In contemporary nation states with a rising, or well-established, commitment to a state religion, converts face a hostile legal system that transforms conversion into a deeply political act, with sometimes devastating consequences. The case studies in this panel show how the governments of both India and Iran place significant burdens on converts. They discuss how anti-conversion laws in India weaponize the rhetoric of Christianity as “foreign” and how the legal ambiguity of Iranian marriage laws deny converts the rights and protections afforded Muslim citizens. Employing the lenses of postcolonial theory, history, legal studies, sociology and theology, these papers explore the constraints faced by converts in contemporary theocracies or quasi-theocracies.
This paper examines the legal barriers faced by Believers of Muslim Background (BMBs) in Iran, with a focus on their impact on marriage, family, and religious conversion. By analyzing a case of a Christian couple who lost custody of their adopted daughter due to their conversion, the study highlights how legal ambiguities in Iran undermine the stability of BMB marriages. It argues that these barriers compel reconversion to Islam or lead to legal persecution, disproportionately affecting women. The paper offers an interdisciplinary analysis, bridging law, sociology, and theology.
Postcolonial South Asia often frames colonialism as a Christianizing project, portraying Christianity as foreign and incompatible with Indian identity. This narrative misrepresents the nature of colonial rule; it also erases the histories of indigenous Christian communities, such as the Thomas Christians, who trace their origins to St. Thomas the Apostle in 52 CE—more than a millennium before European imperialism.
This paper examines how postcolonial rhetoric weaponizes this myth to justify discrimination against Christian minorities, as seen in cases like the denial of burial rights to a Christian Adivasi and the conviction of Pastor Jose Pappachan under anti-conversion laws. Engaging with decolonial theorists such as Achille Mbembe, Aníbal Quijano, and Gloria Anzaldúa, the paper critiques nationalist revisionism that conflates Christianity with imperialism. By dismantling the binary of Christian colonizers vs. non-Christian colonized, this study advocates for a more nuanced decolonial approach—one that recognizes Christianity’s deep and diverse presence in Indian history.
| Eliza Kent, Skidmore College | ekent@skidmore.edu | View |