Religious Freedom Issues

This time in India.

Another state in India has passed a bill to ban religious conversions, under pressure from the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Christians and members of India's lower classes fear that the law will be used against them by Hindu militants.

In a riotous session of the state legislature, boycotted by opposition parties, the BJP majority approved a bill that provides for jail terms of 2-5 years and heavy fines for conversions prompted by "allurements, fraudulent means, or force." A similar statute was passed by a BJP government in the Gujurat state three years ago.

The vague language of the bill worries Christians. What is an "allurement"? Does that include Coffee and Donuts after Mass? A hindu government would probably consider the Resurrection of Christ to be a "fraudulent means" of conversion for all we know.