Reply to Mr Jai Singh Thakur

Submitted by Kumbhakaran (United States), Oct 14, 2007 at 02:37

Namaskar Thakurji,

If polygamy or breeding is the only cause for the expansion of Islam then other polygamist cults like Mormons and the Hare Krishna Movement ( Lord Krishna had 16,000 wives and amongst them were she-bears, goats and other animals ) would be giving Islam a run for its money. Hinduism has a strong polygamist -sexist base ( Lord Ram's father had four wives ) and the family planning movement in India with its run-away population growth has been a failure. Yet Hinduism has been restricted to one geographical area. Hinduism as an alternative faith remains dismally behind Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism

Converts to Islam are both prominent persons and those who are unknown. For every Kieth Ellison and Michael Wolf there are additional unknown numbers who have joined the faith.

Why should Muslims leave a hated cult "silently" ? They should "Tom Tom" their departure and loudly exhort the rest of their unfortunate bretheren to follow. However we see no evidence of any mass exodus or mass conversions from Islam. This is not the case with some religions such as Hinduism where we repeatedly see instances of mass exodus of their less fortunate adherents ( such as the untouchables ) publicly renounce the "Dharma" in mass conversion ceremonies to Buddhism, Christianity and sometimes to Islam (Meenakshipuram Tamil Nadu 1980 ). So precarious is the devotion of the adherents to the Hindu faith that state "anti-conversion" laws have to be instituted in India to prosecute those leaving the Dharma.

One of the most peculiar conversions to Islam was Hiral Lal Gandhi the son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi ) who appeared singularly un-impressed with his father's attempt to reform his faith and offer dignity to the "Un-touchables" or Dalits. No "Jehadi" held a knife to Hira Lal Gandhi's throat when he converted.

The exodus of African Americans to the Islam is an established phenomenon as is the re-emergence of Muslims in Spain which was long thought to have cleansed itself from this "satanic cult ". Africa remains a Muslim majority continent despite the efforts of the most dedicated missionaries.

There are no easy answers as to why people are converting. Perhaps a spiritual appeal of the only movement opposing certain decadent aspects of western cultural standards and global economic monopolisation appears to replace left-wing idealism of the thirties and sixties.

A realistic appraisal of the problem of WHY people are converting is the best approach to preventing the conversions. However the realism is drowned in religious and political hatred which drives more people into the arms of the faith

Kumbhakaran

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