number of Christians in India hasn't gone up as
apologists often point out, is an absurdity at its best. Christian
missionaries came to India in sixteenth century with the Catholic
Portuguese. History is replete with incidents of bloody conflicts
and forced conversions. A century later, Protestant Christian
nations of Europe came to India but they didn't have any
proselytizing mission and in fact, the English East India Company
were prohibited from sending out missionaries by a clause in their
charter. However, in early nineteenth century missionaries in
England started putting up enormous amount of pressure in support
of sending Evangelical mission to India. This encountered stiff
opposition from several quarters and culminated into two differing
schools of thoughts. It can be easily summed up in the words of a
tea-dealer Mr. Twinning, "As long as we continue to govern
India in the mild, tolerant spirit of Christianity, we may govern
it with ease; but if ever the fatal day should arrive, when
religious innovation shall set her foot in that country,
indignation will spread from one end of the Hindustan to the
other, and the arms of fifty millions of people will drive us from
that portion of the globe, with as much ease as the sand of the
desert is scattered by the wind". Another point of view in
support of that policy was by Montgomery. "Christianity had
nothing to teach Hinduism, and no missionary ever made a really
good Christian convert in India. He was more anxious to save the
30,000 of his country-men in India than to save the souls of all
the Hindu by making them Christians at so dreadful a price".
Despite facing such resistance in the beginning, missionaries won
the battle in 1813 resulting in full right to visit and preach
their religion in India. The Christian population in India in 1893
was around 600,000 but today it has grown up to 24 million, an
increase of 4000% in 106 years!
Now the immediate question comes to mind is why do people get
involved in an activity which even in the West, scholars call
gross violation of human rights. There is even an active lobbying
effort in UN to treat proselytization on par with 'Human Right
Violation'. The reason can be found in the following verse from
the New Testament. Christian missionaries draw their strength
primarily from John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." and take it
literally as the true words of God while ignoring the context or
the deeper meaning associated with. Definitive statements like
these are common to the semitic religions and offer exclusivity to
the individual beliefs. Hence, each of these religions, with very
few modern day exceptions, brand the others not only false but
also condemn them to eternal hellfire. Empowered with this
Biblical sword(words), Christian missionaries, with grand feeling
of superiority, take pride as well as a challenge in converting
others into their fold by all means available to them. Jews have
long overcome the sense of exclusivity. Although, one can only be
a born Jew, very recently an Israeli court sided with the moderate
Jews and upheld the conversion of others into Judaism despite
serious opposition from its far right but this is rather an
exception than rule. Christianity also has gone through several
phases of de-teething but still it doesn't miss out any
opportunity in converting people, especially, if it can be bought.
Like a trader intending to trade the spiritual freedom of others
for the services they offer, missionaries in their zeal to
dogmatize the spirituality of the whole world, often leave no room
for coexistence of other beliefs as clearly evident in the
declaration from Vatican few years back or in the resolution
passed in the convention of Southern Baptist, not even in the form
of a compromise. Strict and swift enforcement of the Christian
doctrines by Vatican has resulted in excommunication of its
priests for their perceived hair thin deviations from the church
teachings which essentially comes down to the acceptance of
'Christ as the only way to salvation' no more no less. In fact,
Vatican has identified universalism as the biggest serious threat
to their existence.
Only after careful and close scrutiny of the behavior and thought
patterns of a group, living in a particular geographical area,
modern day missionaries identify their targets. Since 'free
service' or the service without any expectation whatsoever from
the people who benefit from such services really doesn't exist,
this often results in confrontation with the local groups once
these very groups who trust missionaries first, realize their
folly in falling prey to the deception and manipulation. Results
of such conversions can be best explained with "Suppose ye
that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather
division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house
divided, three against two, and two against three. The father
shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father;
the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the
mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law and the
daughter in law against her mother in law." Luke 12:51-53
The media and its portrayal of conflicts
Since British left India in 1947, brown Englishmen with Indian
body but English mind took over and never really attempted to see
India in its true spiritual and cultural light. The Mother India
remained enslaved not by British but from its psychological
mastery and deep impact over the rulers. Unfortunately, the trend
continues even today. If anyone ever talks on the basis of our
rich traditions and spiritual and cultural heritage, the persons
or organizations get evaluated in terms of colonial ethos and
immediately trashed.
Recent conflicts in Gujrat, branded communal for the sole purpose
of deriving maximum mileage to suit the vested interests, are a
good example. As expected, reporting by English media has been the
worst. It actually does remind us of the colonial past. The media,
only knowing to toe the line of their mental masters, have
surpassed all the records even by the colonial standards, at least
British used to try them first and hang later. This whole conflict
was blown out of proportion and reported completely out of
context. A conflict has to be seen in an honest, unbiased way
without any prejudice towards any group. Further evidence to this
is the way a news item gets reported nowadays. Any attack on Hindu
interests seldom draws any attention from the media and if it
does, is often described as 'complete falsehood' or reporters make
it absolutely sure that the words like 'alleged' or 'claimed to'
are used even in cases like carnage of minority Hindus in Kashmir.
However, any attack on non-Hindus, in times by criminal elements,
never revolves around any confusion and results certainly in
branding only known Hindu groups guilty and is analyzed only in
the communal context. Even in cases where inquiries have revealed
clearly the non-involvement of any of the accused Hindu groups,
media didn't even bother to correct it, forget apology. A more
careful observation of such incidents suggests that any
unorganized resistance encountered, no matter how small and not
even remotely related to an organized group, could invite massive
outbursts from the media merely for a comment from an organized
group.
What is at stake?
The immediate question is, what is at stake here? Our spiritual
freedom? Our own existence? Or the existence of our nation?
Perhaps, nothing as important, big and dear to us than the whole
Indian civilization. What can be more damaging to it than its own
people being taught to dissociate themselves and others from being
part of it. Even though, world Indologists and learned sages
couldn't define 'Hinduism' but missionaries have. They have
already started pointing out who is a Hindu and who is not. We
must stop thinking in narrow sectarian terms. Today, we have all
the ingredients and forces active to utilize the recipe for the
destruction of the oldest living civilization in the world. On
closer scrutiny of several of these existing and dominating
factors, visible or invisible, one can only imagine what it would
have been like being in Mesopotamia, Egypt or other places before
those civilizations became extinct. The blood which flows in our
body today will continue to flow in many generations to come in
future but like other extinct civilizations they may not be
necessarily part of the Indian civilization as the society which
has continuously sustained it since time immemorial, would be
non-existent. This is exactly the long term strategic interest
missionaries have in mind and media is aggressively supporting
them in their mission.
The most common viewpoint prevalent in the media today only
substantiates the accusation by Hindu groups that the different
non-Hindu religions have full right to convert Hindus but Hindus
themselves, not even to bring back their own family members.
Historically, converted people were ostracized and prevented from
coming back into their own society by higher casts but now the
times have changed into reversal of the roles, be watchful, the
biased media, missionaries and the pseudo-seculars have taken
over.
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