The state legislature in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has approved a law aimed at making religious conversions harder there. The law says a person wishing to convert and the priest conducting the ceremony will have to inform the authorities in advance.
This is apparently a "major political issue" with various Hindu political parties stating that low caste Hindus and tribal peoples are bing converted through "force and allurement". OK, force & allurement - Allurment I can understand as Christian's do not believe in caste, and hence conversion is a way out of the caste system in effect. Force? I don't get this point but can't claim it doesn't happen
There is also the question of use/abuse of the information provided, as required, to the authorities as it may be used to target those people converting and those priests willing to accept them. There have been attacks on churches and christian priests by radical hindus in that state (Madhya Pradesh), which is ruled by a Hindu nationalist party (Bharatiya Janata Party / BJP). It isn't the only state however with these laws.
Link to BBC Story / Conversions harder in India state / Published: 2006/07/26 07:09:51 GMT © BBC MMVI
I don't normally associate Hinduism with extremism or fanaticism but I dare say that was due to be disapointed at some point. With the rise of globalisation, and the gratefulness of assistance towards the assisting - particularly in India where charity is a way of life, and an expectation that the well of will give and the less well of are not shamed by accepting - that where Christian groups go and help there may well be a rise in conversion, even if the group is not actually an evangelical group.
Religion is fast becoming an important deliminator of who you are in the 21st Century, with extremism being an aspect. And the more extreme you percive others to be, and the more threatened you feel, the more extreme you become in response. And we all spiral merrily downwards to the latest version of crusades.
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