Associated Press
GENEVA, Aug. 15–Evangelical groups have joined efforts spearheaded by Roman Catholic, Orthodox and mainstream Protestant churches to create a common code for religious conversions that would preserve the right of Christians to spread their religion while avoiding conflict among different faiths.
The World Council of Churches, which joined the Vatican last year in launching talks on a code, said Wednesday that the process was formally joined by the World Evangelical Alliance at a meeting earlier this month in France.
The code aims to ease tensions with Muslims, Hindus and other religious groups which fear losing adherents and resort to punishments as extreme as imprisonment and even death for converts from their faith and foreign missionaries.
The Taliban kidnapping of 23 South Korean Christians and killing of two in Afghanistan last month underscores the tensions. The accusations against the South Koreans include wanting to meet with former converts from Islam, but the church has denied they were trying to spread Christianity. The hardline Islamic militants freed two women on Monday in a show of goodwill.
Proselytizing also has caused concern among the branches of Christianity because of the vigor with which Pentecostal and evangelical-style congregations have led the drive for conversions around the world, outstripping the growth of older churches. Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Brazil in May was partly a response to the exodus of millions of Catholics to Protestant evangelical churches.
Juan Michel, a spokesman for the Geneva-based WCC – which brings together about 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians – said the support from the evangelical alliance was a big boost for efforts to agree on a set of guidelines by 2010.
“It is a very important Christian organization,” he said.
Major evangelical groups were absent from a meeting last year of the Vatican and the WCC near Rome, where the idea for the code was initiated. But at the five-day meeting ended Aug. 12 in Toulouse, Geoff Tunnicliffe, head of the evangelical alliance of 233 conservative Protestant church groups and ministries in 121 nations, gave his “full approval” to the process, the WCC said.
“The code of conduct is not about ‘whether’ Christians evangelize, but ‘how’ they do it,” said the Rev. Tony Richie of the Church of God, a Pentecostal U.S.-based denomination, according to a WCC review of the meeting.
The next step in the process will be in 2008 when the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue meets its WCC counterpart to draft the guidelines.
The WCC said the code should establish what “needs to be banned when it comes to Christian mission, a daunting task given the many different contexts involved.” But it should also provide guidelines for dealing with complicated issues such as interreligious marriages, the WCC added.
John Langlois, an evangelical alliance board member, said there was great unity at the meeting, but insisted that any code would have to recognize the right of churches to preach the gospel around the world – a point he said was strongly supported by the Vatican.
Sensitivity to Christian proselytizing is widespread among Muslims, who regard conversion from Islam as forbidden.
Last week, a religious court in Malaysia ordered a woman trying to renounce Islam to undergo three months of counseling in the mainly Muslim country’s latest legal tussle over the issue. In Egypt, a Muslim who converted to Christianity and then took the unprecedented step of seeking official recognition for the change said he had gone into hiding following death threats.
Last year, lawmakers in the western Indian state of Rajasthan made it the latest region in the country to outlaw proselytizing with punishments up to five years in prison. Critics claimed the laws will be used to target Christian missionaries, who are often denounced by Hindu nationalists. But Muslims – who represent about 14 percent of India’s population – also say the measures could be used against them.
The discussions over conversions could also spill into the religious politics of Asia, including the alleged persecution of “house churches” in places such as Vietnam and China.
WCC said the code of conduct should serve as an “advocacy tool in discussions with governments considering anti-conversion laws (and) help to advance the cause of religious freedom.” The rules should also address concerns in other religions about Christians seeking converts, and inspire those faiths to “consider their own codes of conduct,” it added.
The council noted, however, that “none of the partners involved intend – nor have the means – to impose the code of conduct on their constituencies, but they all trust that it will be able to ‘impact hearts and minds’ and allow for ‘moral and peer pressure.’”
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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posted August 15, 2007 at 4:23 pm
that is so typical. the things that i saw when i was a small child of 12 years old that Jesus only came for the lost children(sheep) of israel and not for the whole world. a muslim has his faith. a hindu has his faith, why are the christians, or should i say the wanabe christians so adamant to change and convert people of other faiths. Jesus said in matthew 15 verse 24 i am send only for the lost sheep of israel. he also called the god of the jews the devil John 8 verse 44. he called himself the son of God and all who believe in him his brothers. that makes me God as well John 17 verse 21 if i believe and follow him. who were the people that crucified him, none oither than the church. today that same church is in operation, they only call themselves christians, but are doing the same, by enslaving the people into fear of hell matthew 23 the god of this world is satan and his work is done by the murdering christians. Jesus father is a loving God. did you know that more of 70 persent of atheists were once catholic?. i am a follower of Jesus ,and i am not afraid to put myself on the same level as God.goto http://frikkiebotes.homemarker.com/cgi-bin/blog and read my blog. all christians that fear God are still in darkness, only those that see God as a loving father and dont judge other beliefs are in the light.
posted August 15, 2007 at 6:03 pm
You asked why.
The Great Commission of course.
See: Matt 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:44-49, Acts 1:4-8, and John 20:19-23.
Matt 28:16-20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Many Christians believe that if they do this good work then they are insured a place in heaven.
Peace!
posted August 15, 2007 at 9:02 pm
So, if I may make an analogy, many self-proclaimed Christians who do this work are really acting like pok-e-mon collectors, only with souls instead of adorable pok-e-mon. “Gotta catch’em all, gotta catch’em all!” And instead of winning the title of Poke-e-Master, they hope to win a place in heaven. Interesting.
(Please remind me never again to babysit a 7 year old on Cartoon Day.)
Personally I’d prefer these evangelical groups to get together and decide not to burn condoms in AIDS-ravaged areas of Africa, and undermining WHOs efforts to stamp out the spread of disease.
posted August 15, 2007 at 10:40 pm
So, it’s ok to go after other religion (or non-religion)’s folks if they are other enough.
Clearly the Muslims need to do away with the grim punishments for leaving Islam; no religion could be considered mature with practices like that. But that brings up the horrors that are in the holy books of all three of the “Abrahamic” religions, and likely in others.
It’s way past time to clean out the ugly parts of the holy books of all those religions. I wonder if a clear thinking Pope could put on his infallibility hat and declare parts of the Bible no longer operative and to be left out of future versions? After all, something like that happened when the NT was thrown together.
posted August 15, 2007 at 11:09 pm
“(Please remind me never again to babysit a 7 year old on Cartoon Day.)”
Tell me about it. I’m currenly compiling a list of fallacies in “Spongebob Squarepants.”
I think most of us can agree that things like “no leaving Islam” are not very good laws. Really, there’s no much difference between what has happened in the past, Christians forcing people to accept their religion, and what some of these religions are doing now, basically forcing people to keep the religion they have. I’m not sure I understand what this set of guidelines is supposed to accomplish, however; it seems a bit vague to me.
God bless.
posted August 16, 2007 at 4:19 am
I am aware that you may feel the need or the people who write this may feel the need of a universal language recognised by all christians,. This may be or seem to be a good thing,, but I have found that no matter where you are from the language of the Holy spirit is something so universal younever have to worry about what yousay., Jesus said you will know my sheep by the master they follow. The Catholic church follows the Pope and after that Jesus, so how can we use them as a reference point fro the creation of a universal language, hence the ‘mark of the beast ‘ maybe? I don’t know how we will ever get the truth out if e all keep going to another religeon other than the real truth of Jesus
Christ and Him cruscified for us so that we can find the Glory of god and all the gifts that he Died for. The RomanCatholic church doesn’t even recognise the healing in the spirit that Christ died for. thankyou and you mae publish this if you like but please do not publish my email thankyou. there are too many freakishpeople out there I don’t want to know me.
posted August 16, 2007 at 8:47 am
Every person in this world has the God-given right to make his or her own decisions about religious faith. That is a basic tenent of Biblical Christianity, but it is not always a position held by various religions, including Islam and sometimes Christianity. It is also true that every religious faith has a right to share its faith with people of other faiths. In a way it is like advertising. I may have a strong preference for Brand A, but if Brand B can convince me to change, then I have a right to do so. Of course, religious faith is much more important than Brand A or Brand B. And as JohnQ pointed out, for Christians it is the Great Commission that Jesus gave at the end of His earthly ministry. He instructed us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone. That is quite a challenge, and I know that sometimes in the history of evangelical Christianity, we have either not done that at all, or have done it rather poorly. However, I could not accept any church council decision that restricted the ministry of Christians to spread the Gospel worldwide. Contrary to pupular misconceptions, the Christian missionaries I know personally win people by love and kindness, not by coercion and force. That is the way it should be. By the way, there are two statements in earlier blogs here that I believe are misconceptions. First, when Jesus referred to the the god of the Jews as being the Devil, He was not referring to the true God of the Jews (Yahweh), but to the god they had accepted and were serving (the Devil). The other is that Christians seek to witness to others in order to gain a place in Heaven. That is not my theology. The Christian Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith alone, not by any works of righteousness I might have done. I seek to influence others because I believe I already have a place in Heaven and I would like them to join me there.
posted August 19, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Personally, I really resist pushy salespeople and in my experience, there are many “Christians” who come on just like a pushy salesperson. If I was interested in another religion, I’d go to a church or synagogue or temple of that denomination and get information. Don’t come to me….
It is a bit distressing that some religions are so darn sure they are THE religion, that they will kill a person to keep them from leaving. IMO, there is NO PERFECT RELIGION.