Organised religions and their propoganda…

When one pastor tries to remind and convince us how bad was 2008 for christians as a whole in India, we really need to know the other side too.

While his rhetoric like this:

” A movement to undermine Christianity was begun in the last quarter of the 20th century: the conversion bogey was repeatedly raised in every conceivable platform, use of funds both indigenous and overseas for development by Christian organisations was suspected, minority rights granted to them by the constitution of India were challenged, scores of Christian personnel were subjected to both overt and covert persecution, places of worship destroyed, institutions vandalised and thousands of houses damaged or completed ruined.”

might induce a feeling in us that, the pristine intentions of spreading the good words of lord is being torpedoed by some demonic forces.

Now, take a look at this study by Pradip Ninan Thomas; he might open up a different picture altogether in front of you.  He writes…..

“Christian fundamentalists”, like Islamic fundamentalists, “belong to a global umma and harbour real and perhaps imagined…longings directed towards making all of god’s people Christian”……………………..Warning against “evangelic spectacles” and various “brands of exclusive Christianity”, Thomas gives the example of “militantly pro-conversion events” like the “Every Tribe, Every Tongue” convention in 2006, attended by political bigwigs like P. Chidambaram and from the self-proclaimed atheist Dravidian party the DMK and 20,000 others who had gathered in Chennai from all across tribal India.

Its a truth that these far-right vicious christian organisations too work in India. Afterall Kenneth Haywood, whose e-mail was hacked in to by Indian Mujahideen was ulitmatley found associated to some gruesome organisations like the ones mentioned above by Pradip.

One of these organisations have a congregation centre near by my place and they do all their “chesting thumping” prayers and sorts . I often watch GOD TV, where the devil incarnation Pat Roberston delivers his demonic advices. (How can a man who vows in the name of god urge to kill another human being? ) I take pleasure in watching the epileptic preachers who spray all their spit on the stage by screeching and screaming “GOD” over the television! They are funny, sometimes i prefer them over Mr.Bean for a good laugh.

This is a not rhetoric about Christianity alone, these vicious elements who have monstrous ideas are present in all religions and all organized religions are hijacked by these kind of nefarious elements without any scruples. It is true that these days they are coming out in to our mainstream society and is starting to play an integral role in the dynamics of our society. But no one can claim to be the innocent here, no one can lament how bad  2008 was for their religion. The year was bad for the whole of humanity, these people who work on behalf of organised religions push us in to these situations and while they lament about their plight because of their actions, i find it a bit loony.

Read the detailed study by Pradip Ninan Thomas here :

Christian fundamentalism and the media in South India