Religious conversion

The process of conversion to Christianity has its own characteristics in various faiths. Most Protestants believe in conversion “by faith,” which helps them achieve salvation. According to this understanding, a person professes faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior. Although a person can make such a decision through personal reflection, usually conversion involves an act of baptism (ritual immersion in water) and joining the church community. According to this tradition, it is believed that a person becomes a Christian if he publicly witnesses the faith in the death , burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the deliverance of mankind from sins, and therefore considers Jesus Christ as his personal savior.

In history, precedents have been witnessed repeatedly when converts to Christianity for a long time experienced restrictions in joining local Christian communities: typical examples were Moriski (baptized Muslims in Spain and their descendants), marranas (baptized Jews in Spain and their descendants), crosses in Russia empire . In Nazi Germany, the baptism of a Jew was not recognized; Jewry was not determined by religion, but by origin.

Different Christian denominations, as a rule, mutually recognize a person’s conversion to Christianity, even if it was committed in a different denomination; baptism is not required for conversion to another denomination; either anointing or confession is necessary. However, not one of the main denominations of Christianity recognizes Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses as Christians, therefore the latter are obliged to be baptized when they switch to another denomination of Christianity.

There are Five Pillars of Islam , but the most basic of these five principles is the belief that there is only one God and Creator, called Allah , and that the Prophet Muhammad is His last messenger. A person is considered converted to Islam from the moment when, in recognition of this principle, he sincerely pronounces the creed, called shahada (testimony). There is a widespread belief among Muslims that everyone is a native Muslim, as descended from Adam, but sometimes a person needs additional steps to “return” to the true faith. One of the hadiths says: "Every child is born in his own nature (that is, in Islam), and his parents make him a Christian, a Jew or a polytheist."

According to Sheikh Ahmad Kutti , a senior lecturer at the Islamic Institute of Toronto (Canada), now in Islam it is considered extremely desirable to document your conversion to Islam with a certificate issued by a "credible" Islamic center, organization or mosque. Such certificates are necessary for marriage, pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina ( Hajj ), etc.

Circumcision is “highly recommended” in Sunni practice. According to the teachings of the Shafi school (Shafi`i '), circumcision is mandatory for all Muslim Muslims. ^[1] According to custom, a man who accepts Islam must circumcise and shave his head immediately before pronouncing the shahada or immediately after pronouncing it. Nevertheless, there are disputes regarding the mandatory circumcision and shaving of the head , as well as about the need to let go of the beard (a number of Islamic organizations consider the beard to be a sign of belonging to the faith, although the Koran does not formally make such a requirement). Islamic tradition encourages the removal of pubic hair, armpits, cutting a mustache, wearing a beard, cutting nails. ^[2]

The new Muslim must familiarize himself with Islamic practice and regularly pray. The Druze recognize their community only by birth and do not accept converts. At the same time, many Muslim religious authorities do not recognize Druze Muslims .

The conversion of a person to Judaism, as well as the rite associated with it, is called giyur (Heb. גִּיּוּר).

A candidate who wants to become a Jew is obliged to accept all 613 commandments of the Torah before a court of three judges-Jews. If the candidate is a man, circumcision is done, after recovery, dipping in the mikvah completes the procedure. A woman just dips into a mikvah. In ancient times, the candidate also sacrificed to the Jerusalem Temple , but now this is not practiced due to his absence. If the candidate has already been circumcised, a replacement ritual is performed - extracting a drop of blood by pricking. The person who accepted the giyur is called ger.

Buddhism is a religion of active proselytism . Despite this, the incumbent Dalai Lama Tenjin Gyatso does not approve treatment without prior preparation. ^{[3] [4]} New Buddhists traditionally "take refuge" (express faith in the Three Jewels - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha before a monk or a person of a similar rank).

A Buddhist can respect and offer gifts to worldly deities and spirits, but he should not consider them his spiritual refuge ^[5] . Buddhists often combine their faith with the observance of the rites of a different religion (in Japan - Shintoism , in China - Taoism and Confucianism , among the Himalayan peoples - Bon or Hinduism (the latter does not recognize such a combination of religions).

Starting from the 2nd half of the 20th century. Buddhism has become extremely popular among the lower castes in India, since it does not include caste division. The Indian politician Ambedkar massively converted his supporters to Buddhism - at one of the ceremonies, about 500,000 people immediately converted to Buddhism ^[6] . In the same period, a large number of Buddhist communities appeared in Europe, North America and Australia.

The ritual called “ diksa ” (dīkshā, “initiation”) accompanies the transition to Hinduism from another religion. Another ritual, “ shuddhi ” (shuddhi, “purification”) accompanies a person’s transition to the fold of Hinduism from another religion.

The current concept of conversion to Hinduism was influenced by the crisis of the caste system, as well as the preservation of archaic ideas about sanathana dharma . Today, Indians continue to be influenced by historical beliefs about the acceptability of treatment. Thus, many Hindus continue to believe that Hinduism is a quality that can only be possessed from birth, while many others believe that anyone who follows the practice of Hinduism is a Hindu. Nevertheless, in the last 50 years in India and Indonesia there has been an increase in the “return to Hinduism” of immigrants from Hindu descent families who had previously converted to other religions, and Hindu organizations have strongly encouraged such a return to the fold of “native religion”. ^[7] Many Indians approve of such a return, but at the same time strongly oppose the change of religious affiliation, considering it to be innate. ^[eight]

Hinduism encourages a marriage partner to convert to Hinduism if one of the spouses is a Hindu. It is expected that the new spouse will take an active part in Hindu rituals and holidays.

Sikhism does not encourage proselytism, but is open to converts.

There is a contradiction between the religious doctrine of Jainism, which does not allow conversion to this religion, and modern Indian law, allowing Indian citizens to freely choose their religion.

Zoroastrianism (Zarathushtrism), the world's first monotheistic religion, is considered universal, independent of age, gender and origin ^[9] . Zoroastrianism welcomes conversion, but requires a good knowledge of Zoroastrian texts and recognition of their true. By the time of the adoption of Faith, a person must reach a conscious age. Traditionally, this age is considered 15 years for boys and girls who grew up in Zarathushtrian families. People whose parents were not Zarathushtrians usually must be 21 years old. A temporary obstacle to the adoption of faith is a state of deep experience - a serious depression or a difficult life situation (death of loved ones, recent divorce, loss of social status, financial condition, serious illness, etc.). One of the important conditions for the adoption of faith is personal communication with the bearer of tradition. The final decision on a person’s readiness to accept Zoroastrianism is made by the mob , who conducts the rite of passage, which requires a personal meeting and conversation. The rite is called the “sadr pushi”, which translates from Persian as “putting on the sadr (sacred shirt)”. The rite consists in putting on a shirt, tying the sacred belt of Kushti and in reading prayers - the proclamation of the Faith. Therefore, a person preparing for the sadre pushi rite should be able to say the prayer Fravaran in the language of the cult and know its meaning:

“I am a Mazdayasnian. I confess myself as a Mazdayasnian, a Zarathushtrian, I swear an oath and make a choice. I swear to the Good thought by thought, I swear to the Good word by the word, I swear to the Good work by deed. I confess the Mazdayasnaya Faith, which ends strife, selfless, righteous, which of the present and future faiths is the greatest, best and most beautiful, I profess the faith of Akhurov, Zarathushtri. I consider all good things to Ahura Mazda. This is the confession of the Faith of Mazdaya. " ^{[10] [11]}

Although Baha'iism is actively seeking supporters, missionary work in this religion is prohibited. Nevertheless, the basic ideas of Baha'ism presuppose its openness to the influx of new supporters all over the world, since Baha'ism sees itself as a religion without borders, does not know the differences between peoples, recognizing the achievements of science.

Converting to Bahá'ís faith implies a clear faith in the common foundations of all religions, faith in the unity of mankind and active service to society. There are no priests in Baha'ism, therefore, a convert is required to be active in all areas of community life. Even a convert can be elected to serve in the Local Spiritual Assembly, the leading institution of the Bahá'í faith at the community level. ^{[12] [13]}

The Church of Scientology is recruiting new converts, offering to fill out “free tests” on the streets. In contrast to other religions, which require the practice of conversion or the signing of a regular statement, the Church of Scientology does not require a contract before attending church and does not use the rites of consecration.

In history, there were movements that positioned themselves as supra-religious, that is, the criterion itself was important for them, whether a person believes in God, and the question of which rite was secondary. Almost all ancient supra-religious movements over time turned into religions ( Baha'ism can be an example of such a modern movement).

In the modern world, pre-religious movement is Freemasonry . Any person professing faith in God, belonging to any religion, can become a Mason. Until the beginning of the 20th century. Masonic societies were usually conspiratorial and did not advertise their activities. Since the end of the XX century. contact details of Masonic lodges are relatively easy to find for anyone who wants, but proselytism among Masons is not welcome - it is believed that a person must ripen before becoming a Mason.

There are also religions that, in principle, do not accept converts - in particular, the Yezidis , Druze and Mandeans .

In history, there are frequent cases when converts retained some vestiges of their former religion and tried to adapt it to new religious practice. Of particular interest is this phenomenon in the case of mass conversion to a new faith, since such vestiges are rooted in the new religion and in the long run lead to a split with those who support this tradition. Thus, the split in Islam into Sunnis and Shiites is due to the fact that the latter arose in territories with a predominance of the Persian tradition. Among the Muslims and Christians of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, there are castes similar to the Hindu ones. The Roman Catholic Church borrowed many of the traditions of the religious ceremonies of Ancient Rome (down to the organ - a tool widely used in Roman churches and palaces), and the spread of Catholicism in Europe during the Reformation era roughly coincided with the northern border of the Roman Empire.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines religious conversion as a human right : “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change one’s religion or belief .... ”(Article 18). Disagreements regarding the interpretation of this principle in the modern world concern the following issues:

• the right to free propaganda of one’s religion (is it an invasion of privacy and / or a violation of the secular nature of certain states?)
• contradiction with the prohibition of a number of religions to convert to their faith (Druze, Yezidis, etc.)
• does freedom of belief also extend to freedom of propaganda for atheism
• Is the dissemination of scientific knowledge that is contrary to the provisions of a number of traditional religions, forcing a change of faith or rejection
• attitude to countries in which punishment for refusing the dominant religion is common. Some Islamic countries prohibit proselytism of other religions and impose severe penalties for both proselytism and apostasy from the Muslim faith ^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]} .

• Apostasy
• Deathbed appeal
• Forced treatment
• Cross
• Giyur
• Shahada
• Proselytism
• Missionary work
• Confirmation
• Forced Persuasion

in Russian

• Ardasheva L.A. Basic paradigms in the study of religious conversion // Religious Studies . - 2013. - No. 2. - S. 150-162.
• Bulanova I. S. The semantic content of religious conversion // Religious Studies . - 2013. - No. 4. - S. 132-138.
• Kryukov D. S. Existential factors of the dynamics of self-consciousness and the self-concept of the believer // Religious Studies . - 2012. - No. 3. - S. 152-163.
• Kryukov D.S. Structure and dynamics of the self-concept of a religious person // Religious Studies . - 2009. - No. 2. - S. 132-146.

in other languages

• Barker E. The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 1984. 305 p. ISBN 0-631-13246-5
• Barrett, DV The New Believers — A survey of sects, cults and alternative religions . Cassell & Co, 2001
• Cooper RS ​​The Assessment and Collection of Kharaj Tax in Medieval Egypt // Journal of the American Oriental Society . Vol. 96, No. 3. (Jul - Sep., 1976), pp. 365–382.
• Curtin, Phillip D. Cross-Cultural Trade in World History. Cambridge University Press , 1984.
• Hoiberg D. , Ramachandran I. Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan, 2000.
• Ramstedt M. Hinduism in Modern Indonesia: A Minority Religion Between Local, National, and Global Interests. Routledge , 2004.
• Rawat, Ajay S. StudentMan and Forests: The Khatta and Gujjar Settlements of Sub-Himalayan Tarai. Indus Publishing, 1993.

• Islamic Information Center: Site aimed at those interested in Islam or converting to Islam.
• Interactive Overview to the Program for Conversion to Judaism
• "Proselytism, Change of Religion, and International Human Rights," by Natan Lerner, Ph.D. (legal aspects of defining illicit proselytism)
• How Does One Convert to Judaism?
• All Roads Lead to Rome Catholic conversion experience at The Truth about the Catholic Church
• Choosing Judaism: Resource Center for Prospective Converts
• Proselyte // Jewish Encyclopedia
• Online Book on conversion to Hinduism
• Podcast about Mormon conversion experience
• Islam converts change face of Europe