Athyal:Today, however, the missionary work follows an efficiency mode, where we have strategies and targets. The impression that mission is the programme of a specific department of the church assigned that task, is an understanding that followed this understanding of mission Secularism in India is defined as freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion and also, the promotion of renascent and reform movements in religions, especially those aimed at the liberation of the downtrodden sections of the society. The Neo-Hindu movement of the 19th and 20th centuries was in essence the struggle of Hinduism to build up a religious humanism in active dialogue with the secular and socialist movements in the country.



Several theologians and social scientists feel that one of reasons for the resurgence of communalism and religious fundamentalism is that this dialogue, vibrant during the last century, has become dormant in recent years. Over the years, the renascent elements in religion were overtaken by more aggressive and shrill voices from within. Equally important, the secularist movement, caught up in the web of rigid academic confines and political compulsions, turned dogmatic. The dialogue of the religious and secular, crucial for building up a secular ethos became dormant.In the words of M. M. Thomas, ‘It is my conviction that it is the strengthening of the closed secularism with this total privatisation of religion and the development of what may be called Dogmatic secularism which rejects any relevance of religious values in the public realm, along with the slackening and marginalizing of religious and social reform movements that have created the spiritual vacuum which is now sought to be filled by religious fundamentalism and communalism’ (Religion, State & Communalism: A Post-Ayodhya Reflection, CCA, 1995, p. 14). The hope for a secular India lays not so much in the separation of religion and society but in the positive and healthy interaction of the renascent and liberative elements in both. In Thomas’ own words: ‘If religion is part of the problem in India, religion must also be part of the solution’.

BBC News - Politician jailed for seven years over India riots

BBC News - Politician jailed for seven years over India riots A politician has been sentenced to seven years in prison in a case related to anti-Christian riots which rocked an eastern Indian state. Manoj Pradhan, a legislator with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, was charged with murder but convicted of "fatal attack" and arson.

Amen - an autobiography of a nun by Dr Sister Jesme

A book written by a former nun is threatening to embarrass the Catholic Church in Kerala. is written by former nun Dr Sister Jesme and threatens to reveal what allegedly happens behind the closed doors of convents. The book claims that harassment and sexual repression take place in convents. “I wanted an outlet for my trauma. It'll help me start my second life afresh. The society has the right to know what's happening to the sisters,” says Dr Sister Jesme. Sister Jesme was the principal of St. Mary's College in Thrissur till she quit the congregation last August alleging harassment from superiors. The church in turn has labelled her mentally sick. “Thirty-three years cannot be penned down in 180 pages but there are points the I want to make about the capitation fee, the quarrels that happen within the church, about the homo-sexuality, the hetero-sexuality,” says Jesme. The book comes soon after the Central Bureau of Investigation booked two priests and a nun in the high-profile sister Abhaya murder case. The state women's commission now says it will take up Jesme's case very seriously. “We are studying the matter and will take it up seriously. I cannot tell you anything more on this issue,” says State Women Commission Chairperson, Justice Sree Devi The Catholic Church in Kerala is silent on the book and in an election year, political parties too would be cautious about raising these allegations. More Born C Meamy Raphael, Jesmi writes in her autobiography that she got her first rude shock when she was a Novitiate. ''At a retreat for novices, I noticed girls in my batch were unsettled about going to the confession chamber. I found that the priest there asked each girl if he could kiss them. I gathered courage and went in. He repeated the question. When I opposed, he quoted from the Bible which spoke of divine kisses,'' she writes. Her second shock was from an ordained nun. ''I was sent to teach plus-two students in St Maria College. There, a new sister joined to teach Malayalam; she was a lesbian. When she tried to corner me, I had no way but to succumb to her wishes. She would come to my bed in the night and do lewd acts and I could not stop her,'' she writes. In Bangalore for a refresher course in English, she writes, ''I was told to stay at the office of a priest respected for his strong moral side. But when I reached the station, he was waiting there and hugged me tight on arrival. Later in the day, he took me to Lalbagh and showed me cupid struck couples and tried to convince me about the need for physical love. He also narrated stories of illicit relations between priests and nun to me. Back in his room, he tried to fondle me and when I resisted, got up and asked angrily if I had seen a man. When I said no, he stripped himself, ejaculated and forced me to strip,'' Jesmi recounts. More

Virakta Mutt in Deshanur, Belgaum has a Christian priest and Hindu Muslim devotees

Church or mutt? A sign of hope 16 Feb 2009, 0515 hrs IST, N D Shiva Kumar, TNN BELGAUM: In these troubled times of religious intolerance and rise of fundamentalism,, a village 25 km from Belgaum, stands out as a beacon of hope. The church here has adapted itself to local culture so much so that it is called a ‘mutt’ — — and has both Christian and Hindu features. The walls are adorned with teachings of Basavanna, Sarvajna, Akkamahadevi, Kabir Das, Tulsi Das, Sur Das, Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa and Meera. The church priest wears a saffron shawl; the devotees, comprising Hindus and Muslim, recite verses from the Bible, Gita and Koran. “The essence is peaceful coexistence of all faiths,’’ says priest Fr Menino. The village has a population of around 11,000 and is dominated by Lingayats and Muslims. The priest is the lone Christian member in the village. The priest worked closely with the villagers and started the first girls’ school, helped build roads, brought post office and electricity to the village. The church runs a primary school with 459 students and provides hostel accommodation to 46 poor students. Most villagers prefer to send their children to the church school. Though it has classes only up to 7th standard, high school students throng the church during nights to study. “We have a lot of powerlooms in our village. We can’t study at our homes due to the sound. So, we come here to study at nights,’’ said Shivanand Jawahar Thondikatti, a 10th-standard student. Besides Christmas, the church celebrates Sankranti. “Around 3,000 people participate during these celebrations. This place is a classic example of peaceful coexistence,’’ said Fr Menino. Source

Tenth Anniversary of the Killing of Graham Staines

Ten years after the brutal murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in India’s Orissa state, widow Gladys Staines is urging persecuted Christians there to turn to Christ. On Thursday,22nd January, a mass was held at the site of murders in Monoharpur marking the tenth anniversary, followed by a prayer service on Friday and the inauguration of a new physiotherapy hall. Baptist missionary Graham Staines, 58, and his sons Philip, 9, and Timothy, 7, were sleeping in their station wagon in Manoharpur village when they were attacked by a mob of Hindu extremists and burned alive inside their vehicle on the night of 22 January 1999. Mr Staines had spent more than 30 years working with leprosy sufferers in India. In an interview with AsiaNews this week, Mrs Staines admitted there had been times of sadness during the last 10 years. “I feel sad that I do not have my husband to support me, to guard me, but these are just momentary emotions of sadness which also fill me with great hope, the hope of heaven and of being reunited with my husband and children in paradise and seeing the Father face to face. This guarantee fills me with consolation,” she said. Although Mrs Staines said she missed the support of her husband and was sad that she was not able to see her sons grow up, she affirmed forgiveness for the killers and said that Christ had been her companion over the years. “God gives me great support, and the prayers of people has been a source of great consolation, and this is the solidarity I share with the widows of Kandhamal. It is Jesus who is the source of every consolation and support. God gives us the strength to be able to carry our cross and to live in His will. Our life and our work here on earth has to go on according to His holy will.” Mrs Staines went on to express her sadness over the recent wave of attacks against Christians in Orissa but urged women who had lost their husbands in the killings to stay strong “and Christ will be your support, your companion, your guide and your strength”. “When God is working with us, nothing can be against us,” she said. “I am in prayerful solidarity with them, I share their sufferings and I want to encourage them with hope. It is painful and sad but importantly - it is not how we live, but what matters is ‘whether we are in the will of God’.” Mrs Staines returned to Orissa in 2006 to continue the work of her husband in fostering peace and harmony. She encouraged Christians elsewhere to support believers in Orissa with solidarity and prayers. “To the people of the world I say, do not give up hope, pray for India,” she said. Mrs Staines has previously stressed forgiveness for the killers. When one, Dara Singh, was sentenced to death and 12 others given life imprisonment in 2003, she appealed for clemency. Singh’s death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. In a 2006 interview with AsiaNews, she stressed the importance of forgiveness. "In forgiveness, there is no bitterness and when there is no bitterness, there is hope. This consolation comes from Jesus Christ." source

Karnataka High Court allows House Churches to hold Worship services

Legal Victory for House Churches in Karnataka

Posted on January 14, 2009 by cd

KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) – Over four months after government authorities closed several house churches in Karnataka, India, the Karnataka High Court said they should reopen and can hold worship services.

This followed the action of several pastors and Christian believers from Davanagere District who had lodged a writ petition to the High Court of Karnataka in Bengaluru.

The All India Christian Council had supported the pastors in logistical and finding legal representation. For last four and half months about twelve churches in Davanagere in central Karnataka were locked.

Following attacks on several churches on August 17, 2008, the district administration issued notices seeking a survey of churches functioning without permission. In early September, several churches were sealed. The next week Deputy Commissioner K. Amar Narayan instructed the Police Department to survey churches and prayer halls to check how many of them were authorized. The Indian media noted that worship places of other religions were not checked.

Local Christian leaders say the problems were because extremist Hindutva groups influenced officials. During 2008, groups like RSS and Bajrang Dal have beaten believers, pastors, and even set fire to churches. They also made false accusations against pastors and registered cases with the police.

The High Court chief Justice Mr. Dinakar was strict with the District Collector saying, “In a democratic country, no one has power to stop anyone worshiping according to one’s own faith. One’s faith can be a church or any other worship centre.”  more

Story of Hindutva

Augustine Kanjamala | Friday, 26 December 2008 Why Hindu extremists target Christians A militant school of Hindu thought which despises Islam and Christianity as alien creeds is growing in strength in India. Many Westerners believe that Hinduism is exemplified by Gandhi, the saintly man who led India to independence through toleration and ahimsa, or non-violence. But there is another strain of Hinduism which is far from tolerant and dreams of reviving the martial traditions of Aryan forebears. One leading Hindu monk, the Sankaracharya of Karvipith, criticised Gandhi in 1922: “Ahimsa undermines Hindu self-respect; passive and non-resisting sufferance is a Christian and not an Aryan principle.” Organized anti-Christian animosity and violence in India goes back to the Hindu reformist movement, Arya Samaj, and its founder Dayananda Sarasvati (1824-1883). When an American Presbyterian mission in Punjab began to attack Hinduism and denounce its superstitions, Dayananda was infuriated. His Hindu social reform movement bore some resemblance to Luther’s slogans. His mottoes included, “back to Vedas” (like “back to the Scriptures”). He introduced the Sudhi rite for reconversion to counter Christian proselytism among the Chura community of outcasts. In 1923, a political extremist from the state of Maharashtra, V.D. Savarkar, after imprisonment for 12 years for terrorism, published his book Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? He argued that only those who are bound by the Hindu culture and uphold India as their pitrubhumi (fatherland) and punyabhumi, (holy land) should enjoy full rights. Muslims and Christians, whose holy lands are far off in Arabia and Palestine, are not children of the soil of the sub-continent. He popularized the slogan: “Hinduise all politics and militarize Hinduism”. The exclusivist Hindutva policy was radically opposed to the inclusive and secular policies of the founders of independent India. more