Christian Web Sites blasted by Hindus
Pastor Dale Morgan
Christian Web Sites blasted by Hindus*
Southern Baptists, Gospel for Asia, CBN targeted in published report
Posted: April 10, 2007
A new report published by a Hindu foundation is blasting Christian
organizations across the nation, including the Southern Baptists'
missions board, Gospel for Asia and the Minnesota-based Olive Tree
Ministries, which aims its ministry at teaching Christians about their
beliefs, for having so called Internet "hate sites."
"The proliferation of websites promoting Christian Values over other
religions, is an unfortunate consequence of the universality of access
to the internet," said Vinay Vallabh, the lead author of the report by
the Hindu American Foundation.
"We must vigorously identify, condemn and counter those who use the
Internet to espouse chauvinism and bigotry over the principles of
pluralism and tolerance," he said.
Jan Markell, who has been with the Olive Tree Ministries since 1977, has
written eight books and hundreds of articles about Christians and their
beliefs, at first wondered why she would be listed among ministries
hated by a Hindu organization.
Then she remembered a series of articles warning Christians against
participating in yoga, a Hindu form of worship.
"I'm big on it [opposing yoga for Christians]," she said. "I talk about
it on the radio, and I write about it. And the irony of it all is, like
Hindus, we don't want Christians practicing yoga either.
"Hindus are saying basically, 'Wait, this is our thing, this is not for
you [Christians],'" Markell said. "The Hindus get it more right than the
Christians on this issue."
She said her work involves teaching Christians and encouraging their
discernment. "There are [many] different issues that Christians are
falling for. They have no excuse except they have no discernment," she
said. "[With Christian yoga], they are trying to sanctify divination.
There's no such thing."
"When Christians invite it [yoga] into their life, they don't seem to
know they're inviting in Hinduism," she said. "We alert people to those
dangers."
"Olive Tree Ministries wants you to see how you fit into His grand plan
of things as the end of the age draws near," the ministry says. "We
won't be sensational. We will, however, look to the Bible as our guide.
We call on solid, dispensational teachers to speak into this ministry,
who minister in a balanced way, just as we strive to do. We find it
grievous that the attitude today is that when Jesus and the 'end-times'
come, they will come, but in the meantime, I have to live my life in the
real world. Bible prophecy is for living in the real world right now."
Her site, along with Bible Study Lessons from Antioch, Ill., The
Christian Broadcasting Network, Christian Answers of Gilbert, Ariz.,
Mission Frontiers of Pasadena, Calif., and many others, however, were
identified by the Hindu foundation as so called Internet "hate" sources.
"This is the first of what the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) hopes
will be an annual report on so called anti-Hindu hatred found on the
Internet," said the report, which was from a group that provides "a
voice for the 2 million strong Hindu American community."
"Hate is an ugly thing, and its ugliness is well illustrated in its
various manifestations on the Internet, including those detailed in this
report," wrote Jeffery Long, of Elizabethtown College, in the forward.
"The Internet, this tool of knowledge and communications, is regularly
abused, becoming a vehicle for the worst human impulses, as reflected in
the pervasiveness of pornographic websites and websites devoted to
fomenting hatred and violence against particular religious and ethnic
groups," he wrote. "Many of the websites described in this report claim
to speak from religious perspectives. But is the greatness of traditions
like Christianity or Islam served by denigrating Hinduism or spreading
false information about it? This report is a wake-up call to all
Americans to work for a society in which all religions are respected,
and in which the practitioners of all religions can feel safe and included."
The report, called "Hyperlink to Hinduphobia: Online Hatred, Extremism
and Bigotry Against Hindus," describes how "demonic" and "satanic" are
the "terms most commonly used today to describe Hinduism by numerous
websites easily accessible on the Internet."
"As we all know, murderous rampages have been inspired by anti-Semitic
and racist websites," said Long. "And it is not necessary for a website
to exhort its readers to actual, physical violence for it to lead to
such violence."
"It is our hope that this report will encourage ISP's to voluntarily
restrict sites that wantonly promote hatred and intolerance towards
Hindus and Hinduism or any other religion – a necessary step as we
continue our balancing act between free speech and licentious speech
that leads to violence in the electronic age," said Vallabh.
"Attacks on Hindus and their institutions are a daily reality in
countries such as Bangladesh," said the report. "Last year, even within
the United States, a newly completed Hindu temple in Minnesota was
desecrated by vandals that went on to destroy idols of deities within
the inner sanctum. The hate sites reflected in this report inspire and
justify such violence."
It advocated blocking content on the Internet judged to be "hate" speech.
"Effective solutions require … the cooperation of hosting providers …
[who] are companies that maintain and run Web servers which rent space
for websites. They may be required to check disturbing content and
either remove it or make it inaccessible," the report said.
The report was being distributed to members of Congress,
non-governmental organizations, journalists, Hindu leaders and others,
and was available for purchase from the organization.
A reader said it appeared to be nothing more than an attempt "to
blacklist and ban popular Christian sites as so called 'hate sites.'"
The Hindu American Foundation earlier sued the California State Board of
Education because it viewed its procedures used to adopt school
textbooks as unfair. It demanded that experts "have expertise in the
specific subject area and be screened for potential conflicts of interest."
It also last year condemned remarks made by U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris,
R-Fla., when she told the Florida State Baptist Convention that, "If
you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to
legislate sin."