*The Twice Alienated (Culture of Dalit Christians)* by Dr. K. K. Wilson, Booklinks Corporation, Hyderabad; pp. 93, price Rs. 60.
Did Christianity do any good to Dalits who embraced it? Did it promote Dalits' human development, self-emancipatory efforts aimed at economic growth and social justice? Did it create in them social consciousness? The author Dr. K. K. Wilson of the Department of Philosophy, Osmania University, believes that in addition to the social alienation inflicted on the Dalits by Hinduism, Christianity further robbed them and emasculated them of their cultural virility. He holds the Christian missions responsible for their cultural alienation; hence the title of the book: *The Twice Alienated*. It is with the second alienation the book is concerned.
Dr. Wilson advances two arguments to prove his thesis. They constitute the first two chapters of the book. The first one entitled 'Rich Missions and Poor Christians', tries to say that the Christianity which came to India was 'acculturated' to the colonial and capitalistic culture of the western powers. The Dalits who embraced it as a result of the apparent humanitarian concerns of the missionaries had only changed one form of overlordship for another. Their dependency on the missions increased as they were segregated from their immediate cultural neighbourhood. On the other hand he says that 'the Indian non-Christian capitalistic and feudal forces and the capitalistic religious Christian missions came closer to each other on the basis of their social and economic equality, though these sections differed on matters of faith.' He describes this type of Christianity 'as a truly Hindu Christianity.'
In the second chapter the author accuses the 'Western Christian missions' for presenting Christianity as 'salvation theology' which according to him was 'the most powerful instrument that has blinded and immobilized the Dalits'. The doctrine of original sin has in a very subtle way further strengthened the self-disrespecting image of the Dalit Christians. The doctrine of atonement 'stands as stumbling block from discovering solutions for existential problems. It works like a sleeping pill in the lives of the have-nots'... If this doctrine has any relevance to the Dalit predicament it is only in the area of de-activating them from embarking on self-emancipatory movements'.
In the third chapter the Church comes in again for attack. Its title is 'Revolutionary Jesus and Reactionary Church'. The Church is accused of having failed to understand the message of Jesus; its notions of 'Holy' and 'mission' are otherworldly. Dr. Wilson then expounds his own understanding of Christianity as a humanizing movement. In the fourth and concluding chapter he appears to be calling for religion-less Christianity. But problems like Indian Christian theology, religious conversion, caste struggle, also come in for his critical comments.
This book, coming from a Christian Dalit leader, should not be ignored by the churches. Certainly he has erred by overstating his case. A very complex historical question of the underdevelopment of Dalit Christians has been answered by an oversimplified theological argument. The result is a book of half-truths and generalisations.
It must have been the author's experience of the churches in Andhra which provoked him to write this book. The sensible thing should have been to limit the scope of his study to the Andhra region. The argument that Christian religious ideas further impoverished the converted Dalits should have been supported by empirical data. The fact of the underdevelopment of a people is the result of multiple causes. Any one of these causes has to be presented in the context of its total perspective. The author does nothing of the sort; instead he indulges in a general criticism of the doctrine of original sin and atonement. I am enough sorry to say that he does not appear competent for this task. Besides this his criticisms are irrelevant to the theme of the book. It may well be that doctrines of original sin and salvation are misinterpreted and misunderstood in our churches. Dr. Wilson's own summary of these doctrines suggests this possibility. This may well be the point of this book. It is a pastoral challenge to the Christian churches.
— A. M. A. Ayrookuzhiel
Bangalore