There is a bizarre case out of India this week where four people were arrested after they allegedly converted to Islam without state approval. In India, under the ironically named Freedom of Religion Act, you must get state approval before changing religions. The law is meant to guarantee that people are not coerced into conversions. In light of the ongoing forced conversions of ISIS or the Islamic State, that is a legitimate concern. However, it would seem a problem that can be addressed by just criminalizing forced or coerced conversions as opposed to forcing everyone to get state permission to change faiths. The obvious concern is that in the largely Hindu nation, such permission can itself be coercive for those who want to leave the Hindu faith.
Tularam Jatav, his son Keshav and relatives Manikram and Makhubhai Jatav were arrested in Madhya Pradesh despite telling a court that they had not been forced into adopting another religion. Seven others have been held for questioning.
The Jatav family went to a district magistrate with affidavits affirming that they were converting willingly. Notably, local Hindu activists arrived and began protesting the conversion. After hours of such protests, charges were filed against the family. The appearance and timing of the protest/charges magnifies the concerns over the law and its use against religious minorities. Villagers were the ones to alleged forced conversions to Islam despite the family’s insistence that it was voluntary.
Notably, Tularam Jatav reportedly converted to Islam two years ago, but retracted the move to settle a property dispute. He then reportedly converted to Islam again last year. (Such recantations do not sit well with some Muslims who view it as apostasy and subject to the death penalty).
Source: NDTV as first seen on Reddit
This is hard to believe. If you really want to know why people convert to Islam, read the Quran. It is in modern English at http://www.clearquran.com
Religion poisons everything.
If we are such a threat to world peace, how come every time there is a problem the call the US. Lets stay home. We can used the money.
It seems times change but people don’t……..
Mr. Turley,
Imagine that Duck Dynasty star, Phill Robertson, had gotten ahold of them…
You folks in America need to go into isolationism. Do not let people migrate here from pirate territories. Do not allow Americans to travel to dangerous pirate territories. Stop all foreign aid. We need aid to Americans in America. Curb the Military Industrial Complex. Stop Saudi guys with box cutters from getting on airplanes. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran. That last phrase is from an old television comedy called Saturday Night Live from 30 years ago.
Annie
Another thought, we, the US, can learn from the mistakes other countries make and endeavor not to make the same mistake. Observing other cultures and society is instructional.
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Indeed.
A recent poll of those nations found that they think that the greatest threat to world peace is the U.S.
Wouldn’t U.S. fundies love to have that power.
And I do mean power.
Oh, please. Are we really going down the tubes with the Illuminati?
Don’t worry about the Lusitania now, or Pearl Harbor, except as history, but we’re in big dodoo now with 9/11. There’s no way that the Illuminati were not involved in the two world wars. That’s like saying birds, bees and trees have nothing to do with Mother Nature.