you r absolutely right Mr. Matt . I'm from south India and we are sick of Evangelists. Peoples patience running out.

My friend, your looking at the wrong people. It was those who today call themselves Christians but are really Catholic. Catholicism has been conquering with war, bribery, and sedition since it was formed. The Bible is not Catholicism. Even Jesus Christ Himself said that since His kingdom is not of this world, His disciples do not physically fight to defend Him. In the same manner, the banner that will one day be lifted up over India is the banner of Jesus Christ. Not an establishment of religion, denomination, or organization. But a banner, a banner that is the Lord's. For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

my friend, we dont want any banner upon our MOTHER INDIA . you follow your religion and let us follow our religion. we dont care who catholic protestants and others are . we want our own culture here. any religion spread by force will fall down by force.

@Praveen: Whatever wrong was done by "christian" missionaries in the past was wrong. But that does not make the persecution of Christians in Orissa right either! As far as being the "best" civilization, what is so good about the oppressive and discriminating caste system where millions of people are classified by Indian society as the lowest caste (dalits) and are treated worse than animals! Or the disgusting sati practice where women, against their will, were/are tortured to death?
It is a man's basic right to believe in and practice his faith/religion. Even the constitution of India upholds that right.
You wanna talk about being the "best civilization" then go sit down and have a discourse with those you disagree in a civil manner instead of acting like medieval hooligans.

@ Reuben - persecution of Christians is wrong.CASTE SYSTEM,a social evil.dalits are treated worse, .Sati cruel like anything. i totally agree with you my friend.

So u r saying convert to Christianity, the best religion in the world. Does the west and Christianity have no superstitious beliefs. ever thought about Crusades, killing of scientists and astrologers by Vatican (Galileo and countless more). wiping of civilizations and treating men in basis of color for centuries. many more.

DUDE there is no perfect religion r civilization.

I'm talking about forced conversions on a mass scale. thats wrong. christianity has caste systems in india, christian nadars, vellala christians and other upper caste christians treat dalit christians same as in hinduism.

INDIA is the best civilization, im not saying my friend. some Christians scholars in the west say this .you r saying wat ever missionaries did in past is bad, accepted.so wat they do in present is good,is it so ????? the riots is due to insecure feeling of people and Hindu orgs in orissa, hence they retaliate. heard of persecution of Hindus in kerala , kanyakumari, northeast and all for the plain reason of following Hinduism ????

if you dont agree with wat i say, then let ur words be true. I'm a medieval hooligan !

@Praveen: I agree with you there is no perfect religion and or civilization.
And as for the "Western Scholars" you are quoting as saying, "India is the best civilization," there are a thousand more who will disagree. just because a couple of scholars among thousands of other scholars agree upon something, they do not become an authority over a subject matter.

I am not saying convert to Christianity. I'm saying treat Christians and Christianity equally. Freedom of speech should be given to anyone and if one does not agree with another, let it be done in an honorable manner. Its a mark of an intelligent and civilized society.

As far as allegations of "forced conversion" Christianity abhors that. Choosing to follow Christ is a choice an individual makes irrespective of peer pressure or force. "Forced Conversion" is an agenda that RSS and other fundamentalist organizations use as a pretext to spew their hate campaigns and incite people against Christianity.
Violence by men in the name of Christianity is always wrong: past, present, and future. I agree with you about the Crusades being wrong. Crusades were misguided and more for political and personal gain in guise of religion. But so are the current atrocities committed by Hindu "upper Caste" leaders to maintain control over their power base over the millions of lower caste they exploit on a regular basis.

As far as upper caste Christians acting like upper caste Hindus, that just wrong too. Again, I blame our Indian culture for the Caste system it teaches. It has pervaded our culture like an epidemic and is mainly responsible for divisions in our country.

BTW, Christianity is NOT a Western religion. It comes from Israel, which is in ASIA.

I don't think targeting Christians in general by burning down their houses, churches, driving them into fields is treating them equally with Hindus. That's major Baloney. It's the same thing that Hindu Fundamentalists do with Muslims in India.

And I'm pretty sure the thing about Hindu's being targeted in "Christian majority pockets" is a dubious claim. And if it has happened, then don't you think it's more of a reaction to what the Hindu fundamentalists have been doing to Christian minorities for a LONG time.

I never said there are no "forced conversions," i'm just saying those terms are an oxymoron. "Forced Conversions," are anything but conversions.

Caste system IS a fundamental part of Hinduism that has penetrated the whole Indian culture. That's not even up for debate.

Anyways, physically attacking Christians or Muslims instead of peaceful talks is just a sign of failure on Hindu's part to successfully counter opposing world view with their own. Physically attacking someone because their message contradicts your world view is a sign of you showing that your world view is inferior. Because if you really believed that you had a superior message/religion, you would be confident enough to refute a contradicting message without resorting to violence. Violence in this case is a sign of defeat and a last resort.

I have a lot of Hindu friends and I know that what these RSS and BJP people do is sometimes not representative of Hindus in general. In the same way I hope you realize that real Christianity is NOT about forced conversions. Ultimately Christianity is about love. It's a life-change. Also, if you feel Hinduism is superior to everything else, then i encourage you to go read the Bible or whatever else you feel "threatened" by to educate yourself better instead of the cheap and easy way to react, viz violence.

u talk about hindu - muslim . let me talk about christ - muslim conflict in middle east and else where. but its out side india so leave it.

come to kanyakumari, kerala an see the anti-hindu christ fundamentalism( if u doubt). go to north-east and see with ur eyes "National Socialist Council of Nagaland" and National Liberation Front of Tripura, and many more blood thirsty christian terrorist groups. u will know how they preach christianity peacefully and with lots of love.

oh you can threaten a person's life and convert him. and say its just conversion . cool .

yes my brother only hindus are killing people . christs are mahatmas and never killed even a single hindu in name of religion. see how many hindu deaths in north-east christ basins.

im not part of RSS and BJP . I too have many christ friends foreseeing this conversion mania as sure mad and death of christianity in india in future.

i never said i believe in violence, nor i told hinduism is superior. i actually condemed attacks on christs in my first reply. i dont want to study bible. i have tried many times in friends house and i dont find any true values other than praise the lord. sorry if it hurts u, its just a reply for ur question. i never red any scriptures even my own bagavat gita. im not cheap and violent , so please use ur words carefully my friend. its debate not fight .......!