Morung Express News
Dimapur| August 1
Recent incident regarding the Anatongre Church managed to open the can of worms that most of us believed had been sealed, buried and forgotten deep down within us. The Morung Express weekly poll posted the question “Are all Christian denominations treated equally with respect in Nagaland?” to which 55 % of the voters boldly disagreed. Voters from this section felt that all Christian denominations are and were never treated equally in Nagaland. “No, we still have the tendency to legitimize one’s own denomination and underestimate the other denominations” is one such instance.
A voter said that the absence of analytical thinking and the ready acceptance of Biblical teachings have not allowed the Nagas to grow in their spirituality and in their faith to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Several voters also cited instances of the recent acts of opposition and demolition of Catholic Churches in Anatongre, Kiphire and Kezo Basa (in Southern Angami area about two years back) which shows the respect and treatment meted out to the smaller communities by the dominant denominations. Many also opined that on the surface Nagas seems to be concerned for all to be equal, but once difficult issues come out into the open and differences of opinion are discussed, than immediately everything becomes so self-centered and intolerant.
“The very fact that people keep saying that Nagaland is fully Baptist itself shows that Nagas are not sensitive to the different denominations of Christianity. The very fact that NBCC keeps harping on prohibition is also another clear sign, because there are other denominations who do drink wine. They are not opposed to wine, but they are opposed to drunkenness. Nagas are die hard Baptist, and while this is good, this is also their downfall because they fail to see things beyond their small kitchen” stated another.
A section of the voters amounting to 33 % meanwhile felt that Various Christian denominations in Nagaland are living peacefully except for some one or two stray incidents in remote areas (villages). In Kohima some villages has four or five churches of different denomination…like Baptist, Revival, Catholic, Pentecost, AG. This church coexist peacefully n help each other. People felt that though ours (Nagaland) is predominately a Baptist majority state, most of the people (being Christians) treat members of other denominations with equal respect. A voter also stated “The Naga understanding of Christianity is limited to the Baptist worldview, not by choice, but through circumstances. Yet, inspite of this, the Nagas by large have been open to different denominations of Christianity.”
Meanwhile, a voter expressed that amongst all the denominations, the Baptist institutions are the closest to the state machinery and so most often they benefit the most from the government and in the process they become more powerful. It is also the Baptist churches that try to influence the government on prohibition, whereas for the Catholics and others, the act of drinking wine does not constitute something bad. I would therefore say that the people in general accept with respect all denominations, but it is the NBCC to realize that they are not the only Christian denomination in Nagaland and so they need to be more receptive to the presence of other denominations as equals.
From among the 12% who chose ‘others’ as the option, a voter who stated: “I really don’t think there is religious freedom in Nagaland. The superficial presentation of Christianity in Nagaland actually contradicts the very fundamentals of Christianity. Unfortunately, Christianity is seen in very narrow and absolute terms in Nagaland where the scriptures are read in the literal sense without trying to understand the contexts in which it was written and presented. When such a narrow approach to Christianity is present in Nagaland, than one must say there is actually no freedom as far as expressing ones faith is concerned.”
