[CarrotAndStick]

And on the scale of the relative size of the Vatican and the country of Italy...I'd say it's fair for allowing the same privileges to India's state that enacted those "special privileges", compared to the rest of the country.


In my book, religion is personal. No citizen of the Vatican should be denied the universal right of choosing the religion of his or her will, or rejecting it outright.

The same goes to the bigoted governments of those Indian states in question.

[Gengis Khan]

Talking about "religious persecution", there are many Christian counties where the Hare Krishnas get routinely harrassed, tortured, assaulted and their temples are attacked. This is sometimes indirectly done by the government of those countries.

BTW I am fully in favour of the anti-conversion law.

[B Knotts]

I don't think there are any formal restrictions on individual citizens of Vatican city in the area of religious freedom.

But the only people that live in Vatican city are the Pope and 920 other Church prelates and bureaucrats. Another 3000 or so work in Vatican City but reside in Italy.

BTW, do you know the old joke along those lines?

Q: How many people work at the Vatican?
A: About half of them.

:-)

[Mrs. Don-o]

"In March of 1986, John Paul II went to New Delhi, India, the place where the Hindu Mahatma Ghandi was incinerated. He took off his shoes before this Hindu religious monument and stated: "Today as a pilgrim of peace, I have come here to pay homage to Mahatma Ghandi, hero of humanity." (Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, 1986,1)"

Looks like respect to me.

[Cronos]

No citizen of the Vatican should be denied the universal right of choosing the religion of his or her will, or rejecting it outright.

Again guys -- you're being ignorant -- the population of the VAtican is 300 odd: all priests and nuns. the land area is smaller than that of the temple complexes in southern India. In fact, to be analogous, the Vatican IS a kind of Christian religious complex. In ROME, the city surrounding the Vatican, a temple can be built. In ITALY, the Coutnry surrounding the Vatican, temples can be freely built and people can freely convert.