Do you know what is special about February 8th? It is Anti-Trafficking Day. It is the feast of St Bakhita, a Canossian Sister who had been a slave in her native Sudan, and later enjoyed freedom and was venerated for her holy life. She died on 8 February 1947, in Schio, Italy. During the Second World War, she assured the people of Schio no bomb would hit that town. And no bomb did.
The three most profitable businesses in the world are—unfortunately and shamefully—not companies producing food or clothes, medicines or educational tools. No, the three businesses earning the most are: production and sale of arms, production and sale of drugs and—worse still—trafficking of human beings. This third “trade” was less profitable than the first two. Now, it has begun to occupy the second rung, since criminal gangs have found that, unlike drugs, a human being can be sold again and again.
Our Cover Story is about this sad and cruel trade.
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There are frequent references in the media nowadays to a central concept of Christianity—conversion. “Anti-conversion” laws, Christians “guilty of converting others through force or fraud,” etc. We need to understand this key concept and also explain it to those who want to know.
Conversion (metanoia in the original New Testament Greek) means of change of heart. It means moving from a self-centred way of life to one centred on God’s love. I am either led by my ego, or by the Spirit of God. In this sense, everyone needs “conversion.” All of us have areas of our life and heart that are not God-centred. In fact, in most official prayer of the Church, namely, the Eucharist, we start by saying that we have greatly sinned, and we ask God’s pardon. We need purification every day. Everyone—from the Pope right down to youngsters—need conversion. It is not mostly or simply about someone changing one’s official religion. In fact—and we may need to state this explicitly in our official documents or in talks in our schools or colleges—it is totally against Jesus’ teaching to use force or fraud or any dishonest means to get someone of another faith to become Christian. Jesus’ core teaching is known to all—to love without bigotry or boundaries, and to do good even to those who have hurt us. As Nelson Mandela said he came out of jail after decades of imprisonment and ill-treatment, “If I do not forgive, I would still be in prison.” This is the spirit of Jesus. And we meet Him mostly not through religious ritual or buildings, but through compassionate service of the least and the suffering. Who in his right mind would object to this?
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Good and bad people are found in all groups—in all nations, races, religions, genders, backgrounds. No group is all immaculate; no group is all cruel or crooked. In the recent discussion on hate speeches and an increasing mutual suspicion and distance among various religions in India, we will do well to look at the good people who speak up for justice and truth, e.g., the US-based Hindus for Human Rights, or the professors from the prestigious Bangalore and Ahmedabad IIMs (most of them Hindus) who wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister that his silence encourages promoters of hatred. “Your silence on the rising intolerance in our country, Honourable Prime Minister, is disheartening to all of us who value the multicultural fabric of our country.” The letter urges him to steer the country away from “forces that seek to divide us,”
“Our Constitution gives us the right to practice our religion with dignity – without fear, without shame. There is a sense of fear in our country now – places of worship, including churches in recent days, are being vandalised, and there have been calls to take arms against our Muslim brothers and sisters. All of this is carried out with impunity and without any fear of due process,” the letter read.
It then requests the PM to stand firm against forces that seek to divide citizens.
“We ask your leadership to turn our minds and hearts, as a nation, away from inciting hatred against our people. We believe that a society can focus on creativity, innovation, and growth, or society can create divisions within itself. We want to build an India that stands as an exemplar of inclusiveness and diversity in the world. We, the undersigned faculty, staff, and students of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), hope and pray that you will lead the country in making the right choices,” it states.
While we admire and support such persons and groups, we, who claim to be followers of Christ, should not practice or promote bigotry, divisions, power games or hate-mongering. Everyone knows what Jesus lived and taught. We are relevant to the degree with live it with conviction and joy, placing truth over falsehood, service over power games, and genuine unity over divisions.
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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