INDIA, April 9, 2004: Recently Christian zealots have begun claiming that various Vedic Sanskrit slogans were in praise of Jesus and not Hindu Gods. Christian propaganda pamphlets and booklets in circulation especially in and around Madurai district in Tamil Nadu also make the suggestion that the revered Swami Vivekananda had asked the people to worship Jesus. The pamphlets, which have been put in circulation by the Madurai-based Infant Jesus Hospital also fraudulently invoke verses from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, saying that they preach against “idol worship.” The highly inflammatory pamphlets, delivered by Christian converts, have been appearing in southern districts of Tamil Nadu in the hopes of misleading a few gullible souls. HPI adds: There’s nothing new about the approach, as early Christian missionaries made the same claims.
For the upcoming Kumbh Mela, 2004, where an estimated 15-25 million Hindu pilgrims descend on the city of Ujjain in April, a Christian group known as “Gateway” has released a handout to its members instructing them to “mobilize a intercessory team to pray on the venue and during the Mela.” The other side gives an elaborate “prayer” calendar with derogatory marks about Hinduism. “Pray for the spiritually blind people that they may see for themselves that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” says one of the calendar entries. The pamphlet gives important dates of Religious Bathing with instructions to “Pray with special fervor on these dates” because more pilgrims will be in attendance at the Mela. The group is relying on direct access to the millions of devotees to disrupt the sacred festival with prayers and miracle shows in strategic locations to gain converts, says this article.
Other excerpts of daily “prayer” from this pamphlet read:
“It is estimated that some 15 million Hindu pilgrims will be attending this mega event. Pray for the power of ‘river worship’ and its spiritual attraction may be broken.”
“Pray that the pilgrims may realize the futility of worshipping the dirty and polluted river and stop regarding this river as their ‘mother.’ “
“Pray that the pilgrims may see behind the facade of Hindu hermits and sages and coming to know their hypocrisy may search for the true and living God.”
“Pray for the veil of the futile idolatry be lifted from before the eyes of the pilgrims.”
And on a practical note, “Pray that during the Mela, People of God (that is, the Christians themselves) may be united with the bond of single mindedness of mission and that there may be no divisions among them.”
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