Everything about Forced Conversion totally explained
A
forced conversion is the conversion to a
religion or philosophy under duress, with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from
job loss and social isolation to
incarceration,
torture or
death. Typically, such a conversion entails the repudiation of former religious or philosophical convictions.
Buddhism
In Buddhism forced conversion is forbidden. However, there have been instances in history where forced conversions have occurred. In the Edo period of Japan, when the first Christian missionaries had arrived, Tokugawa Shogunate forced many newly-converted Japanese Christians to renounce their new faith via "fumie". Those who refused were killed; however, some did survive in secret, and are called, "Kakure kirishitan".
Christianity
Although officially Christianity rejects the idea of forced conversion, as conversion is seen not as an external proclamation but internal beliefs . However, Christians have not always followed the New Testament mandate, which posed the question of how to deal with such conversions under duress.
Pope Innocent III, who denounced forced conversions, pronounced in 1201 that even if torture and intimidation had been employed, in receiving the sacrament one nevertheless:
...does receive the impress of Christianity and may be forced to observe the Christian Faith as one who expressed a conditional willingness though, absolutely speaking, he was unwilling. ... [For] the grace of Baptism had been received, and they'd been anointed with the sacred oil, and had participated in the body of the Lord, they might properly be forced to hold to the faith which they'd accepted perforce, lest the name of the Lord be blasphemed, and lest they hold in contempt and consider vile the faith they'd joined.
The "
New Christians" were inhabitants of the
Iberian Peninsula (
Sephardic Jews or
Mudéjar Muslims) during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era who were baptized under coercion, becoming
Conversos or
Moriscos. In spite of their true faith, they were suspected by the "Old Christians" to be
Crypto-Jews or
Crypto-Muslims. Jews were expelled from Spain in
1492 and from
Portugal in
1497.
During the
Second World War Eastern Orthodox Serbs were forcibly converted to
Roman catholicism or murdered by the Croatian
Ustaša.
In
Communist Romania, followers of the
Romanian Greek-Catholic Church were forced to join the
Romanian Orthodox Church by the government.
In the People's Republic of China,
Roman Catholics are forced to join the
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church.
Islam
Islam forbids forced conversion. Surah is frequently cited: "Let there be no compulsion in religion".
Karen Armstrong writes on forced conversions that after
Muhammad's death, nobody in the Islamic empire was forced to accept the Islamic faith.
According to Levy-Rubin, despite being rejected by
Islamic law, cases of forced conversions such as of Ibn Firāsa against
Samaritans can be noticed under Islamic rule. Forced conversions played a role especially in the
12th century under the
Almohad dynasty of
North Africa and
Andalusia as well as in
Persia where
Shi'a Islam is dominant.
The
persecution of Bahá'ís is the
religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in
Iran, where the
Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world. In the early 19th century to present, forced conversions have been a key method of persecution against the Baha'i community.
Twenty-first century allegations
In 2001 the
Indonesian army evacuated hundreds of Christian refugees from the remote
Kesui and
Teor islands in
Maluku province after the refugees said they'd been forced to convert to Islam. It was reported that some of the men had been circumcised against their will, and a paramilitary group involved in the incident confirmed that circumcisions had taken place but denied any element of coercion.
In 2004
Coptic Christians in
Egypt for several days occupied the main Coptic cathedral in
Cairo, angry at the disappearance of the wife of a priest in a village in the
Nile delta who was rumoured to have been forced to convert to Islam. The
BBC reported that allegations of forced conversions of Copts to Islam surface every year in Egypt.
In August 2006 two journalists,
Steve Centanni and
Olaf Wiig, were kidnapped by
Holy Jihad Brigades in
Gaza City, and were apparently forced to convert to
Islam at gunpoint. The Palestinian news service Ramattan and Fox News reported that they were released unharmed, shortly after a new video was released. In the video, both journalists, wearing beige robes, read statements saying that they'd converted to Islam, with Centanni stating "Islam isn't just meant for some people; it's the true religion for all people at all times."
In May 2007, members of the Christian community of
Charsadda in the
North West Frontier Province of
Pakistan, close to the border with
Afghanistan, reported receiving letters threatening bombings if they didn't convert to Islam. They stated that the police were not taking their fears seriously.
There have been numerous reports of Islamic attempts to forcibly convert religious minorities in Iraq. In Baghdad, Christians have been told to convert to Islam, pay the jizya or die. In March 2007 the BBC reported that people in the
Mandaean religious minority in
Iraq alleged that they were being targeted by
Islamist insurgents and being offered the choice of conversion or death.
Further Information
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