a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

‘suppress the freedom of individuals,’ and thus fail to safeguard the
Constitution. 148
On the other hand, Gauri Viswanathan observes that even while drafting the
Indian Constitution during Independence, there was a ‘strong move by powerful
Hindu lobbies to ban conversions altogether.’ However, she argues that the final
draft of the Constitution resisted the attempt to ‘outlaw conversions and instead
made the propagation of religion permissible under the law’ (Article 25, Section
I), by giving everyone the fundamental right to ‘profess, practise or propagate
religion.’ 149
All the Pentecostal leaders in Rajasthan have said that they cannot and they should
not retaliate as it is their theology not to hate those who persecute them, but to
pray for them. However, most have said that they should use their civil rights as
well as minority rights, which the Indian Constitution provides. Nevertheless,
some have argued that they cannot expect any justice from the BJP Government,
and so people should be prepared to go to jail. Some leaders in the above-
mentioned meeting said that Veeru’s experience of praying for the police is a
model, and, ‘one day the Lord will change such jails as places of worship like the
prison in Philippi, as we read in Acts 15.’ 150
Pentecostals argue that they suffer the most from persecution as they are labelled
as a proselytising group, even by mainline Christians. Rana comments that
148 S. Kim, ‘Hindutva, Secular India,’ 141.
149 Viswanathan, ‘Literacy and Conversion,’ 135-36.
150 This was expressed in the Leaders Meeting on 08 May 2006.
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