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Re: Christian hate literature on Hinduism
Hi Dominic
Thanks for the reply.
> But i disagree for one thing : being a follower of a Religion means more
> than a simple "tokenization". The problem with Hinduism is that it is
> supported by a whole culture (for example it is easy to claim that the
> Mahabharata is both a cultural, historical, AND religious book)and the
> distinction is not easy to make : the question is : are you "culturally"
> a Hindu (which could even include having a picture of Ganesha at your
> home) or "spiritually" (which means performing Pujas and some kind of
> regular practice, not because you are "forced" but because you believe).
There you go, you've made two assumptions ----
1. Belonging to a religion "culturally" - does this have anything to do
with idol-worship or in this case "photo-worship".
2. Does "spiritually" have to involve taking part in all the rites.
Hinduism developed as a culture. The reason to why some thing that you
have mentioned appear to be hazy is because it has a long history. You
have to understand, that there is no fixed set of rules that you have to
follow to be a hindu either "culturally" or "spiritually" !! All the
"religious" texts that have been written are experiences/philosophies of
others. Whether you accept them as religion texts or just fables depends
on you.
For me being a Hindu means sticking to some principles that have been
inculcated into me since my birth such as secularism, respect to other
ideas, respect to elders, being generous etc.. Every religion teaches these,
but it is upto us to realize that these are just guidelines to live our
lives and everyone has the freedom to adapt these to their own way of
thinking.
Each one has his own philosophy of life, and, as a hindu, I have never
been forced to follow a specific philosohpy. I have always had the
freedom to make my own path.
My earlier posting was not against any other religion, in fact I was
commenting on a posting comparing hinduism with some other religions; I
just wanted to share some thoughts / experiences with others.
I appreciate you taking interest in this newsgroup, and taking part in
this discussion.
Thanks
Abhijeet
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