Makes my stomach churn.

[plunkybug]

swiped from mamarose


Villagers furious with Christian Missionaries

Samanthapettai, Jan 16 (ANI): Rage and fury has gripped this tsunami-hit tiny Hindu village in India's southern Tamil Nadu after a group of Christian missionaries allegedly refused them aid for not agreeing to follow their religion.

Samanthapettai, near the temple town of Madurai, faced near devastation on the December 26 when massive tidal waves wiped it clean of homes and lives.

Most of the 200 people here are homeless or displaced , battling to rebuild lives and locating lost family members besides facing risks of epidemic,disease and trauma.

Jubilant at seeing the relief trucks loaded with food, clothes and the much-needed medicines the villagers, many of who have not had a square meal in days, were shocked when the nuns asked them to convert before distributing biscuits and water.

Heated arguments broke out as the locals forcibly tried to stop the relief trucks from leaving. The missionaries, who rushed into their cars on seeing television reporters and the cameras refusing to comment on the incident and managed to leave the village.

Disappointed and shocked into disbelief the hapless villagers still await aid.

Many NGOs (volunteer groups) are extending help to us but there in our village the NGO, which was till now helping us is now asking us to follow the Christian religion. We are staunch followers of Hindu religion and refused their request. And after that these people with their aid materials are leaving the
village without distributing that to us," Rajni Kumar, a villager said.

The incident is an exception to concerted charity in a catastrophe that has left no one untouched.(ANI)

Yahoo News

Comments

[ourika.livejournal.com]

Is there something I'm missing or another article about this that you're referencing? I didn't see anything in the article saying that the nuns are American.

[plunkybug.livejournal.com]

True, I must have inferred that by the missionaries this country usually sends over in cases like this. I will, however, edit my headline.

[paosparti.livejournal.com]

just reminds me of a saying a friend of mine coined

"How very Christian of you!"

But Aid doesn't only com from the US... the NGO is made up of lots of countries.

[plunkybug.livejournal.com]

Well, I try to be good and let people believe in what religion they feel most comfortable in whether I personally agree with them. I feel that some fundamental Chritian values are good, but some can go horribly wrong. I have always found that forcing your religion on someone else was wrong. A religion or faith in someone or something is a very personal choice, and in the end, it is really to the person making the choice.

How many wars and crusades from history were about converting people from one religion to the other? While advances like reading and roads came about with the Christian/Catholic crusades, a heavy price was paid with human life. In the case of this article, denying someone help if they won't convert is like the most un-Christian value I can think of. I don't know that much about Christianity (as I was raised in a Jewish house) but many of the basics are present in both religions. But there is no missionary work in Judaism. Period. Converting is decided by the convertee, and the process is very hard. Nothing more than they (rabbis and such) hate is another non-practicing Jew.

I have probably stuck my foot in my mouth with this. So I guess I will quit here. I have said more than I intended to.

[wundermuffin.livejournal.com]

good lord! convert, then we'll give you what you need! bastards.

i was born in tamil nadu, did you know? madras. which is now called chennai.

[plunkybug.livejournal.com]

I think you mentioned it in a post once before.

Like I said before, giving to charity, something so fundamentally Christian (and for that matter humaninst), yet witholding it is so un-Christian.

[wundermuffin.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's just WRONG.

[maggie226.livejournal.com]

It just goes to show that in any group, there are people who appear to go out of their way to make a bad name for that group.

[plunkybug.livejournal.com]

Yes.