Say No to Miracles and False healing Stop hatred against Hinduism

We live in a secular country, says our constitution, where people have the freedom to practice and preach the religion of their choice. Does this freedom include the freedom to hurt the religious and other sentiments of people belonging to other faiths?

The conversion activities of Christian missionaries is one prime example that not only continues to hurt the people but has been instrumental, as seen in the activities of the different militant outfits in the north-eastern part of our country, in posing a grave danger to the countrys security. Pastor Benny Hinn is an active contributor to this movement. He claims to heal the sick, cure the ailing and apparently can do things beyond what is explained by science! However, for a person who is called a False Prophet by the Catholics, and is known to use cheap, underhand tricks to convert people, he seems to have caught the fancy of some influential members in our society.

Does belief in one faith automatically mean hatred towards others? I think not. However, Pastor Benny Hinn thinks that the only way to God is by absolute hatred and disregard towards others religions and beliefs. All religions have prayer and chanting of hymns as part of their customs and traditions. However, the Pastor takes this one step ahead by condemning and ridiculing Hindu customs in his prayers. Here is a quote, translated verbatim, from a Kannada pamphlet distributed by the event organizers at various slums in and around Bangalore Let us Pray for the people to accept Jesus, after keeping aside all sorts of image worship, black magic, drunkenness and other vices. I am appalled at this derogatory reference to Hinduism. We have the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Gita and countless texts explaining about Hinduism and Philosophy of Sanatana Dharma; and the Pastor interprets this ancient philosophy in such a way that would churn anyones stomach. Many a great people, including those from the West, have expressed what a great influence Hinduism has been in their lives. A cursory glance at those quotations in http://www.atributetohinduism.com will suffice to this end.

This mass conversion campaign being organized by Benny Hinn is being held at Jakkur from January 21, 2005 to January 23, 2005. When Hindu religious organizations had requested for the same location earlier, they were denied permission to conduct the meeting. However, the Government has been very prompt in making arrangements for the conversion program of Benny Hinn. For any reasonable person, this is too clear to understand!

I would like to register my deepest concerns at this unfortunate development in our society. Also I believe that it is the governments responsibility, as an overseer, to prevent such patently false, unscientific propaganda events to take place in Karnataka. My mandate to the government is not for such un-scientific and anti-national activities and I sincerely urge the Chief Minister to make sure that this event does not take place.

Looking forward to the government to uphold the secular values of this country,