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ARTICLE : conversion ammendment to FAQ
Hello all,
Recently there have been a lot of inquiries into conversion to Hinduism -
in fact, I think there have been more in the past month than in the
previous year. While it may just be a September thing (students getting
to campus either returning to their accounts or getting new accounts), I
think it stems from one of two primary results: Americans either dating or
interested in dating people of Indian descent and American rebellion to
traditional standards (eg Christianity).
When a non-Indian inquires into the religion of an Indian person, the
answer is usually Hindu (80%+ as a best guess), hence, the common
misconception that Hinduism is one religion or faith. Putting a clause of
this nature would allow the moderator to forward such inquiries to the FAQ
instead of to this forum.
All that I'm writing below is a proposition; you may or may not agree with
it, it may or may not be correct, but it is a starting place.
- - -
Hinduism is not a single religion. Hinduism is a collection of religions
or a collection of faiths from India and the surrounding area. People
from India are native born Hindus. Others cannot convert to Hinduism
because Hinduism is not a single relgion. Others can convert to a faith
comprising one of the Hindu religions. Although the person converted
would belong to that faith, they would not (necessarily) belong to
Hinduism. Such conversion depends upon the actual division which is being
inquired into and upon any local temples which would sponsor the division.
When approaching a spiritual teacher of any of these religions it is
impolite and incorrect to be direct and forward. After attending the
services on an active basis for a while (?six months) one can then inquire
into becoming a student of the teacher or becoming a part of the temple.
- - -
Again this is just a proposition.
Bests,
Jay
