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Challenges to religious coexistence in India (Repost)
I tried to post this article some time ago, and it did not show up in
many places, I was told, including our site. Therefore, I am sending
this again. I hope that we can discuss the issue in more substantive
manner than I have done.
Dear Friends:
I felt that it is time that we discussed this important issue and develop
an awareness of the challenges of coexistence of religions in India.
What I write now is basically my impressions, and I am eager to see what
you think of these issues.
Issue 1: Perspectives that vary
When we talk to each other, our biases come through in the interpretation
of Hinduism. Sometimes we end a conversation by forcing ourselves to
declare that multiple views must be accepted as a key ingredient to
religious harmony, at the same time wishing the situation to be more to
our liking. Is this truly the accommodation of various ideas or is this
merely a demonstration of the Rconfused world of HinduismS ?
Christian writers insist that it is indeed a confused world for Hindus,
and declare that we are in a situation akin to pre-reformation medieval
church in Europe. To them, present day India is merely a living
laboratory of sorts, a page from the medieval European history.
Personally, I do not agree to this representation. In addition to
differences in cultures, there are major differences in how we Hindus
view religious reform. Indeed, at any given point of time in India,
there are various reform movements in progress. However, in the final
analysis, they all look to God as the eventual reformer, to descend and
live among us, as He did several thousand years ago as Sri Krishna. For
Hindus, reform is primarily the revival of Sanatana Dharma. The outlook
of the various reform movements is to find ways to come together, and not
from breakaway splinter groups. For us, reform is not high politics, but
the execution of Divine plan.
When it comes to inter-religious dialog, the traditional perspectives are
even more divergent. Apparently the communities of believers do not have
much interest in inter-religious dialog. Nevertheless, when these
happen, the primary reason why such events do not get the headlines
appears to be the entrenched attitudes of the believer communities.
While reviewing the problems for Muslim-Christian dialog, Jeremy Johns
noted,
RThe relationship between Christianity and Islam during the middle ages
is usually seen, in the west, in terms of military conflict and in the
east, in terms of Arab contribution to western culture. It is
symptomatic of the past (and of the continuing) relationship between the
two faiths, that each focuses upon an issue that the other regards as
peripheral.S
It is almost funny that such attitudes dominate heavily over any discussion
that may be taking place, instead of criteria like scholarship and
spiritual experience.
Issue 2: Universalism
In Christianity, the main thrust is in limitarianism, also known as
exclusivism as opposed to universalism. Universalism remain a minority
opinion in Christianity. Hinduism is universalistic, and this is
embedded in the Indian way of thinking. What does universalism do? It
created the Sufis from the Islamic fold, who the Muslims happily embrace
in India. But it failed to do very much to Christianity in India, not
because of a lack of similar spiritual experiences, but because of
politics in high places, the exercise of the remote control. A little
review of history will help in elucidating this assertion. My primary
source of information is the book, RThe oxford illustrated history of
ChristianityS edited by John Mcmanners. The chapter 14 of this book
deals with Christianity in Asia.
Despite the Christian high command, some of the Indian converts could not
close their eyes to Hindu Scriptures just because they chose to follow
Christ. For example, Krishna Mohan Banerjea, an Anglican clergy wished
that Christian doctrine in India include a statement like, Hinduism
points towards Christianity just like the Old testament is fulfilled by
the coming of Christ. Some thought that Vedic texts would be
appropriately substituted for the Old Testament in India. Hendrik
Kraemer stopped these initiatives.
Brahmabandhab Upadhyay, a Roman Catholic would wear Hindu robes and
declared that it is possible to be both a Hindu and a Christian. He
wrote his views in his journal RSophiaS. The Apostolic delegates forbade
Catholics to read his writings.
Christian exclusivism does not, in general, accept the notion of
universal spirituality but Indians thrive on it. The result is that
Christianity remained a western religion in India. This created
hostilities among Hindus and Christians including suggestions like that
Christian missionaries are telling their followers that they do not
anymore have anything in common with the mainstream India, and thus are
inciting separatism of sorts.
This is one issue that continue to divide us and remains a challenge to
both Hindus and Christians.
Issue 3: Apocryphal texts and obscure Puranas
I recognize this as an issue but am not prepared to talk about it yet.
Issue 4: Rationalism
Rationalists do not claim to TexplainU God, or the way Divine plans
function among us. But they can be quite irrational themselves, and when
it is coupled with their inherent feeling of superiority, they try to
enforce their project on us, which is, believers should not make any
noises. In their view, since they are in reality, keeping the precarious
peace for the goofy bunch of believers, the latter need to acknowledge
their precious role in society and basically follow their lead. Plainly
stated, their message is, RShut up, you stupid oafs!S.
Perhaps, I was a little unkind to them, but I do not really view them as
a challenge to the peaceful coexistence of a multi-faith society like India.
I will stop here presently, and hope that you would share your thoughts.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
