Gandhi Before Gandhi

Author(s): Bipin Doshi, Priti Shah
Publisher: Jain Academy Educational Research Center Promotion Trust Mumbai

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GANDHI BEFORE GANDHI
"Usually, utterly ignorant of the history of India except perhaps its most recent phases and what is still more important, they know nothing of even if capable of understanding) the Hindu religion and philosophy. The result is that, with a narrow dogmatic creed and inability to see any good outside of it, they render themselves offensive in the eyes of educated natives."
have a certain theory of the Universe, of the origin of evil, of the suffering of living beings, as to their origin and so on, and each of this religion is nothing but a ramification of the same principles underlying those theories.
Market created for surplus clericals
I concede that some of them are frequently large-hearted and pious but as a rule, they are narrow-minded and ignorant and are so devoid of spirituality that they are unable to recognize spiritual ideas or truths under other names or forms than those they have learned in their schools and colleges. In this age of competition and under a system of centralization of wealth and creation of monopolies, many persons are forced from their natural spheres into the Church, open to them, and when there is a keen competition in the clerical ranks, an outlet must be found for the surplus; it becomes therefore, requisite to create a market for them in foreign countries.
Whatever may be the difference in details between the respective theories and theologies of the religions of India and Christianity, there is this characteristic which marks Christianity out from other religions. It says that the whole world is destined for Christ; that Christianity is the only true religion and that the world is to be saved only by the Gospel message of the Bible. With such fanatical view, these missionaries go to India and introduce among the people, the doctrines which have long since been exploded by the light of science and reason. And still, in preaching those doctrines in India, the missionaries claim that they proclaim the truth. Of course "truth" is used by them in a technical sense meaning their own beliefs. In fact, Christianity and Truth are, in their opinion, convertible terms. In a similar way they interpret the word "superstition" which, in their vocabulary, means the religious belief of all non-Christians. There are kinds of Christianities with diverse views and has assumed different garbs and what passes in the name of Christ may not be true.
Spreading False Theology
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What have the Christian Mission accomplished in India in the field of religion? They have spread a false theology, theology not only false but positively injurious to the best interests of mankind. Why does the idea of life of a Hindu differ from that of a Christian ? Simply because the theory of one is different from that of the other, Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism
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