Nationalist propaganda depicts Christian conversion as ritual desecration of the Buddha.

Evidence

The anti-Christian hysteria led to numerous troubling incidents, and they collectively signify how the nationalist ideology espoused by extremist Sinhalese Buddhists can be utilized to target Christians. … In one instance dealing with the latter, a bhikkhu refused the family of a long-standing convert to Christianity the right of burial and forcibly carried out the last rights according to Buddhist rituals (Weerasooriya 2004). — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 260 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

“Race betrayal” is a key theme of The Mountain Wreath and the strand of Serbian literature it represents. By converting to Islam, Njegos had insisted, Slavic Muslims “turkified.” To “turkify” was not simply to adopt the religion and mores of a Turk, but to transform oneself into a Turk. To convert to a religion other than Christianity was simultaneously to convert from the Slav race to an alien race. — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 154 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

You must not only discard the shastras, you must deny their authority, as did Buddha and Nanak. You must have courage to tell the Hindus that what is wrong with them is their religion—the religion which has produced in them this notion of the sacredness of caste. Will you show that courage? — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 954 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sinhalese nationalist ideology mobilizes monks into coercing converts even in death rituals. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 260; Serbian nationalist ideology treats religious conversion as a change of race — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and…, 154; Destroying caste requires denying shastra authority outright, as Buddha and Nanak did. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 954 (+1 more)

Related

• Sinhalese nationalist ideology mobilizes monks into coercing converts even in death rituals. (similarity 0.88)
• Serbian nationalist ideology treats religious conversion as a change of race (similarity 0.85)
• Buddhist leaders claim missionaries desecrate Buddha images in conversion rites (similarity 0.82)
• Destroying caste requires denying shastra authority outright, as Buddha and Nanak did. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Sinhalese nationalist ideology mobilizes monks into coercing converts even in death rituals. #corroborates (0.90) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 260
• Serbian nationalist ideology treats religious conversion as a change of race #corroborates (0.75) — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 154
• Destroying caste requires denying shastra authority outright, as Buddha and Nanak did. #corroborates (0.70) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 954