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Heaven's
Gate October
11, 1999: The VHP and the Bajrang Dal demand an apology from Pope John Paul II
for the Inquisition in Goa that was responsible for the massacre of thousands of
Hindus 400 years ago. They ask the Pope to declare that salvation is possible by
following Hinduism, and they insist that he mustn't encourage proselytisation. October
14: Archbishop Alan de Lastic fumes that the demand for an apology from the Pope
is "distasteful": "How far back in history are they going to go?
Will they demand an apology from Greece and Macedonia for the entry of Alexander
the Great?" (August
23, 1997: During a prayer vigil he leads in Paris, the Pope preaches a message
of Christian reconciliation -- marked by an apology for the massacre of
thousands of Protestants by French Catholics exactly 425 years ago. Referring to
the slaughter of August 24, 1572, the Pope says, "Christians did things
which the Gospel condemns. Belonging to different religious traditions shouldn't
constitute a source of opposition and tension. On the contrary, our common love
of Christ pushes us relentlessly to seek the path of unity." "Unity"
is only between sects which believe Christ to be the sole escort to Heaven's
Gate. Which is why the torture of Hindus is immaterial to the holy, of any
creed. Paul William Roberts, in Empire of the Soul, Some Journeys in India,
records: "Children were flogged and slowly dismembered in front of their
parents whose eyelids had been sliced off to make sure they missed nothing.
Extremities were amputated carefully, so that a person could remain conscious
even when all that remained was a torso and a head... Those subjected to
diabolical tortures could also be counted in the thousands and the abominations
continued until a brief respite in 1774... The evil resumed, continuing, almost
incredibly, until June 16, 1812. At that point, British pressure put an end to
terror, the presence of British troops stationed in Goa enforcing it.") November
5, 1999: The Vatican expresses its concern at "Hindu fundamentalism"
even as the Pope leaves for India, where the Sangh Parivar persists with its
demand for a papal apology. Cardinal Jozef Tomko avers, "Religious
fundamentalism which spreads and mingles with nationalism in identifying Indian
nationality with the Hindu religion is a phenomenon which is increasingly
aggressive and disturbing, a serious threat to the Church and to
Catholics." Tomko is the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation. The
Indian Press faithfully echoes his nuances with "the alleged massacre of
Hindus in Goa during Portuguese rule". Alleged. November
6: Swami Dayananda Saraswati appeals to the Pope to put a freeze on conversions.
He pleads, "Religious conversion destroys centuries-old communities and
incites communal violence. In many, religion is woven into the fabric of culture
so destruction of a religion amounts to the destruction of a culture. The Mayan,
Roman and many other rich cultures are all lost forever and humanity is
impoverished for it... Religious freedom does not extend to having a planned
programe of conversion." November
7: The Pope releases in New Delhi's Sacred Heart Cathedral the Asian Synod
document, Ecclesia in Asia. The pontiff asserts that the Synod of Bishops is
"a call to conversion"; he reiterates his call to "open wide to
Christ the doors of Asia"; he declares the goal of the Church "just as
in the first millennium the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe, and in the
second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that in the Third
Christian Millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and
vital continent"; he announces that "the heart of the Church in Asia
will be restless until the whole of Asia finds its rest in the peace of
Christ"; he states that the very purpose of the Church is evangelisation
and the Church is "empowered by the Holy Spirit" to carry out the task
and hence evangelisation must be an "absolute priority". "The
Asia Synod will deal with the challenge for evangelisation posed by the
encounter with ancient religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism... the Church
must make it clear that Christ is the one mediator between God and man and the
sole Redeemer of humanity." December
18: Pope John Paul II apologises for the "cruel" execution of Jan Hus,
a Czech religious reformer who was burned at the stake in 1415. The apology is
timed for the visit from the Czech president, Vaclav Havel, who donated the
Christmas tree outside St Peter's. One Christian tortured 584 years ago. February
4, 2000: Parents of nine Dalit children aged between 7 and 10 register a case in
Rajgarh, MP, against Father Abraham, on charges of repeatedly assaulting their
wards and denying them meals on their refusal to convert to Christianity. There
is no campaign to bring the priest to book. May
15: A remote-controlled bomb explodes at the Faizabad district hospital, where
Mahant Paramhans, president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, is undergoing
treatment. Thirteen people, including the Mahant and his men, are injured. No
further "news" is available. May
20: The historical Shiva temple of Kedar Rudranath in Chamoli district, UP, is
plundered and set on fire. The loss of property in the theft and fire is
estimated at several lakhs of rupees. The press requires no further
investigation. June
8: Four churches, in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa, suffer bomb attacks in
an obviously co-ordinated campaign. All fingers point at the Sangh Parivar. The
All-India Christian Council... Oops, but you know all about the headlined
"hate campaign". June
24: On the eve of his visit to Italy, Mahatma Vajpayee expresses his deep
concern over the attacks on the Christian community: "My government is
committed to upholding the law of the land which guarantees equal rights to all
our citizens without any discrimination, but no rights to anybody or any
organisation belonging to any community to spread ill-will and hatred towards
another community." June
26: Mahatma Vajpayee bows his way to the Pope, the meeting intended as a warning
to "belligerent elements" within the Sangh Parivar as well as a signal
of reassurance to the West of his government's commitment to secularism. June
28: In his traditional speech before thousands of people in St Peter's Square,
the Pope orders India to put an end to violence against Christians. Reports from
India are "alarming" and the attacks against Christians are "the
most serious since Indian Independence", he says. Independence... June
29: France's Socialist Party proposes a bill aiming to limit the spread of what
officials call the "mental manipulation of the public" by religious
proselytisers. The proposed crime is to "exercise serious and repeated
pressure on a person in order to create or exploit a state of dependence".
The bill would allow the French government to ban a religious group when two
members are found guilty of at least one legal infraction. Missionaries could be
imprisoned for up to two years under the proposed law. Justice Minister
Elisabeth Guigou calls the bill "a significant advance giving a democratic
state the legal tool to efficiently fight groups abusing its core values". July
3: The Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram accuses missionaries of inciting tribals against
registering themselves as Hindus in the ongoing census 2001 operation. It says
that personnel attached to Church-run educational, medical and social service
institutions are asking the tribals to either declare themselves Christians or
"they are asking the tribals to invent names but in no case should they
declare themselves Hindus". The VKA is "a front organisation of the
RSS"; no further investigation required. July
8: During a state visit to Rome by China's Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, his
foreign ministry spokesperson informs the international press: "Our policy
is that China wants to improve relations with the Vatican, but two principles
must be followed: The Holy See must break diplomatic relations with Taiwan and
recognise the People's Republic of China. The Vatican must avoid interfering in
internal Chinese affairs and exploiting religion to interfere in Chinese
affairs... The Chinese ecclesiastical situation is based on a compatibility with
historical and national conditions. This won't ever change." China does not
recognise the authority of Pope John Paul II and has a state-backed Patriotic
Catholic Association, which appoints its own bishops. The Vatican claims that
eight million Chinese are loyal to the Pope and has criticised the Chinese
ordination of bishops. Dear
God, why couldn't you have dropped me into China...? Why do I have to suffer the
indignity of sharing the creed of these latter-day Mahatmas? Why do I have to be
the native of a spineless country that kowtows to a mere priest as a head of
state? Will any country give a state welcome to the shankaracharya to promote
conversion to Hinduism? When will the ruling dorks realise that the job of a
government is to protect the truth, not "protect the minorities"? When
will we shed the shackles of slavery and see the White man as an equal? When
will we stop apologising for the sin of being a majority in this country...? There is no let-up in the Christian proselytising fervour; sarvadharma sambhava remains a Hindu gesture unreciprocated by the Semitic creeds. "Weeds grew while eastern religions like Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism slept," wrote Ram Swarup; the demography of the Northeast is already altered. Hinduism is NOT just one of the innumerable religions that flourished in India since ancient times -- it is the ethos of this land and entitled to special protection. Why are we afraid to take head-on an organisation that has murdered thousands for holding "wrong" beliefs, burnt people to "save" their souls, and still regards science as an enemy...? God
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