Open letter to Anil Bhanot, General Secretary, Hindu Council UK

Evangelical Alliance response to 'The Advancement of Dharma: A discussion paper for faith leaders'

26 September 2007

Dear Anil,

I am writing in response to your letter and paper The Advancement of Dharma: A discussion paper for faith leaders.

We at the Evangelical Alliance completely support your commitment to positioning religion in the public square in a way which minimises offence, and we distance ourselves from anyone proselytising in an underhand manner.

In fact, the World Evangelical Alliance released a statement just last month apologising for any case in which evangelicals have put undue pressure on others to call them to conversion, or have violated human rights in the name of mission. The WEA condemned this as unbiblical and said Christians should be “gentle and full of respect” to people when they try to explain their hope and faith.

However, the Christian faith has always been a missional faith and will continue to be so – sharing Christ’s good news is an integral part of who we are.

We believe that everyone should have the freedom to choose what they believe, which sometimes might involve changing their faith. We believe that they should have the freedom to tell others about their beliefs. In a liberal democracy, they must always have the right to do so, and this right is preserved in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which we want to uphold.

Genuine sharing of faith should always be conducted freely and peacefully. Genuine faith can never be forced – by its very nature, it has to be believed by each individual.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is an Evangelical Alliance member charity whose credibility we want to affirm. CSW is not a proselytising organisation, but is a Christian human rights group that tirelessly campaigns across the world for religious liberty, and maintains a policy not to evangelise in its work. CSW does not just limit its campaigning to religious freedom for Christians. It has been particularly prominent in its work on Burma and has hosted British MPs on visits to the Karen and other persecuted Burmese people groups, as John Bercow MP acknowledged in today’s Independent.

The Advancement of Dharma is a legitimate appeal for religious tolerance. However, its danger lies in the fact that it is essentially arguing for the dissipation of religious distinctions to effectively create a new order of inclusive Hinduism.

You say that seeking to convert already God-loving people to another faith should be made a crime under international law. But this amounts to an infringement of free speech. The success of modern democracies is built on the free exchange of ideas, including the freedom to seek to persuade others of one’s views, so we would strongly object to any attempts to curb this fundamental civil liberty.

We think as Christians it is perfectly possible in a democracy to maintain distinct convictions while upholding religious liberties and respecting and affirming the role of faith groups in every area of contemporary society.

Yours sincerely,

JOEL EDWARDS

General Director
Evangelical Alliance UK