– THR Correspondent CURRENT
“As for conversions, a simple question is, what is the need for anyone to formally embrace another religion, say Christianity or Islam?”
—- T. R. Anandan, The Hindu-Open Page, May 27, 2003.
“He had no business to talk about the legislation passed by the democratically elected governments in India. He has no such authority… There is complete religious freedom in India.”
—- J. Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, at a press conference, following the Pope’s remarks on the anti-conversion law passed by her government
“I think it’s a very small portion ($50 million), and we should call for an audit of her organization. She carefully doesn’t keep the money in India because the Indian government requires disclosure of foreign missionary organizations’ funds.”
—- Christopher Hitchens on Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, in an interview in ’Free Inquiry’
“My suggestion: to revive Christianity, they should leave India alone and take their campaign to Europe where pagan gods and goddesses and flying witches are back in the public imagination, going by the craze over the Harry Potter books.”
—- Dr. N. S. Rajaram, former NASA scientist and writer
“Do evangelists have the right to disrupt society, culture, religion, and the family of people in other countries? Do people have the right to combat the attack on the culture of their country? It is interesting… to see the results that might occur as the evangelists enter their last stage of evangelism in India… Evangelists cry to the politicians, civil right groups and newspapers in the West.”
—- David Kostinchuk, People United for Religious Freedom
PROPHETIC
“As far as converting India to Christianity is concerned, there is no hope. If it were possible, it ought not to be done. It would be dangerous; it would mark the destruction of all religions… oneness of mental temperament all over the world would be death. Nature is too wise to allow such things.
—- Swami Vivekananda
“Kshane rushtah kshane tushtah, rushtatushtah kshane kshane
avyavasthitachittasya prasado’pi bhayankarah”
(He is displeased in this moment and pleased in the next. He takes no time for travelling from dissatisfaction to satisfaction. His mind is deranged. Even a favour from such a being is to be feared.)
—- Swami Dayananda, founder of Arya Samaj, on the character of Jehovah as portrayed in the Old Testament
HISTORIC
“It (Islam) makes imperial demands. A convert’s world-view alters. His holy places are in Arab lands… His idea of history alters.”
—- Sir V. S. Naipaul in his book ‘Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursion Among Converted Peoples’
“Christianity has survived in India not on account of any strength or merit in its arguments but because its machine continues to grind even when it loses the debate.”
—- Sita Ram Goel, historian, and co-founder, Voice of India
“Evangelisation in India appears to be a part of the uniform world policy to revive Christendom for re-establishing western supremacy and is not prompted by spiritual motives… Enormous sums of foreign money flow into the country for Missionary work…”
—- Justice Niyogi Committee’s findings on missionary activities in Madhya Pradesh, 1956.
“As for religious freedom, I must make it quite clear to you that we have sent away these foreign missionaries who were really at heart colonialists and who did harm to China. They will not be allowed to come back. We have broken with them once for all.”
—- Chou-En-Lai, Former Prime Minister of China, 1956
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.”
—- Samuel P. Huntington
HYSTERICAL
“Put on the full armor of God and fight with the weapons of spiritual warfare. From its center in the 10/40 Window, Islam is reaching out energetically to all parts of the globe; in a similar strategy, we must penetrate (its) heart with the liberating truth of the gospel.”
—- Luis Bush, Argentine Evangelist
THE FINAL WORD
“Better late than never. Had the Roman and Greek kingdoms done something like this [like passing an anti-conversion law], today a Roman or a Greek civilisation might have survived in a living form, not merely in archives and broken monuments. This is what we have to learn from history. Those who do not learn will go into the archives.”
—- S. Gurumurthy
“First, tell me, where is the need for conversion?”
—- Mata Amritanandamayi, during a live interview on television, when asked whether an anticonversion law is necessary.
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