Author: Matt O'Brien
Publication: The Contra Costa Times
Date: January 9, 2011
URL: http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_17038970?nclick_check=1
As thousands of refugees from the Himalayan
nation of Bhutan migrate to the United States, an array of faith-based groups
have volunteered to help them get adjusted to a new land. Some are also inviting
the refugees to church services and converting them to Christianity.
Church groups say the refugees have explored
Christianity, and, in some cases, Mormonism, of their own free will. Some
refugee advocates counter that missionaries are taking advantage of an impressionable
population and eroding cherished cultural traditions in the process.
"They need to learn about life in America,
learn to speak English, learn to drive, learn to shop, learn to file taxes,
and all of a sudden they are faced with people seeking to change them through
a slow but concerted coercive strategy," argued Mihir Meghani, a Fremont
physician who cofounded the Hindu American Foundation, a national advocacy
group.
In the East Bay, several Bhutanese refugee
families who were previously Hindu or Buddhist have joined local Protestant
and Mormon churches that offered them help and invited them to religious services.
Meghani sees the church activities as troublesome,
a form of "predatory proselytism" that divides refugee families
and causes them to feel they should abandon ancient traditions and beliefs
they are led to believe are inferior.
"If I had a neighbor moving in, I would
like to welcome them for who they are," Meghani said. "Most of us
would like to be accepted for who we are, not who we could be or what we could
believe."
Two Bhutanese refugee associations in the
East Bay attempt to maintain cultural connections and networks for new arrivals,
including access to Hindu and Buddhist services, but both are run by volunteers
who have full-time jobs. Secular organizations that contract with the government
to help refugees in their first few months lose track of many refugees after
the allotted services run out, and the groups also don't have the resources
to regularly keep in touch with everyone. Well-meaning church groups have
filled some of the void, providing newcomers with rides, gifts and fellowship.
"I would not be surprised, given what
I know about the refugees coming from that area, if they are converting as
a way to show appreciation for what's being offered to them," said Stephanie
Nawyn, a sociology professor at Michigan State University who has studied
how faith-based groups influence incoming refugees. "They will attend
for maybe a year, and go elsewhere later on."
Many of the groups that contract with the
federal government to provide financial help to refugees are religiously affiliated.
But those groups, which include Catholic Charities of the East Bay, have become
increasingly careful over the past few decades about avoiding activities that
could cause refugees to want to change their religious affiliations, Nawyn
said.
It can be a tough call, but ultimately it
is up to the refugees themselves what path they take, and most churches should
be aware of that, said Ashley Nichols, who mentors Bhutanese refugees in the
East Bay about finding jobs and adjusting to American life. Nichols is a Christian
and part of a group, Ethne Global Services, that includes many Baptists but
is nonsecular in its work with refugees, she said.
"I really think it's important for a
family as a whole to make that decision together," Nichols said. "If
it's something that they're pursuing, maybe they want to know more about Christianity.
It can be a positive thing, but if it's something that will ostracize different
(family) members, I don't think it's helpful."
The Rev. Mike Chantigian, pastor of a Baptist
church in Alameda that has welcomed Bhutanese refugees and guided them to
Christianity, said he could not disagree more with those who feel that churches
such as his are unduly influencing a vulnerable population.
"The love of Christ expressed to all,
both indigenous and newcomers to our country, transcends heritage and traditions
alike," he said in an e-mail Friday.
