INSIGHT VII: Swami's views on Christian missionaries through the lens of Arun Shourie's book

Namaskar, the new series 'INSIGHT' is an attempt to present the central thought of a thought-provoking book. "Missionaries In India Continuities, Changes, Dilemmas", a book by Shri Arun Shourie compels readers to contemplate various points put forth.

 

The inclusiveness of our tradition was misinterpreted or denigrated by missionaries. The flowering of different thoughts was condemned as a discordant mixture of sounds. Openness and tentativeness were treated to be imprecise. Inner-directed search, the offering of many ways, gods and goddesses, everything was censured.

 

The meaning of freedom of speech and freedom of inquiry too changed in this context, it gets restricted to praising and finding the glories of Christianity alone. The only difference was that the pressure was not as openly used as was the case with Islam. The conversion was an essential outcome. When Swami Vivekananda and Swami Shraddhanad favored the return of the converts to the Hindu fold, the argument was this was not a part of Hindu Philosophy.

 

 

 

When the question was posed to Gandhi Ji about reconversion, he clearly answers in favour of it. If one repents or wants to readopt the original faith or joined some other faith due to some material conditions or feels disillusioned, should be welcome in the Hindu fold, even without shuddhi or fuss. He even was not ready to label it as conversion, if the condition was as described above. "Unhesistantly re-admit to Hindu fold all such repentants without much ado." " He has sufficiently purged himself of it when he repents of the error and retraces the steps."

 

Swami Ji stated it categorically during the discussion with the editor of 'Prabuddha Bharat' ,on the issue of receiving back to Hinduism, " they ought to be taken ( back in the Hindu fold)". He even talked about the decrease in numbers. He considers those converted by the use of a sword or their descendants for reconversion.

 

Missionaries always interpreted the traffic as one-way. Reconversion was out of consideration for them. Hinduism was described as a religion ( which it is not but a way of life) that is devilish and swallows up other religions.

 

The abuse continued for a great length of time, and brutally doctored and colored interpretations had to be faced by Swami Ji at every turn. Gandhi Ji too knew it in detail.

 

Swami Ji stated that he was not against any religion or hostile to missionaries in India but he definitely was against some methods of raising money in America. (There is a full account of his thoughts found in the address in Madras after his return from the US.) He asked why it is taught to call the Hindus ' vile' and 'wretches' and the most horrible devil on the earth. ' A part of Sunday school education for children here consists in teaching them to hate everybody who is not a Christian.' he objected to the books published in Madras against the Hindu religion. He asks, " if a Hindu writes one such line against the Christian religion, the Missionaries will cry fire and vengeance".