Letters to the Editor

Conversion:Sinister and covert motives
Point of view
It must be asserted categorically that in general, a religion or faith can be acquired and personalized in one of three ways. Namely "by vesting" or "by converting" or "by adopting". In cases where both parents are of the same faith, this is vested in the child at birth. In the cases, where the parents are of different faiths, that of the more predominant partner is vested in the child. This is accepted all over the world as the legal right of a parent and is, in fact, binding at least till the child reaches the age of discretion.

It will thus be patently clear that a child has no religion when he/she is born - not withstanding all claims of divine or other interventions, allegedly associated with the conception process. Thus a religion is purely a mundane acquisition. There is nothing sacrosanct in it as far as a child is concerned.

This fact is further exemplified especially in the theistic faiths, where the clerics insist in a form of religious ritual in order to induct a child formally into the relevant religion. This is reminiscent of the bizarre initiation ceremonies of the witch-doctors of yore. There are many cases reported (more suppressed) where a child has subsequently suffered severe physical impairment and in some cases even death. Being inducted into a religion appears at times, not only traumatic but even drastic. Are the gods really privy to all this?

The ephemerality of the assigned religion becomes even more evident when, for instance, the religion of a child is changed to gain admission to a particular educational institution. On reaching adulthood a person is free to swap his religion to enter into some conjugal bond. During times of invasions, thousands of captives were compelled to take on the religion of their invaders. In recent times people are being lured and duped to change their faith with the assurance of material benefits, in addition to divine benevolence. Religion appears to be a mere external label for identification purposes. No wonder the Marxists refer to religion as "the opium of the masses".

One thing is clear that during all these religious panjandrums, the gods appear to be stoically indifferent, although all these are purported in their names. The consequences are even worse. There are millions of thus converted people languishing in absolute penury and desperation all over the globe (Sri Lanka is no exception). Even nature (created by God?) appears to militate against them, with frequent droughts, storms, earthquakes etc. The only hope these people appear to rely on is that they will at least be rewarded with heavenly comfort after death. What a price gullibility has to pay?

There is another curious and sinister aspect associated with the conversion stratagems. Apart from targeting the impoverished Buddhists and Hindus it is being perpetrated on the Orthodox Christians themselves, by inducing various doctrinal variants. These Orthodox Christians appear to be tempted by these fundamentalist tenets and now many more are changing their earlier religious allegiances. There are also strong rumours going around that conversions are being effected on a commission basis utilizing funds available through foreign sources.

The Buddha Dhamma is fundamentally not a religion. There is no Divine Power guiding the destiny of the Buddhists. Hence the Buddhists have no external power to which they can appeal for succour in times of distress. A Buddhist thus has to be courageous and independent, since he has to shape his own destiny. The Dhamma is a "way of life". It has been adequately tested, practised and experimented by thousands who have thereby attained supra mundane bliss and contentment escaping all the trials and tribulations of the worldly life. Such people can live on this earth spreading their goodness like lotuses untainted by the dank and murky swamp below.

Buddhists do not and cannot engage in conversions as they have nothing luring to offer. Hence a person can only personally adopt the Dhamma, by appreciating its doctrinal excellence and veracity. Rewards and punishments are in strict accordance with the universal laws of Kamma and Vipaka, which will operate whether one believes in them or not. These laws are also adequate to account for all the human disparities, social inequalities and even the natural phenomena prevailing all over the universe. They also accord perfectly with all modern scientific findings.

The conundrum of "How the universe came to be" is logically and inextricably tied up with the question of "How did God come to be?" One certainly cannot be glossed over at the expense of others. It is this glossing over that had in fact led to the proliferation of so many theistic faiths down the ages. As far as the Dhamma is concerned such questions arise only in minds steeped in ignorance. The trust of the Dhamma is to rid the mind of any semblance of ignorance. Such a mind is not plagued with such petty questions as it can clearly understand the real nature of all compounded phenomena. Theistic religions cannot go beyond God. The Dhamma has no such limits, gods are only part of it.

Another common gimmick resorted to by those engaged in the conversion process is "faith healing." This is used mainly to impress on the people that there is a God and that this God responds favourably to prayers. This is downright duplicity and mendacity.

It will be manifestly clear that the Buddhists appear to be totally out of these grand theistic schemes. Is it for this reason that the conversionists want to also draw them in? At the open debate between the Buddhist Bhikkhu and the Christian Father held at Panadura, it was convincingly argued and proved to the world, the doctrinal superiority of the Buddha Dhamma over Christianity.

It is thus quite clear that converting a Buddhist to Christianity certainly cannot be to ensure his spiritual advancement but possibly for some other sinister and covert motive. The two concepts of a "free will" and "almighty power" are logically antithetical. In an orderly system both cannot exist together, just as it is totally impossible to have a peaceful kingdom ruled by a king having all the powers and the people having the "free will" to do anything. Surely these will lead to clashes and utter mayhem. I leave all discerning readers to ponder over this vexed problem.

In conclusion it may be worthwhile to point out that the people of this island have been the victims of alien Christian conversion stratagems, both gross and subtle, for nearly 500 years, resulting in many Christian generations proliferating all over the island. Still the conversion rate stands around 7% of the total population. Surely does this not reflect on the resoluteness of the majority of the endemic people who are neither tempted by filthy lucre or the concept of a Creator God?

Switch off the gas, put on the kerosene cooker
Since the price of LPG has been increased to murderous levels, let's revert to the old kerosene cookers used during the pre-LPG days. I have the type that uses the Petromax principle. A strong blue flame (adjustable) is produced by this cooker. This is of Indian make and costs around Rs 700. A chrome-plated version is about Rs 100 more than the standard model and is better as it does not get rusty. These are available in any hardware store.

A bottle of kerosene could be used for about six hours or more. If you use the cooker for two hours a day, only 10 bottles will be required for a month, which amounts to only Rs 220. During the pre-LPG days, the kerosene cooker with the inverted kerosene bottle was the most popular.

The oldest Muslim school seeks expansion
Khairiya Muslim Girls' MV, started in 1882 nearly 122 years ago, faces a big problem today due to lack of space for expansion. The school, situated at 166, Sri Vajiragnana Road, Colombo 09, was started as a Madrasa, where Arabic was taught to boys and girls. Thereafter, English was introduced up to Grade 5 and later to Grade 8. Gradually classes were conducted up to GCE O/L in December 1961 when seven students sat the GCE O/L for the first time. This is the first Muslim school in the island to have completed 121 years.

The school was vested in the state in July 1962 and at that time had only 400 students and 15 teachers. Now the number on the roll is 1,400 with 63 teachers on the staff. Classes are conducted in both Sinhala and Tamil streams. Classes up to GCE A/L are conducted in the Sinhala medium.

For more than 40 years, the school had double sessions due to lack of accommodation. With the increase in new admissions, the question of having two sessions is still looming large. The only solution is to have another three-storey building to accommodate 20 classrooms.

The late President R. Premadasa promised to give us a building. Many politicians have visited the school and promised help. We hope this will be forthcoming so that the school can reach a worthy standard.

Flattered by the mention
I was flattered to have received an even passing mention in Rajpal Abeynayake's respected and entertaining column.
Obviously democracy is alive and well in Ranil Wickremesinghe's uncle's newspaper if not in the UNP (but then SW, RW, RSW - what's the difference?)

'Letters to the Editor' should be brief and to the point.
Address them to:
'Letters to the Editor,
The Sunday Times,
P.O.Box 1136, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Or e-mail to
editor@sundaytimes.wnl.lk or
features@sundaytimes.wnl.lk
Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned.