Southern
Baptist booklet offends Hindus
By Julia Lieblich
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - The Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest
Protestant denomination, is urging its members to pray for the millions of Hindus
"lost in the hopeless darkness of Hinduism."
Some 30,000 booklets to be issued
Monday in time for Divali, the major Hindu festival of lights, call for the conversion of
those "who worship gods which are not God." The booklet says that Hindus have no
concept of sin or personal responsibility.
The denomination previously published booklets soliciting prayers
for Muslims and Jews, offending leaders of those faiths. The language in this publication
is harsher, Louis Moore, the book's editor, said. "There is a clearer definition that
Hindus are lost," he said, adding: "We're all lost without Jesus Christ."
Divali is a major festival, dedicated to Laksmi, goddess of prosperity
and goodness.
Umaa Mysorekar, president of the Hindu Temple of Flushing in New
York and secretary-treasurer of the Council of Hindu Temples, said the timing of the
publication was insulting. Mysorekar said the thinking contained in the guide was
"not only absurd but also ignorant. I don't think Jesus himself would have said not
to respect other religions."
Hari Sharma, president of the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago,
said: "Whoever publishes such a book does a disservice to the society." A guide
to praying for Buddhists is also planned.
Southern Baptists, Expanding Effort, Target Hindus for
Conversion
By Hanna Rosin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 21, 1999; Page A19
The Southern Baptists expanded an
aggressive new proselytizing campaign this week, publishing a short prayer book aimed at
converting Hindus to Christianity.The prayer book is the second published by the Southern
Baptists'
International Mission Board this year, and has again provoked charges of arrogance and
religious insensitivity. Last month, leaders of the nation's second-largest denomination
offended Jewish leaders by distributing a book urging its members to evangelize Jews
during their 10 holy days. Like the previous pamphlet, the latest one asks Southern
Baptists to
pray for the conversion of Hindus during their holiest week, Divali, a festival of lights
commemorating the god Rama's return from exile. The board plans to distribute the guide to
its 40,000 churches beginning Friday, in time for the celebrations in late October.
Compared with the Jewish guide, this one uses far less tactful tones to describe Hindus,
beginning with its very first sentence: "More than 900 million people are lost in the
hopeless darkness of Hinduism." "Pray that Hindus who celebrate the festival of
lights would become aware of the darkness in their hearts that no lamp can dispel,"
the guide continues.
Hindu leaders reacted angrily to these depictions,
describing them as relics of an ugly colonial age.
"Darkness! This is really offensive," said Suresh Gupta, president of the Durga
Temple in Fairfax. "Why should they try to change us? We have a value system people
crave in this country. We teach respect for others, for marriage vows, for elders. It's
what every religion should teach."
The book is a kind of cultural anthropology written from a missionary perspective. Each
page shows a snapshot of life in India described through a Christian lens:
"Mumbai is a city of spiritual darkness. Eight out of every 10 people are Hindu,
slaves bound by fear and tradition to false gods," it reads. Or: "Satan has
retained his hold on Calcutta through Kali and other gods and goddesses of Hinduism. It's
time for Christ's salvation to come to Calcutta." Southern Baptists defended the
proselytizing campaign. "If I had a
Hindu
sitting right here at my desk I would apologize if I had been offensive," said Randy
Sprinkle, who oversaw the book's publication. "Certainly God's love is not meant to
be offensive." "Some people accused us of being arrogant when we were praying
for the Jews of the world," he continues. "I would acknowledge that there is an
element of arrogance. But it's the arrogance of truth."
Gupta was unmoved. "If I had you sitting here, I would not want to convert you to be
a Hindu," he responded. "I would want you to live a good life."
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