This is a reply to Selma carvalho's message No: 9, dated: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 on the subject: The Right to Convert
Selma writes: Excellent post Father Ivo. We must make clear the position of the church as it has been for a long time. There is grave misconception out there fuelled by right-wing fundamentalist groups that we must correct. India has gotten into the nasty habit of taking away civil liberties in the guise of upholding its democracy. If there are brutalities in the Gulf carried out against maids, rule that maids cannot work in the Gulf. If HIV becomes prevalent, propose that HIV testing be made mandatory before marriage. If there is a high incidence of foetocide, makes sure that every women is denied the right to know the gender of her baby before birth. And now this court has deliberately split hairs on its definition of what is freedome of religion. It's is a dire sign that barely 60 years after independence our Constitution should come under attack like this. Little by little, we ensure that our civil liberties are being curtailed and India can successful trot its way to a totalitarian country based on some preconceived Raj model. My response: But conversions in India, as they are happening today, are not merely about empowering the poor. It is about a sinister and subversive strategy, hatched in the US, backed by the Bush administration over the years. This is the first para of the article which is titled THOSE THAT SHALL DELIVER... Read more on this issue by clicking the link provided here below: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main.asp?filename=ts013004qaeda.asp Best regards, Dr. U. G. Barad