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As
a follow-up to my debate with Archbishop Arulappa, Pope John Paul II
visited India in November 1999, about the time that I was finishing
this book. Ashok Singhal, head of VHP, and other Hindu leaders asked
the pope to declare that "all religions were equal and that
Christianity was not the only path to salvation." The VHP also
asked him to apologize for Christian conversion efforts done by
force or intimidation.
The pope’s spokesman in India, Archbishop Alan
de Lastic, president of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights,
refused on both counts, citing that it was a matter of freedom of
religion that allowed for conversion. He made no statement that
other religions like Hinduism were valid, nor did he question the
conversion process as did Archbishop Arulappa. There was no
recognition of past wrongs nor any courtesy at all for genuine Hindu
concerns given Christianity’s past and its ongoing doctrines of
exclusivity. Clearly this Christian Forum for Human Rights is really
a forum to promote Christianity.
Typical of the pro-Christian media bias Singhal
was called a "Hindu hardliner" for questioning the pope,
though Singhal made a statement affirming religious pluralism, which
involved accepting religions other than Hinduism as valid. The pope,
meanwhile, was not criticized, though his refusal to accept other
religions as equal to Christianity is clearly intolerant.About the
same time the United States government released a paper on religious
freedom in the world, prepared by Robert A.
Author - David Frawley
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