Stan Posted July 20, 2005 Posted July 20, 2005 India may expel Adventist missionary Protestant church has converted hundreds of thousands Tom Blackwell National Post July 20, 2005 The Canadian head of the fastest-growing Christian church in India faces possible expulsion from the country in a legal dispute linked to his group's highly successful conversion campaign. A court decision ordering police to seize the travel papers of Ronald Watts, the south Asia president of the Seventh Day Adventists, is just the latest headache for Mr. Watts in a country marked by tension between Hindu nationalists and Western missionaries. The U.S.-based Adventists say they have baptized 600,000 Indians in the past five years while Mr. Watts was in charge. Some Indian media portrayed the court decision as just deserts for the native of Paris, Ont., and his "provocative actions." "Faith in judiciary has helped move a man and his wife who were thinking their faith to be a mountain," wrote News Today, which bills itself as South India's leading English-language evening paper. "The story of Ron Watts and his wife, who had converted several thousands of gullible villagers in South India, will hopefully come to an end." But Mr. Watts said the dispute, although it involved allegations of forced conversions, was not motivated by political or religious concerns. The case was actually instigated by a former Adventist member disgruntled at the church and facing criminal prosecution, Mr. Watts said. Another litigant even tried to blackmail Mr. Watts, his lawyer said. They are sure the ruling will be overturned. "I'm not that concerned about it," said Mr. Watts, who is currently in the United States on his annual leave. "It's a bogus issue brought up by somebody who is in trouble and wants to make trouble." Justice P.D. Dinakaran of Madras High Court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu ordered police to seize the travel documents of Mr. Watts and his wife, Dorothy, an official of the church, and deal with them "in accordance with the law." The decision earlier this month was based on allegations that the couple had been ordered out of the country by the central government in 2003 for unlawfully carrying out forced conversions, but stayed with visas obtained deceitfully. In fact, said Mr. Watts, that government directive was overturned within months and he and his wife have business visas that are entirely legal. Mr. Watts was also accused of carrying out missionary work on a business visa in a country that discourages foreigners from proselytizing. But he said said he is not directly involved in missionary work, focusing instead on administrative tasks such as organizing a pension fund for retired church employees. Chakkrevarty Daniel, Mr. Watts's lawyer, added that the case was argued ex-parte -- without a representative of the church being present in court. He said local press coverage of the case has been wildly inaccurate. "He has been unnecessarily tortured by our thankless community," the lawyer complained in an interview from his office in Chennai, India. "It's very painful. I've spent many sleepless nights." Mr. Watts, who has lived in India off and on for about 20 years over the last three decades, knows the country well, speaks many of its languages and has even adopted Indian children, said the lawyer. The church has done many good works, such as setting up a school for destitute blind people, added Mr. Daniel. Seventh Day Adventists, a protestant sect that believes the sabbath should be celebrated on Saturday and has built a world network of schools and medical facilities, says it takes to heart Jesus's call to his disciples to "teach all nations" and baptize them. They set up a special "Global Mission" in 1990 to reach parts of the world untouched by Christianity. India is its fastest expanding region, with the group recently building its 1,000th church there and boosting its membership in the country to about 800,000. Mr. Watts said more than 70% of converts are lapsed Christians whose former churches had neglected them. But in an interview with an Adventist publication last December, he noted that most Indians are never allowed to pray in Hindu temples, so having a place of worship such as the Adventists provide is "more valuable than anything else they can ask for or think of." He attributed the church's growth in part to teams of Adventists from North America who do evangelistic meetings where they simultaneously establish 10 to 50 new churches. India is an officially secular state that guarantees religious freedom. But sectarian divisions can be bitter and often violent, and Christians sometimes face discrimination. A handful of states have enacted laws barring conversion of Hindus. They had included Tamil Nadu, where the Adventists are based, though its law was repealed last year. Speaking against other faiths is against the law in India and foreigners are not supposed to preach religion if they are in the country on tourist visas, unless approved by the government. C National Post 2005 Copyright C 2005 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved. Optimized for browser versions 4.0 and higher. -- Stan Jensen Communication Director Seventh-day Adventist Church (British Columbia Conference) Quote If you receive benefit to being here please help out with expenses. https://www.paypal.me/clubadventist Administrator of a few websites like https://adventistdating.com
Stan Posted July 21, 2005 Author Posted July 21, 2005 Doug I am not sure I have mentioned this, but it is just so good to see you back here, you were missed by many. Stan Quote If you receive benefit to being here please help out with expenses. https://www.paypal.me/clubadventist Administrator of a few websites like https://adventistdating.com
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