Fighting for what one sincerely believes to be true though false, can perhaps be pardoned, but using those false beliefs for one's personal benefits, when one knows them to be untrue, never deserves a forgiveness either from man or from God. A hind look at all that has been happening during the last few decades, wherein a large number of attacks have been mounted repeatedly against Christians by the fundamentalist religious forces in this country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, would show that most of these attacks are not out of any conviction, but out of sheer love for name, fame, positions, power, pelf, and sometimes even just for the heck of it, for a vicarious pleasure of a perverted mind. How else can you ever explain away some of the most illogical attacks on innocent Christians who only try to preach love and universal brotherhood of mankind and the fatherhood of God our Creator? Men, women, even little innocent children are not spared in their ruthless attacks often without any specific goal except perhaps as a homage or as an appeasement to some distant, unclear, unknown remote control, divine or just human. How would they face their Maker, when one day they have to face Him, which ultimately is the truth, however much they may try to evade the fact with all kinds of palliatives till they last on earth? That is a sad and a very disturbing question for a God-fearing enlightened man. The word of God says in the Book of Proverbs 6: 16-19, “There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, a mind that thinks up wicked plans, feet that hurry off to do evil, a witness who tells one lie after another, and a man who stirs up trouble among friends”.
The question becomes still sadder when we realize that most of those who have willingly shouldered the responsibility of carrying the message of Christ for the salvation of mankind, those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior especially in a non-Christian country like this great nation of ours, also seem to have conveniently forgotten their very mission on earth. It is almost tragic that some amongst them seem to worship only mammon and all that the world can give them, all that with which the very one, the fallen angel, tried to mislead Christ himself after 40 days of his fasting and prayer in the desert before embarking upon His Mission in this world. How else can you explain the huge structures that are being put up every day in some part of the country or the other by the Church in India, to enable the salvation of those who are already in its fold and also apparently to enlighten those who are not yet saved, structures that are supposed to train the personnel for spreading Christ's salvific message on earth, educational structures to educate the youth, but ultimately perhaps only ending up on huge bank balances for the people at the helm of affairs or just disappearing into thin air without any accountability?
These are, no doubt, very harsh words, but expressed only with the desire and hope that this would enable us to see the truth and the very purpose of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ sacrificing his life on the cross on Calvary after passing through the excruciating pain and the terrible agony. Where is that great Church of ours in India today, when some simple soul learns about the saving message of Christ, often just by accident, and with great joy in his heart wishes to share it with his near and dear ones, gets attacked, beaten up and finally ends up in jail? We, his brethren, the other “Christs” on earth today, just look the other way, as perhaps many guilty ones did on Golgotha, two thousand years ago!
The Global Council of Indian Christians has been rendering its service for our bleeding Church during last several years in different parts of the country from its own personal resources. The GCIC did it only for the glory of God regardless of language, region or denomination of the victims, without getting itself lost in the theological and doctrinal niceties. The GCIC always went for the rescue of anybody who stood for Christ and spoke Christ's language without counting the cost or caring for the problems it was going to create for itself. It has been literally functioning like a fire-fighting team for the service of the Lord. But, then, this huge task cannot be accomplished only by some voluntary bodies, however committed they may be, with their limited resources and infrastructure. It is indeed very relevant to aptly quote here, Mother Teresa's words, “We cannot do great things, but only small things with great love.” All of us together, even if it is just a little, even done independently of each other, can have its lasting and impressive impact on a large section of people of this country, which indeed would be really pleasing to our Heavenly Father. Just to drive home the painful side of the story I wish to touch upon a very recent incident in Karnataka. The incident was in a place called Hospet in Bellary, the mining hot spot of Karnataka where a Muslim mob attacked an evangelist, one Pastor Lewis Mascarenhas, and badly beat him up because of his evangelical activity. Soon after, they also dragged the bleeding pastor to a nearby police station accusing him of conducting forced conversions. The police eventually took the reverend to B.C. Acharya Hospital but kept him in their custody. Then he was charge-sheeted and jailed, and he continues to rot in the jail for more than 3 weeks. Incidentally, we also learn that he belongs to an important main-line church. The most painful part of the whole tragic story is that neither the Church to which he belongs, nor any of the umpteen Christian organizations that boast of rushing to the rescue of such persecuted Christians do not seem to have lifted their smallest finger to help this pastor or his family. Why such callousness or insensitivity on the part of those who have apparently and publicly dedicated themselves for such tasks? Indeed, it is quite painful even to mention here that the GCIC has just received a letter in this regard with a desperate plea from the pastor's wife to come to their rescue.
However, in spite of all the defects of the Church in the work of its mission in our country,things seem to be changing for the better for Christians in this country. The number of incidents of persecution of Christians during this year in India from whatever we had received had been about 150 in the whole country, and 40 in the State Karnataka where they used to be much higher in the preceding years, ever since 2008. The over-all incidents in the whole country too have come down though in some pockets like Tamil Nadu they had taken a different turn. All this, perhaps, may be the result of overall awareness among the general public in India today with regard to one's freedom of thought, freedom of speech and belief, and the very process of the shrinking of the whole world in which one will have to consider mankind as a whole, in order to live comfortably as we are dependent on each other, whichever part of the world we are living today. Also wedded as we are as a nation to a democracy with specific rights to its citizens and an efficient legal system inherited from the British, a nation with one of the oldest cultures in the world, we are indeed slowly coming of age again after centuries of slavery and exploitation. Perhaps their proverbial patience of Job and the fortitude of the first century Christians who faced the lions in the arena and sacrificed their lives rather than gave up their faith in the teachings of Christ, is being rewarded to them though slowly and perfunctorily. Also, the overall work put in that direction in defense of the freedom of religion, and one's right to practice, preach and propagate the religion of one's choice, by numberless agencies and organizations that fearlessly fought down the decades in different parts of the country, also seem to have contributed in no mean measure. Therefore, as we are coming to the end of the year 2012, let us look forward with optimism to the years ahead, doing our bit of work for the welfare of our people and overall progress and development of our country so that in keeping with its basic culture of peace and fellow feeling it can emerge as a beacon of light in the world. I wish to conclude this editorial with the message of Christmas to all our readers to whatever region, caste, creed or language they may belong. May the blessings of the infant Jesus be upon you and this great country India.
(Dr. Sajan K. George)
National President,
Global Council for Indian Christians (GCIC)
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