Churches in the Indian state of Maharashtra are reportedly cancelling Bible camps during Diwali, a Hindu holiday celebrated during the autumn season, because of a recently enacted anti-conversion law.
For context, Maharashtra is India’s second most-populous state and includes Mumbai, the largest city in the country. Only about 2.3% of India’s 28 million people identify as Christians, making believers an extreme minority in the nation.
Much like in the U.S., the Bible camps — vacation Bible schools — last several days and consist of music, games and competitions, and stories and lessons based on Scripture, all for children ranging in ages from five to 15 years old. In India, they typically take place in the fall, according to Premier Christian News.
Some area churches, though, have cancelled their planned VBS events altogether, while others have restricted it strictly to Christian kids — a shift from the typical strategy of using the Bible camps as opportunities to evangelize.
It all comes down to Maharashtra’s sweeping Freedom of Religion Act, signed into law by Indian President Droupadi Murmu on July 30 and enacted the following month. The language of the bill is so broad, critics are concerned it will result in the penalization of Christians and churches. The law states violators may face up to seven years in prison for the non-bailable offense.
The new law bans conversion by “allurement,” a vague and overly generalized term that includes “any temptation in the form of … any gift, gratification, easy money or material benefit either in cash or kind.” It also disallows the offer of employment, “free education in school or college run by any religious body or institution,” a “better lifestyle,” “portraying practice, rituals and ceremonies or, any integral part of a religion in a detrimental way vis-a-vis another religion,” or even “glorifying one religion” — in this case, Christianity — over another.
Additionally, anyone who intends to convert from one religion to another is required to give notice to a governmental authority 60 days prior “to such proposed conversion.” At that point, the official will announce the impending conversion to the involved parties, “calling for objections within [30] days from issuance of notice,” according to the law.
“If any objections are received or otherwise, the competent authority [government official] may make an enquiry through police with regard to the intention, purpose or cause of the proposed conversion,” the bill states, noting that, if a violation is suspected, an investigation will ensue.
According to Premier, at least 12 other states in India have similar anti-conversion laws and, while advocates argue the bills protect vulnerable people from exploitation, others see them as a clear attack on Christian evangelism. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, for example, has said the laws disproportionately affect Christians and Muslims, and have noted terms like “allurement” are intentionally ambiguous and problematic.
The churches moving ahead with planned VBS initiatives are requiring registration and charging entree fees of 50 to 100 rupees (roughly $1) as a way to prove parents sent their children to these faith-based camps intentionally and of their own accord.
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