Everybody should read foreign papers from time to time, if only to remind yourself of how different America really is from the rest of the world. For instance, the secular fundamentalists get worked up into a snit every time some government official mentions in public that he’s a Christian. But this story in the Times of India shows what government interference in religion really looks like:

The Gujarat government on Monday revoked the amendment proposed to the controversial Freedom of Religion Act which had specified which religions could be considered as denominations of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The state assembly passed a resolution withdrawing the 2006 amendment to the Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, which clarified Jains and Buddhists as denominations of Hindu religion, Shias and Sunnis as denominations of Islam, and Protestants and Catholics as denominations of Christianity. Now, if anybody in one of these sects wants to convert to another, he or she may have to seek permission of the state authority. A senior state official said, “This takes us back to the original Act of 2003 which does not clarify who all would have to seek permission (to convert) and who would not.” The amendment was withdrawn after the government accepted Gujarat governor Naval Kishore Sharma’s objections to describing Jainism and Buddhism as denominations of Hinduism. In his letter dated July 27, 2007, he had said Jainism has been regarded as “special religion formed on the basis of quintessence of Hindu religion by the Supreme Court”.

Asking the government permission to convert? Sounds nuts to an American, but various Indian politicians (mostly local and regional) have made a career out of trying to limit the growth of Christianity in their jurisdictions.

Also: There’s a certain weird poetry to Indian English. Definite and indefinite articles are regularly ignored, but then you get “quintessence of Hindu religion.” I like it.