He that complies against his willI was reading over the weekend about the current ruling RSS party in India, which seeks to turn that country into a "purely Hindu state." They are doomed to failure, as indirectly pointed out by their own novelist Aravind Adiga (I mentioned his White Tiger a couple months ago). There is so much corruption in the Indian culture that the most anybody can hope for is a pretense of success. Perhaps that's all they want: for all I know the Christians there may also be corrupt, but probably less so than the Hindus, because our religion teaches us to be good and honest and loving, whereas every other religion I am aware of makes no such effort (Mormons and Jews possibly excepted, but I don't know). The result is that the greater virtue of Christians shines an embarrassing light on the evil.
Is of his own opinion still. -- Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
The curious thing is that only countries with majority non-Christian religions (and no recent memories of otherwise) have laws forbidding "forced conversion," but the only ones in violation of such laws (where they exist) are the ones pretending to enforce the law. This Christian fellow in India I was reading about was accused of "forced conversion," and then they took him into the Hindu temple and performed a reconversion ceremony on him. When he refused to recite the words, they bludgeoned him into unconsciousness. His wife and children were there too, praying out loud for his protection, but the only one they were beating up was the man. Why is that? They -- along with everybody else in the world but the feminazis -- know that men generally care more about the Truth than women, so he's the one who will cling hardest to his truth system. Convert him, and the family will come along to get along (or at least pretend to, which is probably good enough for the Bad Guys). But knowing that runs against a different religion.
The report did not tell us what the guy was saying there in the temple, nor why he alone was the focus of the Hindu attention, but if I found myself in such a position -- and had my wits about me -- I would probably remind my captors that their accusation is foolish: We Christians do not need to forcibly convert anybody, the RSS (or the Taliban in a nearby country doing the same thing) is doing it for us! Who wants to believe in a cruel god and in gods who urge their adherents to lie and steal and kill? It's a lot more pleasant to live in a culture where people are honest and good and loving. Furthermore, when people help each other instead of harming them, everybody benefits. That alone, ladies and gentlemen, is why there is only one superpower in the world today, and why it is the richest nation in the world in all time -- with the possible exception of Solomon's kingdom 3000 years ago. More people want into our country than out; that's not true of India and Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and the other countries in the "10-40 window."
That's completely independent of any truth issue. Liars and thieves and killers don't care about truth, so you make a case to them that they can understand. Of course they don't want to -- just ask the hatemongers (you know who they are, they're the ones whining about "hate" all the time while hating just about everybody else they see) who have no message worth listening to, so instead of offering a reasonable explanation of why I should change my mind and agree with their point of view, they scream and riot. No wonder their side lost the election! If you want to live in a democracy, you need to convince people that your position is better than the opposition. Of course it helps if your position actually is better. And the system rewards those who succeed. Screaming and rioting and using foul language is not a way to get there. And if you don't want to live in a democracy, there are lots of countries without that benefit, go live there. Nobody does that, of course, because the nice people in this country (the ones who voted against Hillary) make it a much nicer country to live in. But we do that by allowing people we disagree with to have their say too. Sometimes the people I disagree with are right, and this country is a better place for everybody when everybody gets to have their say.
Anyway, the hatemongers and the jihadists and the RSS Hindus and yes,
even the atheists, are all hypocrites. Some Christians are too, and I don't
defend them, but the Christian message encourages social virtue, whereas
the other religions do not. It's a tough argument to beat, and the cruelty
of our opponents is all the "force" we need to make converts. Think about
it.