Pietists and contextualists: the Indian solution

Christian Century, Jan 20, 1993 by Max L. Stackhouse

Social and ethical theories that deal with such phenomena (and that go beyond the rather tired and crude tools of class and power analysis) are not easy to find in india. The modes of analysis that dominated the period of decolonization played down the importance of religion, for it seemed to be the key source of conflict. It turns out, however, that conflicts based on the mobilization of economic interests or political power are at least as divisive. Further, they not infrequently use religion as a weapon to inflame communal passions.

That fact should give us pause. The use of and appeal to religious communalism is effective (at least in the short run) precisely because increasingly more people are finding a greater sense of common purpose in traditional religions than in political parties or secular ideologies. The nonreligious or antireligious social analysis assumed by Indian "modernists" at least since Nehru failed to recognize the continuing power of ancient traditions and faiths.

Contrary to the expectations of a number of modernization theories, the traditional religions may prove more capable of capturing the people's real interests and of offering a convincing interpretation of life than the secular alternatives. Not only Hindu nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism and Buddhist militancy but other new "spiritual" movements are attracting followers. ISKCON (Krishna Consciousness), for example, is planning to build in Bangalore a massive ten-story temple with an amphitheater for 10,000, an adjoining library, lecture hall and TV production studio, all surrounded by an elaborate park.

While much is traditional and ancient in India, change is striking and dramatic. The most remarkable feature is the blossoming of a new middle class. There is a new three-story commercial building in Bangalore that houses shops selling hundreds of new household conveniences from blenders to hot water heaters to microwave ovens. It hums with the chatter of salesmen and crowds of eager young couples who have left most traces of the traditional "joint-family" behind. People are discovering new needs and wants as well as new practical skills in user-friendly technologies.

Apartment buildings, hotels, office and industrial centers and shopping centers as well as acres and acres of middle-class homes are emerging in sprawling neighborhoods. India's gross national product has grown over the past two years at the rate of about 7.5 percent, which compares favorably with the Pacific Rim countries and surpasses the West. I heard the son of an Indian scholar speak with pride of how his new firm had just beaten a Japanese subsidiary in getting a contract for export to Southeast Asia. A young man who is about to marry the daughter of a friend explained to me how advertising is beginning to penetrate the villages and spark development of a kind that surpasses a quarter century of Five-Year Plans. A young Catholic soap manufacturer who had left the priesthood told of his success at making high-quality products that can undersell Western imports. All are Christians who wanted to discuss how faith relates to modern life.