PopeWatch: A swami's open letter to Pope
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: In an open letter to Pope John Paul II, Swami Dayananda Saraswati has requested him, on behalf of the "non-aggressive religions", to put a freeze on conversions and create conditions in which all religious cultures can live and let live.
Welcoming the Pope to India, a country with a unique religious culture which accommodates many religious traditions, the noted scholar of Hindu theology says the Pope can play a significant role in defusing religious conflicts and preserving the world's rich cultures.
The letter says, "I am appealing to you here to accept that every person has the freedom to pursue his or her own religion." On the basis of reason, says the letter, no non-verifiable belief is going to fare better than any other non-verifiable belief. According to reason then, there is no basis for conversion in matters of faith.
A second important issue: some religions convert, some do not. Among the latter, non-aggressive, ones are Hinduism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Religions committed by their theologies to convert are necessarily aggressive, since conversion implies a conscious intrusion into the religious person.
"Religious conversion destroys centuries old communities and incites communal violence." In many, religion is woven into the fabric of culture so destruction of a religion amounts to the destruction of a religious culture. "The Mayan, Roman and many other rich cultures are all lost forever and humanity is impoverished for it."
In any tradition, it is wrong to strike someone unarmed. Since certain religions and cultures do not convert, attempts to convert them are one-sided aggression. "We don't believe in conversion, even though certain Hindu organisations have taken back some converted people. Thus conversion is not merely violence against people, it is violence against people who are committed to non-violence. In converting, you are also converting the non-violent to violence."
Protest against religious conversion is branded persecution because the argument is that religious freedom is curbed. But the other person also has the freedom to practice his or her religion without interference. "Religious freedom does not extend to having a planned programme of conversion.
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