By Daniel Corado –
Sharing the gospel can now get you life in prison in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India.
“It’s designed to prohibit conversion,” says Stephen Schneck, head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “You can definitely be put in prison for preaching the Gospel. If you take the Gospel seriously, you know our job as Christians to convert the world.”
The new law is part of a trend in India to reinforce Hinduism as part of the nation’s identity against Christianity and any other religion that might lay claim to souls (Islam, for example). The trend includes a persecution of Christians with impunity.
Of course, no one can “force” anyone into Christianity, since it is a decision of conscience. But the vagueness of the law means that application could be widely enforced anytime there’s a person who wishes to follow the dictates of his heart and change religion, Schneck says.
“More than half of Indian states have anti-conversion laws,” he adds. “But Uttarakhand’s law takes a whole new direction with life imprisonment. It’s a dangerous precedent.”
You could even be jailed for posting Christian content online, Schneck says.
“Prime Minister Modi and the BJP party (Bharatiya Janata Party) has been weaponizing Hinduism for political purposes,” Schneck says.
