Missionaries exploiting caste system in India

The Varna system was started as analogous to professional guilds, but as a result of exploitation by some priests, and socio-economic elements of society, this system became hereditary and degenerated over the centuries. As the Varna system became increasingly rigid and based on inheritance, it was enveloped by another system known as the caste system. There is no religious sanction whatsoever to the concept of the caste system in Hinduism.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Ch.4, Verse 13: Lord Krishna says: “The fourfold caste has been created by Me according to the differentiation of Guna (attributes) and Karma;”

Gita Ch. 18, V.41: “There is no superior caste. The Universe is the work of the Immense Being. The beings created by him were only divided into castes according to their aptitude.” – Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, 188

The PRESENT Caste system is a dark blot on Hinduism. It goes against the principles and lofty philosophy of Hinduism which considers each soul as potentially divine and eternal. Hindu philosophy insists on attitude of tolerance. Universal brotherhood is the chief message of Hindu religious tradition. The goal is to manifest this divinity within. Caste system is inhuman in its CURRENT form and its exploitative aspects must be abolished. Current caste system is something which no Hindu should be proud of. The sooner we get rid of it the better. The fault lies with the negligence of Hindus worldwide. We have failed to eradicate the caste system which has been wrongfully used against Hinduism by missionaries.
For decades Christian missionaries have used malicious propaganda against the caste system in India and abroad. They claim that the oppressive caste system is keeping Hindus in spiritual darkness and mired in poverty. Missionaries and Western media have used caste to undermine and demonize Hinduism, its culture and its institutions to its advantage. The main objective is to harvest as many converts as they can. The idea is to paint Christianity as the ideal Egalitarian and compassionate religion, in order to lure Tribals, Dalits and other oppressed Hindus in India. The Roman Catholic Church was aware that caste system and Hinduism were so bound together that even when a Hindu ceased to be a Hindu he mentioned his caste. So the Church proceeded with the conversion retaining the caste system, as a market concession! In the Catholic Church today the name ‘Dalit Christians’ is used to denote Christians of scheduled caste origin. The problem of the Dalit Christians has come to focus today. The Dalit Christians are in fact discriminated against by the government and the churches.
Churches in India and world-wide claim that they do not discriminate on caste lines and they criticize Hindu society for caste discrimination day in and day out. But the fact remains that churches practice discrimination based on caste. According to a reports 70 per cent of the Tamil Catholics are Dalits. It is reported that out of 14 Bishops in Tamil Nadu only one is a Dalit. The percentage of Tamil priests is only four per cent. In addition, the existence of separate churches for Dalits in Kerala makes a mockery of these claims. Apart from cutting off converted people from their roots and heritage, (like the Blacks in the U.S. who worship in separate churches) the Church has achieved little.

Alienation of Indian Christians and Pride in Education

Christianity has often alienated Indian Christians from the mainstream in India. They are afraid for instance to participate in anything that has a Hindu connotation, or they are made to change their names. And since they get alienated, a certain fear psychosis sets in. And it is true that Christianity also introduced the feeling of guiltiness, of being a sinner, which is absent from Hinduism. “I would even say,” adds Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “that it sometimes gave Christians an unfortunate sense of superiority over Hindus.”
Christians are also proud that they brought education to India, “but,” counters Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “it is not true: there were for instance 125,000 medical institutions in Madras before the British came. Indians never lacked education, the Christians only brought British education to India, which in fact caused more damage to India by westernizing many of us.”

(source: Arise O’ India – By Francois Gautier p. 62). For more refer to chapter on Caste System.

(Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, is the founder of the Bangalore based Art of Living, an International Foundation. He recently addressed the UN Peace Summit on Aug 28. He is the only non-westerner to serve on the advisory board of Yale University’s School of Divinity and is author of the book – Hinduism and Christianity).

Koenraad Elst has pointed out the plight of the Dalit Christians in India:

“The “Dalit-Christian” are low-caste people who have been lured into conversion with the promise of (1) eternal Salvation by Jesus Christ the Savior, our Lord, and (2) freedom from the low-caste status as well as from poverty. These Dalit Christians held a demonstration in Delhi to demand reservations, on the plea that they are still as poor and low-caste as before conversion.”

(source: Ayodhya and After – By Koenraad Elst Voice of India Issues Before Hindu Society SKU: INBK2650 p.258).

Indian Christian Hilda Raja recently wrote:

” For one thing the Christian churches do practise discrimination even in death, and continue to bury the Dalits in separate cemeteries even today. So to state that in Christian churches they find dignity is far from truth and that makes it a misleading inducement – to promise equality and then deny them that. If the Tamil Nadu CM showed an inexplicable hurry in ushering in such a law the Dalit organisations are exposing their eagerness to use this as a tool to gain political mileage and the Minority church leaders are revealing their heartburns, because for them their `targets’ for each year will be affected – this will affect the flow of funds too.

What is puzzling is why the church leaders while saying that they do not indulge in forced conversions are so worked up and demand the revocation of the law?”

(source: Anti-Conversion law – By Hilda Raja The Hindu December 3 ’02).
Dalit Christians threaten to embrace Buddhism (source: www.newindpress.com). Tiruchi: Dalit Christians attached to the All India Adi Dravidar Parayar Peravai have threatened to convert into Buddhism within two months if the caste ridden Indian Churches do not concede their just demands.

Peravai district secretary P Stephenson, in a press release said that 5000 youth in the Peravai would embrace Buddhism as Dalits were not given representation in Indian Churches, were allotted separate seats during service, separate burial grounds and drinking water facilities in addition to discouragement of inter-caste marriages. As Dalit leaders, churches and political parties did not bother to include Dalit Christians in the SC list, the Peravai proposed to contest in the ensuing polls as private candidates in many constituencies, he added.

Refer to Jesus Christ: Artifice for Aggression – By Sita Ram Goel

Conversions threaten a way of life – says Francois Gautier

At the same time, my 30 years in India have taught me that nowhere in the world has there been so much effort to rectify a wrong — from 1947 onwards. This resulted in a Dalit, the late K R Narayanan, born in a poor village of Kerala, to be elected President of India, one of the highest posts in this nation.

K R Narayanan, a Dalit, to be elected President of India, one of the highest posts in the nation.

Has a Native American man ever been President of the United States?

The bastion of democracy, religious freedom and human rights — the mostly white Christian United States, to paraphrase the description of India by Western correspondents — has had only Christian white male as President. Yet the US Commission on International Religious Freedom has the gall to castigate New Delhi for its record on protecting the rights of minorities.

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Has a Native American man ever been President of the United States? Reservations for Dalits have made it possible for them to access education and jobs regardless of their merits — and this is a unique feature of India today. Look at what happened to countries like Hawaii, or to the extraordinary Aztec culture in South America, after Portuguese and Spanish missionaries took over.

(source: Conversions threaten a way of life – By Francois Gautier – rediff.com).