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HDFNewsBot
14 December 2009, 09:40 AM
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Hindu groups outraged at Fox News&#39;s Ganges remark (http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesnow.tv%2FHindu-groups-outraged-at-Fox-Newss-Ganges-remark%2Farticleshow%2F4334229.cms&usg=AFQjCNGjyVhlRWWs3E-2ikQRQa2mTtjgww)
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The Universal Society of Hinduism has urged Fox and its owner News Corporation to be more sensitive when handling faith related subjects. ...
Hindus upset over Fox News remarks (http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scoop.co.nz%2Fstories%2FWO0912%2FS00306.htm&usg=AFQjCNHaGmv6feJmi8dTAHBalUMLr6lfPw)Scoop.co.nz (press release)
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smaranam
14 December 2009, 10:14 AM
It is outrageous.

Is the official name still 'Ganges' ?

If it is, its about time the River was officially renamed GANGA, urging the rest of the world to stop calling it Ganges as the British named it.

Just as
Bombay is back to Mumbai
Madras is back to Chennai
Calcutta is back to Kolkatta

Eastern Mind
14 December 2009, 10:36 AM
It is outrageous.

Is the official name still 'Ganges' ?

If it is, its about time the River was officially renamed GANGA, urging the rest of the world to stop calling it Ganges as the British named it.

Just as
Bombay is back to Mumbai
Madras is back to Chennai
Calcutta is back to Kolkatta

Vanakkam smaranam:

I agree, but this wouldn't stop Fox from saying inane things. That's what they're best at. Then the article goes on to say Hindu groups are upset, but then only mention one name, and we all know who that is. He doesn't speak for me. Ganga does sound like ganja, or gangrene, but so what? America has been called the cesspool of the world, too, but so what. Anyone who reacts to such triviality hasn't done enough relaxation or meditation to know that anger comes from within, and isn't caused by external forces. Coming from the town of Lost Wages, Zed should lighten up. Maybe some real Hindu groups should ask him to stop pretending he represents us all. The mispronunciations are also rather humorous as intercultural conflict can be. It goes both ways.

Aum Namasivaya

smaranam
14 December 2009, 12:49 PM
Namaste EasternMind

You are right about anger.

This is a childish example ( name-calling a Holy River) , but as a general case, the answer is not anger but education when appropriate and possible, that too with love. When education is not appropriate , perhaps silent love.
( Perhaps anger as a Leela is OK :) )

Only then will it be evident that the Mind of Hinduism is pavitra like the Ganga, and a good example to follow.

Hari Om

sanjaya
15 December 2009, 03:48 AM
I also agree with EM. This doesn't seem like such a big deal. Fox News pulls stunts like this all the time. On many occasions they've referred to President Obama as "Osama." Once when a Republican politician was in the news for a sex scandal, they put a D in front of his name, and later said that it was a mere typo. Fox News is very clearly the propaganda arm of the Republican party, and is a supporter of the neoconservative movement. This movement is characteristically Christian, and of course isn't going to show the slightest bit of respect for Hinduism. During the holidays they display "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hannukah" statements on their channel, but of course have nothing for Divali, Holi, and other Hindu holidays.

And why should we care? This is exactly what you'd expect from an effectively Christian broadcasting company. They're catering to a fundamentalist Christian audience, and it's just silly for us to complain when they make off-the-cuff negative remarks about Hinduism. They do that to everyone they don't like, whether it be Muslims, the French, or "liberals."

Eastern Mind
15 December 2009, 07:51 AM
Namaste all:

Sanjaya is absolutely correct. Fox News should be watched solely for entertainment purposes. They would make for good lessons in propoganda within university media classes. Personally, in one way I find them funny, like politicians using doublespeak. However, the sad thing is that it works on quite a few people, and says loads about the American education system and its lack of thought about reading between the lines, hidden agendas, and the like.

Aum Namasivaya

sanjaya
15 December 2009, 11:57 AM
Namaste all:

Sanjaya is absolutely correct. Fox News should be watched solely for entertainment purposes. They would make for good lessons in propogabd within university media classes. Personally, in one way I find them funny, like politicians using doublespeak. However, the sad thing is that it works on quite a few people, and says loads about the American education system and its lack of thought about reading between the lines, hidden agendas, and the like.

Aum Namasivaya

Perhaps we ought to view Fox News as a symptom rather than a problem? In conservative America, people will often abandon logic in order to submit to their authorities, whether those authorities be leading conservative politicians, fundamentalist pastors, etc. This whole healthcare debate is one example. Whichever side one stands on, it's clear tht attacking the proposed bill as "socialism," without providing further substantive reasoning, doesn't reflect a level of deep thought. Creationism is another example, whereby many Americans neglect years of scientific research because it disagrees with their worldview. I even once had a fundamentalist Christian argue to me that he knew quantum mechanics (which is perhaps the best-tested theory in all of science) was wrong because the idea of particles appearing and disappearing out of the vacuum "doesn't make sense." It's one thing to say that one doesn't understand a theory. It's entirely something else to argue that the theory is wrong because it's difficult to understand. The former is humble, and the latter is illogical arrogance. To me this reflects the value that many Americans place (or rather don't place) on education.

Fox News is much the same way. It tells conservative Americans what they want to hear, and doesn't require them to challenge their own presuppositions. It's a "safe place," if you will. There's no point in fighting against Fox News, because the underlying culture that feeds it will still be there. The answer, I think, is to teach American the value of education.

Eastern Mind
15 December 2009, 04:27 PM
There's no point in fighting against Fox News, because the underlying culture that feeds it will still be there. The answer, I think, is to teach American the value of education.

Yes I agree! Fox is a symptom. But one doesn't have to look very far to find this. How many times on these forums have you found people asking, "But what do you think?" Quoting scripture or following any party line a teacher may have established is fine and dandy, but at some point we have to decide only for ourselves. Then those who do may get lambasted for saying they disagree with aspects of a certain scripture. So besides looking at the overzealous Christians following simplistic ideology, I think we also need sometimes to look in mirrors.

Aum Namasivaya