Forced conversion
Forced conversion is the adoption of a religion or irreligion under duress.[1] Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which were originally held, while outwardly behaving as a convert. Crypto-Jews, Crypto-Christians, Crypto-Muslims and Crypto-Pagans are historical examples of the latter.
For conversion of data types, see Type punning.Religion and proselytization[edit]
The religions of the world are divided into two groups: those that actively seek new followers (missionary religions) and those that do not (non-missionary religions). This classification dates back to a lecture given by Max Müller in 1873, and is based on whether or not a religion seeks to gain new converts. The three main religions classified as missionary religions are Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, while the non-missionary religions include Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism. Other religions, such as Primal Religions, Confucianism, and Taoism, may also be considered non-missionary religions.[2]
Religion and power[edit]
In general, anthropologists have shown that the relationship between religion and politics is complex, especially when it is viewed over the expanse of human history.[3]
While religious leaders and the state generally have different aims, both are concerned about power and order; both use reason and emotion to motivate behavior. Throughout history, leaders of religious and political institutions have cooperated, opposed one another, and/or attempted to co-opt each other, for purposes which are both noble and base, and they have implemented programs with a wide range of driving values, from compassion, which is aimed at alleviating current suffering, to brutal change, which is aimed at achieving long-term goals, for the benefit of groups which have ranged from small cliques to all of humanity. The relationship is far from simple. But religion has frequently been used in a coercive manner, and it has also used coercion.[3]
Buddhism[edit]
People may express their faith through the act of taking refuge, and conversions usually require people to recite their acceptance of the Triple Gems of Buddhism. However, they may always practice Buddhism without fully abandoning their own religion.[4] According to Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO), Christians from the Chin ethnic minority group in Myanmar are facing coercion to convert to Buddhism by state actors and programme.[5]
Hinduism[edit]
Indian Christians have alleged that Hindu groups in southern Chhattisgarh have forced Christian converts from Hinduism to revert[39] to Hinduism. In the aftermath of the violence, American Christian evangelical groups have claimed that Hindu groups are forcibly reverting Christian converts from Hinduism back to Hinduism.[39] It has also been alleged that these same Hindu groups have used allurements to convert poor Muslims and Christians to Hinduism against their will.[40][41]
Judaism[edit]
Under the Hasmonean Kingdom, the Idumeans were forced to convert to Judaism, by threat of exile or death, depending on the source.[202][203]
In Eusebíus, Christianity, and Judaism, Harold W. Attridge claims that Josephus' account was accurate and that Alexander Jannaeus (around 80 BCE) demolished the city of Pella in Moab, because the inhabitants refused to adopt Jewish national customs.[204] Maurice Sartre writes of the "policy of forced Judaization adopted by Hyrcanos, Aristobulus I and Jannaeus", who offered "the conquered peoples a choice between expulsion or conversion,"[205] William Horbury postulates that an existing small Jewish population in Lower Galilee was massively expanded by forced conversion around 104 BCE.[206] Yigal Levin, conversely, argues that many non-Jewish communities, such as Idumeans, voluntarily assimilated in Hasmonean Judea, based on archaeological evidence and cultural affinities between the groups.[207]
In 2009, the BBC claimed that in 524 CE the Himyarite Kingdom, who had adopted Judaism as the de facto state religion two centuries earlier, led by King Yusuf Dhu Nuwas, had offered residents of a village in what is now Saudi Arabia the choice between conversion to Judaism or death, and that 20,000 Christians had then been massacred.[208] During the reign of Dhu Nuwas, a political-power transferring process began and during it, the Himyarite kingdom became a tributary of the Kingdom of Aksum, which had adopted Christianity as its de facto state religion two centuries earlier. This process was completed by the time of the reign of Ma'dīkarib Yafur (519-522), a Christian who was appointed by the Aksumites. A coup d'état ensued, with Dhu Nuwas assuming authority after the killing of the Aksumite garrison in Zafar. A general was sent against Najrān, a predominantly Christian oasis, with a good number of Jews, who refused to recognize his authority. The general blocked the caravan route which connected Najrān with Eastern Arabia and he also persecuted the Christian population of Najrān.[209][210][211] Dhu Nuwas campaign eventually killed between 11,500 and 14,000, and took a similar number of prisoners.[212] A severe drought in the 6th century weakened the Himyarite kingdom and contributed to its eventual conquest by the Kingdom of Aksum in 525.[213]