The Politics of Religious Conversion among the Ethnic Chin in Burma

Through an analysis of some possible reasons for religious conversion among the ethnic Chin in the western frontier of modern-day Burma to Christianity from their old religion that historically shaped and impacted Chin society for centuries, this article argues that missionary agency, Chin religion, social change and political awakening after the Chin were finally exposed to the wider modern world appear to have played a critically crucial role in a long process of the choice of religious conversion among the Chin when Christian missionaries came to their country and evangelised them at the turn of the twentieth century. Moreover, their newly adopted religion has been not only a historical source of political awareness and social progress, but also a hallmark of their ethnic identity. Chin leaders now proudly maintain that Christianity has provided them with a cementing source for retaining their ethnic identity and that Chin identity and Christianity have become interwoven.