tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3837125.post-838190812002-10-31T03:44:00.000-08:002002-10-31T03:57:26.000-08:00TN ANTI-CONVERSION BILL According to the Times of India, it was just passed into law. Everyone keeps referring to "forced" conversions. I've yet to hear anyone say they are for "forced" conversions. No one believes in it. And, aren't there already laws protecting people from being forced to do things they don't want? Why is another one needed? The newspapers have headlines like, "Christians against law against forced conversions." It makes it sound as though they are for "forced" conversions. Actually the whole matter is sort of bizarre. The main objection from Christians and other minorities, I think, is that if anyone wants to change his/her religion, he/she has to inform the government. I don't think many people would do that for fear of harrassment. I don't think many poor Dalits--or rich Brahmins, for that matter; some of those become Christians too--would feel comfortable discussing their spiritual lives with the magistrates. One's religion and spirituality is a personal choice. It should not matter to the government at all if someone wants to be a Hindu one week, a Muslim the next, a Buddhist the third, and a Christian the one after that. Or mix it up in any order you like. It may not make one popular, and it would certainly upset one's pastor/priest/mullah, but after all, that's what freedom of religion is all about. In my long association with Christian missions in India--some of which are very large and well-funded--I have only encountered a money-for-conversion situation once. (Even if that sort of thing were commonplace, think about it: it wouldn't be a forced conversion. It would shameful, tacky, and a fraud, but no one would be forced to violate his/her conscience unless he/she wanted.) Anyway, my one experience with money-for-conversion: a security guard at a house near ours asked my wife how much money we would give him if he converted. She told him, "Even if you gave me 10 crores, I wouldn't make you a Christian!" The Apostle Peter (St. Peter) put it more bluntly in Acts 8:20-21, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God." It's all about changing hearts, not statistics. My standing advice for someone who doesn't want to become a Christian: don't. May each person be free to practice whatever religion he or she wants. Let not the State decide, nor let it force people to stay in the religion to which they were born. Let each one govern his own spirituality. Ultimately, each soul will give an account to God alone--not to you, or me, or the Pope, or Jayalalithaa. To God alone. Regardless, we will continue to share our message: God loves you, and Jesus died for you; and do our best to love our neighbors as ourselves.IMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13042898126000285946noreply@blogger.com