WILL HINDUISM OVERTAKE CHRISTIANITY?
Dr. K N Bastola
            
Civilisations have generally been  moulded by religions. Before, people were not in touch with one another as today, because of lack of communication, and means of transport, creating, what can be called  pocket civilisations. When a civilisation becomes refined to a certain extent, added with lack of communication, as well as lack of interest in trying to understand other civilisation, it makes  people   believe that their civilisation is the best in the world.
   During the British Raj, since it was the winner, British empire along with its appendage Christianity, had a major impact in the world. The ruling class at that time believed that their civilisation was the best and let the world believe so as well.

Modern civilisation
   There has been tremendous changes since the British empire collapsed. The modern civilisation has created its own identity, following the principle of change in every sphere of human life. Concepts have been modified or totally changed. Say for example the concept of multicultural society in the west, is a recent development; compare this with the previous concept of, one had to be white to be accepted as British, and it is well known fact that blacks in the USA were not thought to be of much use, except menial jobs. Almost every culture has changed or are in the process of change, giving way to an entity called modern culture. Since the inherent nature of this modern culture is change, the culture present today may not be there at the end of this century. The change is brought about specially by the tremendous amount of  development  in science and technology. Cultures are always protected, and resists change at all cost, but because of its obvious advantages over the traditional ways, modern culture, along with technology, has been accepted by all cultures, causing them to change.  Thus science and technology has had and will have unbelievable influence in our lives, giving us a new culture, new words like surfing the Net, browsing search engine etc; and there are more new words to come.
    Internet has made almost every branch of knowledge available. Not only that, it  has made it easier for people to find what they are looking. It is said that because of the Internet some patient know better than their doctors about some diseases. In the previous days people used to read about a subject (either pro or against something) and make up their idea according to one side of the subject,  because they would not be able to get the other side. Now Internet has made things so easy that you can see both the positive and negative side in the same page. If you want to know the rights of woman in Islam you can put it on search and you will get both positive and negative articles in the same web page. This is the beauty of the Internet. On top of that, one can go to various discussion forums. This will have a tremendous effect on the query of the people, making them aware of what something really is.

Because of the modern culture,  religious philosophies are also changing, specially in the west. Some intellectuals in the west maintain that the present civilisation is the continuation of the Judaeo-Christian culture. I believe that the modern civilisation is anti Christian civilisation as maintained by the church, because of the following reasons-

1. Freedom of speech is the backbone of the present civilisation. One is allowed to express himself. We all know the persecution of Gallelio and host of other heretics in the hands of Christianity.

2. In Christianity, the slaves are asked to obey their masters making it a normal practice. The modern civilisation is totally against slavery.

3. Christianity says women should obey their husbands and does not allow them to take prominent post in the church. The modern civilisation says that woman and men should be treated equally and should have equal opportunity. While Christianity confines the sex of God, despite it being omnipotent, to male, modern woman are openly asking why can't God be female?

4. Christianity says apart from Christians no heathens can go to heaven. This essentially means that, out of 6 billion people in the world, only less than 2 billion people have that facility. Rest of the people i.e. a staggering number of more than 4 billion  people, do not have that right, despite many of them being genuinely devoted to God and are good for the world at large. Modern people obviously have difficulty in believing in this  concept, because, firstly, they cannot understand why people like Gandhi, the Dalai Lama etc. who have done so many good things for the humanity at large should go to hell, and secondly this concept creates huge imbalance in the creation with disproportionately overcrowding of hell. Creation, they argue, works in a balanced way. This sentiment of 'my God is right and only we will go to heaven', has created many Christian sects, including various suicidal cults, who believe that only they will go to heaven and the rest of the world, including other Christian sects, will go to hell.  This has created problems for the modern society.

5. Modern civilisation believes in tolerance towards other religions/opinions. It teaches us to respect  other religions. Christianity, by its essential belief  cannot do that. It on the other creates antagonism with other religions/cultures by calling their followers heathen . This by itself is not conducive of a peaceful society, or world at large. The modern society is looking for peace in the world. Some people call for banning of  the use of the word like heathen, as they have done to the word nigger.

6. Christianity believes that man is the master, and the rest of the creation is there to serve him for his food and pleasure. This has lead to destruction of forest and killing animals for pleasure. Modern civilisation believes in conservation of both vegetation and animals, specially the rear species. Modern civilisation believes in balance in ecology. Scientist have shown that animals can be trained to learn like us. Monkeys and parrots  have already shown that capability. Modern civilisation talks about rights for animals as well, and not only for human beings. The variety of pets are increasing. All these factors give dignity to animals- they are not mere beasts.

7. Modern civilisation believes in temporary punishment  and believes that they will refine after that, whereas Christianity is comfortable with permanent punishment in everlasting hell.

Let us look at the impact of Christianity at the present time.
       Largest number of countries in the world are under Christianity.In Europe the effect of Christianity is very much less marked with an average of only 50 % of the people believing in (Christian) God. In the UK less than 3 percent go to church regularly. People think religion, as represented by Christianity (northern Ireland), is the cause of war. The rich churches have become empty houses, which are taken over by other religious groups. People are trying to find peaceful alternatives, like paganism. In intellectual discussions, secular minds are given prominence to religious ones.
In the USA however, things are quite different. 95% of the people living there believe in God. This has baffled the scientific community. In the early part of this century, perhaps following Darwin's theory, the number of people believing in God was less. I think one of the reason is, USA, the land of opportunity knows the importance of combining religion, with media and money. People are constantly hammered by the commercial media about God everyday. The philosophy is,  religion sells and does earn money, and it is a big business. This has not caught up in Europe as yet. At the moment in the USA the people are hammered by the Christian faith so people believe in the God of that faith. If this faith changes another God could take its place- the commercialisation remaining the same.

Situation in the developing world
In the developing world people have less money and they are bombarded with modern amenities which cost money. These amenities are believed to be coming from the west, and the west is regarded as the gold standard. During the  British Raj , the raj and their religion was the gold standard, as visualised by some people. To attain the standard, perhaps, almost all of the Anglo-Indians became Christians. People want to be associated with the gold standard. Christianity is taken as part and parcel of the west.
     While European churches are lacking in funds and are closing , some American churches are  flourishing. Since religion is combined with business, there is abundance of money with the American Christians.  Part of this money is being siphoned to the poor countries for conversion. Important thing to note and ask here is why this money is not channelled to Europe to convert the nonbelievers? The simple answer to this question is,  the people of Europe are educated and ask intelligent questions. Perhaps Christianity does not have the ability to give them satisfactory answers.  Despite Europe being the homeland of the Pope, why isn't there advertisement of this religion? The black church infused song, hence spirit, into the American church proceedings by the influence of African spirituality. Since music is glamorous this has had a positive effect on American Christianity. Since  religion there  is a big business, I am not quite sure if some of  the propagators of Christianity in the USA themselves believe in God. It looks like financial gain plays an important part  in the propagation process.

The future of mankind
  As mentioned above the world is constantly changing. Because of freedom, People do not like any sort of rules. What they do is change the rules, create new rules. Rules are restrictive, which is contrary to notion of freedom. The freedom part of things gives them the freedom to create new rules. They like to be different and create a different trend. They will need philosophical guidance (as given by religion like Hinduism) but not rigid laws (as given by Semitic religions). Concept of family is gradually diminishing. In some ways we  are gradually becoming animals. The only philosophy/religion we will be governed by will be "don't hurt". This could be applied to humans , animals and vegetation. This will perhaps be the religious philosophy in the coming century, apart from yoga and meditation which are techniques to attain something- one has to master those skills like a surgeon masters the art of operation. Since the surgical skill will always be there similarly, yoga and meditation will also be there. There could also be further hybridisation of religions e.g. taking yoga and meditation from Hinduism and taking the God from the other religions( depending upon which religion's God is glamorous and which God people know). Sufism, though not excepted by mainstream Islam, is a clear example of hybridisation of religions. It has to be mentioned  here that religion is not important for a modern person with its rigid laws they will however except guidance as given in Hinduism. People of modern society will however always need God: for they want somebody to help them in this severely competitive world where there are failures as much as successes. Loneliness amongst a crowd will not be an exception.

What is in Hinduism that fits the modern world?
1. The highest authority book, the Vedas, say that Truth (God) is one but it is only people who call it by different names. This is a very inclusive statement. It gives respect to other religions and opinions. Hinduism does not believe that all religions are the same but what it believes is that all religions are attempting to reach God, the incomprehensible one, in different ways. This philosophy fits into the modern philosophy of respect for other religions. The concept of devolopment of interfaith relations in the modern world arises from this.

2. Hinduism is the only religion whose number of years since creation is similar to what the scientist have found in terms of billions.

3. Hinduism teaches about respect of quality. Hinduism does this by respecting not only humans, but animals like cows  and various plants which are benifificial to human beings and who have qualities, as well. Hinduism knows their importance. Hinduism has always taught about the balance of the universe and the importance of every living and non living thing which helps to maintain that balance(ecology). Modern society also has a similar attitude. Modern society has  found out that animals also have intelligence and have the ability to learn like us. They have trained monkeys and parrots who have shown the ability to correspond with us about their feelings. We have just begun to understand the animal world. The concept of monkeys should have rights like human is coming. Forest conservation is a very well known fact.In  other words Hinduism understands ecology like the modern society.

3. Hinduism says that according to action (training) and circumstances people are divided into four groups or varnas. The goal of which is to elevate every verna to the brahmin. It is important to note here that a brahman's (teacher's) son or doughtier, does not automatically become Brahmin. They are born as sudras and have to make their way up according to training, they opt for and receive. Similarly a sudra's children can also become brahmans after training e.g. Narad and other rishis. The modern world recognises the fallacy of the communist propaganda of people being equal. Like Hindus the modern society gives importance to making people learned and also recognizes training of people giving them respect as per their training.

4. Equality of sexes-
      While Hinduism did not give enough direct encouragement for woman to educate, it did not hinder woman who were determined to succeed. This is evidenced by the fact that Hinduism is the only society who can boast of woman intellectuals like Gargi and others. In fact in the vedic period there were equal. Modern society gives equal opportunity to men and women.

5. The technique of Yoga and meditation, which are very useful for the modern individual, in relieving stress and improving health, can also give human being super human qualities. Many yogis have shown such qualities. The present scientific community looks for such powers. Hinduism is the only religion which gives us yoga and meditation, which in turn gives us the opportunity to observe the paranormal (otherwise we would not have anything to go beyond the normal.) Hinduism gives them a chance to observe the mysteries of nature and study it. Though it must be stated clearly here that,  yoga and meditation are for attaining God and not to show power. Similarly research is going on to see if people do have incarnation. All these concepts give the people of modern society the opportunity to solve the mystery of creation and to further understand the cosmos.

6. Basudhaiba Kutumbakam-
          This philosophy of Hinduism says that all the people of the world should be treated as a  family. This is an action oriented, great philosophy. This is to say that we have a divine tie together and not a worldly tie. This peaceful slogan does not limit to any creed, race or colour. It recognises the diversity at the same time. This is distinctly different from the Adam and Eve family. Because the propagation of family after Adam and Eve was incest relationship, amongst  their siblings. The brotherhood of mankind of Hinduism does not rely on incest. The modern world also says we all are not very different; it goes further and says that close relative marriage causes health problems, which Hinduism advices not to as well.

7. Karma and reincarnation-
    This theory says that the present situation of a person is the result of past performances in previous lives. It also says that  better performance in this life will lead to better life after this. This concept blames the person involved for a bad life (yes we human do make mistakes, we need to learn from our mistakes and progress), but at the same time gives him/her the opportunity to do good in this life for a better next life. It does not blame God, because God is beyond blame. In Semitic religions logically the  blame has to go to God if it is nobody's fault. Modern philosophy is also individualistic.

8. Peace-
  Some religions talk about their religion supporting peace in the world. The very mantra of Hinduism calls not only for peace in the world but peace in space, vegetation and the spiritual world, as well. This is a very catholic philosophy. Support of peace by modern civilisation is well known. One can easily see that Hinduism goes even further than the modern civilisation.

9. Vegetarianism-
     This is increasing in the west. Here I would like to mention ahimsa.  Some writers have suggested that ahimsa or non violence is totally foreign to Hindu dharma, which I think is not true. The truth is Hindu dharma teaches both himsa and ahimsa- important thing is the cause of himsa or ahimsa. It all depends upon the situation at the time of the incident. It is difficult to make a strict rule of himsa or ahimsa because circumstances change. People give example of Krishna's advice to  Arjuna to fight, in Gita and say that Hinduism teaches violence. Yes it is true Krishna teaches violence in Gita. One has to remember that the conversation in Gita is taking place just at the beginning of a war. Conversation at the place of war cannot be of peace when people are ready to kill one another. It can only be of defence and action. If one wants to judge Krishna's teaching than one has to see the things done by Krishna to avoid both the mahbharat war, through his peace proposals and the  exodus to Dwarika to avoid war. We must not forget that this is very much part of ahimsa he is teaching. Yes Hinduism teaches both himsa and ahimsa, but it wants a full justification for the necessity of himsa. Yes himsa can be justified, but it should be the last, and the only option available under the circumstance. One action in one situation is good, while in another it is not.
The act may not be important but the cause of the act is important. For the act is done and done with, but the cause remains part of the history for others to follow.

Hinduism in the west
    Hinduism did establish a root following Vivekananda's presence in the USA. Though the British were there in India, they did not care to try to understand the local philosophy. Those who did, did not look at it through the Indian eyes. The west remained ignorant about the philosophy of Hinduism. It was only after Vivekananda, that the west started taking notice of Hinduism. Gradually the Gurus got accepted, even in the UN. In the process, Hinduism started accepting followers from the west as well. It is said that Hinduism is spreading substantially in the west, specially in the USA. However it has to be understood clearly that because of ignorance, many people in the west still regard Hinduism as a culture rather than a religion.
    There are 3 types of people in the west. 1. The die hard spiritual seekers- they go to India and Sri Lanka and other places, far away from their country of origin, in search of spirituality. While some stick to the available Gurus in the west. 2. These are the academicians and lay people who are interested in the Hindu philosophy and not necessarily spirituality. While the Gurus are helping out the spiritual seekers. The second group have not got the proper guidance, though slowly the Internet is giving them information about Hinduism and of course the discussion forums like hinduunity does help. 3. These are the people of Indian origin in the west. This group is looking for some sort of identity in the west. Like Islam.

Potential and Future of Hinduism
  Hinduism has good potential in fact Hinduism is like Internet business, both of these are in the infant stage, with huge potentiality.

1. Present civilisation respects knowledge and is in an accepting mood despite some resistance. People in the west  are proud to feel civilised, because they are the main contributers for the development of modern civilisation. They do not easily want other cultures or races to overtake them(instinctively). The force of exceptance as well as resistance goes hand in hand. But it has to bow to the intellectual philosophy like Hinduism. In this environment Hindu philosophy can penetrate the mind of western people. In fact in Europe, there is a religious vacuum, with people turning to paganism. This is a fertile ground for Hindus. Though the Hindus have to understand that there is a powerful lobby in the west who wants to see the whole world with one "Christian culture". They are perhaps interested in numbers, in the form of Christian community rather than regular church goers.

2. Vedic astrology- This is becoming more and more popular day by day. If it becomes the gold standard in astrology then its followers will increase dramatically showing a steep graph upwards. While in the Semitic religions, people can only pray and go for pilgrimage for betterment of life, in Hinduism people can use astrology remedies in their day to day life. The Hindu astrology remedy consists of precious stones, japas, yajnas, pujas( prayers), yoga , meditation, tantra and pilgrimage.  Many people are having hard time in the west. The above said practical methods can be applied and if people feel they work,  they will develop curiosity  and become tempted to learn Hinduism. This practical side of Hinduism has got a huge potential to draw people to Hinduism. It can spread like wild fire like mingsui, because people need remedy, just praying is getting them  nowhere.

3. The Vedas-
  What do these "heavily guarded" books contain? Either it is written by a bunch of primitive people (as some in the west think) or  by people of high calibre (as the Hindus maintain). What is important is, books or knowledge continue in the form of editions. Each new edition deletes some part of the old edition and adds new things. Even the Bible has new editions. This fact is based on the principle that every day we learn new things, so we add this knowledge to the book. It accepts the principle fact that we know better now then before. Putting this principle to the Vedas, it does not work. It is the opposite principle in the Vedas. There are no new editions of the Vedas. The Vedas has remained unchanged since the beginning. Why did not the Hindus of ancient India  change it? Why does almost every Hindu religious book regard the Vedas as the ultimate authority? Books written by primitive people cannot, by definition, be of high intellectual quality. We are far away, in time, but why did the writers of Mahavarata and the Ramayan and other books regard the Vedas as the authority? The only reason we can think of, assuming the Vedas were written by primitive people, is, people during the mahavarat/ramayan time were stupid. The question now we can ask is, how can  the writers of the longest poem  in the world,Mahabharata, a drama,  which in a TV serial form, caused a virtual standstill of life of people of whole of India and beyond during its shows, be regarded as stupid? Only a bunch of genius can do that.
   The scientists, ever voracious  for knowledge, are provided with Vedas by the Hindus. Scientists are specially interested in the astronomy in the Vedas. However there are several other field in the Vedas which will be of particular interest to the modern world. The Bible has been explored almost exhaustively. It is time for the scientist to explore the Hindu scriptures. The co-operation between various Gurus and the scientists will definitely contribute to further understanding of the universe. This will of course tremendously increase the prestige of the Hindus. They are also the concept of equality among sexes in the Vedas

4. Identity-
     When minority of people live in the majority society they tend to find their own identity because everybody wants to be proud of what they have, which works as a shield against the majority. This is true for Islam as well. Hindus from various part of the world converged in the west. They are trying to find their roots. They are trying to find something to be proud of. This force is helping the Hindus to unite and go forward.

5. Finance-
  Every civilisation needs money to form, develop and propagate. Hindu civilisation is no exception. For many years  Hindus were subjugated to external forces. Previously there was money with some Maharajas, but sadly they were not smart enough. Now things have changed. This is the first time, perhaps in the history of India that commoner with brains have amounts of billions of dollars. Now with Indians rampaging the Nasdaq share market with their software company listing in it and earning a lot of money, does say something. Every month many Indian companies are listed in Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange. India is heading to be world superpower in software technology. Clinton's visit to India has changed things further for the better. Indians have started talking about brain gain rather than brain drain. Hindus have always talked about western money and petro dollar involved in India. Now I think India can talk about software dollar. Important thing is however, these billions has to be translated into the cause of Hinduism. I however was surprised to know that VHP India does not take money from the NRIs.
    With the money available Hindus can propagate their philosophy and spirituality by every means of communication available, to the needy. Money makes the religion rich and glamorous. It gives imployment to its workers, who need it for their liveliwood. With the elevation of  living standard and education in the subcontinent I think the process of conversion will be lessened and perhaps reconversion will increase.

    6. Mr  A. B. Bajpai-
   I have put this name because I think  his personality is important to the overall progress of Hinduism. Mr Bajpai's roots with the RSS has given him a sense of Hindu ethos, which has moulded him. On the other hand he has also realised the change which has, and is occurring throughout the world, of which  he wants to be part of , for which he has to go beyond RSS.He shows that he is doing this. He also  does not have any prodigy. All these features make him a good raja and I believe that this will contribute to the overall progress of Hinduism. Without a developed India, there is no future of Hinduism.

7. The Paranormal-
     People in the educated part of the world need further proof than the people in the third world, or the people of history when there was little chance of comparing and contrasting any story. They believed in stories. Now people need more than stories. Hinduism is the only religions which can give the paranormal evidence in front of the people through yoga, meditation and tantra.

  8. God realisation-
          Hinduism is the only religion which claims of God realisation in the present life. This gives great opportunity for people to come in touch with the cosmos directly in this life. Christianity talks of quite contemplation only.

   9. Broad rules-
           Hinduism gives broad rules- it gives importance to dharma according to circumstances.It does not give rigid rules to adhere to.  Mahabharat is full of such examples.

Conversion
          It is amazing how some Hindus (10%) do not allow others to join Hinduism, and say that they have to be born as Hindu in next life. This is simply not right. If a person wants to worship Permeshowr, then it is his/her right to do that. Hinduism does not teach that they should not allow others to pray. In modern terms it is a form of religious apartheid.
Effect of conversion.- Anywhere in the world, except some countries, it is difficult to live as a minority. Specially in the Islamic countries. To go from the majority to the minority group and have a very hard life makes the decision to convert a very hard one. It is difficult to understand why people so easily convert religion without understanding its effect.
Conversion  after good understanding of the new religion, with valid reasons to convert, as happens in the west, is one thing; conversion because of accepting materialistic gain, rather than spiritual gain, as happens in the third world is quite another. Once you are on the other side of the river you start wondering what you have done.
    The process of conversion done by heart requires quite some time. It requires study of this new religion understanding it, comparing with the existing religion, and then finally deciding to change the religion. In the 3rd world countries conversion is very quick- within days. The emphasis laid upon  is firstly, if you change to Christianity you will straight away go to heaven, what ever sins you have committed, secondly various tricks are shown as miracles ( villagers are shown that the idols of Hindu gods do dip down in the water but specially made wax and paper idol of Jesus does not sink in the water) and the third is immediate financial gain- this is in the form of cash or help in education and marriage of daughters etc. In a cash starved society this is a very powerful incentive. This process will create a community of Christians, who will have to  start  saying other gods are false, creating a kind of religious tension. While the Christians in the west may be happy to learn the increase in numbers, the question however is how long will the new converts follow the rules and the stories of this new religions, specially with the very powerful effect of  modern coco cola culture which  has the attraction of dance (party), sex, idolising actors and singers etc. If Christians are aiming for regular church goers- that may not be possible because, Christianity does not have a method of realisation of God, during  living and also the fact that  coca cola culture is very strong. If Christianity is only interested in the number of people in their community then sure I must say they are  successful

Is conversion to Hinduism necessary?

     When Hinduism believes all religions are attempting to reach God then why do Hindus frown conversion from Hinduism to other religions? Why do Hindus convert people from  other faiths to their group?
    The answer to the question is simple. We all  want peace in this world. Imagine a world of religious strife with atomic power. We want a catholic philosophy like Hinduism which respects all religions. This is fundamental to peaceful coexistance. Christianity says that apart from their one, other religions are false. While Islam says the same. These beliefs do not lead to peaceful coexistance because, if a Christian says you are wrong to a Muslim, he(muslim) becomes angry. Same thing applies to Muslims as well. This world is never going to be either totally Christian or totally Islamic. There will always be conflict in the world. At the moment, modern civilisation is  creating a balance between them, pressing them to respect one another. Since the modern civilisation is lacking in spirituality, and Hinduism  is the only catholic philosophy encompassing all, which if dominant in the world, will be a better philosophy to check and balance the minority communities. This is the reason why people should convert to Hinduism and make the world a safer place. Other religion will always get respect from the followers of Hinduism.

Why not then, simply follow the modern culture?

        Civilisation is well developed only if it allows the development of all branches of knowledge. Modern civilisation becomes well developed only if it follows suit, including, spirituality , because  civilisation, by definition does allow the development of every branch of knowledge. Sadly spirituality, is lacking in the modern civilisation. Hence the need for Hindu  civilisation.

Strategies for preservation and propagation of Hinduism-

    1. Use money properly- As stated above, this is the first time in the history of India that lay people have become millionaires/billionairs, because of the advance in software technology. Hindus should take advantage of this and invest properly in the things mentioned below.

    2. Use medium- Media plays a very important  role in deciphering knowledge and creating impressions . Sadly in case of India the Hindus organisations have not been able influence the media there. It is amazing that they have not been able to influence even a few central Indian  newspapers. The media with its pseudo secular forces have given a bad impression to the Hindu organisations there. This is definitely not good . Television is the most powerful medium. Christians have used it exhaustively. Hindus should learn from them.  Hindus should go for this. The massage should be both philosophical and spiritual. It also needs more magazines. While we have one magazine called Hinduism Today, it tends more to delve into cultural side rather than the philosophical or the spiritual side. There should be booklet of frequently asked questions for students. We need to have more books like Am I a Hindu by Ed Viswanathan, which became a best seller in the USA.
In the west, for Group one, as mentioned above, the Gurus are doing all right. For group two, I think more is needed to be done. All methods of communication should be used. Gradually books on Hinduism are allowed in section of religion in the book stores. While books and Internet web pages are increasing in number we need to concentrate on other forms of communication including TV, newspapers and films. It is a shame that we have only few standard Hindu magazines like Hinduism today. We need more of those type of magazines. TV is the most powerful of medium. Hindus should learn from Christian TV programs.
Group 3. For this group, specially the growing up children whose parents do not have the answer, should be given answers to their questions. These are simple question like, why we don't eat beef and things like that. They should not feel humiliated in the class. They should have the answere to give it to their class mates. Parent education can be instituted in the temples. Temple should be a source of education and not only of puja.

     3. Reconversion of the converted-- One of the problem with Christianity is that once they convert people to Christianity they do not continue with the  care. So they are left out. These people can be reconverted back to Hinduism with dignity. This process though being done has to be done in a larger scale.

     4. Protect the only Hindu country, Nepal-- This country is being eaten up by Christians because of very vulnerable situation there. The vulnerable state is  because of poverty and rampant corruption. People do not have dignity there. People are looking for change, to get out of the mess they are in. Christianity with its money does provide the alternative. Important factor is however there are only very few resistant force like RSS or VHP there. The forces like Viswa Hindu Federation and Hindu Swemsewak Sangh lack resources, manpower, technology and also the energy. This country has huge symbolic importance to the Hindus. It should be saved at all cost. If it is lost there won't be a single Hindu country in the world, which will be shame for all  Hindus. In fact some, in Nepal, are planning to get rid of the word Hindu nation in the Nepalese constitution.

   5. While it is well known that the major driving factor in Christianity was miracles, it is amazing to note  that Hindu gurus shy away from miracles. The Sidhas should not do miracles to show off and be arrogant, but it is important that they show some miracles so that people can have their doubts removed. The gurus should remember that while doing so they are contributing to world peace at large, in the long run. Yes some yogis are doing that which occasionally comes in the news. History is witness to the awe of the Greeks watching Hindu yogis sitting in fire with no harm, more than 2000 years ago. These things should be done in the west in live TV.

   6. Special target groups- Renowned people including stars and the religious leaders of the other faiths should be apprised of Hinduism. One of the problem of not doing so is the attack against Hinduism by the southern Baptist church, which was basically the result of ignorance. If miracles are included then it will be quick and impressive. I am not sure if any attempt has been made to convert people and religious leaders in the Vatican city.

   7. Yoga and meditation-
      Some Hindus are not happy with the superficial way these are taught in the west. Though the essence of yoga and meditation is not taught,  but still what ever is taught becomes a  preliminary stage for further interest in deeper understanding of the yoga. It is definitely a positive step. Practice of yoga or meditation in any form is a positive step. It is like a Christian leaflet.
  8. Hindu schools-
     While Christian schools made the Hindus less Hindus, rather then Christians, Hindus should learn from them and stablish more schools rather then temples. Islamic countries are full of Madrassas. What about Hindus living as minorities in the muslim countries. While pakistan gives scholarships to muslims of other countries to study (Christians also do the same) I am sure Hindus can do the same for the underprevilaged minority Hindus in muslim countries. It is also important that we give importance to schools more than the temples.

   9. Unity-
    Hindus are not very good when it comes to unity and raising voice. There should learn about them from the Muslims. Regarding language, while the mantras can be chanted in Sanskrit, rest of the proceedings can be done in English. English becomes important for unity because we have all been educated in the western system. One does not have to learn local Indian language to learn Hinduism. Some Hindus are doing a good job of translating  Hindu scriptures into English, which is good because average Hindu does not have  a clue about  Sanskrit.

   10. Glamour-
    Glamour is very important. It is accepted by lay people easily because it acts as a gold standard which every body wants to reach. Hinduism has to be glamorised and made cool. Hindu organisation which are struggling for a good name should be glamorised. Putting a bindi and henna are  cool in the west nowadays. In the olden days if the King and the higher echelons of the society adapted certain philosophy the lay people followed because that was glamorous. Spread of Islam in Egypt was partly due to this.

  11. Positive Racism-
   We generally talk about racism in Europe- how the darker races are mistreated there. We how ever forget to mentioned how the whites are treated in the developing world. The racism faced by the darker people in the west is negative racism, where as, the racism faced by the whites in the third world is positive racism. People in the developing countries have a very high opinion/impression about the white man coming from the west. To give an example there was a renowned consultant in a hospital in Nepal, who had a trainee junior from Germany. The consultant occasionally used to be embarrassed when some villagers would express their desire to have the operation done  by the trainee rather than him. In this context I would like to say that white Hindus help in the process in the reconversion. It makes the layman think that there must be something in the previous religion which they have failed to understand and changed, but the white man has understood.

   12. Lobbying groups- Like the Jews, Indians are creating their own bodies of influence in the USA. With further progress they will create influence on the formation of rules and regulation which might help survival and propagation of Hinduism.

   13. Hindu universities- Can any Hindu think of a Hindu university in Pakistan or Bangladesh or even Dubai? Hinduism needs more unerversities and research centers like the one under Prof David Frowley. We have to do research on our past. Now the Hindus have money they should use it properly.

   14. Social work-
      While there are a lot of Hindu social workers, there are not made prominant by the press. There are many indophiles in the western press. These people should be asked to write about them. However the western press is interested more in the activities of white men and women. Hindus can show the social work done by white Hindu and glamorise him/her. The concept of "Seva is dharm" should be projected. Hindus should learn from the Christians about social service.

Future of Christianity-
Christianity continues to enjoy support in the developing world, where  education is minimal. It has a good side as well as bad side. Its advertisement of the good side makes it palatable to the general mass of the developing countries. Its activities in the church is rather glamorous to the materialistic mind. Yes though the poor have the right to go to heaven, and Jesus himself has been projected as poor (though I must say  that there is a conflicting evidences here), the church and its acts inside it, are generally  rich. This has also contributed positively to the uninquiring mind. Its bad side can only be discerned  by further study. While Christianity looks glamorous to begin with it, is not so attractive on further study.  Look at the comments of Mark Twain "It ain't the parts of the Bible I can't understand that bothers me; it is the parts I understand". Other great minds have commented similarly. Hinduism is the opposite, it is rather strange to the beginners but very attractive to the people who study it deeply.

   Pope recently  visited India where he asked the Christians to harvest Asia.  This was unexpected even for the local Christians who were taken aback to the defence. To accept invitation to go to a friends house and then to say, in his face, that the philosophy/beliefs of the host is wrong and stupid, and should change to his philosophy, needs a lot of guts .  While everybody is talking about the challenge and all, can anybody see the pain which has led the Pope to say what he has?  Can anybody see the vanishing Catholic religion in the intellectual centre like Europe? Are the eastern philosophy creating havoc in Europe's intelligentsia?
  The question is will Catholic religion vanish from the Europe? With only 50% of  Christians believe in God. It is well known that the Pope is very critical of Buddhist philosophy. The offence which has come out is because of fear. In the developing countries yes, Christianity is rising because of conversion. Talking about India we have seen that despite the Indians being educated in missionary schools, the only thing the Christians could do was make them less Hindu. However The uneducated and the semi educated group have been influenced by Christianity. These groups are the socially deprived. Christianity gives them materialistic gain and shows them the positive side of it,  and makes a bargain for their conversion to Christianity. Putting things bluntly, the Christian is effectively making a bargain by saying "I give you the money and the service, you give me the  religion" As the economic condition of these countries improve, we can expect less conversion. And of course the opposition from the local religious group is also very important.

   So long as  Christians have money, and there remains underprevileged groups in the third world their number will increase . This is true in respect to Hindu and Buddhist areas, but to a very limited extent in Muslim areas, because in that religion the punishment of conversion is death, in practice, in the modern world, however, it is social exclusion.
I think, specially the Buddhist countries are at risk of Christian conversion because the religious leaders there might not be aware of the result of conversion like Indians are. Here it has to be clearly mentioned that it is not the battle of philosophies which decides the fate of religion in the developing countries, like the discussion between Adi Shankaracharya and the Buddhist gurus in the past. It is the economic gain.

   If the Christians in Europe can glamorise their religion by songs and dances and the so called miracles, like the USA then yes, it can have a future in Europe. But without that, it is not going to be a smooth sailing for the Christians in Europe. In America one has to view as to when will the Americans be fed up with the TV rhetoric. Since it is being encroached by other religions, it does not hold a very bright future, specially from the point of view that the white Americans have started thinking that they are loosing. Important thing is Christian religion also has rules, associated with its dogma. People in the modern world don't like to stick to rules. They like the freedom of creating their own rules. The development of hundreds of sects is the result of modification and creation of new rules. It is a process of creating a new religion with the same old Jesus/God, the one which is available, which is essential for religion.
In the modern times, because of communication, CHEAP LABOR, if associated with stable government and proper incentive for business and industry, is the biggest resource. This will attract multinational companies.  A country does not essentially need gold mine etc. as resources, to attract foreign investors, as in the past. Because of growth of industry, poor countries will develop. Once country develop and the level of education rises, the pattern of thinking will be that of Europeans. This is not good for Christianity.
     Since the Catholic religion does not want to change its rules, it takes with it all the controversy. This is not good for the European Christianity vis a vis the modern world. It may have a stagnant or some extra followers in the developing world,  its future in the developed world is not good. How ever, evangelical religion, the American Christianity, will prosper so long as America follows that religion. Since  north America is being eaten up by other religions, even the American Christianity may not survive long. Yes Christianity has a good hold in south America and parts of Africa. But this may change if things change in America.
        It has to be understood here that USA is the world leader in almost every branch of knowledge. It is in many ways the centre of philosophy. If another religion overtakes Christianity in USA, it will be the gold standard and glamorous. Its philosophy will be the overriding factor in the world philosophy and the other countries including south America will simply follow the glamor.
      In view of USA I think it is important to touch briefly, the fastest growing religion in USA today i.e. Islam- Yes Islam is the fastest growing religion in the USA. It is difficult to say the quality of converts. However a recent incident in Pakistan does point to the lack of  respect by the Muslims, for the Islamic philosophy. A judge decided, according to Islamic religious philosophy (eye for an eye), to give cruel death sentence to the person who killed several children . But the Government and the intellectuals in Pakistan (who are western educated)  felt embarrassed about the decision, just before president Clinton's visit.  This sort of attitude of Muslim intellectuals, does not allow Islam to ripen as an intellectual philosophy of the world, because, if the people who are supposed to follow the philosophy are not proud of it then, it is unlikely that philosophy will be respected and adhered to, by others. Truly Islamic countries like Afghanistan and Iran have not been able to gather respect from the intellectuals. The victory of progressive forces in Iran is not good for Islam. There are 4 major enemies of Islam 1. Growing number of writers are coming out of fear and writing books criticising Islam 2. Growing number of western educated Muslim women, specially from Iran and Afghanistan, are criticising the status of woman in Islam. 3. Lack of respect of Islam by western educated Muslims as stated above. 4. Lack of unity amongst Muslim factions and leaders. This is why Islam may have increase in number of followers but may not be world guiding intellectual religion.

In view of the above factors I do not see a very favourable future for Christianity, specially the European Christianity, but I do see a bright future for Hinduism. I therefore will not be surprised to see Hindu philosophy guiding the modern world in the later part of this century.

                            END



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