Anglican priest defends himself on conversion to Hinduism
Saturday September 16 2006
T'PURAM: Anglican priest David A Hart, whose open
espousal of Hinduism has sparked a debate in British
religious circles, says he will continue his exploration of the
"oneness" of religions and remained unfazed by the
consequences it could have on his priesthood.
"Some people say my licence as a priest is under review. I
am not doing anything wrong here. I am a convert to the
Hinduism here because that is the local religion. And
practising Hinduism is in no way incompatible with my
faith in Christ," Hart, now staying at Karumam near here,
told PTI.
After coming to know about his "conversion", 'Church
Times' of the Church of England (C of E) has launched a
debate and online poll on the feasibility of allowing Hart to
officiate as a priest.
Attached to the diocese of ELY in England, 52-year-old Hart
had taught theology at the University of Derby for several
years. Though he had visited India several Times since
1987, he came here for an extended stay last year teaching
English and theology in a local seminary.
Dressed in a saffron 'dhoti' and pristine white shirt, Hart the
other day enthusiastically mingled with local crowd in
celebrating Sri Krishna Jayanthi and, a few days back, was
seen worshiping Lord Ganesh.
Hart said he had not received any official communication
from the bishop of ELY about his priesthood being
reconsidered.
Hart's 'pooja room' at his house here has pictures of Christ
and Krishna, virgin Mary and Saraswati, the Hindu goddess
of art and learning.
There is even a plastic 'Nagar,' the serpent revered and
worshipped by the Hindus. Also, on the wall of the drawing
room was displayed a poster depicting the holy places of
Islam.
Author of several books on religion with the latest being
'trading faith', Hart said celebrating god in non-human forms
need not be considered as 'un-Christian' as Jesus was
represented as a lamb in the Book of Revelation in the
Bible.
"After all, god is not a human being. God is the god of
creation. What is important is that we have to have a
symbol. Worshipping god in the form of human being had
come to be practised by religions in a later period in
history."
Hart, also secretary of World Congress of Faiths, said his
understanding of the Hinduism had helped him learn
Christianity better. He noted that there was much similarity
between Christ and Krishna.
"You saw in my 'pooja' room, pictures of Krishna with his
mother and also infant Jesus on the lap of the mother. How
could then we say that Hindu beliefs are incompatible with
those of the Christians," he asked.
Anglican priest defends himself on conversion to Hinduism
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