I strongly condemn this kind of behaviour of Hindus (my co-religionists) and there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to assault ordinary people on whatever grounds, religious or otherwise. And I would condemn this kind of behaviour even when its meted out to Muslims (as I have done before on this forum) irrespective of my differences with Christianity or Islam (or Christians and Muslims).
And while I strongly condemn these acts I would also contend that this has nothing to do with India's culture or democracy. Religious whackos are to be found in every religion and one cannot (and should) not condemn a whole country or a religion for the actions of a handful.
Christianity I believe is a great religion just as much as Hinduism, Buddism or Judaism and every religion has the freedom to observe their faith in India as long as they adhere to the laws of the land.
While I dont like it when people attack each other in this case I will reserve judgement until we know all the facts.
News items like these give people the wrong idea.
Its not as if there are no churches/missionaries in mumbai.
Au contraire. Find me an Indian city that doesnt have missionaries... and how many of those christians have been pressured to convert?? NONE.
And not all of these missionaries are white as snow either. They have attempted to convert me and several people I know when I lived there and thru very aggressive tactics... . I am talking money and sex. The line used was "christian girls are smarter (wink, wink) " Yes.. believe it.
At one time I was also refused admission in a famous mumbai school only because I wasnt Catholic... though they dont advertise that they discriminate.
There needs to be a full investigation of proselytising practices in India.
Assaulting Americans has unfortunately become the blood sport du jour...
Buddhism isn't a religion as such, it's a philosophy. Buddha wasn't a diety. The other two mentioned have a diety or more than one involved. Sorry to nitpick.