I have decided to get baptized and become a Catholic. I am in the US and know that my parents are going to be upset about this decision. They will probably disown me.

I want to know what kind of reaction I should expect from other Nepalese?My high school friends? Relatives?

I come from a middle-class family in Kathmandu. I went to St. Xavier’s School and NIST College.  I have been going to a Catholic University in California for the last two years.

I am very impressed by my catholic friends and their lifestyle. I have also had a lot of experiences that has helped me gain a testimony of the Bible. Having said that, I don’t think any particular religion is good or bad. I just think Christianity makes more sense to me and works for me better. Just like Hinduism or Judaism might make more sense to someone else.I am by no means a religious fanatic and don't plan to talking about religion all the time or trying to convert other people. I am just trying to know what kind of reaction I should expect back in Nepal when people find out I have converted to Christianity. 

@everyone--A recurring theme in everyone’s response has been that I might be after some kind of a financial benefit just like the many helpless poor Nepalese that are being converted in the villages of Nepal.  You guys don’t know me personally so I won’t be able to fully convince anyone but the truth is I will gain no “materialist” benefit from this conversion.

@ meek__misfit ---"I was just curious to know if you would get a significant amount of fee charge deduction if you convert yourself. An answer is optional." Answer: I already have a four-year full scholarship and will not have to pay any tuition irrespective of my "religion" as long as I maintain a 3.0 gpa. So "fee deduction" is not an issue.@meek_misfit-- I initially got the scholarship because of good SAT II and SAT I scores. 3.0 gpa every year is just to maintain the scholarship. A lot of universities offer scholarships like that. They give you a four-year full scholarship but require that you maintain a certain gpa to keep that scholarship. If you are serious about wanting to know the school, send me an e-mail via sajha and I will email u.

Sorry guys, I had to delete some of the posts.I hope no one got offended. I apologize for it (if you did get offended). I have realized that a lot of people get offended if I delete their posts so I will NOT DELETE any posts anymore. Again, I am sorry for deleting some posts.

P.S. I am sorry if it's annoying to read me post the replies apologizing to people but it seems like a lot of people got offended. So I am writing replies addressed to those people.

I am a Nepali and Im a Hindu. And I am frowning. 

 they will just think u've become a wannabe american

@ meek__misfit ---"I was just curious to know if you would get a significant amount of fee charge deduction if you convert yourself. An answer is optional." Answer: I already have a four-year full scholarship and will not have to pay any tuition irrespective of my "religion" as long as I maintain a 3.0 gpa. So "fee deduction" is not an issue.

One consequences i see is then you would lose your IDENTITY bro.
Imagine your family and your ancestors have been following all those times and now.
But i understand that you are not alone. Many Nepalese are converting into Christianity.
There seems to be many missionaries and churches that are speeding the process too.
As for me i will never imagine to lose my faith, culture and identity.

It's ridiculous when people like confused view a religion for a personal benefit. You're really confused. Please try to find the meaning of life in every religion, then convert yourself whichever gives you the most best convincing answer for your life. If you're running after benefits, you are going to end up nowhere. Materialistically, you may have a lavish life, but spiritually, just a vacuum. It is like comparing to a flower/plant in a pot for which you have to water almost everyday. If someone forgets or gave up on watering the pot, then the plant is dead for good. And I am sure you are one of these plants in a pot.

@Nikesh282:
--A recurring theme in everyone’s response has been that I might be after some kind of a financial benefit just like the many helpless poor Nepalese that are being converted in the villages of Nepal.  You guys don’t know me personally so I won’t be able to fully convince anyone but the truth is I will gain no “materialist” benefit from this conversion.

I am happy for you, you are changing from H religion to C religion.Its your choice. I'll be really upset if you go from H to M religion. 

hello bro,

in my opinion it is not bad to be influenced by any religion. but you should think that if it influences then is it necessary to be converted. yes i know you would have came out of troubles from the faith but remember your effort was also there. i don't say not to go church or worship. but all the religion says same thing so u can have faith in heart but not necessary to follow procedures and announce yourself as christian.

it is really sad that these things are happening to many nepalese especially the young and new generations.
the problem lies because nepalese society is very flexible. For example one sees missionaries in nepal and many churches mushrooming in the country.
secondly the problem also lies in some practices of Hinduism itself.
To some extend some people in nepal are trying their best to save their culture and identity
as seen in this video by bringing awareness to the newer generations.

" I already have a four-year full scholarship and will not have to pay any tuition irrespective of my "religion" as long as I maintain a 3.0 gpa."

@meek_misfit-- I initially got the scholarship because of good SAT II and SAT I scores. 3.0 gpa every year is just to maintain the scholarship. A lot of universities offer scholarships like that. They give you a four-year full scholarship but require that you maintain a certain gpa to keep that scholarship. If you are serious about wanting to know the school, send me an e-mail via sajha and I will email u.

 I'm confused. What do I send in the email?

..If  someone offers you a big bucks to work in pashupatinath as a pujari for 2 yrs u will convert in to hindu agian or may be in islam or in any other religion for a personal benefit. 
         we are really proud  that u r in america, people like u need to get out of our country nepal asap cuz they can sell their faith, their religion and their country to others just for a shake of  benefits.

u said "u gain no material benefit from this conversion".just ask ur self this question what was the reason that u admitted in Christian college? answer is money, right cuz they will pay u to read the bible giving u so called scholarship.In other words ur brain is completely washed out.

sorry brother not for ya, but for ur parents. 

I have not read the entire thread, just replying to the OP's question.

Confused,
its not just about religion, its also about our culture. by converting are you also giving up all traditions that you have been brought up with. Timro chora ko nuran garne ki baptization? timro bihe mandir ma nagarne church ma. timro malami najane, funeral garne kalo suit lagayera.
I know that you have accepted all that, but just want to say that if everyone does the same our culture will die. That might be a reason your family and friends might not like your move.

About myself: I consider spirituality which lies at a higher plain than religion should be our concern

A recurring theme in everyone’s response has been
that I might be after some kind of a financial benefit just like the
many helpless poor Nepalese that are being converted in the villages of
Nepal.  You guys don’t know me personally so I won’t be able to fully
convince anyone but the truth is I will gain no “materialist” benefit
from this conversion.

--then why are you asking here? go change it nobody will give a rat ass. But when you talk/worry about consequences then it is obvious you are thinking benefit/loss whether financial or social. It's a personal faith that matters but when you need more help to boost/degrade your faith from someone else it is called brainwashed. No need to argue here or to know you personally, I have made my conclusion on the basis of your writing,you made it too easy. hallelujah to you.

Absolutely nothing.

The deep personal connection you make between yourself and your believes are your own. Nobody understands this personal connectivity better than yourself. As long as you still respect others' faith and believes as much as they respect yours there is no harm in when and how many times you switch between faiths.

The underlying theme of any faith is to be a good human being. If you were someone who dared not to criticize, condemn or complain - and swore in the dealings of honesty and appreciation before your conversion and you still have those same qualities, then the consequences of conversion is nil.

I personally believe that a person's good character enriches society more than any religion will. It is difficult to understand this point of view when someone is desperate or has limited freedom to make changes. And sadly, the average Nepali does not see or understand the liberation of free and higher thinking.

Go on. Convert. Earn a degree. Pursue your ambitions. Achieve the unachievable. Volunteer at a homeless shelter. Give to charity. Appreciate others, and be nice. Who the hell cares about your religious conversion.

-JB 

Confused_200

Absolutely nothing wrong with it, live with and God be with you. I'm not a Christian but I've learnt a lot about it and have compared to my upbringing which is a mix of Hindu/Buddhist. Nobody is perfect, every religion has its own sin. But for the "greater good of the society", I'm favoring Christianity. I'm impressed by the practicality of the faith, Christian are progressive and realistic. I can tell you this from my experience that Judeo Christian values are far superior than us, period. Their teaching is more fruitful to build a society and hence Christian nations flourish.You will be surprised how much I hated Christian while growing up, all taught by my grand father and my family. But the fact they never knew anything about it, just their insecurities made them to say all the lies and breed hate within me. They were so wrong. The truth is very different. I bullied one of my friend all my life who was a Christian convert through his missionary, and made his life miserable just because of his faith. Shame on me. Few years back, I called him and apologized him. He was stunned and happy. I promised that I'll make some donation to some missionaries when I take a trip back to Nepal.

Hinduism is full of ritual and too mythological, non realistic teaching that aren't any use to this modern society. It is too contained and non practical, old and stale. Most teaching are vague and nobody follows through. Buddhism is selfish and self oriented. Meditation, nirvana and all the deep philosophical teaching are great on books, nothing practical in this era. It is all about you and you, nothing about the person next to you. None of these provided me the answer of why we're so backward and why does my God not help my nation to rise up.

It's your life. Choose what you want. Just because your ancestor followed a certain trail, does not mean you'll have to live walk on it when you're comfortable with driving on a paved road. New day calls for new changes. I don't know how you'll deal with your parents, everybody has their own story. But I can tell you this for sure that there are many new Nepali who will support regardless of your faith.

Good luck.

Jai Nepal.

 

Confused_200,

Hi, it is indeed an interesting topic to begin with. Firstly, let me tell you, I fully respect your personal preference to religion. I don't have anything against any religion. I just have some queries for you. 

As your sobriquet suggests,  seems like you are still confused about why you converted and what your next step is.  One one hand your are stating that," Having said that, I don’t think any particular religion is good or bad."  and, "I am by no means a religious fanatic and don't plan to talking about religion all the time or trying to convert other people." On the other hand, you are already baptized.

I am just having hard time understanding why you care to convert when u r not so much into religion. Though you  already said, "I am very impressed by my catholic friends and their lifestyle. I have also had a lot of experiences that has helped me gain a testimony of the Bible. " and ," I think Christianity makes more sense to me"  and I think these statements are little bit vague, don't you think? Could you please elaborate more on this? I am really interested in knowing what really prompted you to covert.

"I am just trying to know what kind of reaction I should expect back in Nepal when people find out I have converted to Christianity. " The truth is you know what to expect back in Nepal.  Let me simplfy it. What are the things that are bothering you? Is it fear of you being disowned by your parents or u not being able to fully embrace christianity or is it difficulty in  dumping hindu tradition that you have been practicing for so many years?  or, are there any components in ur subconscious that u want to become one of the people who surrounds you? or, do u feel insecure being another religion in the midst of catholic? or do u feel indebted as u have been studying for scholarship in primarily Catholic University?

Personally what I think is, if you strongly believe in what you are doing, u don't have to give rat's behind to what others think. It is your life, your choice, your decision. However,  it is not only religion that u r trading off with, it comes as a whole package (tradition, culture, festivals, beliefs). Not only that, I am sure you must have had pleasant and emotional memories of you being with your family/friends on several ocassions like Dashain or Tihar or Shiva Ratri.  Are you ready to switch in this context? (This does not mean that if you are christian, you can not celebrate other culture but I guess deep connection is needed, don't you think?. ) I don't know how lenient your family is but are u ready to go aganist your family for the sake of change in religion ( I presume, which you don't strongly believe in as your statements above suggest).

Having said  that, I fully agree with other sajhaities that  it only matters how good a human being you are. You have full right to exercise your freedom of  religion. 

Thank you for reading,