The prayer book recently released by the Southern Baptists in the United states asking its followers to "pray that the Hindus…become aware of the darkness in their hearts…", is not only insensitive, but downright hurtful.
One of the great texts of the Upanishads reads thus:
"From the unreal, lead me to the REAL
From darkness, lead me to LIGHT
From death, lead me to IMMORTALITY".
This in essence, captures the relentless search of a Hindu for the Truth and the Light. The great Hindu festivals of Holi, Dussehra and Diwali are symbolic of the triumph of good over evil and of darkness over light.
Mainline Christianity has come a long way and the general understanding is that Jesus would, in no uncertain terms, condemn the "self-righteous" – just as he condemned the "holy men" the scribes and the Pharisees, of his times. Today, there is a greater appreciation of the value system inherent in different religions and cultures.
In a message to Hindus entitled, ‘Christian and Hindu Pilgrims in Dialogue for the Good of All’, on the occasion of Diwali this year, Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter–religious Dialogue, asserts: "The Hindu tradition strives to answer the restless searching of the human heart by proposing ways which include teachings, rules of life, and sacred ceremonies."
What is imperative — and this is what Jesus would expect from his followers — is that each one breaks down the walls of prejudice and hate — and work together to establish a Kingdom on the Gospel values of justice, hope, love, peace and universal brotherhood.
Fundamentalist and fringe groups exist in every society — and perhaps in every religion — some even bordering on fascism. Whilst it is evidently clear that most Christians in India will not generalise and say that Hindu fundamentalists represent most Hindus, it should be equally clear that the offensive prayer–book is not the opinion of most Christians.
What most Christians would pray for, today, is a greater openness to the Transcendent: to be able to dialogue respectfully in that relentless search for Life, Truth and Immortality! Anything different would indeed be a betrayal of Christ and of all that he stood for.
In his concluding statement in the above mentioned message, Cardinal Arinze states: "May Diwali this year, be an anticipation of what God wants the history of humanity to be: a fraternal journey in which we accompany one another towards the transcendent goal which God himself puts before us…"
A true follower of Jesus let’s his light shine…In deed !
Archived from Communalism Combat, November 1999, Year 7 No. 53, Special Report 3