#this is not evangelical bible thumping america or puritan europe for fuck's SAKE

[nohkalikai]

'colonial christianity' bffr what the fuck are you on? like i said, stop trying to play saviour here.

dalit and bahujan people in india faced and continue to face systemic oppression at the hands of upper caste communities. when europeans came to mercifully civilize us all, they brought with them money.

many tribal and oppressed caste people--not unlike great grandfathers and grandmothers of my own family--saw colonizer money and benefits as a means of escape from material oppression (if i was at risk of being beaten up and lynched for daring to even enter the brahmin area of a village, i would take that money and education to give myself a more dignified life). in exchange they had to accept christianity.

if you're not from any part of south asia, you probably don't get AT ALL how pervasive the caste system is, how much of indian society is structured on it. do you understand the sheer amount of both structural and direct violence required to maintain caste hierarchies? even today? when most people in the world think of caste in india as something trivial and bygone?

as the second largest religious minority in this country, we form around a whopping 3% of the entire population. there's no denying that we started out by inheriting racist white colonial theology. however, we are not just passive receivers. dalit liberation theology and tribal theology have been growing movements within many denominations.

to this day, tribal christians in north and central india face the brunt of anti christian violence at the hands of upper caste hindus. this violence is undeniably caste based, shrouded in a good dose of hatred against religious minorities. entire towns torched, churches burned, people quartered and butchered, people burnt alive, people living in fear with their internet access cut off and mobile network turned off during major christian festivals.

this is of course just a snapshot.

my personal beliefs? doesn't matter. even if i dedicate my life to openly criticising everything wrong with christianity (and i am well aware of a lot that is wrong. i have a lot to say about it too) it won't matter. with the rise of hindu nationalism (many compare what's happening in india to a piece of history from the mid 20th century involving germany and a certain charismatic leader), religious minorities take even more heat than we did before, muslims in india unequivocally facing the worst of it all.

you tell me if i'm playing saviour or if i'm attempting to extend solidarity with a shared understanding of what it's like to be in a religious minority.