When Christian missionaries target India they are bringing discord to a highly religious and spiritual country, where most people believe in God and at least value a moral life. They bring division to a society where generally religions are inclusive and accepting.
In Britain a small number of people are religious. The exact number is hard to say, when asked if they “know that God exists without a doubt” 23% say yes, but when asked “which comes closest to your belief” 56% responded with an answer that indicated that they had some belief. Even if this number have some belief, most don’t act on it, regular religious involvement is only 7.5%. You only have to go to a city centre in Britain at night to see that many young people regularly get drunk and live only for sensual pleasure.
A few weeks ago my wife and I attended a “Gouanga (ISKCON) festival” at our Hindu temple. There we met a young woman who had joined ISKCON after attending one of these festivals, where she realised that there was more to life than getting drunk. She now works for ISKCON in the UK. She said a couple of years ago she would have probably been drunk in the gutter. At the festival she contemplated Krishna for the first time, and felt that there was something spiritual inside her.
Why, with so many people living a non-spiritual life, don’t Christian missionaries target the UK? Surely this is a country where spirituality could bring great benefit?
I believe that it is because they know that they cannot easily offer bribes and inducements in a relatively rich country. This is the reason that they oppose laws in India that ban forced religious conversions. They know that this is their easiest way to success. For them religion is not about improved behaviour, spirituality or social adhesion, they would willingly sacrifice those to win in the numbers game. All that matters is the number who say they are Christian. That is enough. The fact is that despite the lack of belief, 71% of the British population say they are Christian is enough for them.
A Christian who is violent to members of other faiths, rarely thinks about God, acts immorally and is drunk in the city centre every night is saved. There is no point in missionaries taking notice of them where there are peaceful and tolerant members of other faiths to target. If only they could get them all to be like the Christians!
Western Hindu 