Gandhiji's
Dialogue with Christianity

Introduction
Rajiv Vora

A selection from Gandhiji's statements, speeches, writings, and recorded conversations with Christian Missionaries and others on the question of Christianity's claims, role and place in India is presented here. The reader would be able to get guidance from Gandhiji's thought, -- tested, in his words, on the anvil of truth, nonviolence and reason.

Gandhiji's dialogue with Christianity is most comprehensive, insightful, thoroughly forthright and ofcourse devoid of malice. What must be appreciated is that Gandhiji was not silent about Missionary activities, as he was aware of spiritual and moral lethargy of Hindu society also. He called religious conversion ‘blasphemy' and proselytisation ‘deadliest poison that has ever sapped the very foundation of truth.' At the same time he called untouchability a sin, which, if it persists, Hinduism must perish. He told Christian Missionaries that the purpose behind their social service was impure till it was meant to be a ‘social bait'. The strength behind their service. The British and American money, was likened by Gandhiji with Mammon – the idol of ill-gotten and evil money. To Dr, Mott, a foremost Christian theologist, scholar and leader of world repute, Gandhiji said: “I am convinced that the American and British money which has been voted for Missionary Societies has done more harm than good. You cannot serve god and Mammon both. And my fear is that Mammon has been sent to serve India and God has remained behind, with the result that He will one day have His vengeance.”

Now that His Holiness the Pope John Paul-II has declared in the second week of November 1999 before Asian Bishops Conference in Delhi that the third Millennium must see ‘Harvest of Faith' in Asia , the Mammon must therefore come to India enlarged. Will He, one day, have His vengeance as Gandhiji cautioned? It depends on how the problem of spiritual hunger of the marginalized, exploited and pauperized masses is satisfied by the Hindu society besides making them feel that they belong to a larger family which cares for them; how the superior power of money voted to the Christian Missions is neutralized without harming their legitimate activities and freedom as citizens of India; and on how the State would protect our inner spiritual and cultural ethos of inclusiveness, upon which our culture of equal respect to all faiths depends, which is poisoned by designs of religious conversion and denationalization.

We are publishing this selection in order also to underline the fact that this problem is much deeper than only to be politically handled. Whenever serious problems concerning the core of the nation's life are restricted within the political terms of dialogue they are bound to beget violence and meet a premature death.

Bharat stands for the perennial quest for truth. Gandhiji kindled this quest. He showed us and the world how through the ways of nonviolence, truth could be actualized in all the pursuits of life. Gandhiji inspired the quest for divinizing our way of thinking, way of life and way of worship by redefining cultural (intellectual) and spiritual (moral) roots of patriotism, nationalism and dharma. Therefore the weight of his discourse on both nationalism and dharma was on cultural and spiritual rediscovery and recovery of India .

Declaration of Indian State as secular in the sense of Panth Nirpeksh (non-sectarian) State was a necessary step thought, the positive meaning of our religious non-discrimination (secularism) was never worked out. As a result, for example, our State is unable to respond to religious conversion which is in reality actualization of an anti-secular religious thought and practice. Christian Church and their Missions are bound by the authority of Vatican , an unsecular State. Can Christians in India, those bound by the authority of the Church, positively contribute to the secular ethos of Indian society and secular constitution of Indian State, except for praising it because it facilitates conversion, and at times remind the Hindus of it when they question anti-secular conduct of Christian Missions?

If the centre of one's faith, spiritual and religious authority and power resides in a distant land and distant people, and if the land of residence is unrelated to it, then it is going to be problematic, to say the least. You can't have one State, one nation, one people for the satisfaction of your social, political and economic needs and another, a distant State, nation or people for the fulfillment of your cultural and spiritual needs. It is because man is essentially spiritually oriented that, given the option, in majority of cases he will choose to follow the guidance of his cultural or religious-spiritual authority. And, if the State of the residence of religious-spiritual authority is superior in material power, it will have the advantage of causing trouble. It is evident in the North-East.

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