Religious Conversion

Published on Monday, 14 October 2013

Religious conversion is not merely embracing a religion; it is a package deal that includes embracing a religion, embracing a different culture and tradition, ditching parents, relatives, and friends forever. All these effects come in the same package of religious conversion. So, it has much more serious consequences than just following a different religion. In other words, it alters everything in one's life that existed moments before conversion.  Such a drastic change, once taken, cannot be reversed. So, conversion is a serious business.

Do people think about these consequences before signing on for conversion? I wonder. May be, many of those people, especially youngsters, are not even aware of many of the byproducts of the conversion. Probably, they are caught off-guard by those changes after the conversion, but too late to undo anything. There is no home-coming in this process.

Youngsters are vulnerable, because - they are immature. Immature people usually act first and think later. As a result, they are the prime target of the conversion agents.

Historically, Hinduism is one of the oldest religions on earth, and Islam is the newest. In the per-historic world, when entire world consisted of a single landmass, all people started similar religious practices – that is - to worship deities, believed to possess special powers. Human, in that era, were powerless in all respect. They had no wealth, no education, and no knowledge of anything. They believed they may derive some powers from deities through worshiping them. Since there was no other religions at the time, Hinduism did not need any organized efforts to convert others. Also, Hinduism was not introduced by a single person; it evolved over thousands of years, and hundreds of people contributed to it. As a result, it has multitudes of opinions, which may have enhanced tolerances for alternate opinions. Since there was no need for conversion, there was no reason to go to war to conquer any country to spread Hinduism. That was then; things have changed now; there are many instances of religious intolerance among Hindus, and, recently, there are instances of religious conversions as well.

Islamic territorial expansionism started at the get go of Islam, mostly to propagate Islam, which continued for hundreds of years (700 - 1500). During Islamic conquest - Islam was forcefully introduced onto the general masses.

Christianity started its religious conquest through Crusade (1095-1291) to counter Islamic conversion and hegemony around the world. Christians still carries out conversion through missionary endeavors. Although, instances of deceitful tactics for religious conversion are seen, conversion practices in Christianity are mostly subdued, sophisticate, and humane.

In contrast, some Islamic groups still continue forceful, coercive, and deceitful tactics for religious conversion. The dream of Islamic world among many Muslims may be  polarizing the world into two poles: Islamic and non-Islamic. Many of those conversions are targeted towards younger generation. They are victims of deceitful practices as well, such as, conversion through love and marriage. Many of these efforts are preplanned and targeted. This is gambling with emotions, which can ruin many young lives. Many parents may lose their children forever due to these deceitful tactics. I have no problem with one's religious conversion as long as it is achieved through willful means. Unfair religious practices cannot be sanctioned by any religion. Please stop it for the sake of your religion.

The world is complicated now; religion is being used to exploit people. In spite of the fact that all religions have conversion now a day, most conversion activities around the world are perpetrated by agents of Islam and Christianity. Millions of dollars are being spent for productions in those conversion factories. Millions of houses of worships are sprouting in almost overnight in all neighborhoods, thereby increasing tension among local residents. The end of this game could be grave for all humanity.