My encounters with Indian Christians.
I lived in UK , then Canada. I used to meet Indians of all faiths. But I was amused at the naiveness of some Indian Christians who were first exposed to the West and were bewildered that in the West Church going is not a big activlty. Infact one the converstions , I remember is like this, After introduction and meeting the person several times, a sample conversation goes like this.
” Good morning , Mr Smith, I would like to ask you a question” said Mr DeSouza. I do not remember his first name. Yes , go ahead I said.
” I have met you several times and many here, but none of you attend Sunday masses like me amd my family does in India”
” Well , we have other interesting work to do”
Then curiously I continued ” Why do ask this now after this few wks of acquaintance?”
Then came the innocent and supremely naive assumption , which made me wake up to give a detailed answer. Such answers require a good dose of caffeine to stir you up.
Mr Desouza let his naivety go like this ” My impression is that most of the westerners esp whites are Christians and very religious”. I had to let out the details, starting with ” My parents were not very religios people and they did not encourage relgion” Desouza interrupted me to say
Were they Marxists ?
“No” I said , they were right wing atheists”
Then came his next outpouring ” Even in my work place , many do not go to church and many say they are atheists” .
I told him lets go for a coffee ( yes , this required caffeine) and I will explain you why is this, like this. I explained to him about how with the march of science and World War 11 changed all the church believers into atheists or agnostics. The cruelty of Hitler which had support from Pope Pius X11 for the Holocaust , had a telling effect on many believers. Many who were on the fringes of theism, even with advancement of science, became confirmed non-believes.
Mr DeSouza replied ” I will go back to India , then , if I do not get an atmosphere , to go to church”
” What is this atmosphere ” I asked.
” Crowd, Good company , friends etc”
” Why do you need company and a flock to worship. You can sit in a corner and meditate on the image or no image you want”
No , No, For a mass you must have a crowd” said Desouza.
A very sweet fellow, he worked for some time in Canada and went back to India, probably missing the crowd for a mass.
I was an ass not to take his contact, as during my visits to Ramana Maharishi Ashram , I could have contacted him and asked him how he is performing in a crowded Sunday mass.
I have talked with many Indians in India and overseas. Many think that whites are all Christians. Please forget this assumption and if somebody is preaching this , do not believe this. Infact , a goog crop of preists come from the state of Kerala overseas to conduct masses. I have heard this from my friends, as I do not go to church. There are very few in the West, who want to be priests and the number is dwindling at a fast rate. I am not able to conclude whether it is the intrinsic spirtual nature of Indians , which makes them take up priesthood or is it the security of sumptous course meals and good houses ( in some places it is outright opulent, very very opulent) that makes them take up this vocation. I leave this for your ponderance.