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hristianity in Sri Lanka: A Brief Historical Outline
In
the strictest sense of the word, Sri Lankan society is a multi-religious
society, and has been so for a considerable period of time, despite Sinhala
nationalist interpretations, which often claim that Sri Lanka had been
a Sinhala and Buddhist society for a very long period of time. In contemporary
Sri Lanka, the composition of various religious groups is distributed in
the following percentages according to the 1981 census. Of the total population,
Buddhists account for 69.30% while Hindus account for 15.48%.Muslims make
up for 7.55% of the population while Roman Catholics and other Christians
account for 7.61%.Of this 7.61, the majority are Catholics.
Given
my interests in the dynamics of new evangelical groups, it would not be
possible or necessary to deal with in detail the nature of religious pluralism
in Sri Lanka.But it would be useful to briefly outline theexpansion of
the Christian presence in Sri Lanka since the time of early contact.This
is particularly necessary because the memories of early missionary activity,
which still constitute an important component of the historical memory
and consciousness of the people, continue to influence in significant ways
the manner in which people deal with, and perceive Christians. In addition
to the worship of specific local and regional deities, Buddhism and Hinduism
consisted the main religious currents in Sri Lanka until the arrival of
the Portuguese in the 16th century.With the arrival of the Portuguese,
the Catholic Church also arrived in the country under the protection of
Portuguese colonial rule. The Portuguese were particularly aggressive in
establishing and spreading Catholicism in Sri Lanka, which has led many
to describe the Portuguese missionary project with words, ‘with a sword
in one hand a Bible in the other’ (Stirrat 1992: 14). Today, one
of the most enduring legacies of the Portuguese period is Catholicism,
which is still the most dominant variety of Christianity inthe country.Since
the time of Portuguese rule, Roman Catholicism thrived in the coastal areas
of the country wherePortuguese rule was concentrated.
But
since the defeat of the Portuguese by the Dutch in mid seventeenth century,
the fortunes of Catholicism waned somewhat until the end of Dutch power
in the late eighteenth century.In so far as Catholics are concerned, Dutch
rule was a ‘period of persecution’ and a ‘time of trials’ (Stirrat 1992:
14).But even during this period of persecution, Catholic religious activism
was kept alive due to the work of the Oratorian missionaries from Goa,
who irrespective of Dutch persecution continued to come to Sri Lanka to
preach the gospel (Stirrat 1992: 14).This period also marked the rise of
Protestant Christianity in Sri Lanka under the patronage of the Dutch rulers.The
Dutch Reformed Church is the most obvious legacy of that period.
The
British victory over the Dutch in coastal areas of Sri Lanka in 1796, and
the subjugation of the entire country in 1815 marked the beginning of the
last phase of Christianity in Sri Lanka under colonial rule.The first professional
British Christian to arrive in Sri Lanka was James Cordiner at the invitation
of Governor Frederic North to serve as the Chaplain to the British garrison
based in Colombo and as principal for all the schools in British ruled
areas of the country (Harris 1995: 10).But as far as Cordiner was concerned,
he was not part of any missionary organization, was paid by the colonial
state, and did not see proselytizing as his main mission in the country
(Harris 1995: 10). The first real missionaries to come from England were
dispatched by the London Missionary Society formed in 1795 by sections
of the British church influenced by Calvinist ideas. However, as Harris
has pointed out, the influence or impact of the LMS missionaries who worked
with the Dutch reformed Church was not very substantial(Harris 1995: 10).
In comparison, Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists and Anglicans of the Church
Missionary Society became much more influential and aggressive proselytizers
in Buddhist majority areas of the country(Harris 1995: 10).
As
far as the Catholics are concerned, British colonial rule also marked a
new phase of Catholic revival in the country since the last decade of the
18th century. Not only did the British tolerate the Catholic Church as
opposed to the Dutch, but they also officially recognized the church which
allowed the church to engage in religious activities openly. Both Catholics
and other Christian denominations also became active in the field of education,
in which sphere the Catholics had a particular edge until the nationalization
of many of their schools by the government in the early 1960s.
The
Legal and Constitutional Context of Religious
Dynamics
in Sri Lanka
As
we would see later in this analysis, the legal and constitutional framework
dealing with religious dynamics in Nepal as opposed to Sri Lanka, has been
quite restrictive for a considerable period of time. Such a situation,
coupled with Nepal’s general isolation from the rest of the world up to
the 1950s made missionary activities quite difficult. Compared to this
situation, Sri Lanka presents a different scenario. For one thing, as outlined
in the previous section, Sri Lanka had been exposed to European colonialism
directly since the 16th century, and through them, had been exposed to
a variety of Christianities. Thus by the time the country gained independence
from Britain in 1948, Catholics and various Protestant denominations constituted
a well established and powerful religious spectrum in the country, even
though they occupied a minority status in terms of numbers. But given the
tradition of European colonialism and domination for such a long time,
Christianity in general enjoyed a preeminent position in colonial society
and power structures. On the other hand, the early constitutions drafted
under colonial British supervision did not give space for legal discrimination
against any religious group while these documents also did not recognize
any kind of favored status for Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam.As we know,
these three religious traditions had been established in the country for
a historically much longer period of time, than any of the Christian denominations.
Thus, the 1948 Constitution of Ceylon makes no specific references to Buddhism
or any other religion. It does however, refer to rights of religious belief
and worshipin section 29 (2). Section 29 (1) states that “--- Parliament
shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government
of the Island” (The Constitution of Ceylon 1948: 22).With reference to
this clause, section 29 (2) stipulates that no such law shall:
“(a)
prohibit or restrict the free exercise of any religion; or
(b)
make persons of any community or religion liable to disabilities or restrictionsto
which persons of other communities or religions are not made liable; or
(c)
confer on persons of any community or religion any privilege or advantagewhich
is not conferred on persons of other communities or religions; or
(d)
alter the constitution of any religious body except with the consent of
the governing authority of that body: Provided that, in any case where
a religious body is incorporated by law, no such alteration shall be made
except at the request of the governing authority that body” (The Constitution
of Ceylon 1948: 22).
Jennings,
in a commentary on this particular section of the 1948 constitution has
suggested that it “was designed to meet the fears of some of the political
leaders that there would be discrimination according to religion or race”
(Jennings 1953: 76).What is clear is that the 1948 constitution not only
does not give room for preferential treatment for any religion, but also
keeps room for religious mobility since no specific restrictions are placed
upon conversions. However, by the time the 1972 and 1978 constitutions
are enforced, this general scenario has changed considerably. In so far
as rights of religion are concerned, there is no substantive difference
between the 1972 and the 1978 constitutions. Both give preeminence to Buddhism
while guaranteeing the rights of other religions as well.The 1978 Constitution
of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, in Chapter 2, Article
9 stipulates that:
“The
Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly
it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha sasana,
while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14
(1) (e)” (Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
1978: 5).
Article
10 (Chapter 3) referred to above states that:
“Every
person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including
the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice” (Constitution
of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1978: 6).
Similarly,
Article 14 (e) (Chapter 3) of the 1978 constitution stipulates that every
citizen is entitled to:
“the
freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in
public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance,
practice and teaching” (Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic
of Sri Lanka 1978: 6).
The
most manifest change from the 1948 to the 1978 constitution is the foremost
position given to Buddhism in the latter. Even then, articles 10 and 14
(e) of the same constitution give a wide array of freedoms in so far as
religious mobility is concerned. Thus in practical terms the special position
enjoyed by Buddhism makes very little difference. What does make a difference
is that the state is bound by the constitution to foster and protect Buddhism
while it is not bound to extend the same privileges to other religions.Nevertheless,
Articles 10 and 14 (e) also give the rights to convert, engage in one’s
religious practices publicly and privately, inclusive of teaching. This
clearly includes the right to engage in overt evangelical action.Thus,
it is clear that up to now, the Sri Lankan constitution (1978 constitution
is still valid) guarantees the freedom of religious mobility, and thus
legally speaking, evangelical groups face not hurdles in carrying out their
activities.This is a very different situation from the Nepali context as
we would see later on.
Furthermore,
this relative freedom of religious mobility has been carried on to the
draft of the new constitution that the incumbent People’s Alliance government
is currently attempting to fine tune.In fact, the contents and the implications
of the clauses dealing with religion in the draft proposals have hardly
changed from the 1978 constitution.For instance, in terms of Article 7
(1), Buddhism still continues to be placed on a pre-eminent position, “while
giving adequate protection to all religions and guaranteeing to every person
the rights and freedoms granted by paragraphs (1) and (3) of Article 15
(The Government’s Proposals for Constitutional Reforms 1997: 3). In addition
however, in Article 7 (2) the state also gives an undertaking to “consult
the Supreme Council, recognized by the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers
in charge of the subject of Buddha
sasana, in measures taken for
the protection and fostering of the Buddha sasana” (The Government’s
Proposals for Constitutional Reforms 1997: 3). So in the draft proposals
a body representing institutional Buddhism has a say in what kind of action
should be taken to foster and protect Buddhism. Such rights are not guaranteed
to any other religion in the proposals.
On
the other hand, the freedoms granted in terms of paragraphs (1) and (3)
of Article 15 in the proposals are exactly the same as the rights guaranteed
in Articles 10 and 14 (e) of the 1978 constitution. The only difference
is that male centric words in the relevant Articles of the 1978 constitution
have been replaced by gender neutral terms [eg., formulations such as ‘adopt
a religion or belief of his choice’ has been replaced by
formulations such as ‘adopt a religion or belief of the person’s
choice] (The Government’s Proposals for Constitutional Reforms 1997: 7).
From
the discussion above, it should be obvious that there are no real hurdles
placed in terms of legal or constitutional frameworks that would impede
a person’s religious mobility or the activities of evangelical groups.On
the other hand, despite this relative freedom of religious thought and
practice, many non-Buddhist groups have felt a sense of discrimination
on the basis of the special place offered to Buddhism from the 1972 constitution
onwards.This however, is an emotional position rather than a situation
that has arisen on the basis of felt discrimination in real terms. Nevertheless,
some evangelical groups recently protested against the provisions governing
religious freedoms in the government’s draft proposals for the new constitution.
The December 1997/January 1998 issue of Direction published by the
Ceylon Every Home Crusade noted that a day of prayer was organized on 8th
November 1997 by the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka and the Christian
Consultation of Sri Lanka during which, “the deletion of the restrictive
clauses on minority religions in the draft constitution” was considered
for prayer (Dec 1997-Jan 1998: 12).
On
the other hand, there has been much protest against evangelical groups
and their activities from a number of sources. Such opposition from Buddhist,
Hindu and some mainstream Catholic groups has been quite pronounced since
the 1980s, in the context of the expansion of theevangelical presence in
Sri Lanka. But it is acredit to post independent Sri Lankan governments
to maintain the existing religious freedoms in the constitution in the
face of such serious opposition, particularly fromBuddhist interest groups.
Thus far, the present Sri Lankan government has also resisted demands for
legal restrictions on conversions, and havecontinued to grant rather wide
rights of religion despite the entrenched and preeminent position given
to Buddhism in the draft proposals of 1997.Thus the legal and constitutional
conditions with reference to religion should be one of the contexts in
which the expansion of evangelical activities in Sri Lanka should be placed
and analyzed.
The
Expansion of Evangelical Christianity in Sri Lanka:
The
Politics and the Rhetoric
Up
to the time ofindependence 1948, the religious scenario in Sri Lanka was
dominated by interactions and dynamics between the majority Buddhists and
Hindus, Muslims, Catholics and other Christian denominations such as Methodists,
Baptists, and so on. However, what is also important is the nature of conflicts
between these groups of Christiandenominations as a whole and particularly
Buddhists and Hindus in the country. I would suggest that the dynamics
of those early conflicts, and the manner in which those conflicts are registered
in popular perception and memory, have much to do with the way Buddhists
and Hindus view Christians in general, and articulate the concerns regarding
the activity of new evangelical groups today.However, the emergence of
new Christian evangelical groups in Sri Lanka has seriously altered the
picture of religious pluralism and dynamics in Sri Lanka. The exact number
of these groups is difficult to estimate since there is no central registration
system mandated by the government, and also due to the absence of an umbrella
organization under which these groups are organized. While umbrella organizations
do exist, they do not represent the entire spectrum of evangelical activity
in Sri Lanka. While many organizations do have cross cutting alliances
based on theological affinities as well as due to strategic necessity,
many others work on their own. Some of these groups have been in operation
in Sri Lanka since the 1970s, and more so since the 1980s. Some however,
have been in operation for much longer.For instance, the Assembly of God
has been active in the country for fifty years. It is however since the
mid 1980s and early 1990s that their activities have become more visible,
and in the case of some, somewhat aggressive as well. Evangelical sources
themselves also perceive that their institutional presence and the number
of adherents have increased in recent times, as expressed in the following
words:
“The Navodaya movement
has been in the forefront of recent efforts to challenge Christians to
go to the unreached areas of Sri Lanka with the Gospel. Large numbers have
gone recently.At the first Navodaya conference in 1988 it was said that
only about 700 of Sri Lanka’s 25, 000 or so villages have a Christian witness.
Now leaders are talking of 2500 villages with a Christian witness” (Fernando
1995: 9).
The
institutional framework of the collective evangelical movement in Sri Lanka
consists of churches, para-church organizations, literatureoutlets, and
other agencies concentrating on education, health, rural development and
so on. An incomplete list of some of these organizations linked to the
evangelical movement would be as follows:
1.The
Assembly of God (Assemblies of God)
2.The
Fellowship of Free Churches
3.Worldwide
Mission Fellowship
4.United
Christian Fellowship
5.Testament
Book Shop
6.Full
Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship
7.New
Life Literature (Pvt) Ltd.
8.Good
News Centre
9.Bethel
Church
10.Apostolic
Church
11.
Mizpah Prayer Ministry
12.The
Sanctuary Fellowship
13.Jeevana
Diya
14.Christian
Centre, Ratmalana
15.Bethesda
Gospel Church
16.Light
House Church
17.New
Life Church
18.Smyrna
Church
19.Hospital
Christian Fellowship
20.Jesus
Meets Evangelical Ministry
21.Jesus
Lives Ministry
22.Jehova’s
Witness
23.Seventh
Day Adventist Church
24.Life
Bible Institute, Nugegoda
25.Gospel
for Asia (Sri Lanka)
26.Hope
Evangelical Church
27.Margaya
Fellowship
28.HOMSA
Lanka
29.Habitat
for Humanity International
30.Calvary
Church
31.Lanka
Evangelical Alliance Development Society
32.Sahana
Prayer Centre
33.Church
of Four Square Gospel in Sri Lanka
34.Ceylon
Pentecostal Mission
35.Nava
Jeevana Sahodarathwaya
36.Back
to the Bible
37.Evangelical
Alliance of Sri Lanka
38.Prayer
House, Colombo 15.
39.World
Vision Lanka
40.Nazarene
Mission
41.Christian
Faith Assembly Church
42.The
Evangelical Christian Education Centre
43.Hope
of God Church
44.Sri
Lanka Centre for Pastoral Studies
45.Colombo
Gospel Tabernacle
46.Campus
Crusade for Christ
47.Youth
for Christ
48.Christian
Literature Crusade
49.Power
Ministries
50.Rehoboth
Centre
51.Rural
Pastors Training Centre (South Asia Institute of Theology)
52.Zion
College of Ministries, Zion Christian Community Centre
53.Prospor
Christian Book Shop
54.Colombo
Theological Seminary
55.Ceylon
Every Home Crusade
56.Philadelphia
Church
57.Emanuel
Church
58.Grace
Evangelical Church
59.The
Worldwide Church of God
60.Jesus
Calls International
61.Gideons
International
62.Sound
of Salvation Full Gospel Church
63.Siloam
Evangelical Mission in Sri Lanka
64.Gethsamane
Gospel Church
65.Sri
Lanka Audio-Visual Evangelism
66.Jesus
Calls International
67.International
Fellowship of Evangelical Students
68.Lanka
Hope Mission International
69.Evangelical
Christian Religious Education Centre
70.Ceylon
Bible Society
71.Lanka
Bible College
72.International
Christian Chamber of Commerce
73.International
Christian Fellowship, Sri Lanka
What
is immediately clear from these admittedly incomplete numbers is that the
situation has dramatically changed in terms of institutional presence of
evangelical churches since the 1970s. For instance, the numbers of evangelical
or Protestant churches and their adherents identified in cities such as
Colombo and Kandy for the late 1970s in the study Discipling the Cities
in Sri Lanka have dramatically increased in recent times (de Silva
1980). On the other hand, the 73 groups identified above do not place in
perspective the real picture of the evangelical presence and activism in
Sri Lanka.For instance, according to sources in the Catholic church the
number in terms of conservative estimates is likely to be over three hundred.
The figure of 300 to 350 church and para-church groups was presented by
some sources within the evangelical movement itself, as well as members
of mainstream Protestant churches, even though many admitted exact numbers
were unavailable. On the other hand, many others in the evangelical movementdid
not want to comment on numbers. But I want to stress at this point that
in real terms, the number of churches or related structures do not constitute
an accurate assessment of strength.For instance, churches planted in some
locations currently attract only small congregations as they were established
on the basis of an overall evangelical strategy of expansion, rather than
on the basis of existing number of followers in a particular locality.However,
in a psychological and political sense, it is important to the collective
evangelical movement as indicative of their growth in numbers and power.On
the other hand, that same visibility is also one reason that has helped
mobilize some of the opposition against evangelism. Thus, numbers are important
when placing such considerations in context, but not in assessing strength.
Thus
far, Sinhala Buddhists are the most vocal in complaining that some of their
co-religionists are being ‘corrupted,’ ‘tempted,’ and consequently converted
by Christians. In popular usage Sinhala Buddhists make very little or no
conceptual difference between different Christian denominations.Most of
the time they are merely perceived as Christians orCatholics irrespective
of ritual, denominational and doctrinal differences between these groups.
As noted earlier, this perception is the result of Sri Lanka’s historical
legacy and the competitive relations between Buddhists and mainstream Christian
groups in the colonial past (Perera 1995). In that period, given the often
acrimonious relations between different kinds of Christians and Buddhists,
there were no practical reasons to make such conceptual differentiations.In
contemporary society however, it is no longer possible to group all Christians
together, not merely because of the doctrinal and other differences between
them, but more importantly, due to the nature of competitions and conflicts
among these groups.Nevertheless, Buddhist complaints generally tend to
overlook similar complaints made by other religious groups.
Thus
the arguments of Buddhist critics of evangelical activity presented in
interviews as well as through the national press often do not payattention
to these differences and divisions within the wider Christian community.As
one Buddhist monk quite vocal against evangelical activities observed in
an interview in Kandy in December 1997:
“These Catholics have
built new churches all over the place. Not just in villages. But in towns
as well. Very soon they will want to turn this country into a Christian
country. They have the money to build churches and vehicles to travel into
villages. We have nothing. They are even active in Kandy where the Temple
of the Tooth is located.If they can build a church in the Temple of the
Tooth, they will do that too.”
In
this single complaint, the monk used the words Christian and Catholics
interchangeably. But on the basis of some of the examples he provided,
both from the up country region and the Western Province, the church building
activities he referred to were actually carried out by theAssemblies of
God and the Smyrna Church. These were the names under which these churches
were identified in the particular localities where they were established.
Catholicism or mainstream Christian churches had nothing to do with these
activities.In yet other ‘examples’ he provided, there was no such activity
in the localities that were identified. In fact, rhetorical complaints
of evangelical expansion by Buddhists, and similarly rhetorical complaints
of harassment by evangelical activists have, to a certain extent, blurred
the distinction between what actually happens on the ground and what fears
and suspicions have been created in the minds of individuals.This situation
has made research into this particular dynamic extremely difficult and
time-consuming. Criticisms by other Buddhist opponents however, have preferred
to focus on the monetary aspects of evangelical activities and conversions,
rather than simply resorting to blaming Catholics/ Christians as a blanket
category. Thus in 1993, the then President of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress,
during the 74th annual meeting of the congress observed:
“We are aware that certain
Christian sects receive massive sums of money from American and other foreign
countries to be spent lavishly in remote villagescomprising of only poor
Buddhists in a bid to convert them to their faith by so called faith healing,
exploiting their meager economic conditions, assisting in their marriages,
helping them to secure employment”(Island, 20 May 1993, quoted in Janakaratne
1994: 100).
Similarly,
another Buddhist critic observed:
“Some
Christian organizations engaged in missionary activities in our country
--- take undue advantage of the poverty of the people in propagating their
religion” (Island, 24 May 1993, quoted in Janakaratne 1994: 100).
The
presence and the expansion of evangelical Christianity are also felt quite
strongly by leaders of mainstream Catholic and Protestant groups. One reason
for that is the feeling many of them have that their flock is being lured
away by these new groups, and the perception that newevangelists specifically
target members of mainstream Christian groups.As a clergyman of the mainstream
Anglican Church based in Colombo observed in an interview in April 1998:
“Even
though we do not have exact numbers, we know that many of our people are
leaving the church to join groups such as the Jehovah’s Witness. This is
a big problem. Church leaders are saying that the numbers of people attending
church are dropping, and many have joined other groups. They do this by
throwing a lot of money around.”
It
is also in a similar state of frustration, that one Catholic cleric described
evangelical Christianity as a manifestation of ‘pathological messiahnism.’
The official newspapers of the Catholic church, the English language Messenger
and the Sinhala language Ganartha Pradeepaya have often carried
articles critical of new evangelists whom they identify as fundamentalists.
It was in this spirit that a news report titled “let us defeat fundamentalists”
was published in the Ganartha Pradeepaya of October 24th 1993. In
it, two Catholic clerics, Fr. Aba Costa and Bro. Siri Cooray had stressed
the need for the Catholic community take leadership indefeating fundamentalists
and protect themselves from their influences. Here evangelical groups were
also described as ‘mushrooming’ ‘fundamentalist’ groups, which are a threat
to the Catholic faith (Ganartha Pradeepaya, 24, Oct 1993). Being the largest
of the mainstream Christian groups in the country, the Catholics are particularly
concerned about recent trends which indicate that large numbers of Catholics
have been attracted to evangelical groups. In one of the very few studies
dealing with the issue of evangelical activity in Sri Lanka, and perhaps
the only study which focuses on the attraction of Catholics to evangelical
Christianity, Janakaratna quotes a Bishop who is concerned that “in Colombo
North alone about 4000 Catholics are said to have deserted the Church”
(Janakaratne 1994: 30).
Many
leaders of the Catholic hierarchy entertain a conspiracy theory to explain
the presence and operation of evangelical (fundamentalist) groups.Janakaratne
explains this position in the following words:
“Catholic church hierarchy
is of the view that the many emerging fundamentalist sects have been funded
by America so as to wean the Catholic church away from its progressive
role in the world” (Janakaratne 1994: 31).
Janakaratne
correctly places this position of the church hierarchy in a paradoxical
situation where in general the church has gained a reputation as a “bastion
of conservatism,” in addition to its unenviable position during the British
colonial period as an “‘appreciated partner,’ and ‘reliable ally’ and also
‘a part of the privileged groups’” (Janakaratne 1994: 31). While much of
the Catholic church’s pronouncements against evangelical groups emerged
in the mid 1990s along with similar protests by Buddhist groups, its agitations
against these groups at the local level still continue.Thus for instance,
according to field information, as recently as in April 1998, a Catholic
priest in the Chilaw area addressing his congregation advised them to “beat
those fundamentalists out of the village if they come back.” The reason
for this advice was the distribution of some Bible tracts in the village
by members of an evangelical group a few days before. The Sinhala language
tracts were particularly accessible to the 100% Sinhala Catholic population
in this village. The priest was particularly agitated because some of the
young people in the village -- who were the most literate to be able to
read the distributed material -- wanted to know the difference between
Catholicism and the evangelical groups, because they could not discern
that difference on the basis of the Bible tracts they had just read.
In
addition to the kind of protests documented above, one could also argue
that certain recent trends in the mainstream Catholic Church can, at a
certain level be interpreted as responses to evangelical incursions into
Catholic flock and the Church’ sphere of influence. As already discussed,
one of the main complaints of Catholics who have joined evangelical groups
in recent times is that the Catholic Church has grown too big and too distant
from the people. In this sense, the activities of groups such as SEDEC,
institutionally situated within the Catholic Church could be seen as an
attempt to address the more material and immediate needs of wavering members
of the church. Thus, SEDEC is interested in providing a number of social
services, including rehabilitation of individuals displaced by war, and
socio-political interventions on behalf of environmental issues etc. On
the other hand, there is also a growing tendency of healing services in
a number of individual churches. Stirrat, in his discussion of the Kudagama
Catholic Church where such services became extremely popular in the 1980s,
points out that such services were seen as unorthodox and anti-Catholic
by many members of the clergy as well as lay Catholics at the time (Stirrat
1992).But today, such services are gaining in popularity, and many priests
openly conduct them for an enthusiastic following.Moreover, in this context,
the top leaders of the Catholic hierarchy are much less opposed to these
trends than they were in the 1980s when Kudagama was gaining in popularity.The
large numbers of people who attend such healing services in the St. Carmel
Church and Ambakandawila Church in the Chilaw District place this trend
in perspective. The point I want to make is, that through these kinds of
activities, the church does in fact get closer to its people at local level.
The relative lack of opposition to healing services today from the church
hierarchy perhaps indicates its recognition that such services play a role
in maintaining a certain degree of cohesiveness, at a time the Church feels
threatened from many quarters, including from evangelical groups.
Thus
the tensions arising out of evangelical activities are felt by both Buddhist
and mainstream Christian/ Catholic groups. But what I want to stress here
is that the criticisms leveled against these activities, whether they emanate
from Buddhist or established Christian/ Catholic denominations, generally
have the same structural features. For instance, most such criticisms are
formulated as conspiracy theories.In terms of such theories, the foreign
funding sources, fears of destabilizing the country, cultural incompatibility
of new groups and so on have become prominent features.It is important
to note that despite the suspicions entertained by Buddhists of the Catholic
Church’s position on conversions and evangelical activities, the Catholic
criticisms of evangelical groups are much the same. The people and organizations
the Catholic hierarchy has socially constructed as their enemies are also
the same as the perceived enemies of Buddhists. The confusion on the part
of Buddhists mostly comes from the lingering elements of historical memory,
which I have already referred to. But on other occasions, the activities
of the Catholic church itself have created situations of tension and suspicion
in the minds of Buddhists, which have at timesre-activated long standing
doubts lingering in historical memory. Let me briefly refer to two important
incidents which occurred in the early and mid 1990s, when the debate on
evangelization was at its most heated and acrimonious level.
In
1993 Gamani Jayasuriya, a former Cabinet Minister in the UNP government
and lay Buddhist leader representing the Colombo elite, accused the Catholic
church of hosting a conference at its National Seminary in Ampitiya near
Kandy in 1990 aimed at exploring avenues to convert the entire country
to the Catholic faith by year 2000.The main mechanism for this alleged
mass conversion was supposed to be the offering of financial assistance
to poor Buddhists (Janakaratne 1994: 100).The Catholic church categorically
denied the charges, and the official denial by Bishop Malcolm Ranjit places
in context the official Catholic position about conversions and the activities
of the new evangelical groups:
“I wish to state clearly
that the Catholic church is not engaged in such tactics. We too have received
information that some fundamentalist Christian sects resort to such methods
of conversion.They lure away not only Buddhists but Catholics as well”
(Messenger, 1 August 1993, quoted in Janakaratne 1994: 101).
In
a sense, the official denial above outlines the basic concerns of the Catholic
church regarding the activities of the evangelical groups. I have already
explored the Catholic church’s positions and concerns regarding proselytizing
by new evangelical groups. At this point it is necessary to note that despite
the official denial above and the Catholic church’sgeneral lack of dynamism
with regard to conversion or evangelism as opposed to new evangelical groups
as well as its own role in the pre-independence era, the allegations of
Jayasuriya merit some pondering in the context of information that is currently
available, and particularly on the basis of a paper published by Fr. Aloysius
Pieris in 1995. In his paper Dialogue and Distrust Between Buddhists
and Christians: A Report on the Catholic Church’s Experience in Sri Lanka
Fr. Pieris refers to speech by Cardinal Joseph Tomko at a conference in
Indonesia in 1990 attended by delegates of the Federation of Asian Bishops’
Conferences and Nuncios (Vatican representatives) in the Asian region.
Cardinal Tomko heads the Vatican’s Congregation for the Propagation of
Faith, and is the person in charge of evangelization in the church. According
to Fr. Pieris, after presenting statistical data on the Catholic church
in Asia, Cardinal Tomko “had reportedly given the impression of taking
the bishops to task for being negligent in evangelization” (Pieris 1995:
208).He further suggests that the message received by the audience in this
conference was one which stressed “church expansion and numerical increase
of Asian Catholics” (Pieris 1995: 209). What is interesting about Fr. Pieris’s
paper is not merely his criticism of the evangelical trends of the Church
in Asia in general, buthis attempts at outlining such trends within the
Church in Sri Lanka. It is then in this context that he refers to the same
conference referred to by Jayasuriya:
“The now famous Ampitiya
conference (in Kandy, Sri Lanka), despite official explanations, was a
continuation of this movement launched in Indonesia. There has been since
then a stress on the need to convert Buddhists to the church, with scant
respect for historical developments mentioned above or the non-proselytizing
approach to mission that gained recognition after Vatican II ---” (Pieris
1995: 209).
Fr.
Pieris also critiques the Church for not consulting individuals within
the Catholic church who were engaged in ‘dialogue’ with Buddhists prior
to the organization of the above conference.The evangelization agenda of
the conferences in Indonesia, and later in Kandy signals a certain important
division of opinion with regard to proselytizing in the Catholic church.While
influential members of its hierarchy support the idea of proselytizing
even though they deny it in public, there are many other influential members
of the church working at grass roots levels who are opposed to such activities
(Pieris 1995: 210). It is perhaps due to their efforts that the evangelization
agenda of local Catholicism has not become more dynamic.
What
is important to ponder at this point is why, given the risks of social
and political instability of the present period of time in Sri Lanka, members
of the Catholic hierarchy found it necessary to identify evangelization
as an important activity of the church, going against the spirit of Vatican
II, as well as lessons learnt from the history of the colonial and immediate
post-colonial period in Sri Lanka.In addition to pressures from the Vatican
to increase the numbers of Catholics in Asia,part of the answer can be
located in the proselytizing activities of the new evangelical groups themselves.As
we have seen in chapter 2, the recent successes in Asia in the expansion
of Christianity have come mostly from non Catholic protestant evangelical
sources. The best example for this is the expansion of evangelical Christianity
in South Korea and the emerging presence of similar kind of religiosity
in staunchly Catholic Philippines. Due to this kind of regional and national
trends, the Catholic church in Sri Lanka, particularly some members of
its top hierarchy, truly feel threatened at the expansion of new evangelical
groups in the country. Many individuals who are attracted to such groups
also happen to be Catholics.For instance, as Janakaratne has demonstrated
in his work, many Catholics are attracted to what he calls fundamentalist
Christian sects, because the church has got too distant from the people
and also grown too big (Janakaratne 1994). Such complaints are among the
most common voiced by Catholics who have been attracted to evangelical
groups. In this context, he points out that most individuals in Colombo
who had joined the Jesus Lives Ministry, including its chief pastor are
former Catholics (Janakaratne 1994). But rather than looking into the real
issues that caused this state of affairs, it appears that local leaders
of the Catholic Church have attempted a counter evangelization campaign
to bolster its dwindling flock. But in terms of timing and strategy, such
a policy cannot succeed without leading to conflict in a country such as
Sri Lanka, where segments of the population are already quite polarized
on ethno-religious grounds. It is also a pity that bitter lessons of history
have also been forgotten at thisparticular moment. Moreover, it also does
not help in a situation where the Catholic church has on numerous occasionsattempted
to distance itself from the politics of religion of new evangelical groups,
and has also worked closely with Buddhist groups in a number of ventures
such as the large scale and vocal protest campaigns against the Voice of
America relay station in Iranawila and the Aitken Spence hotel complex
in Kandalama.
The
second incident I want to briefly outline manifested out of anaccident,
even though it also brought out allegations of proselytizing against the
Catholic church. In January 1995, Pope John Paul II was scheduled to visit
Sri Lanka as part of an Asian tour. For Sri Lankan Catholics, the visit
was a major event. The government had pledged state supportand in an unusual
act of courtesy the chief monks of the Siyam Nikaya, the major Buddhist
order in the country had agreed to come to Colombo to welcome the Pope.
The monks usually do not venture outside of their temples to welcome heads
of state or religious dignitaries (de Silva 1996: 235-236). Despite all
the planning and the general atmosphere of courtesy, things went wrong
from November 1994 onwards when some comments made by the Pope regarding
Buddhism in his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope (1994) was given
wide publicity in the national press. The monks refused to attend welcome
ceremonies in Colombo. Almost overnight, posters also appeared in Colombo
demanding that the Pope apologize.Moreover, monks and laity took part in
protest processions in Colombo, and the regrets over the comments tendered
by the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka were not accepted by both monks and
lay agitators. The agitations also led to the damaging of a statue and
the setting on fire a crib at St. Cecillia’s Church in Raddoluwa north
of Colombo, and retaliationary damage was caused to a number of statues
in the Sri Pushparamaya Buddhist temple in the same area. In Manila, prior
to coming to Colombo the Pope hadtold a crowd of one million, that Catholics
should attain high moral standards and spread the faith (de Silva 1996:
233). Once he arrived in Colombo, all the scheduled activities took place
without any incidents, even though no Buddhist religious leaders took part
in the activities as scheduled before the controversy. What is important
here is the manner in which how this controversy over a minor issue became
so acrimonious despite recent efforts of cooperation.
In
the context of this controversy, one could also detect the emergence of
complaints of proselytizing, even though this particular controversyreally
had nothing to do with the issue. It was merely an issue of interpreting
certain aspects of Buddhism from a particular religious vantage point.
But such points became merely academic issues in the context of the emotions
involved. This was particularly the case when the whole controversy is
placed against a background of historical memory (de Silva 1996: 238-240).On
the other hand, this became such an emotional issue because in many ways
it was perceived as a continuity of the debate over evangelization, which
had already become quite acrimonious. At the same time, incidents such
as the Ampitiya conference outlined above had not helped distance the Catholic
church from the evangelical controversy in general. Moreover, it has also
helped further maintain the lack of differentiation between different Christianities,
which is already part of Sinhala Buddhist thinking. I would suggest that
both of these incidents clearly place in context the potential for conflict
in the sphere of religious competition in Sri Lanka with very little provocation.
Let
me now come back to the issue of proselytizing and other related activities
of new evangelical groups. Irrespective of the fact whethertarget groups
are Buddhists, Catholics, or Hindus, conversion is the primary mechanism
through which most evangelical groups based in Sri Lanka operate. To all
evangelical groups, the increase in the number of adherents is an important
issue.The conversions themselves are considered ‘unethical conversions,’
‘induced conversions’ and ‘forced conversions’ by the critics.In so far
as public statements are concerned, such critics include both Buddhist
and Catholic personalities and organizations.Many of them believe that
new converts are won over by evangelical groups by offering them financial
and other economic incentives (Perera 1995). The perceived and often real
availability of funds for the use of evangelical groups from their mother
organizations is one important source of tension in so far as opposition
to evangelism is concerned. As one Sri Lankan Christian writer has observed
in a recent essay:
“Sri
Lankan Christians are being viewed as vultures nurtured on foreign funds
and driven to hunt for the poor mortalsouls of the gullible andpoverty
stricken non Christian. The pressure against the church is gradually building,
even though the arguments are not always reasonable the church is not totally
without blame” (Morgan 1997:4).
The
perceptions referred to above, more specifically symbolize theattitudes
of opponents of evangelical activity of recent groups than the activities
of the established Christian denominations. Some of the reasons for such
perceptions are located in the evangelical movement’s intense interest
to grow rapidly and to show results of their activity in terms of both
large-scale conversions and institutional build-up. Thus, it was in this
context that a Catholic priest in Chilaw observed in August 1998 that evangelical
pastors are paid by results. That is, the more converts they manage to
bring into their fold, the higher their stipend would be. The accuracy
this specific claim and others like it is difficult to assess, since they
mostly emanate from biased sources with clear vested interests.Nevertheless,
they indicate, how opponents of evangelical activity perceive their expansionist
project. The same writer who expressed the ideaspresented earlier on, further
notes “one such cause for contention is our ambition for big things immediately”
(Morgan 1997: 4). The reference here is to the problem of rapid expansion
and the issue of problematic visibility:
“Sometimes
our pursuit of large gatherings and fellowships can end up being counter
productive. The quantitative has the tendency to suppress and supersede
the qualitative. The end result is that we can end up with churches that
are visibly growing from the outside. But hollow within” (Morgan 1997:
4).
But
compared to this kind of self reflections or evaluations, very few evangelical
activists seem to have come to terms with the consequences of rapid expansion,
visibility and the possibility of conflict formation.Supporters of rapid
expansion would argue, as Morgan has pointed out:
“God
has not given us a spirit of fear. As the times are short, we must proclaim
the good news tothe lost without fear or favour” (Morgan 1997: 4).
On
the other hand, it is also important to note that compared to neighboring
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and to a certain extent India, Sri Lankans, particularly
Buddhists have been relatively more tolerant of the activities of evangelical
groups until their successes became too obvious or more accurately, too
visible in recent times(Perera 1995). Moreover, the vociferous demands
by Buddhist lobbies that the government take legal action against conversions
(defined as unethical etc) have not been entertained by the present People’s
Alliance government or the previous UnitedNational Party government (1977-1994).
I would suggest that the state’s general lack of interest in interfering
in this matter, at a time institutional structures of the Sri Lankan democracy
are under considerable stress, would in factbe an impetus to the revival
of those very structures that have been subverted since the late 1970s
as a result of the institutionalization of political violence.
One
of the underlying patterns of operation of the collective evangelical movement
in Sri Lanka has been expansion or increase in numbers of both adherents
and institutions. The former activity is initiated primarily through conversion
while the latter is implemented through what is called ‘church planting.’This
literally means the establishment of churches in areas with no Christian
presence. Such areas in the evangelical vocabulary are referred to as ‘unreached
areas.’ In real terms however, ‘unreached’ does not mean merely areas where
there are no Christians, but also areas where numbers of existing Christians
and institutions can be increased. But what is also clear is that in this
scheme of things Catholics and members of mainstream Protestant groups
are hardly considered Christians by many of the new evangelists. Hence
their insistence that they too need to go through a conversion to their
brand of the ‘truth.’ In this sense, the Nuwara Eliya District, and to
a lesser extent Puttalam District, are among the most successful areas
of church planting. In Nuwara Eliya, mostly inhabited by Hindu Tamils of
South Indian origin primarily working in the tea plantations, the Assemblies
of God and Smyrna Church are the most dynamic and visible in this activity.
Collectively, this leads to greater visibility and increased possibility
of conflict.
Much
of the funds for the new evangelical movement in Sri Lanka come from Western
Europe, the U.S,and to a significant extent also from South Korea. The
amount of funds raised locally is insignificant. On the other hand, given
the nature of large operational budgets of some of these churches, minor
donations are not considered significant. Thus, a donation of a few hundred
dollars in Dutch currency that a Dutch expatriate attempted to donate to
an evangelical church in Nuwara Eliya was not accepted.The reasons given
included that the church had adequate funds, and also because it was considered
difficult to keep track of small funds.Generally, the sources of funding
also point to the countries where the main parent bodies or affiliated
agencies of most locally based evangelical organizations are located. On
the other hand, many churches and affiliated groups receive funds and aid
in the form of literature and foreign evangelists from agencies that have
no local institutional presence. This happens as a result of the excellent
network the collective evangelical movement has access to. The relatively
large availability of funds has ensured that these groups have vast resources
for their operations. To a certain extent the parent bodies of the evangelical
organizations that operate in Sri Lanka also operate in other parts of
South Asia, and this is particularly the case with Sri Lanka and Nepal.
These regional and international networks of contact play an important
role in sharing the experiences of the collective international evangelical
movement, which greatly aid in planning future activities.
The
Reasons for Attraction to New Evangelical Groups:
An
Outline of General Indicators
Despite
what critics may say, large sources of funds, and aggressiveness alone
cannot explain the successes of the new evangelists in Sri Lanka. Such
an explanation would be too simplistic as well as reductionist. On the
other hand, as already indicated elsewhere, it is also important to note
that there is no reliable statistical information to indicate the exact
number of new evangelical groups and their followers. Thus there is a problem
in gauging the exact nature of their expansion in any absolute sense.In
this context, their success or perceived success is gauged at the popular
level on the basis of their relentless activity and visibility (Perera
1995).Moreover, much of the reality surrounding the operation of these
groups is lost in both the secrecy of the groups themselves, and the rhetoric
and phobia of the challengers. It is due to this state of affairs that
some of the evangelical groups we approached for this study in Colombo
directly refused to talk to us, used delaying tactics, and on many occasions
also activated their network in order to warn other organizations not to
talk to us. Thus, this general suspicion entertained by evangelist groups
tends to create an aura of secrecy around them, which in the long run feeds
into the suspicions the general population have towards them.
What
I want to stress at this point is, that the kind of reductionistexplanations
outlined above are sociologically inadequate to explain the general success
of evangelical groups in Sri Lanka. There are much more complex and sociologically
significant dynamics involved here. I wouldsuggest that there are important
social and political conditions in Sri Lanka, which have created a space
for evangelical groups to operate andsucceed. These conditions have to
be located in the present role of conventional religions, the consequences
of contemporary socio-political climate in the country, and the general
conditions which have resulted from urbanization and overall development,
which have not been adequately addressed by existing religions.
Field
interviews in the districts of Colombo, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Puttalam
have indicated that many of those who have joined new evangelical groups
(both former Buddhists and Catholics) complain that the main reason for
them to abandon either Buddhism or Catholicism was due to the disinterest
the Catholic and Buddhist establishments had shown towards their existential
dilemmas (Perera 1995). Many, but by no means all, Buddhists who are attracted
to these groups come from socially or emotionally depressed backgrounds.
For persons from such backgrounds, the benefits or emotional help from
Buddhist institutions have been inadequate, or more accurately non-existent.
By contrast, many of the new evangelical groups are organized like extended
counseling or self-help groups. In the same sense, many of the new evangelical
churches have smaller congregations, which allow for more personal interaction
between members of the congregation as well as with immediate leaders such
as local pastors.No such system exists in the Buddhist establishment despite
the vast network of temples and monks. Though Buddhist temples, which in
many Sinhala villages were closely linked to the village through various
religious and ritual activities, their monks were traditionally expected
to be somewhat aloof from the matters of the world, and concentrate on
achieving goals such as Nirvana, which is the ultimate state of
bliss according to Buddhist belief when all suffering come to an end (Perera
1995). In other words, temples as local organizations and the Buddhist
ecclesiastical order as an overall institution, despite its vast resources
are very slow in innovation in tune with changing socio-political situation
in the country. For instance, a young Buddhist monk in the Kandyan region
who attempted to initiate a marriage counselling center in his temple had
to leave the village because the people found the idea too radical, and
as a result rumors started to circulate that the monk was having sexual
encounters with women who came for counseling. Similarly, despite the on
going war and the large scale displacement of people in the combat zones
and in border areas, the Buddhist institutional organizations collectivelyhave
no programs to assist refugees, provide shelter for children, or to provide
rehabilitation services. Generally, the great majority of individual temples
also do not have such programs.But certain temples in affected areas, provide
some help out of sheer need, where the monks themselves are affected by
the same kind of problems, and are aware of the conditions. But very few
temples outside the border areas run such regular services. Where there
are a few such active temples, they are the result of a few dynamic monks
and not due to any collective policy.
As
opposed to this situation, both well established Christian churches as
well as many new evangelical groups have been active at village and town
level in helping some of the victims of political violence cope with their
grief, as well as with problems arising out of more mundane but pressing
problems of routine life. The story of twenty five year old Mary, a Tamil
woman and mother of one child exemplifies this situation.Mary is from the
Eastern Province, and her husband was killed by the military in the mid
1980s. She changed not only her religion but also her name in the process
of conversion:
“Having a child and
no husband was a big problem for me.People did feel sorry for me, but they
also thought that I was very unlucky. I was not invited to many festivals
or social occasions. They thought I would bring them bad luck. As if I
had killed my husband --- none of the gods in Hinduism helped me out of
my problems.They were not concerned about me --- It was by accident that
I saw God. These people, who came to my house were very kind, and they
prayed with me. They really cared for me. They took my child and put her
in a pre-school, which they run. Now I also work with them, and my child
has a future.”
For
Mary, conversion was not merely the change of religion. It represented
a complete rupture in her relations with society in general, which separated
her from the life she used to know, where both institutional and kin network
failed her when she needed them the most. For her, the conversion marked
the birth of a new identity.In this case, she needed that separation, and
there was a new institutional set up in the form of an active evangelical
group to provide her with the support she needed to make that transition.
But since life in her village became more difficult after the conversion,
she wanted to leave the area, which was also facilitated through the network
of the group she now belonged to, and was resettled in the Nuwara Eliya
District.But one individual active in Hindu religious and cultural activities
in the Eastern Province saw this scenario in a very different light:
“These Christians are
fishing in troubled waters.They are trying to make the most out of these
people’s misery. They come with a lot of money and offer it to them to
convert. Why can’t they simply help them rather than trying to change the
way these people have lived for thousands of years. It is a matter of heritage.”
To
this Tamil Hindu, evangelical dynamics are merely a matter of money and
conversion. The fact there are serious problems in his society, which make
such conversions possible, and in the minds of many, quite necessary escaped
his attention. These conditions are both cultural restrictions as well
as the inability or lack of interest of conventional religions to respond
to crisis situations. The overall structure of the story of Sumana, a Sinhala
Buddhist woman from the Vavuniya District is not much different from Mary’s
story except in specific details:
“The tigers (LTTE) killed
my husband, and my two sons disappeared in the jungle. I think the tigers
killed them too. We came to this area thirty years ago from the south.
I lost everything, my husband, my children and all our property.Then I
went from one refugee camp to another, and it was very difficult. I had
to live like a beggar.We were not beggars. Then I went to my parents village,
where I still had relatives, including two sisters. But after a week or
so with them, they did not want to have me. I did not have any property
in the village. There really was no one or no place I could go to --- I
was thinking of going back to Vavuniya. Nothing was worse than not having
anyone or anything. But when I was visiting some friends in Hambantota,
I met these people who were going from house to house talking to people
about God --- They were very kind --- they listened to my story, and offered
to help --- They invited me to work with them.I am not rich. But I am happy.
The people in the groups care about each other. All of us have had some
problems at some time. Now God looks after allof us.”
Sumana
now visits housesin the Western Province talking to people about her experiences
about war, the discovery of God and finding happiness. She believes that
she was saved, and that she remains sane only due to the intervention of
God through this organization. Given the kind of experiences individuals
such as Mary and Sumana have gone through, and the failure of conventional
systems of support both in terms of kin networks and religious networks,
it is hardly surprising that they are attracted towards groups that offer
them help in whatever form.In these kinds of situations conversion may
take place out of conviction as was clearly the case with Mary. On other
occasions, conversion may take place due to gratitude.In the case of Sumana,
gratitude seemed to be the reason for conversion. On other occasions, the
reasons for conversion may be located in perceived necessity. That is,
many individuals who have been approached and helped by evangelical groups
may convert in order to receive continued support because they believe
that conversion is one way that would guarantee such support. I would comment
on this issue later on.What I want to stress at this point is that Mary
and Sumana are not isolated cases. There are many such people at different
places in Sri Lanka’s multiple realities touched by war and displacement.
But
evangelical groups were not merely active addressing the issues faced by
people affected by war.In fact, they were much more active in areas of
the country where war was not a daily reminder as is the case in the north
and east. In the rest of the country, they were active among socially and
economically backward sections of society in both rural and urban sectors.
In these areas they were not dealing with situations arising out of extraordinary
situations such as war, but mundane issues whichnevertheless were issues
of great concern for the people who had to face them. Some of the issues
evangelical groups are particularly interested in, include the following:
general poverty, lack of access to education,problems of hunger and nutrition,
sanitation and health.It is however, in these kinds of situations that
one more often hear of aggressive proselytizing. On many instances, there
seem to be an unwritten understanding which suggest that continued support
or better support would be offered only to those people who joined the
new movements in a formal manner. This was particularly the case when it
came to offering economic incentives such as money to buy land, fertilizer,
seeds, free education for children and food (Perera 1995). It seems to
me that in these kinds of situations people often convert out of need or
necessity rather than out of conviction or faith. In such situations, the
decision to convert is a rational economic decision than a matter of spiritual
salvation.
Let
me place this situation in context. In a low-income urban area south of
Colombo, three different evangelical churches became active within the
last five or seven years. The area was a predominantly Buddhist area, even
though it was divided on political lines. Moreover, the rate of crime,
alcoholism and problems of drug addiction were visibly quite high.School
drop-out rate was also high, and children often did not go to school at
all.These were among the problems that people in the area had to face on
a daily basis, and these were also the same problems that featured quite
dominantly in their narratives about their lives. In this context, when
one of the churches opened apre-school, it was welcomed by the community.Such
a venture had not been attempted by the Buddhist temples that had been
in existence for over two decades. The school administrators said that
all children in the area were welcome in the school, and that religion
was not an issue. But the school was run on what the community itself perceived
as Christian lines. For instance, according to them, children were required
to pray, learn Bible tracts, take part in dramas and other such
activities which depicted the life of Jesus and other themes important
to Christianity. While some parents did not want to send their children
to what they called a ‘church school,’ many others did.Most families who
sent their children to this school were Buddhist or Hindu while a few were
Christians. Those who did send their children to the school were the poorest
of the poor. For such families, the school provided certain essential services.It
freed parents for a number of hours each morning from Monday to Friday
to engage in economic activities so they could attempt to enhance family
income.Others merely got a much needed break during those hours. The parents
were also quite sure that their children were physically safe during the
time they were away from home. In this way, the school functioned as a
day care center. In addition, the children were well fed while they were
in pre-school, which they often did not receive at home. On top of all
this, they also perceived that the children were also learning something
in the sense of formal schooling.As one parent explained to me:
“The
school teaches them to read and write, and to sing. They also get a good
lunch and some breakfast which is more than we can offer. At least they
get two meals a day while they go to the school. It also gives my wife
some free time to sew a few frocks which we can sell later.”
This
particular individual and his wife are Buddhists. But as he further observed,
it would not be a problem for him to change his religion in order to ensure
that the services his family needed kept on coming:
“What difference does
it make? We have been Buddhists all our lives. And what good has that done?
That monk in the temple over there is only interested in politics not whether
we live or die. But he expects the poor people here to give him alms also.
The church and the school give us much. And if we have to change our religion
to get some more, we will.”
In
situations such as this, if conversion takes place, it will be due to necessity
or economic reasons and would have nothing to do with convictions or faith.
This man and his family also believed that they would receive further aid
if they changed their religion. Under these kinds of circumstances --on
the basis of locally available knowledge -- if conversions takes place,
it would be what one may call ‘a rational economic decision.’ Parents who
sent their children to the school already received powdered milk food and
dry rations, which was distributed through the school. Another Buddhist
father who had also sent his son to the school observed:
“They have told me that
they will find me a job. They have also told me and my wife that it is
better to change our religion since that would change our luck. I don’t
think I will get the job if I do not change my religion. I am wondering
what to do.”
But
it is not always easy to ascertain why exactly people convert, whether
for economic, spiritual or other reasons. Consider for a moment the story
of a forty two year old Sinhala Buddhist woman from the town of Kelaniya
near Colombo who converted to Christianity as a result of the activities
of an evangelical group active in the area which specializes in visiting
the homes of persons the group has identified as in need of their help:
“I was very sick for
over a year. My relatives tried everything. Western doctors, ayurvedic
doctors, charms, and exorcisms. But nothing worked. I was very weak and
the doctors said that there was nothing wrong with me. But I know I was
dying, and everybody got tired of treating me. Then one day the sisters
came to see me, and stayed with me for three hours. They prayed all the
time. After that they came a few times each week bringing other people.
They also brought me things to eat and drink.They even prepared some of
the drinks for me. They always prayed and talked to me about God.Within
a month, I got better.While I was getting better I saw God in my dreams.
He was very kind.In my sickness, medicine nor Buddhism helped me, and my
own folks tended to forget me. It was the sisters who cared for me.After
I became well, I converted.”
Today
this woman is a part-time worker in the group that effected her conversion.
She also visits houses in the areas with full-time evangelists.Even though
she talks about God and stresses upon her conviction that the Bible
holds the ultimate truth, her knowledge about Christian scriptures remains
quite marginal. What is more important in her conversion is her personal
experience of illness and the affinity she experienced with members of
the group at a very difficult time as well as direct help extended by the
group in terms of offering much needed nutritious food and drink when she
much needed them but could not afford. The narrative I have presented above
along with others, have becomekey components of preaching for the group
in the area. But in her family, she is the only one who has converted,
and her relationships within the family is wrought with much conflict and
stress. But it appears that her new found group identity and solace in
belonging to that groups allows her to cope with that situation.
In
the context of conversion narratives presented thus far, one may also be
able to argue that they represent something other than the motives for
conversion. That is, that they can equally as well present the self- image
the evangelical groups seek to present. At the same time, all of these
stories as a collective, also present a strong mega narrative articulating
the re-creation of community, from a situation of isolation to a situation
of belongingness, or from a situation of rupture to a situation of cohesion.
It seems to me however, that it is not always easy to separate these narratives
as those dealing with motives for conversion, and those that deal with
the creation the self-image of evangelical groups. In fact, often these
two possibilities may be merged within a single narrative. On the other
hand, available ethnographic information does point to the fact that conversion
narratives, more often than not, indicate some of the basic reasons for
conversion, while in the process of formalization of the narratives, aspects
of the self-image of specific evangelical groups also seep into these personal
narratives.
But
in any event, what is quite obvious is that all of these narratives also
present a notion of recreating community. That is, conversion narratives
are not merely about the immediate reasons for conversion or about creating
the self-image of the groups with whom individuals have affiliated themselves.
It is also not merely about changing one’s religion. I would suggest. That
when all these strands or features in the narratives are taken together
it is about the recreation of community. In that sense, conversion narratives
represent the dynamics involved in the symbolic death of an individual
or community and their rebirth as individuals or communities with as followers
of an evangelical group.So this is also a situation where old identities
are abrogated and new ones are created.Of course, the dynamics of recreating
community and identity have to be understood in the context of the overall
socio-political conditions of contemporary Sri Lanka, which I have already
discussed, as well as in the context of personal histories of the individuals
who decide to convert. In the end, the reasons for conversion are located
in the twin histories of the individual and society.
At
this point, it seems to me that it would be useful to understand in some
detail some of the activities evangelical groups in Sri Lanka are involved
in.The point I want to make at this moment is that these activities, be
they social services or proselytizing, are part of the overall evangelical
project.In the conclusion of this discussion, I would attempt to deal with
the problems of making distinctions between social service and proselytizing
agendas of evangelical groups.
Distribution
of Literature and the Provision of Education as
Strategies
of Evangelical Activity in Sri Lanka
In
the South Asian region, Sri Lanka registers the highest rate of literacy
as a nation. Given this reality it would make sense to use not only the
spoken word, but also the written word to further the goals of the collective
evangelical movement. Historically also, missionaries working in Sri Lanka
have been pioneers in using the written word for the propagation of the
Gospel. For instance, the first Sinhala book printed in Sri Lanka has been
a copy of the Bible. But irrespective of historical continuity,
it makes sense for the collective evangelical movement to make use of published
literature to preach the Gospel given the rapid expansion of adult literacy
in the country since the 1950s.
The
written word clearly has much more significance than the spoken word in
terms of longevity. For instance, people may listen to a sermon, attend
a mass rally organized by an evangelical group, and equally as likely,
go home and forget what they heard. But when something is written and distributed
there are two main advantages.One is that there is the likelihood that
a person who gets access to such literature may actually read it at leisure,
and get interested in its content over a period of time. Second, there
is also the possibility that such literature may actually go from one person
to another, as often happen with newspapersin Sri Lanka. As one young woman
engaged in distributing pamphlets on behalf of a small evangelical outfit
in Colombo told me near the Colombo Town Hall in February 1998:
“We want to talk about
God to all the people who have sinned.But we also want them to read about
him. That is why we give them all these tracts. If they cannot grasp what
we say here, they can always read about it at home. Then they can also
learn more through correspondence.”
It
is clear that the evangelical movement in Sri Lanka has correctly grasped
the importance of the written word in their overall project, which can
be seen in the important place given to this medium in their activities.Currently,
evangelical literature published and distributed in the country constitute
of Sinhala, Tamil and English tracts and magazines. Thus the Ceylon Every
Home Crusade publishes a monthly magazine in each of these three languages.
Some texts, particularly magazines published in other parts of the world
are available only in English.But the importance of local languages in
evangelism has been clearly understood by those engaged in publishing such
material and working in these languages. Thus while Youth for Christ (YFC)
uses all three languages in their activities, one of its leaders noted
in an interview in late 1997 that the “amount of work that can be done
in English is quite limited.” This understanding translates into reality
in its activities in the sense that out of the 20 centers YFC maintains
in the vicinity of Colombo, 15 function in the Tamil medium,1while
four in Sinhala and only one in English.
Many
of the evangelical groups currently operating in Sri Lanka publish their
own material locally. Thus the Assemblies of God publishes a variety of
tracts in all three languages currently used in Sri Lanka. Some of this
literature is also used by other evangelical groups in their activities.Similarly
many local groups also extensively use material published by foreign sources
even though they may not be funded by them. Thus the Grace Evangelical
Church active in Colombo uses some English language literature published
by Grace and Truth in Danville in Illinois, in addition to locally published
Sinhala language material. On the other hand, many organizations also distribute
material their parent organizations publish elsewhere in English.Thus the
Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in Sri Lanka distributes a great deal of
literature published by its parent organization in Pasadena, California.
These include the monthly Plain Truth as well as others like When
a Loved One Dies (1994), Staying Sane (1989), The Bible:
A Guided Tour (1993), Science and Religion (1993), Overcoming
Alcohol Abuse (1986), and the bimonthly Living Today published
by the Worldwide Church of God in Australia.
Clearly
then, the existence of international, regional and local networks plays
a significant role in the publishing and distributing literature for the
evangelical movement. But in addition to the work of individual churches,
there are a number of organizations, which the groups themselves perceive
as para-church organizations,dedicated to the publication and distribution
of literature. In other words, the prime aim of these organizations is
to distribute the Gospel in published form. In general, these groups consider
themselves non-denominational. This is particularly the case in the sense
that their literature is used by many evangelical churches and other groups
in their activities. But again, one cannot see such material being used
by the mainstream Catholic church in its overt activities. One of the better
known and most active groups with regard to publishing and distribution
of literature is the Ceylon Every Home Crusade (CEHC) operating out of
Colombo. CEHC is truly an international organization.Its roots can be traced
to the United States, where it began operations in 1946 as the Every Home
Crusade, and later its international operations came to be known as Every
Home for Christ International.By 1997 it had operations in 104 countries
in 8 regions. These regions were Anglo-Africa, French-Africa, Europe, Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS, former Soviet Republics), Latin America, Pacific,
East Asia and South Asia.In addition to Sri Lanka, the South Asian operations
also include Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and India.Due to local conditions
of these South Asian operations, the most active local operations are in
Sri Lanka and Nepal.
The
Sri Lankan operations began under the name Ceylon Every Home Crusade in
1970.After 25 years in operation one of its slogans in 1995 was “reaching
every home in Sri Lanka for Christ” (Direction, June 1995).In its main
vehicle, the magazine called Direction the CEHC explains its position
and agenda in the following words:
“Ceylon Every Home Crusade
is a non denominational incorporated national organization which exists
to serve, motivate and mobilize the Church to participate actively in the
systematic personal presentation of a printed or repeatable message of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every home in Sri Lanka, helping new believers
become responsible members of the Body of Christ” (Direction, June 1995).
I
would suggest that the word Crusade in the organization’s name is quite
significant. A crusade essentially is a religious war, and in the popular
discourse (of the English educated Sri Lankan middle class) the word also
brings to mind the Christian crusades of the Middle Ages in Europe. The
need to spread the word of God is seen quite literally as a holy war not
only by the activists of the CEHC but also by evangelists in general. On
the other hand, CEHC is one organization which is very clear and articulate
about its mission as the above statement itself explains. Twenty five years
of experience in Sri Lanka has also given it a great deal of confidence
to articulate its ideas clearly as was obvious in interviews with selected
group leaders in 1998. For instance, organization’s leaders accepted that
CEHC is an evangelical organization in the sense that it is engaged in
spreading the word of Jesus Christ. It also accepted that it is a fundamentalist
organization in the sense that it gives primacy to the word contained in
the Bible:
“Today the Catholic
Church does not preach the Bible. They spread the word of God in
other ways --- We take the Bible to the people properly --- We are
basically non-Catholic, and are more aligned with Protestant churches and
church groups. The main task of CEHC is to aid the activities of the Church
by preaching the Bible to the people using printed
Bible
tracts and magazines.”
In
addition to the numerous biblical tracts CEHC publishes, it alsopublishes
a monthly magazine in Sinhala, Tamil and English.According to CEHC sources,
the English version of this magazine (Direction) isspecifically
targeted towards the Catholic population. According to the same sources,
the reasons for publishing in Sinhala and Tamil is to reach the Hindu and
Buddhist populations. CEHC says that as an organization, it operates both
in rural and urban sectors in the country. As a matter of fact, during
fieldwork I have come across its literature in places as far apart as Colombo
as well as Chilaw in the North Western Province and Hambantota District
in the Southern Province. Often, the main mechanism for literature distribution
for CEHC as well as other organizations is the state postal system, which
is inexpensive and reasonably reliable. Thus the mail system is the main
avenue for CEHC’s mail order Bible study courses in Sinhala, Tamil
and English.These courses include a series of lessons and examination questions
placed in a logical path of progression, at the end of which each person
who successfully completes the course, is offered a certificate. In addition
however, its activists also distribute them personally.For instance, CEHC
operates in hospitals, universities and other such organizations. The main
conversion mechanism adopted by CEHC is what it calls a ‘literature contract.’According
to CEHC, a literature contract is a situation where a person who gets access
of its literature, reads and understands its contents, and then proceeds
to pass on that message to another person. Then that person also passes
on the message to yet another person who is overwhelmed by ‘problems.’
CEHC
and many other evangelical organizations stress that the Gospel is the
only real solution to one’s problems. Many of the issues that are defined
as problems by these organizations are also areas of concern in the society.
Thus these tracts and many other publications such asmagazines specifically
address such problems, often with reference to the Bible. So, publications
such as Overcoming Alcohol Abuse (1986), Winning Against Drug
Addiction (1992), and Building Stronger Families(1994)published
by the Worldwide Church of God deal directly with issues of substance abuse,
as well as marriage, single parenting and so on. But these are American
publications written from an American perspective.Similarly, many of the
articles in Direction are specifically formulated in order to address
these kinds of problems, in addition to answering specific questions raised
by readers. While some such articles are reproduced from foreign sources,
others are written by local writers for local readerships. Thus the June
1995 issue of the CEHC magazine Direction has dedicated three articles
-- inclusive of the editorial -- to talk about different aspects of the
Christian marriage.In the editorial, it is observed that “the systematic
study of God’s Word reveals that God’s desire for His people - the Church
is that they marry within the body of believers” (Thevabalasingham 1995:
2).The same editorial further suggests:
“If marriage had taken
place before one has become a true believer (either husband or wife), he
or she has to make every effort, to the extent God enables, to be loving
and kind towards the unbelieving partner. Through love and godly living,
one has every chance to win his or her spouse for the Lord.No amount of
preaching and admonition but an exemplary life will bring conversion”(Thevabalasingham
1995: 2).
It
is important to note here, that publications such as these are not merely
reproductions of biblical texts. Often, they are much more than that. Thus
the quotations above from
Direction are rather exclusivistinterpretations
of the Bible with reference to marriage. In this sense, these publications
also aim to influence public opinion with regard to even private issues
such as marriage in very fundamental ways.Such an agenda has to be understood
as an important goal of the overall evangelical movement, given its emphasis
on creating a numerically and politically powerful Christian community
in Sri Lanka and South Asia. These strategies also point to evangelists’
interest in separating their body of believersfrom the wider society, and
the recreation of community and identity, which I have already discussed
in the Introduction, and earlier in this chapter.
In
so far as Sri Lanka is concerned, there is a category of otherorganizations
that play an important role in the literature distribution project.These
mainly constitute of literature outlets, which publish, import and sell
evangelical and other Christian literature directly to the public.In addition,
they also reach a much larger circle of individuals through the state mail
system. The better known groups that can be placed within this category
include the Christian Literature Society, Christian Literature Crusade,
Prospor Christian Book Shop, Back to the Bible Bookshop, PragnaPublishers,
New Life Literature and Sri Lanka Audio-Visual Evangelism.
Taken
in a broader sense, these para-church organizations within the overall
evangelical movement are not merely centers for spreading the Gospel.They
are also centers of education. But in addition to the kind of Christian
education imparted to the public through these sources, one also need to
pose the question whether the evangelical groups in Sri Lanka are also
involved in educational activities in a larger scale. As we would see later
in the chapter dealing with Nepal, evangelical groups in that country have
a large stake in general and technical education. At the moment it is clear
that evangelical groups in Sri Lanka do not have a comparative stake or
interest in general or technical education in Sri Lanka. But traditionally,
modern education in Sri Lanka began with the arrival of foreign missionaries
along with the expansion of European colonialism. As such, even today the
Catholic church and mainstream Anglican denominations run a significant
number of schools in the country.Some of them have for a long time been
extremely influential educational institutions. But compared to these,
new evangelical groups have not yet managed to establish an entrenchedsystem
of educational institutions in the country.
But
education in other more restricted interpretations is an important issue
for evangelists. For instance, there are many evangelical groupsprimarily
interested in providing specific kinds of education to train specialists
in order to further the cause of the evangelical movement. Thus there are
a number of organizations dedicated to training pastors and other evangelical
workers. Among the groups that are specifically focussing on this aspect
of education are Sri Lanka Centre for Pastoral Studies, Rural Pastors Training
Centre (South Asia Institute of Theology), Colombo Theological Seminary,
Evangelical Christian Religious Education Centre, and so on.
In
addition, many churches or their affiliated organizations organize regular
seminars and workshops in Colombo and elsewhere in the country with the
participation of experienced foreign evangelists. Many of them are designed
to train local evangelical workers in their activities, where they can
draw upon the experiences of success elsewhere in the world.Thus in January
1998, the well known evangelist Selwyn Hughes conducted three seminars
in Colombo titled “Shepherding the Flock of God,” “How to Build a Good
and Holy Marriage,” and “Relationships.” The seminars were specifically
aimed at local pastors. Hughes himself is the founder and director of the
evangelical network known as the Crusade for World Revival.Similarly in
June - July 1995, the Nazarene Mission coordinated what was known as the
“Second Levites Camp,” which was aimed at pastors, lay leaders, Bible
students, Sunday school teachers and so on.In a sense, the anticipatedparticipants
here were not necessarily specialized workers as in the case of pastors,
but nevertheless were expected to be committed evangelical workers or supporters.
And once again here too there was foreign expertise in the form of Dutch
evangelist Ben Hanegraaf.In August 1995 the International Chamber of Commerce
organized a conference and trade exhibition in Colombo titled “Gateway
to Asia 95,” the aim of which was to give an opportunity to local Christian
business people to meet and fellowship with Christian business people from
around the world.Throughout the 1990s one could see these kinds of seminars
and workshops being organized in the capital and elsewhere by many evangelical
groups on a regular basis. One key feature in many of these gatherings
was not merely the sharing of knowledge and expertise, but the availability
of foreign expertise. This is possible not simply due to the availability
of funds, but more importantly, due to the availability of an excellent
network of contacts with individual evangelists and evangelical organizations
in the region, and in other parts of the world. Foreign participation and
the regular organization of these seminars and workshops also create a
certain international collective of individuals and groups united within
a single project.Moreover, such activities also give moral and spiritual
support to many supporters.As one pastor, who is a regular participant
in many Colombo based workshops and seminars observed:
“This is a strength
for us because it shows how many people around the world are united in
carrying out the work of God. It also show that we are on the right path.All
these people around the world could not have all been wrong.”
But
it must be noted that in general, these kinds of programs are specifically
aimed at individuals and organizations already operating within the overall
Sri Lankan evangelical project. Compared to these kinds of educational
ventures, the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) runs twovocational training
institutes in Sri Lanka, one in Nuwara Eliya and the other in Kotmale.With
its main parent organization in Pasadena, California, the Worldwide Church
of God began operations in Sri Lanka in 1978. In interviews conducted in
1998, a church leader defined the church as “fundamentalist, evangelistic
and non-denominational.” Currently it has two congregations, one in Wattala,
north of Colombo and the other in Nuwara Eliya.While its religious identity
is always important, the vocational training institutions of the church
have been set up to impart secular professional skills that the church
considers as important in today’s labor market.Thus the Worldwide Educational
Institute (WEI) in Nuwara Eliya established in 1986 offer the following
courses of study: computer literacy, business administration, English language
proficiency, literature, office procedures and public speaking. These courses
are of one year duration (Information sheet, Worldwide |
