Evangelical, Orthodox, Catholic, and mainline Protestant Christian leaders are all now at the table discussing a new mutual code of conduct for religious conversions.

“Evangelical groups have joined efforts spearheaded by Roman Catholic, Orthodox and mainstream Protestant churches to create a common code of conduct for religious conversions that would preserve the right of Christians to spread their religion while avoiding conflict among different faiths. The World Council of Churches, which joined the Vatican last year in launching talks on a code, said Wednesday that the process was formally joined by the World Evangelical Alliance at a meeting earlier this month in France. The code aims to ease tensions with Muslims, Hindus and other religious groups that fear losing adherents and resort to punishments as extreme as imprisonment and even death for converts from their faith and foreign missionaries.”

This groundbreaking show of unity comes in the face of increasing hostility and tensions in the remaining non-Christian areas of the world (the Middle East, China, India, and parts of Africa) where missionaries not only have to deal with anti-conversion laws and lingering distrust, but increasing competition between Christian sects in areas that have already been “converted”.

“It is no secret that the church in Latin America is losing followers and influence, partly because of inroads made by Pentecostal sects and secularization. Brazil remains the most populous Catholic country in the world, with an estimated 140 million baptized Catholics. At the same time, Brazil now claims the largest number of Pentecostals in the world (around 24 million), outstripping even the United States. While noting the “aggressive proselytizing of the sects,” the pope also acknowledged the church’s own evangelical and catechetical failures.”

The groups will meet in 2008 to draft language for the new guidelines, this will include discussion as to which behaviors will be banned. But some worry that this will be a toothless document since no Church will be forced to accede to these rules.

“The council noted, however, that “none of the partners involved intend – nor have the means – to impose the code of conduct on their constituencies, but they all trust that it will be able to ‘impact hearts and minds’ and allow for ‘moral and peer pressure.’”

That lack of authority could pose a problem since the guidelines (once approved by the 2010 deadline) are to be used to calm skeptical governments considering anti-conversion laws, and to “inspire” other faiths to draw up similar codes of conduct. One also wonders if the guideline will acknowledge that much of the current hostility towards conversion efforts stem from the Christian conversions during the colonial period (and to a certain extent, the cold war era), in which missionaries willingly exploited their economic, militaristic, and social privileges in order to gain converts.

“…when one religion creates an agenda of conversion and mobilizes massive resources to that end, targeting unsuspecting, poor or disorganized groups, it is no longer a free discussion. It is an ideological assault. It is a form of religious violence and intolerance.”

One should also consider the fact that a growing number of Christian groups are discussing (and implementing) a “re-evangelization” of Europe and America. This isn’t merely a struggle against secularism, but against modern Paganism and other new religious movements. Will these guidelines apply to those in the West as well as the East?

Personally, I consider acts to eliminate another faith, a spiritual and cultural violence. This isn’t to say I don’t appreciate and applaud the efforts of some Christians to enter into a mutual and respectful dialog with other faiths, but I will always decry the compulsive need to ensure we are all worshiping the same God and bowing to the same savior. The polytheist ethic is one where the multiplicity of belief is not only respected, but acknowledged as the natural state of things. One could hope that these in-progress guidelines are a step towards a realization that other faiths not only have the right to exist, but the right to thrive and grow, but then I have always been something of an optimist.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity, conversions, evangelism