Jagannatha Prakasa's
Questions and Answers

Questioner: Chad

Subject: Hindus and Christians

Question:

In one of your previous responses you stated that Hindus would be bored with the Christian service. You also stated the fact that Christianity has done harm to the Hindu religion. My questions are the following:

1. How do Hindus treat Christians?

2. If a Christian were to attend a service what should they expect?

Thanks,

Chad

---

John of AllFaith's reply

Hi Chad,

Just to be clear, I was speaking in general terms. There are some very exciting, devout and worshipful Christian services and some very boring Hindu mandirs (temples) ;-)

Most Hindus show deep respect for Christians, as they do for all people. There is a very traditional Indian greeting, "Namaste" that means, I honor the divine Truth/Divine within you. For Hindus, God is everywhere and within the heart of everyone so no one should ever be disrespected.

Having said that, we do see in India and elsewhere that some Hindus are very anti-Christian and anti-Muslim largely due to the widespread abuses of missionary activities. They disrespect them and in some cases -- in an attempt to save Hindu India and defend their most ancient of all religions -- outlaw their religious proselytization. One sometimes hears Nicean Christians lament their lack of religious freedom in India and other countries. The reason this is sometimes true needs to be understood however.

By contrast with India and some other countries we Americans are very wealthy people. We make in a week what many Indians do not make in a month, even in a year! Much of the world lives a dollar a week or less! Many Christian Missionary societies go to India and other countries and used their wealth to convert Hindus, Sikhs and others by greed and need rather than by faith in the Nicean Christian religion. Such missionaries say, "if you will become Christian your children can attend this school here, eat this food, wear these clothes, be seen by this doctor, etc. If you do not convert we will not help you or your children." These converts are sometimes referred to Rice Christians. For a bowl of rice they surrender their past, the families, their faith. As a result of this very common problem many Hindus convert for material gain.

In China were many of these Rice Christians converted when Christian missionaries brought in bags of rice. They blackmailed the people to accept Christianity and reject Buddhism or starve to death! This is the way many devout Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others view Christianity and it is not without just cause.

If these Missionaries were truly godly people they would just provide the food and allow the Hindus to prepare it according to their traditional religious laws. Instead, the recipients are prohibited from preparing the food they received as prasada according to their ancient religious requirements. By Hindu beliefs, this means to save they are consuming sinful, un-offered foodstuffs. Many Hindu leaders are convinced that the Christians do not care about them at all! That they just want to convert the poor and thus expand their control and influence.

Often these Missionaries lie to the people in the host country as well as to their supporters back home. Traditionally Christians and Muslims have been very missionary minded. In some cases the missionaries have been good for the areas where they have worked, but often their influence has been negative.



Recently a new Calvary Chapel congregation opened in my area and we attended it for a few weeks. As I explain in the following letter some of their missionary policies are quite disturbing. First I'll include my letter, then an insightful PDF file about what missionaries are doing to India. Calvary Chapel never responded. If you're a Christian who supports missionary work this information is worthy of your intention. If you are a Hindu I hope this shows that you are not alone in your outrage at this religious hypocrisy:

Hi,

I grew up in a Christian (Missionary Baptist) family and accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 12 years old (in 1969). Through the years I have studied the Bible very seriously seeking to divide its holy truths from religious propaganda — this is a difficult task! I also studied other religions very seriously including Hinduism even as the Bible orders us to 'Study to thyself approved approved unto God'. I take my salvation and my relationship with God very seriously.

In the late 1970's I was very involved in a Calvary Chapel congregation in Texas but moved to another area and plugged into other groups. My wife and I recently began attending services at a Calvary Chapel here in Northern California. Of course people seldom agree on every point of doctrine and to some decree we have to "agree to disagree" with one another.

So before going I assured her that one thing that makes Calvary Chapel somewhat unique is your stress on biblical accuracy and fact checking, that while we may not agree with all of your interpretations, the differences would be matters of honest interpretation rather than bigotry and intentional deceptions as we have found in many other churches.

Last Sunday I picked up issue 37 - Fall 2008 of Calvary Chapel Magazine on our way home from services and was horrified and disgusted to read, on page 21, right hand column:

"Debbie explained, "The Hindus worship many gods and have many ceremonies. They actually invite Satan by name into the temple and put sacrifices on a statue where they say he sits.".

This is a slanderous lie!

There is NO Hindu shrine to Satan! Hindus do not even believe in Satan! Hinduism doesn't even accept the concept of demons as conceived in Christianity!

This is an obvious attempt to garner support for your missionaries by intentional deception in what seems to be your flagship publication!

The piece goes on to lament that:

"The persecution of Christians there is phenomenal..."

I wonder why!!!

If Calvary Chapel is spreading such bald-faced lies and disinformation about Hindus and their far more ancient religion its no wonder the Hindus are earnestly opposing your Missionaries!

Needless to say, I don't plan to return to Calvary Chapel. Its sad to see that this denomination too is using the tools of deceit and divisiveness to beguile the religiously ignorant.

God's Church can not be established on lies! The "Synagogue of Satan" can be perhaps, but not the Church of the Living God!

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Calvary Chapel needs to print a clear retraction of these lies and repent of them publicly from your pulpits wherever this issue was released!

Sincerely,

Jagannatha Prakasha

Its as though these missionaries say: From the Christian perspective everyone needs to accept Jesus. That's the most important thing and if bribery works, so be it.

But unlike Islam with its teaching of "justifiable sin" or taquiya,, in Christianity deception is always supposed to be rejected but Missionaries commonly engage in such deceptions.

From a Hindu perspective, conversion to Christianity (or Islam) destroys Indian culture and could even lead to widespread starvation if people adopted a carnivorous diet which many of the Missionaries in India demand as evidence that one has truly converted.

Such Hindus understandably see Christianity as a hostile ethnocentric foreign force intent on destroying their religion and cultures. When they look at the West they further see that Christians, generally speaking, are no where near as devout in their religion as Hindus are in theirs. Conversion would therefore be a step back they reason away from a devout life. So yes, some Hindus tend to be a bit harsh on cultural and religious imperialism. This is true. When viewed from a Hindu perspective however, it is quite logical and honorable.

Consider also that one of the oldest branches of Christianity is that begun by Saint (Doubting) Thomas. This mission continues in India to this day and is widely respected by the Hindus because the Saint Thomas Christians respect Hinduism and Indian culture. Just like the Muslim missionaries, the Protestant and Catholic missionaries come to India with ulterior motives.

And yet in India this animosity need not exist. The essential Hindu belief is expressed in the Rg Veda, "Truth is one, the sages call it by different names." Live and let live in respect is the Hindu ideal. However Christianity and Islam are missionary religions and many Hindus correctly feel they must fight for their faith from these two very real threats. Islam has divided Pakistan and other lands from India and caused untold damage to the Indian way of life. More and more Christianity is attacking the very heart of Hinduism in the same way. Hindus want to maintain their religions and do not welcome those who attack them.

Hindu services vary greatly one from another. To see a typical Hindu religious rite visit the following links. These are very short clips on YouTube of the Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math worshiping:

When you enter a Hindu temple you remove your shoes (as in the "Old Testament" to show respect that you are entering a holy place. God commanded this of Moses as he climbed the Mount).

On a far wall you will usually see statutes (murtis) that represent God in various forms.

Examples may be seen around SriJagannatha.com and elsewhere on the Net. Here is an example of a murti:

The One God as, from left to right: Sri Baladeva, Srimati Subhadra and Sri Jagannatha

In the temple room there will be no chairs normally. People will sit on the floor if at all.

The worshipers will bow to the murtis, often dropping prostrate to the floor before Them, while reciting various prayers.

A conch (sea shell horn) will sound, incense will fill the air. The people will sing songs of worship (usually in Sanskrit, Bengali or other Indian languages), many will play various instruments, drums, cymbals, harmoniums, vinas, etc. Some people may dance, raise their hands in the air in praise and adoration of God according to methods that are thousands of years old.

In some mandirs, people will sit on the floor or ground around a large (or small) fire pit. As they recite various mantras (prayers) they will toss rice and other grains into the fire sacrifice.

There may also be professional/temple musicians as well as individual members playing and dancing. Hindu rites are typically beautiful to behold and everyone is welcome to take part or to stand aside.

Often after the service there will be a splendid vegetarian feast. Like everything else in Hindu temples, the food is first offered as a sacrifice to God before it is given to the people. Such food is called prasadam: God's mercy.

Hinduism is VERY diverse and what you will experience when visiting will depend on the particular temple and branch of Hinduism, the time of day and year and so on. What is generally true however is that you will leave feeling wonderful!

Normally there will be no collections done. There is usually a donation box near the alter or exits where people can give as they able. In more traditional temples people place food, bags of rice, melons, coconuts etc. on the alter before the murti. It is traditional to make some donation when visiting a temple as one is able and there is not the pressure of passed collection plates as so many churches have.

As is said in the Bhagavad Gita:

"9:26: If one offers Me [God] a leaf, a flower, a fruit or some water with devotion I will accept it. I accept what is offered by one whose mind is pure.
9:27: Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer (in sacrifice), whatever you give away (in charity), whatever austerities you perform, O child of Kunti, do it all as an offering unto Me. (for my translation of this ancient and important scripture visit http://www.allfaith.com/Religions/Hinduism/gita.html

Write back any time,

~ Jagannatha Prakasa

Om Jai Jagannatha!	AllFaith Sanatana Dharma Home Page
	Bhagavad Gita translated by Jagannatha Prakasa
	Gitabhasya of Jagannatha Prakasa