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The Violence Of Conversion: Proselytization And Interreligious Controversy In The Work Of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Chad Bauman
The Violence Of Conversion: Proselytization And Interreligious Controversy In The Work Of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Chad Bauman
Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS
Critics of Christianity in India have frequently accused Christianity of being a predatory, imperialistic religion with absolutist tendencies, and have framed Christian evangelism as an aggressive, uncouth act. More recently, however, and in an idiom that resonates with many contemporary Indians, Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1930-) has made the more controversial claim that the attempt to convert another person is itself an act of violence. In three parts, the paper 1) describes Dayananda’s claims, while bringing them into conversation with the arguments of earlier critics of Christianity (e.g., Mahatma Gandhi, Sita Ram Goel, Ashok Chowgule, Arun Shourie), 2) analyzes and critique …
The Violence Of Conversion: Proselytization And Interreligious Controversy In The Work Of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Chad M. Bauman
The Violence Of Conversion: Proselytization And Interreligious Controversy In The Work Of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Chad M. Bauman
Chad M. Bauman
Critics of Christianity in India have frequently accused Christianity of being a predatory, imperialistic religion with absolutist tendencies, and have framed Christian evangelism as an aggressive, uncouth act. More recently, however, and in an idiom that resonates with many contemporary Indians, Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1930-) has made the more controversial claim that the attempt to convert another person is itself an act of violence. In three parts, the paper 1) describes Dayananda’s claims, while bringing them into conversation with the arguments of earlier critics of Christianity (e.g., Mahatma Gandhi, Sita Ram Goel, Ashok Chowgule, Arun Shourie), 2) analyzes and critique …
Postcolonial Anxiety And Anti-Conversion Sentiment In The Report Of The Christian Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee, Chad M. Bauman
Postcolonial Anxiety And Anti-Conversion Sentiment In The Report Of The Christian Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee, Chad M. Bauman
Chad M. Bauman
Conversion to Christianity is one of the most politically charged issues in contemporary India and has recently been very much in the news.1 For example, in 2006, on the fiftieth anniversary of B. R. Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism2 hundreds of dalits gathered to convert, some to Buddhism and others to Christianity, rejecting Hinduism, a religion they claim oppresses and demeans them. In attacks on Christians in Orissa at the end of 2007 (and associated reprisals), dozens of churches, homes, and businesses were destroyed, hundreds of people were injured, and thousands were displaced.