{{Short description|Pejorative term for Christian converts}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} The expression '''rice Christian''' is a derogatory slur used to describe someone who has formally converted to Christianity for material benefits rather than for religious reasons.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bartleby.com/81/14282.html | title = Rice Christians. | publisher = Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | year = 1898 | accessdate = 2007-04-17}}</ref> Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as "a convert to Christianity who accepts baptism not on the basis of personal conviction but out of a desire for food, medical services, or other benefits".<ref>{{Cite web|title= Rice Christian - Definition of Rice Christian|url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rice%20Christian|access-date=2020-09-15|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref>
Similarly, in India, the term '''rice bag''' or '''rice bag convert''' is used as a derogatory slur targeting Christians, alleging that the target has converted to Christianity for a bag of rice.<ref>{{Cite web|last=John|first=Rachel|date=2021-03-28|title=Jhansi train incident with nuns shows Christian habits are the new skullcaps in India|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/pov/jhansi-train-incident-with-nuns-shows-christian-habits-are-the-new-skullcaps-in-india/629457/|access-date=2021-04-20|website=ThePrint|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=The Term "rice bag" is a Derogatory way to Curb Dissent - SheThePeople TV|newspaper=Shethepeople Tv|url=https://www.shethepeople.tv/home-top-video/the-term-rice-bag-christians-india-derogatory-way-to-curb-dissent/|access-date=2021-04-20|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Christina|last=Dhanraj|date=2019-12-10|title=How Babasaheb helped me understand my identity as a Dalit-Christian|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/br-ambedkar-ideology-dalit-violence-dalit-christian-6158816/|access-date=2021-04-20|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> The term is often used by right-wing Hindutva groups in India.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Daniyal|first=Shoaib|title=Why have Hindutva online armies launched a concerted attack on India's stand-up comedians?|url=https://scroll.in/article/967694/why-are-hindutva-online-armies-so-angry-with-indias-stand-up-comedians|access-date=2021-04-20|website=Scroll.in|date=17 July 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-02-17|title=False claim that Disha Ravi is Christian viral on social media|url=https://www.altnews.in/false-claim-that-disha-ravi-is-christian-viral-on-social-media/|access-date=2021-04-20|website=Alt News|language=en-GB}}</ref>
Concerns have been expressed both by Christian missionaries and by those opposed to Christian missions that people in these situations are only nominally converting to Christianity in order to receive charity or material advancements.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1121137359 | title = Baptists Tired of Being Swindled by Rice Christians | author = Way of Life Baptist publication | date = 2005-07-11 | accessdate = 2007-04-17 | publisher = ChristianAggression.org | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926230111/http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1121137359 | archivedate = 2007-09-26 }}</ref>{{bsn|date=June 2021}}
==History == One of the earliest examples of this concept in English appeared in 1689 with the writings of William Dampier when he wrote regarding the French priests' effort to convert people of Tonkin that "alms of rice have converted more than their preaching."<ref>{{cite book|title=A Pirate of Exquisite Mind|url=https://archive.org/details/pirateofexquisit00pres|url-access=registration|author=Diana & Michael Preston|publisher=Walker & Company|year=2004|isbn=042520037X}}Chapter XV</ref>
In China, the European powers extracted privileges for themselves and for foreign missionaries in the unequal treaties that followed the Opium Wars.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wong |first=Stephanie M. |title=Making Catholicism Chinese: the Catholic Church in a Modernizing China |date=2025 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-762369-5 |location=New York, NY, United States of America}}</ref>{{Reference page|pages=14-16}} Principles of extraterritoriality applied the foreigners in China, and the French religious protectorate in China developed a role in intervening in disputes on behalf of Catholic missionaries and Chinese Catholics.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=16}} The ability to intervene in court cases pursuant to treaty rights made the Catholic Church a new source of power in local Chinese society.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Sun |first=Yanfei |title=Religious Change in Post-Mao China: Toward a New Sociology of Religion |date=2026 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-84585-2 |location=Chicago}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=67}} It obtained support from people living at the margins of Chinese society and groups seeking allies in local conflicts.<ref name=":02" />{{Reference page|page=|pages=67-68}} Chinese who converted to Catholicism to obtain protection were sometimes called ''rice Christians, litigation Christians, or feud Christians''.<ref name=":02" />{{Reference page|page=68}}
This term and the topic were very extensively written about by Thomas Hale, Jr. He introduced the topic in his first 1986 book ''Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees'' and spoke and taught on best practices in missions summarizing his work in his 1995 book ''On Being a Missionary''. The term has also been used pejoratively to describe conversions by missionaries who exploit poverty and famine, where food and other allurements are given in exchange for conversion.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Strangio|first=Sebastian|date=3 September 2008|title=Proselytising amid the poverty|url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/proselytising-amid-poverty|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=The Phnom Penh Post}}</ref> In ''Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct'', a document issued by the World Council of Churches in 2011, one of the points raised states "If Christians engage in inappropriate methods of exercising mission by resorting to deception and coercive means, they betray the gospel and may cause suffering to others." Principles 4 and 5 of this document outline that "Acts of service, such as providing education, health care, relief services and acts of justice and advocacy are an integral part of witnessing to the gospel. The exploitation of situations of poverty and need has no place in Christian outreach. Christians should denounce and refrain from offering all forms of allurements, including financial incentives and rewards, in their acts of service...as they carry out these ministries, fully respecting human dignity and ensuring that the vulnerability of people and their need for healing are not exploited."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20111110_testimonianza-cristiana_en.html|access-date=2020-07-01|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> These admonitions are seen as to prevent false conversions which produce such so-called ''rice Christians''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Code of Conduct for Christian Witness - East-West Church & Ministry Report|url=http://www.eastwestreport.org/42-english/e-20-1/331-new-code-of-conduct-for-christian-witness|access-date=2020-07-01|website=www.eastwestreport.org|archive-date=6 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206084809/https://www.eastwestreport.org/42-english/e-20-1/331-new-code-of-conduct-for-christian-witness|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Clarke|first=Gerard|date=|title=Religion and development: Challenges for donors and for faith groups|url=http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/devnet/CivilSociety/Outlookserien/2012,%20Faith/FCV_Clarke.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006141429/http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/devnet/CivilSociety/Outlookserien/2012,%20Faith/FCV_Clarke.pdf|archive-date=6 October 2014|access-date=|website=}}</ref>
==See also== {{Wiktionary|rice bag}} {{wikiquote}} *Religion of the Yellow Stick *Christianity in Asia *Christian mission *Souperism
==References== {{Reflist}} Category:Anti-Christian sentiment Category:Christian terminology Category:Conversion to Christianity Category:Religious slurs for people Category:Religious conversion in India Category:Food politics Category:English phrases