David Frawley reviews Stephen Knapp's
Crimes Against India And The Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Tradition
Hinduism remains the most attacked and under siege of all the major
world religions. This is in spite of the fact that Hinduism is the most
tolerant, pluralistic and synthetic of the world's major religions.
Hindu gurus have more than any other religious teachers in the world
tried to find an underlying unity of religion to create peace in
humanity. Yet though Hindu gurus have called for respect for all
religions, leaders of other religions have not responded in kind by
offering any respect for Hinduism. Instead they have continued to
promote their missionary agendas and plan the conversion of India to
their beliefs.
Why is Hinduism still so much a target of missionaries and
the media? It is really very simple. Hinduism is the largest of the
non-conversion, non-proselytizing religions and so offers the greatest
possibilities for conversion. It is the vulnerability of Hinduism that
makes it a target, not the fact that Hindus are trying to convert or
conquer the world for some hostile belief.
After Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is the world's
largest religion and the largest of the non-Biblical traditions. India,
where most Hindus reside, has the most open laws allowing in foreign
religious groups. While missionaries are virtually banned in China and
in Islamic countries, in India they are often tolerated, respected and
given a wide scope of activity. Since Christianity is in decline,
particularly in Europe, it has a need to find new converts for which
India is one of main potential locations, particularly as a
comparatively high percentage of Hindu converts are willing to become
priests and nuns. Pope John Paul II in a trip to India some ten years
ago spoke directly of looking for a "rich harvest of souls in the third
millennium in Asia", specifically India.
Yet most Hindus and groups sympathetic to them are not aware
of this "siege on Hinduism" that continues unrelenting as part of the
multi-national missionary business. In this context, the book of Stephen
Knapp, Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic
Tradition, is very timely, well written and well documented. The siege
on Hinduism has been going on since the first Islamic armies and
Christian missionaries entered India as he clearly delineates and has
continued in various forms, violent, subversive or even charitably
based.
While people know the history of the genocide of the Jews by
the Nazis, the greater and longer genocide of Hindus by Islamic invaders
is hardly noticed. Even the genocide in the Bangladesh War of 1971, in
which most of the several million killed were Hindus, is not
acknowledged as a religious genocide. While people know the history of
the Inquisition and the burning of witches in Europe and the genocide of
Native Americans by Christian invaders, they don't realize that India
has a similar history in parts of the country like Goa. Knapp fills in
these gaps and makes these connections.
More importantly, people don't realize that questionable
conversion tactics are still being used in India today, where in the
South, the rate offered for conversion is around twenty thousand rupies,
going up and down with the economy! They also don't realize that it is
now American Evangelicals of the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson line --
the religious right that brought George Bush to power -- that is
spearheading conversion activity and church building in South India,
pouring billions into the country.
Yet Knapp's book is not just written to make us aware of
this assault on Hinduism and its many dangers. He also provides a way
forward, showing how Hindu Dharma can be revived, better taught, better
communicated and more widely shared with the global audience, which is
becoming progressively more receptive to Hindu teachings of Yoga,
Vedanta and respect for nature. He documents the Hindu renaissance and
the modern Hindu movement, which though small is growing rapidly as a
Hindu response to this denigration of its venerable traditions. He shows
that Hindus are not responding in terms of becoming another intolerant,
exclusivist missionary cult. They are organizing themselves in terms of
teaching, service and spiritual practices.
The book is well worth reading and will show any open minded
person the Hindu side of a millennial debate on religion that has so far
largely excluded the Hindu point of view. That Knapp is a western born
Hindu adds to his credibility and conviction. He is not simply defending
a tradition handed down by his family or his culture, but one that he
has embraced from deep spiritual conviction and profound inner
experience.
One hopes that readers in India will listen to his voice and that those
outside of the country will recognize the Hindu plight along with the
other forms of oppression going on in the world. Religious minorities at
a global level are still under the assault of religious majorities,
which have long been armed with petrodollars, high technology and
control of the media. Yet as the book demonstrates, the tide is
beginning to turn.
[The above is a review of Crimes Against India: and The Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Traditions, a book by Stephen Knapp. The review was written by David Frawley, and is reproduced here without any changes.]
Crimes Against India And The Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Tradition
Hinduism remains the most attacked and under siege of all the major
world religions. This is in spite of the fact that Hinduism is the most
tolerant, pluralistic and synthetic of the world's major religions.
Hindu gurus have more than any other religious teachers in the world
tried to find an underlying unity of religion to create peace in
humanity. Yet though Hindu gurus have called for respect for all
religions, leaders of other religions have not responded in kind by
offering any respect for Hinduism. Instead they have continued to
promote their missionary agendas and plan the conversion of India to
their beliefs.
Why is Hinduism still so much a target of missionaries and
the media? It is really very simple. Hinduism is the largest of the
non-conversion, non-proselytizing religions and so offers the greatest
possibilities for conversion. It is the vulnerability of Hinduism that
makes it a target, not the fact that Hindus are trying to convert or
conquer the world for some hostile belief.
After Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is the world's
largest religion and the largest of the non-Biblical traditions. India,
where most Hindus reside, has the most open laws allowing in foreign
religious groups. While missionaries are virtually banned in China and
in Islamic countries, in India they are often tolerated, respected and
given a wide scope of activity. Since Christianity is in decline,
particularly in Europe, it has a need to find new converts for which
India is one of main potential locations, particularly as a
comparatively high percentage of Hindu converts are willing to become
priests and nuns. Pope John Paul II in a trip to India some ten years
ago spoke directly of looking for a "rich harvest of souls in the third
millennium in Asia", specifically India.
Yet most Hindus and groups sympathetic to them are not aware
of this "siege on Hinduism" that continues unrelenting as part of the
multi-national missionary business. In this context, the book of Stephen
Knapp, Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic
Tradition, is very timely, well written and well documented. The siege
on Hinduism has been going on since the first Islamic armies and
Christian missionaries entered India as he clearly delineates and has
continued in various forms, violent, subversive or even charitably
based.
While people know the history of the genocide of the Jews by
the Nazis, the greater and longer genocide of Hindus by Islamic invaders
is hardly noticed. Even the genocide in the Bangladesh War of 1971, in
which most of the several million killed were Hindus, is not
acknowledged as a religious genocide. While people know the history of
the Inquisition and the burning of witches in Europe and the genocide of
Native Americans by Christian invaders, they don't realize that India
has a similar history in parts of the country like Goa. Knapp fills in
these gaps and makes these connections.
More importantly, people don't realize that questionable
conversion tactics are still being used in India today, where in the
South, the rate offered for conversion is around twenty thousand rupies,
going up and down with the economy! They also don't realize that it is
now American Evangelicals of the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson line --
the religious right that brought George Bush to power -- that is
spearheading conversion activity and church building in South India,
pouring billions into the country.
Yet Knapp's book is not just written to make us aware of
this assault on Hinduism and its many dangers. He also provides a way
forward, showing how Hindu Dharma can be revived, better taught, better
communicated and more widely shared with the global audience, which is
becoming progressively more receptive to Hindu teachings of Yoga,
Vedanta and respect for nature. He documents the Hindu renaissance and
the modern Hindu movement, which though small is growing rapidly as a
Hindu response to this denigration of its venerable traditions. He shows
that Hindus are not responding in terms of becoming another intolerant,
exclusivist missionary cult. They are organizing themselves in terms of
teaching, service and spiritual practices.
The book is well worth reading and will show any open minded
person the Hindu side of a millennial debate on religion that has so far
largely excluded the Hindu point of view. That Knapp is a western born
Hindu adds to his credibility and conviction. He is not simply defending
a tradition handed down by his family or his culture, but one that he
has embraced from deep spiritual conviction and profound inner
experience.
One hopes that readers in India will listen to his voice and that those
outside of the country will recognize the Hindu plight along with the
other forms of oppression going on in the world. Religious minorities at
a global level are still under the assault of religious majorities,
which have long been armed with petrodollars, high technology and
control of the media. Yet as the book demonstrates, the tide is
beginning to turn.
[The above is a review of Crimes Against India: and The Need to Protect its Ancient Vedic Traditions, a book by Stephen Knapp. The review was written by David Frawley, and is reproduced here without any changes.]
1 comment:
India is the only country of the Jewish diaspora where Jews weren't persecuted. Sadly, the Jewish community there is really dwindling, probably more so since Jews were specifically targeted in the last terrorist attack in Mombai.
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