by Michael Whye

Created on: December 07, 2008   Last Updated: May 22, 2010

Historians are of the belief that Hinduism is the oldest religious tradition still practiced in the world.Statisticians tell us that, with over 1 billion followers, this is the third most widely practiced religion, after Christianity and Islam.

Hinduism, as many other religious traditions do, has a vast and complex series of doctrine. However, the term Hindu is really an umbrella label imposed on the greater spiritual and philosophical traditions in the Subcontinent.

The label has become an easy way to categorise a wide ranging set of beliefs, sometimes contradicting each other, and often blurring the lines between differing interpretations and understandings of ancient scriptures.

With such a rich, varied and complex history, and with an overt focus on tolerance towards difference of belief, and a personal duty to live a peaceful and pure life, it seems rather insulting, and completely unjustifiable that Christians feel the need to, as has been the practice over centuries, step into places, and impose their beliefs and doctrine on people who are, thankfully, deeply aware of who they are and where they stand in their spirituality.

The cynical person would suggest that this is just another form of religious imperialism. Using the aspirations of often poverty stricken people, dangling a 'carrot and stick' of enlightenment before them, and inducements of alleged financial wealth, would seem to be quite an un-Christian and underhanded method of recruiting followers.

The Bible advises followers to 'speak the Gospel clearly, fearlessly, graciously, and respectfully whenever an opportunity presents itself' (see Colossians 4:2-6, Ephesians 6:19-20, and I Peter 3:15). Nowhere does it say give them a bath, turn them into Westerners, and threaten them with eternal damnation if they don't conform. Nor does it say to denigrate, erode and erase indigenous cultures and beliefs, even though these cultures extend back farther than the written word, and have existed in harmony with other cultures, and, indeed, the earth.

Evangelicals and missionaries, for the most part, have the best intentions. However, good intentions and good deeds are very far apart indeed. If Evangelicals feel that they wantto do something helpful and worthwhile to people less fortunate than themselves, then by all means, do it without the attached strings. Offering the word of God to cultures who worship in another way should be just that. An offer of enlightenment. Nothing more. Not the offer of material superfluity that is, ironically, becoming the downfall of the culture that is trying to sell it to those with less.

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