¶ … Christian-Hindu Clash in India," Time reporter Simon Robinson details the latest spurt of an ongoing conflict between Hindus and Christians in India (as the title readily suggests). Increasing numbers of practitioners of Hinduism, the traditional religion of India, have been converting to Christianity in order to escape the rigid caste system that Hinduism imposes on people. The author cites both the nationalistic and institutional roots of the ongoing conflict; the caste system is a long-standing institution that, though now officially banned, is still very much in use, and which drives members of the lowest caste away. Working against this negative force of Hinduism, however, are the conservative Indians who see the Christians as trying to change the country by erasing its ancient roots in Hinduism, and see conversion as shameful.
A did not realize that the Hindus and Christians of India were still fighting this way I know about the traditional problems between the Muslims and the Hindus in India and other countries of the area, and it seems odd (as the author notes) that there should be so many conflicts when the precepts of Hindu make it automatically tolerant of other religions. I agree with the author's conclusion that the latest round of troubles is destined not to be the last, though I do not think it is because of anything inherently incompatible between the two religions or cultures, but rather because people tend to dislike outsiders, and territorialism on a societal scale tends to get worse when socio-economic situations worsen, too. This is the current case in India.
I do not think that Indians, Christian or Hindu, are any worse than anyone else in this regard. It is just one of the more depressing aspects of human nature, it seems. The article does not give much information about religion, but a lot about humanity.
