At the end of the day, we all believe in the same God
WHEN a middle-aged Hindu man allows a Christian preacher to remove a red Luxmi string from his wrist and a Ganesha pendant from his wallet and dispose of them, who is to blame? The ignorant, gullible Hindu, of course.
Last week, Pastor McWayne Sam of Harmony Centre was chastised by Hindu leaders for boasting on social media that he had convinced a Hindu family to give “their heart to the Lord”.
He said the family packed boxes of prayer stuff and asked for it to be dumped since they had submitted to the “Word of God”.
I take pity on Pastor Sam and other Christian zealots like him who are regularly denounced by Hindu religious leaders whenever they embark on a conversion campaign.
If anybody must be blamed for Hindus being converted to Christianity, it is Hindus themselves who have failed to get to grips with the teachings of their own religion.
If your neighbour helps himself to your chickens through a hole in the fence, it is your duty to plug the opening and house the birds more securely.
Hindu religious leaders must stand accused of failing in their duty to arm their adherents with tangible arguments to counter the criticism against Hinduism made by Christian missionaries.
The majority of Hindus have not imbibed the teachings of the sacred scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita and Thirukkural. There is no uniform religious code for Hindus to follow. It is open season, and everyone chooses his or her God.
Making matters worse for Hindus is that they follow the philosophy of pantheism, believing that God is all around us and throughout the whole universe.
Thus, the uninformed or superstitious Hindu considers trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God. Why, even an ant heap is regarded as holy, and before long the “puthu” is developed into a place of worship.
Yet, if only Hindus follow the concept of God according to their scriptures, there won’t be any confusion in their minds when Christians cajole them to convert. They will understand that Hinduism preaches there is only one God.
However, without scriptural knowledge, the Hindu is fair game for Christian fanatics who will criticise or mock them for worshipping God through monkeys, idols and other objects.
In India centuries ago, it was the divisions and fissures within Hinduism – especially the caste system – that perpetuated mass conversion to Christianity.
The upper classes claimed to be the torch bearers of Hindu doctrines and discriminated against the lower classes. Christian missionaries capitalised on this.
They promised the ordinary folk privileges and led through a dubious and dark tunnel to a more promising destiny.
In South Africa, Indian Christians were a small minority among the settlers. They stood no chance of converting Hindus. It was the white Christian missionaries who succeeded in getting Hindus to discard their God lamps and carry Bibles.
JA Rowlands, a miller from Bristol, and E Theophilus, a local Indian trader, were jointly responsible for the beginnings of what was to become Bethesda, once the largest Christian movement among Indian South Africans.
JA Rowlands arrived in South Africa in 1922 and set up as a trader. As the Methodist Indian circuit was then without a minister, Theophilus invited JA Rowlands to preach.
In July 1925, the United Pentecostal Mission of Natal was formed. JA Rowlands served as superintendent. Later, his two sons John Francis and Alec joined him.
This young congregation embarked on an evangelisation campaign so forthright that several Hindus protested sharply. The congregation criticised fire-walking at the local Hindu temple.
John Francis Rowlands took charge of the Indian church which soon opened branches throughout Pietermaritzburg. The young Rowlands brought great innovations and renewed zeal into the work of the church. Upbeat singing was accompanied by not just the traditional organ or piano but guitars and drums.
In August 1931 a bold “step of faith” was taken when the Hindu Young Men’s Association (HYMA) Hall in Church Street was hired for three weeks for a Christian “Revival and Healing Campaign”.
The campaign turned out to be the important foundation-laying for the eventual Bethesda Temple headed by Pastor JF Rowlands.
In October 1931 JF Rowlands held the first gospel meeting at the Durban Corporation Barracks, and that was the beginning of Bethesda in Durban. Three young Indian men, DG Samuel, DM Gabriel and AJ Williams, supported JF Rowlands in his work.
The corporation and railway barracks in Somstseu Road, Durban, housed poor people who were engaged in menial tasks such as road sweeping and refuse removal. It was easy to evangelise Indians in these barracks.
JF Rowlands preached inspiringly.
His flair for showmanship had a great impact on the Indian mind. Gospel songs were sung in the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages.
Miracle and healing campaigns were held where Indians proclaimed to have been cured after being anointed and prayed for JF Rowlands.
Before he died in November 1980, JF Rowlands, the leader of Bethesda, had converted thousands of Hindus.
Like the Bethesda movement, the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) also built a huge following of Indians by first taking root among the lower socio-economic classes of Indians.
The AFM also had white leaders initially, and the Indians congregants took to them as they believed the whites identified with them and cared for them.
Hindus who complain about conversion must ask what they are doing to provide a “soothing balm” for the poor and unsophisticated within their religious group. What steps are being taken to stop exploitation and callous conversion of vulnerable and gullible Hindus who are victims of ignorance, fear, poverty, hunger and sickness?
More than announcing the official date for Deepavali annually and trying to settle squabbles in temples, what does the SA Hindu Maha Sabha, the umbrella Hindu body, do to confront conversion? Hindu temples are too ritualistic and do little to provide spiritual, moral and character-building discourses.
Most Hindu priests have no scriptural knowledge and are only good to swindle unsuspecting devotees of their cash for this prayer and that ritual by purveying fear that something bad will happen if rites are neglected.
Meanwhile, recent converts are thrilled when they are suddenly referred to as Brother Sagren or Sister Ambigay in church.
Such respect is a novel experience for them. Home visits to the sick and food hampers of tea, sugar, rice, dhall and beans also go a long way to make the poor feel that Christians are a caring group.
Instead of crying “foul”, Hindus must teach their devotees that conversion is based on a false notion that different religious groups have different Gods and that the God of one group is better than the God of other groups. God is not the exclusive property or preserve of any one religion. At least that is what I was taught.
There is only one God for all who is equally accessible to all his children.
Devan is a media consultant and social commentator. Share your thoughts with him on: yogind@meropa.co.za