Comments

"In 2005 I completed a 30 city (town, village, field, etc.) lecture tour in 4 Northeast states of India. I was able to see 1st hand the problems connected with coercive evangelical efforts & the movement of militants to separate from India. Not only do we Hindus find offense @ this, but so do a number of members of more moderate Christian denominations in India.

Fred Stella"

"Terrific article. When I first experienced anger over this while in India, I was a bit confused. Many of these Christian groups have been strong allies in my human rights/anti-Islamist efforts. But the more I thought about it and saw for myself what was happening, I shared the Hindu anger over it. It reminded me of Christian conversion efforts against my faith, Judaism. In times past, they were very coercive, too.

While I believe there are specific things that Hindus can do, as we Jews did; Sachi's article identifies a basic challenge that we have to face--and it relates to my initial reaction. That is ignorance. Hindus are a minority in Christian-majority US, just as Jews are. There is even less understanding of Hinduism among Americans--and ignorance spawns support for bad policies. Even one of the best US papers, Wall Street Journal, put that on display with its article.

I do not think it is the "responsibility" of Hindus to justify their faith; nor do I believe it is Hindus' responsibility to eradicate ignorance. But the sad fact is that observations such as Sachi made like will be made again--and again and again--even in a great country like the United States where many Indians have come and become prominent persons.

America truly is a great country, but people will passively or actively support wrong-headed positions because we continue as a nation to be ignorant about Hinduism and the greater picture of what Hindus face in the Northeast and elsewhere."

"I agree that we Hindus must talk, discuss and write about our faith. I noticed that whenever there was an article on Judaism in the chicago trib, there were at least a couple of letters from Jewish people, which means at least a dozen jewish people must have taken the time to write.

Talk about Hindu values, not just to americans but even to our children. Values like:

1. "Ishwar, Allah Tere Naam" - Only a Hindu would utter these words. Hinduism is an inclusive faith not an exclusive one. All good souls, even atheists, are welcomed by God Rama, unlike other religions which reserve heavens for themselves and condemn even good people like Gandhi to hell. That is not the Hindu way.

2. What if the Buddha had been born in Europe or muslim lands in the middle ages? He would have been branded a heretic and tortured to death! There would be no Buddhism today? And what do Hindus to the person who rejected Hinduism? Why, make him a God of course! It is not a coincidence that until recently western and muslim lands were barren except for one religion each, whreas Hindu India has always been a polyglot of hundreds of faiths!

3. The only major religion to pray to a female form of God! Most other religions insist that God can only be a man, relegating women to a second class status. 200 years ago women did not even have the power to vote, they were confined to the kitchen and told to take care of husband and family. Go back 2,000 years their status must have been even worse. It is quite clear that some religions are simply regurgitating values of those days, nothing divine here. But what is mind-boggling is that an even older faith, Hinduism, sought to give equality to women!

4. It is not a coincidence that Muslim pakistan has so much trouble with democracy while Hindu India does not. What is the only difference between the two countries? Religion! Hinduism is a Teacher faith whereas Abrahamic religions are King religions, God made in the image of a King. A King issues orders, commands and passes down judgements. When people appeared before the king, they fell to their knees and shook with fear, for this man could order their death without discussion! Hence a fear of God! In those days most kings were men, so God had to be a man. Using a King as a template for God reduces his devotees to the status of a slave, servant or subject. A King has no use for democracy, and it is for this reason that you see countries that move closer to islam find democracy hard to come by. Most cults and terrorists usually come from these king religions.

Hinduism/Buddhism are teacher religions. For a Hindu the goal is not a flesh-happy heaven but Moksha, a state of enlightenment. Enlightenment comes from gaining knowledge, with God as our guru. All are welcome in God's classroom, a teacher encourages discussion and debate amongst her students. Encourages them to speak their minds even disagree with the teacher if they feel that they are right. Democracy in action! India will remain a democracy as long as it is a Hindu nation."