Comments needed

[Guest guest]

Dear prabhus and Maharajas,

 

Hare Krishna

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Certain members of the British Hindu community, including ISKCON devotees,

and the Christian community have been in dialogue for the past 18 months.

The main topic of the discussions, so far, have been 'Conversion',

especially in light of the recent events in India.

 

An agreed statement of goodwill has been drafted by the two communties. I

write to seek your comments on this agreement (below). Also, do you think

ISKCON should be a party to this agreement?

 

I beg to remain,

Your servant,

 

 

Bimal Krishna das

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DRAFT

Hindus and Christians In Britain

An agreed statement of Goodwill

 

We have met together as Hindus and Christians in a spirit of friendship and

mutual learning to discuss the interaction of our two faith communities in

Britain. While we recognise that there are many areas, which require

continuing discussion between us, we find that we can agree on the following

points:

 

1. We respect one another's faiths as sources of spirituality and of

ethics, while acknowledging our differences of belief and practice.

 

2. We affirm the importance for both our communities of religious

freedom:

 

(a) Freedom to worship according to the practices of either faith

(b) Freedom to teach the tenets of either faith

© Freedom for those who wish themselves to change to or from either

faith after due deliberation and thought, and as an expression of

genuine spiritual commitment

(d) Freedom for those who do not wish to change their faith to be left

alone to practise either religion without further intrusion.

 

We recognise that the balancing of one another's interests in the exercise

of these freedoms can be a sensitive matter. There is a fine line between

laudable enthusiasm and destructive fanaticism, and anyone can cross that

line, whether deliberately or unintentionally.

 

3. We believe that, to avoid sending wrong signals from either side, it

is necessary to repudiate strategies for conversion, which are

coercive or manipulative. In particular:

 

(a) Medical, educational, and social welfare services must not be

misused to facilitate conversions.

(b) Conversions must not be sought through force, fraud, threat, illicit

means, grant of financial or other aid, or exploiting a person's

poverty, ill health, mental weakness or without due consideration.

© The methods employed to propagate either religion should be explicit

and acceptable to the two communities. They must not be of such a

kind as to encroach on the freedom of religion of citizens.

(d) Persons considering conversion should be advised to consider

carefully the impact their decision may have on themselves, their

family, and their community.

 

4. We unequivocally condemn all attacks on places of worship and on

members of religious groups; we disown individuals or organisations

responsible for such attacks, and we urge responsible and accurate

reporting of these events by the media.

 

In light of currently prevailing tensions, we believe it is very important

that Christians and Hindus should meet together to listen to one another's

concerns and to affirm their respect for one another, and we invite our

fellow believers of both faiths to engage together in dialogue, mutual

learning, and service of the community.