by Maya Ram November 21, 2020
An excerpt from Maya Ram’s Sangam talks speech
Editor’s note: Watch the full video here:
One question I had for my family is “How did we become Christian?”. Surely, a lot of Indian Christians must have had this question. My mother is a Christian, as I said earlier. When I asked the question as to how her family became Christian, she said, after some hesitation, her nana and his family converted in order for his father to get a better position in the British Civil Service. More than likely, they were converted by British missionaries, though it could very well have been American missionaries. My par-nana’s family became Methodist. I later found out from other relatives that he came from a Pathan Muslim background, with the family originally being from Delhi. Ironically enough, they were most likely Hindu before being converted to Islam. I don’t think they came directly from Afghanistan to Delhi, though I’ve yet to take a genetic test to prove this hypothesis. I also found out they were zamindars. And so was my par-nani’s family, they were also zamindars originally from Allahabad, now Prayagraj. They were Hindu though. My mother was raised a Methodist, even though, oddly enough my nana was a Hindu until towards the end of his life. She only became a Seventh Day Adventist later as an adult. I ask any Christian that has asked this question to think of the reaction your parents, or grandparents, or uncles and aunties might have had. Were they puzzled as to why they would ask that question? Were they happy to tell you why they or their parents or grandparents became Christian? Did they seem evasive or did they demonstrate avoidance when asked the question?
Often it is said that people who are poor and/or lower caste convert to get out of the caste system or out of deep poverty. It’s not always true. There are other allurements to get people to convert. I’m sure many of you listening have heard this general notion that people convert to Christianity for some material gain. Turns out in many cases, they’re not wrong. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “rice bag Christian”. Just so you know, I don’t like that phrase, and I do think it’s unfair to anyone who got converted no matter how long ago that was. What you should know is that it was the British themselves that coined the phrase, in response to the large number of converts they would often see packing the pews in many churches during British rule. However, I think it’s unfair for different reasons. It doesn’t account for the powerless position that many people found themselves in, and still find themselves in. Whether it’s the literal need for a rice bag, the need to be in a comfortable position in an oppressive system such as British rule. Or even Portuguese rule of Goa, in which the Portuguese carried out an inquisition and tortured Hindus into becoming Christian. Other enticements for conversion include education, medical care, or pressure from someone who offered a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on; in this case I’m talking about Christians who come to a family in distress and then used that opportunity to pressure them into converting.
Now, many families could have very well converted because they truly loved Jesus. Jesus is this mythical figure who told people to care for the least of us. The poor, the widows, the sick, and children. I use the word mythical because as I have progressed on my journey, I have learnt that what I knew about Jesus can no longer be taken as fact. I have learnt through the works of authors like Bart Ehrman that Jesus may not have said those words that are attributed to him in the gospels. Many of the verses in the gospels are interpolations, meaning they were inserted well after they were written. I wrote an article about that, and did a video covering interpolations as well. I also learnt about the existence of other gospels. Why were they not included in official cannon? This is an artists depiction of the Council of Nicea, which took place in 325 CE. This is where most of the books that make up the bible were decided on. It has been added to over the years, and you should know that there are differences between bibles of different denominations. I also learnt about the differences between gospels of how events in Jesus’ life were portrayed, such as for example, his death. One gospel has him crying out to this god Yahweh, who is said to be Jesus’ father. Another gospel portrays his death in a calm manner, with Jesus saying “It is finished” to appeal to the Greco-Roman ethos of stoicism. It is portrayed the same way the death of Greek philosopher Socrates is portrayed. There are also scholars that make a case for this Jesus figure not being a real historical figure. I still believe he might have been a historical figure. Just a random Jewish apocalyptic preacher of the time, who many Jews of the time followed and formed a breakaway sect of Judaism after his death. I no longer believe this random Jewish preacher has any divinity though. But for some Christians, this love and admiration of this Jesus figure could very well have been the reason for their conversion. I say to Christians: Only you can judge how your family reacts when you ask that question “How did we become Christian?”. If they are not sure of how they became Christian or are evasive about it, you might find that it raises even more questions than what you first asked.
I remember feeling even as a Christian that conversion under duress was not a genuine conversion. My mother was in a bad state of mind and was searching for a path to follow that claimed to be the one true version of Christianity. The Seventh Day Adventist denomination offered this need for her, and soon after she started attending Seventh Day Adventist Church services, she then started making my brother and I go. And shortly after we started regularly attending, we were forced to get baptized. She never tried to make my father go to church; he wouldn’t do it anyway. Her conversion may have been genuine, but like many Christians who converted from Hinduism (and to a lesser extent Islam) in India, my brother and I were in a powerless position and became Christian under duress. Many Christians may recall feeling resentful of being forced to go to church when they wanted to be with their friends or had to study for exams. It was the same for me. Except I also felt the resentment, in the deep recesses of my mind, of my powerlessness in being forced into a religion that try as I might, never felt right. I could never fully acknowledge this resentment until much later.
That’s not to say I didn’t try my utmost to be a good Christian. For one, I kept the sabbath day (Saturday for Seventh Day Adventists) at great cost: I had to complete lots of homework on Sunday, and often found myself behind by Monday, when school began again. I also could never get a job for a long time due the ban on working on the sabbath. I was also not allowed to bring friends over to my house, or to visit their houses. Actually, to be honest, I was not allowed to have ANY friends, especially if they were not Seventh Day Adventist. Even other Christians were not good enough. For a period, fiction books were banned in the house! Yes, that’s how far my mother went! Many Christians do that in an attempt to get rid of all “ungodly” influence in the home. All I had at my disposal for a long time was the bible. I read the bible front to back, and that just raised more questions just on the text alone.
