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Do mass conversions justify Karl Marx's view of religion?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 16:37 IST
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A group of 6,000 persons from various remote parts of Thane district were brought back to Hinduism from Christianity at a mass-conversion function in Thane.

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A spokesperson for the Swami Narendra Maharaj group told reporters that with this, the goal of bringing one lakh people back to Hinduism from Christianity has been completed.

He said various organisations had helped to identify these "hapless people who were forced to convert to Christianity through inducements."

"So far, we had completed the conversion of 94,000 Christians into Hindus and the one lakh number has been achieved in a two-year period," he said. According to the spokesperson, these people were originally in the Hindu community but preferred to convert to Christianity as they found the grass greener on the other side. Now, they are being brought back to Hinduism "on their own".

Isn't religion supposed to be more personal than this? Or does this event justify Karl Marx's comment that religion is the opiate of the masses?

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