Fighting the Buddhists with `God’s Armour’ in Sri Lanka

Fighting the Buddhists with `God’s Armour’ in Sri Lanka

"Put on the full armor of God and fight with weapons of Spiritual warfare" - Christian Evangelist Luis Bush (Time, June 30, 2003)

In Sinhala there is a pithy saying that when you open your mouth to tell a lie, your tongue will come out with the truth (Kata boru kiwwath diva boru kiyanne ne).

Going through some old press clippings, I was reminded of this when I read a statement by the late leading American Christian Evangelist Billy Graham. He was defending himself against accusations of being an anti-Semite, as reported in the New York Times of March 17, 2002. In the last paragraph of his statement he says: “...hatred of anyone with different beliefs has no place in the human mind or heart. I urge everyone to examine themselves and renew their own hearts before God. Only the supernatural love of God through changed lives can solve the problems that we face in our world.”

Isn’t that funny? The man is obviously contradicting himself. This is the mental sickness of all Christian evangelists. While ostensibly denying they are opposed to other beliefs, they cannot really consider as a religion, any faith devoid of monotheism. Hence is the craze to “save non-Christian souls.”

It was Sri Lanka'as Anglican Bishop Lakdasa De Mel who declared over five decades ago that the task of the Church would not be finished till the remaining 90 per cent of the island's population were converted to Christianity (The Revolt in the Temple).

Sri Lankan-born Dhammika Akeemana, a long time U.S. resident, recalls Christian evangelists on American TV stressing the need to convert Buddhist and Hindu Asians who are “barbarians”: because they believe “in many gods.” This inane perception was dramatically reflected many years ago in the celebrated trial in which a young American high school teacher was tried in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925 for denying the Divine creation of man.

During the trial, Defence Lawyer Clarence Darrow, an agnostic, questioned relentlessly, Chief Prosecutor William Jennings Bryan, a Christian fundamentalist.

Asked Darrow: “You have never in all your life made any attempt to find out about other peoples of the earth – how old their civilizations are, how long they have existed on the earth – have you?”

Responded Bryan: “No sir, I have been so well satisfied with the Christian religion that I have spent no time trying to find arguments against it. I have all the information I want to live by and die by.”

Asked about the religions of Confucius and Lord Buddha, Bryan retorted: “I think they are very inferior… The Christian religion has satisfied Lord me, and I have never felt it necessary to look up to some competing religion.”(20th Century Journey - William L. Shirer)

Small wonder that evangelists have virtually no respect for and understanding of Hinduism and Buddhism. If idiocy is the criteria of religious faith, then these Christian fundamentalists deserve the first prize. It is amusing to watch on TV the way in which Christian proselytizers in Sri Lanka try to overcome insurmountable facts of life with meaningless verbiage. Yet baloney is what makes their proselytizing a success and a danger to religious harmony in countries such as ours.

Christianity has been used as a Trojan horse from the time it replaced Paganism in Europe. Provoking people who do not agree with them and then accusing those violently provoked of intolerance and fanaticism has been the evangelist strategy, since colonial times. We see plenty of evidence of it today in Sri Lanka and India. Is there any other reason for these proselytizers to open prayer houses in predominantly Buddhist and Hindu areas?

In the late 19th Century, foreign Christian missionaries, hand in glove with Western powers, tried similar tactics (giving special privileges and powers to Christians) in China. When enraged Chinese peasants rose in revolt (the 1899-1901 `Boxer’ uprising) and killed not only foreign missionaries but also Chinese Christians, the West promptly branded the rebels barbarians and reactionaries. But democrats and liberals like American Author Mark Twain warmly defended the `Boxers’ and satirized the “defenders of civilization” who called for a crusade against the peasants.

The same proselytizing process is being repeated today in Sri Lanka and the rest of Asia at different levels in varying degrees. These evangelists are today fanning out to far corners of the globe to sell `God’. Once the’ poor and the gullible are anesthetized (with material inducements) against common sense, they are then ready for `Christian surgery.’

According to Dr K. Vigneswaran, adviser to Hindu Affairs Minister, Douglas Devananda, there are very disturbing reports from the predominantly Hindu Northern province and the Indian Tamil areas in the central province about Christian fundamentalist sects trying to convert the poor by promising various perks. He believes these groups pose a bigger threat to Hindus than to Buddhists.

K. Rajapuwaneswaram representing the Hindu Congress in a TV discussion revealed that Christian Evangelists in the West were converting Sri Lankan Hindu Tamils, promising them permanent residency status and/or citizenship in Europe.

At the bottom of the current religious tension is the Gospel According to Matthew, known as the Great Commission, where it says: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Undoubtedly, the new Christian missionaries have beaten the established churches in following this command to the letter. Do we need any more examples of the conversion madness?

As in Central and Eastern Europe, traditional religion in Asia is inextricably related to culture and national heritage. Several years ago, one-time Russian Presidential Candidate, General Alexander Lebed, declared that Russia did not need any more religions other than Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism all of which had existed in that country for centuries.
Christian evangelists try to justify their actions in Asia by alleging that Buddhist missionaries are doing the same thing in the West. It is a totally baseless argument primarily because of the fundamental difference between the two religions. Buddhism teaches people how to think – NOT what to think and believe in for the sake of earthly or heavenly rewards.

Members of the Buddhist clergy in the West do not pay house visits looking for possible converts. They do not claim to monopolize the truth. The bhikkus' vocation is NOT "soul saving." and providing material assistance. They do not open temples in defiance of the majority of people in a locality.

Buddhist monks, whether they are from Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet, Thailand or elsewhere, are all open to dialogue and discussions. The Dalai Lama of Tibet is the best example. He once a Western audience: “Probe your inner space rather than outer space.”

The problem with the West is that it has always been too outward bound. For the past several centuries it has been trying to conquer and convert the world – ideologically, culturally and economically. Christian evangelists have formed part of this offensive.

The tragedy is that all our rulers have virtually surrendered to it.

"Religious tensions at home" real in Singapore

"Religious tensions at home" real in Singapore

"Religious tensions at home" is indeed a very serious one in Singapore. Many new converts I spoke to did so partly because they received distorted information about all the other religions in the world. In some cases, these "misrepresentations" were communicated by their church pastors - young, ignorant and too eager to convert!

For example, a relative who attends New Creation Church at Suntec City said his pastor told him that Buddhist relics are commonly used as ornaments worned i n the form of bracelets, etc! He apparently went on to say "the gods in other religions are dumb" while "the Christian God is alive and constantly talking".

Having studied the Bible and Buddhist sutras at length, and been a Buddhist for over ten years, I cannot help but feel a certain sense of superiority in Buddhism (at the deeper level). Many Buddhist parents do no fully grasp the teachings of the Buddha and thus could not share the wonderful gifts of dharma with their children. On the other hand, our youth , being largely English educated, and seen the economic superiority of the USA and many Christian countries, naturally develop an inclination towards Christianity.

Having said that, how., some of the religious practises in quasi-Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism are inherently culture-based and hard to comprehend for these aspiring Christians; hence, the push-factor. Parents have to first educate themselves in their own chosen faith before they can communicate effectively with their children.

That way, as I have always told my kind evangelical friends, that old label of cough syrup that your mother gave you when you were a little kid, produced by some poor Sin Sehs in rural China in the early 1900s, is still as effective today. There's no need to change to a "superior" drug from the USA.

Religious tensions within home in Singapore

Religious tensions within home in Singapore

WHAT'S in a bag of joss sticks? Too much, it seems. While shopping for Chinese New Year groceries this year, my mother bought some incense. It's customary, she said, to burn offerings to protect the family in the coming year. The bag was passed to my younger brother. He refused to touch it. He had, you see, converted to Christianity two years ago, and is now an active member in a charismatic church. He believes joss sticks and paper money are pagan. Carrying the bag would be wrong.

My family is agnostic. Burning incense is reserved for Chinese New Year, Qing Ming Festival and our grandparents' death anniversaries. To us, it is not so much a religious ritual as it is a cultural custom. But already there is some uneasiness within my family. What more for families who are Buddhist or Taoist - the faiths of a majority of pre-'65 Singaporeans? This is an inter-generational tableau playing out in many families.

As church leaders tell me, tensions do arise when they win over young converts. Strain often arises in a family when a member converts to another religion, no matter which. But because Christianity is fast gaining popularity among the post-'65 Chinese, it has become the religion that often comes up against the traditional faiths of their parents.The proportion of Christians among the Chinese increased from 2.4 per cent in 1921 to 10.6 per cent in 1980. By 2000, 17 per cent were Christians, overtaking Taoists as the second largest group after the Buddhists. In contrast, Malays and Indians have largely stayed with their traditional faiths. It is also rarer that a Chinese converts to Islam or Hinduism.

So what accounts for the growing affinity for Christianity among younger Chinese? First, the post-'65ers are, by and large, a better-educated generation than their parents. Socialised into an English-stream system, they tend to be attracted to Christianity, perceived as a modern religion. They view their parents' faiths as superstitious and illogical, as sociologists Eddie Kuo and Tong Chee Kiong noted in a 1990 Census monograph. Second, as the monograph notes, the evangelical Christian movement has been 'particularly active since the early 1980s'. Today, half of the Christians are converts, compared to the 90 per cent of Buddhists, Muslims and others born into their respective faiths.

This has led to what Prof Kuo calls 'an inherent tension' in families. He told me in an interview: 'In Singapore, things change so fast there is no time to adjust. In other countries, a change in religion may take place over a few generations so there is a buffer zone. Families here are forced to confront the change overnight.' And so, difficulties arise. For instance, Taoist parents may unthinkingly light joss sticks, whose incense wafts into their children's room.

I know of an eldest son who refused to hold the joss sticks at his Buddhist father's funeral. His family is not speaking to him. Parents are hurt when children believe that they - non-Christian believers - are destined for hell. It doesn't help when some parents take the hardline route, and ban their children from church. One man, now a pastor, was thrown out of his home.

As a society, Singapore has done a wonderful job in maintaining harmony among the diverse religions. The Government is insistent on the cultivation of a common space, while the religious groups themselves are assiduous in avoiding stepping on one another's toes.

But it's different at home, behind closed doors. The emotional bonds between loved ones tear down the walls of politically correct niceties. Harsh words are said, camps are drawn. Some churches recognise this potential conflict zone. So City Harvest Church, for example, makes its members who are aged below 21 get a parental consent form signed before they can attend church.

But what happens if religion itself is the source of disharmony between family members? There is no easy answer, and it probably can never be resolved. The family has to work out some mechanism to cope with the differences so they will never be brought to boiling point. Pastor Lawrence Lim of New Creation Church said: 'We counsel the kids to be gracious, educate their parents so they understand Christianity.

Then, the misunderstanding will be lessened.' Communication - and respect - has to go both ways. As a friend, whose mother is a Buddhist, said: 'I have heart-to-heart talks with my mum about our religions.' And compromise. Be open. A Catholic friend has no qualms holding joss sticks at funerals.

'It's a sign of respect for them. God understands.' Indeed. For what is a bag of joss sticks, except for the meaning that you invest in it?