Prostitutes of God

[hesh86]

Namaste,
Am I the only one that found this offensive?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GFaN9-1iz0
Not only does it portray Hinduism in a bad light, it associates the devadasi belief in Yellamma as Hindu and then says "What kind of a religion promotes prostitution?"
A tad biased?! It also calls Lord Shiva a "fat, blue-skinned Hindu God in a bikini."

The comments show how easily the woman in the video managed to brainwash everyone watching (non-Hindus especially) into believing that this is what India and Hinduism are like.

Comments?

[Shanti29]

I wasn't as offended as I thought I would be. Child prostitution is absolutely disgusting. I'm surprised you didn't mention it at all. Its a short documentary so I can forgive the reporter a bit for not going more into how the Devadasi went from being temple dancers to prostitutes.
I also checked out the channel before I watched it. Titles like "Interview with a cannibal", "The Mexican Mormon War"(ha!) and "Hunting the Radioactive Beasts of Chernobyl" didn't leave me expecting much.
Youtube comments are always ignorant. I don't think she had to do much in the way of brainwashing, they're all pretty brainless and seem to already have their own prejudices.

[hesh86]

Namaste,
My bad for not introducing the video. I assumed it was self evident and that it is clear that people would be appalled by child prostitution. One has to remember however that documentaries are meant to show facts. This video barely spends anytime going over the history and provides a distorted history instead. Wouldn't it be important to allow the community the choice of knowing about their real past and return them to their previous status in society? The biggest issue is associating this practice with hinduism. Any fool can say child prostitution is wrong and start pointing fingers and distorting facts. There is nothing great about that. However a discussion on the history and where to go in the future are the best contributions online users can make on thie issue i feel.

[McKitty]

Vanakkam,


Well I'm not surprised for the distortions of the Gods and their stories. This is an ignorant talking to ignorant people, so I don't feel concerned in any point...What is sad is indeed to see child prostitution....Yes this is all sad to see, but fortunately about the distorded facts, it can be corrected with search and contribution.

You know, you can't imagine how much people though I was a slave because I am worshipping "a blue man that treat his wife like a slave lol Parvati do everything he want she is like a prostitute" *sic*

This documentary is merely a little drop on the ocean of ignorance. But I don't worry, there are many other thing people watch that are actually very informative, plus, with internet and all this stuff, it's easier to do a search and found a very accurate and informative source than a false one.

I also agree with Shanti about the..."quality" of this documentary...Seeing the name and the other subjects, this is obvious they are more attention whores than informative journalists.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Jodhaa]

Let's also remember that we are talking about an internet video. Considering the firestorm over youtube in current events let's learn from that and not get ourselves fired up over an obviously ignorant video. I appreciate the concern of the way in which Hinduism is portrayed to the public, but anyone genuinely interested in the truth isn't going to stop at one of even a few short, uninformative videos. Those that accept this sort of thing as truth without going further were never going to educate themselves and open their minds anyway.

Peace!

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

I did not see any example of Devadasi temple dancers, all I saw were the same sort of whore houses as you can find in San Francisco for example, of which some such prostitutes also have religious though obscure tendencies and may even visit a Christian Church, Jewish Temple, a Buddhist or even a Hindu Temple for that matter (for example, a prostitute who may visit a Hare Krishna Temple). What is the Church or Temple going to do? If such persons start trouble, the Temple or Church can call the police. But if the person is a prostitute, it may not be immediately obvious, or even if obvious then what?

It's no different than the same prostitute walking into a grocery store. Sometimes, everyone knows the lady is dirty, people back away in fear of disease, but what can you do? The police won't, and cannot arrest them unless they are committing a crime at that moment. So?

In the video we see a "gay" man who dresses in saris and sells himself. He calls himself devadasi. Was he ever a temple dancer? No. So he can call himself anything he wants, and worship Devi, can anyone stop him? No. But he is not a devadasi just because he thinks or says so.

In San Francisco, there is the exact same, who dress in women's cloths, sell themselves, they even parade in the streets at the taxpayers expense and some even have a special religion where they worship. Are they devadasi? No. And then they get AIDS and die. So, this is everywhere in Kali Yuga.

None of this has anything to do with real devadasi dancers of a temple, anymore than Madonna is a Jew or Torah Master and so on.

We live in a society that not only is on the very edge, but often off the edge.

Prostitution exists in India. As if we didn't know? You know what? It exists in Baghdad and Mecca, too. And in San Francisco. So we can do our best to shun it, to try and stop it, but as they say, "it's the world's oldest profession". Politicians come next, and then tax collectors.

This video is simply the typical voyeurism as in carnival freak shows, not reform. Why do I say so? Because what did she do to tell them no, to tell them otherwise? In some scenes it was as if she almost sort of wished she could be a prostitute herself in some bent minded way. Perhaps I am being over judgmental, but this is not unique to India.

Om Namah Sivaya

[IcyCosmic]

I am extremely crude but because of my deep affinity towards Hinduism, just watching this video makes me cringe.

[JaiMaaDurga]

Namaste,

I admit to avoiding reading this particular thread, based on the
title alone, guessing that it somehow involved someone/thing presenting
the subject of devadasis in a lurid, exploitative light, willfully
misunderstanding and ignoring the historical background- in lieu of the
typical "Gosh, what sort of primitive moral degenerates allow such a thing
to develop and flourish in their midst?!?" xenophobic dog-whistling.

Apparently, my guessing abilities in this instance were spot-on.

I do thank my fellow HDF members for keeping the replies intelligent and
thoughtful- which is why I am replying at all to the thread.
I agree with the sentiment that while there is nothing wrong with being
aware that such misrepresentation occurs, or seeking insight as to the
roots of such activities or mindsets of such people, ultimately, as with
Internet forums, the best advice "Do not feed the trolls"...

Please, do not mistake my intent- I am not considering hesh86 or the
topic itself as "trolling", but rather the creators of content like the video.

As a Shakta, it used to trouble me that a search on YouTube for "Shaktism"
will have a sensationalistic video of animal sacrifice in the first page
of results.. yet, I have absolutely no control over anything other than
my own thoughts, words, and conduct, as a devotee of Maa.

Others will do as they do, and while I will not encourage or condone
disrespectful or harmful behavior by others, and always seek to remove
ignorance both behind my eyes and before my feet, Her reflection is
most clearly seen in untroubled waters- there are enough waves in this
ocean of illusion without my adding to them!

JAI MATA DI

[R Gitananda]

namaste

I think this is just another example of why sex-workers in all nations should be licensed, taxed
and therefore carefully monitored by government health authorities. I think that is the best
chance to keep minors from being exploited. This is done successfully in parts of Europe and
the U.S. state of Nevada whereas in many other U.S. states prostitution is only regulated if
it is recorded with the intent to sell the 'production' to others. California is a major regulator
in that field.

Hari Aum

[hesh86]

Namaste,
I do consider myself more liberal in terms of sexual issues than most of my fellow Hindus, but I still disagree with the comment above. Why not provide for another means of employment? Why have sex workers/prostitutes at all? The Indian government likely has thousands of minimum wage posts open for those that were not fortunate enough to receive quality education. Community service is also the need of the hour. And in the case of the US, instead of the government spending money on women's contraception, perhaps that money should be spent on more fruitful endeavors such as (eradicating) this 'career'.

That being said, I don't know how well it will work.

Hari Om