“This proselytization will mean no peace in the world. Conversions are harmful to India. If I had power and could legislate, I should certainly stop all proselytizing. For Hindu households, the advent of a missionary has meant the disruption of the family, coming in the wake of change of dress, manners, language, food and drink.”
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Source: Harijan (11 May 1935), on Christian proselytization and conversions in India.
About this quote
Aggressive campaigns to change what people believe often fracture families and uproot a whole way of life, from dress and food to language and custom. Pushing someone to trade an inherited identity for yours seldom brings peace; it breeds disruption where leaving room for what people already hold would keep it.
When to use it
- A newly married couple agree to keep their own family customs instead of one insisting the other abandon theirs.
- A workplace drops its push for everyone to fit one 'culture' and lets people keep their differences.
- New neighbors are welcomed onto the street with no expectation that they change how they live.