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Thread: Religion is Poison

  1. #1

    Religion is Poison

    Recently I went through few pages of the book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" by Christopher Hitchens.

    The learned author has failed to understand that the so called "Hinduism" as is referred today is not a religion but "a way of life"(Sanathana Dharma)

    Religions are established by individuals but "Sanathana Dharma" was not formed by any single individual.

    Religions have a fixed doctrines where as "Sanathana Dharma" has undergone refinements and changes over ages and is not confined to any fixed Dogma or Doctrine.

    Religions ferments "hatred" where as "Sanathana Dharma" accepts all faiths ad practices.

    Religion is bothered only about human beings whereas "Sanathana Dharma" covers all living creatures such as plants, animals, birds etc including environment.

    Atheism is part of "Sanathana Dharma" whereas religions treat "Atheists" as enemies.

    One can attain salvation by following "Dharma" whereas religions preaches that only followers of their religion alone will attain salvation.

    Religions believe in conversion to their faith whereas "Dharma" doesn't attempt to do so.

    Religion is a "poison" whereas "Dharma" is "Truth"
    'Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides' Rigveda 1-89-i.

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    Re: Religion is Poison

    I honestly don't even know how to respond to this...let me put it this way: it sounds way too neo-Hindu for my liking.
    படைபோர் புக்கு முழங்கும்அப் பாஞ்சசன்னியமும் பல்லாண்டே
    May your pA~nchajanya shankha which reverberates on the battlefield, last thousands upon thousands of years...
    http://archives.mirroroftomorrow.org...anchajanya.jpg

  3. #3

    Re: Religion is Poison

    Dear RVR, Jaskaran Singh,


    I wonder is it a coincidence that snakes and poison are cited in śāstra?

    Also that snake venom mixed with snake blood makes an antidote for the very same; does this I wonder make religion the origin of medicine by proxy, or vis versa? I tend towards a belief that God is simply reflecting him self again, as it would seem he so dearly loves.
    An additional thought by which I mean no disrespect; Neo is rather a curious word ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Dictionary.com
    NEO

    near-earth object.

    neo-

    1. a combining form meaning “new,” “recent,” “revived,” “modified,” used in the formation of compound words: neo-Darwinism; Neolithic; neoorthodoxy; neophyte.

    2. Chemistry . a combining form used in the names of isomers having a carbon atom attached to four carbon atoms: neoarsphenamine.

    Also, especially before a vowel, ne-.

    Origin:
    < Greek, combining form of n�os; akin to new


    Kind regards.
    Last edited by Mana; 07 January 2014 at 07:09 AM.

  4. #4

    Re: Religion is Poison

    Namaste RVR, et al,

    religion noun \ri-ˈli-jən\
    : the belief in a god or in a group of gods

    : an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods

    : an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion


    Why can't Hinduism be a religion and a way of life? It is not an "organized religion", but it certainly is a religion. However, while the dominant (Abrahamic) religions are centered around belief (Believe in X or suffer eternal damnation), Hinduism is centered around practice. It is this emphasis on practice above belief which makes Hinduism a way of life. Rather than focusing on believing this or that or this prophet or that prophet, Hinduism is centered around Dharma, which encompasses all aspects of life. Dharma is about right conduct, performing our individual duties in this world and respecting the diversity of life and individual consciousness; this is in stark contrast to the belief-centric Abrahamic religions which are all about making every single person believe in the same exact things.

    "New atheists" like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris etc have a deceitful tendency to lump all religions together and label them all as evil, delusional, or whatnot. Dawkins and Harris are a bit more objective, as they are at least willing to recognize that religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. are starkly different than the Abrahamic religions. However, when Hitchens wrote about Hinduism he focused on "guru scandals" and highly controversial figures like Osho. He was very biased and had an agenda of his own, which was to turn the whole world into atheists. Just look at the title of his book and that will tell you how objective he was.

    In many ways atheists like Hitchens are no better than Abrahamics. At least atheists are by and large peaceful people. But Hitchens himself was not, as he was a major proponent of the United States' invasion of Iraq (in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed) largely because of his hatred of Islam.

    Anyway, Hinduism certainly is a religion, and we should't back down from saying so just because "religion" has turned into a dirty word. Hindus need to stop worrying about what non-Hindus say about our religion.

    Jai Sri Ram
    Sanatana Dharma ki Jai!
    Jai Hanuman

  5. #5

    Re: Religion is Poison

    Quote Originally Posted by Ramakrishna View Post
    Namaste RVR, et al,

    re�li�gion noun \ri-ˈli-jən\
    : the belief in a god or in a group of gods

    : an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods

    : an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion


    Why can't Hinduism be a religion and a way of life? It is not an "organized religion", but it certainly is a religion. However, while the dominant (Abrahamic) religions are centered around belief (Believe in X or suffer eternal damnation), Hinduism is centered around practice. It is this emphasis on practice above belief which makes Hinduism a way of life. Rather than focusing on believing this or that or this prophet or that prophet, Hinduism is centered around Dharma, which encompasses all aspects of life. Dharma is about right conduct, performing our individual duties in this world and respecting the diversity of life and individual consciousness; this is in stark contrast to the belief-centric Abrahamic religions which are all about making every single person believe in the same exact things.

    "New atheists" like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris etc have a deceitful tendency to lump all religions together and label them all as evil, delusional, or whatnot. Dawkins and Harris are a bit more objective, as they are at least willing to recognize that religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. are starkly different than the Abrahamic religions. However, when Hitchens wrote about Hinduism he focused on "guru scandals" and highly controversial figures like Osho. He was very biased and had an agenda of his own, which was to turn the whole world into atheists. Just look at the title of his book and that will tell you how objective he was.

    In many ways atheists like Hitchens are no better than Abrahamics. At least atheists are by and large peaceful people. But Hitchens himself was not, as he was a major proponent of the United States' invasion of Iraq (in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed) largely because of his hatred of Islam.

    Anyway, Hinduism certainly is a religion, and we should't back down from saying so just because "religion" has turned into a dirty word. Hindus need to stop worrying about what non-Hindus say about our religion.

    Jai Sri Ram
    Thanks Sri Ramakrishna,

    Personally I feel that most of the west writers have either not understood or misunderstood our "Sanathana Dharma"

    There is no word such as "Hindu" in any of our scriptures including four "Vedhas" and "Upanishads". We don't know how the word "Hindu" was derived. Probably Alexander after crossing river "Sindhu" named us as "Hindus" or Persian invaders could have named us so. It is invaders who named us as "Hindus" and we never had such name.

    Right from Vedic times, we have respected multiple ways of worship and practices. When Gowthama Bhuddha and Mahaveer Jain tried to enforce their belief, it was resisted and they have practically closed their business in India. Right from those days enforcing one's belief on others was not allowed. Only invaders including Moghuls and British succeeded in enforcing their faith to some extent through force but couldn't convince majority.

    There are millions of communities in India practicing equally millions of practices without any problem. Atheism is also part of our way of life and as some of you rightly pointed out, we always respect true "Atheists" and not pseudo atheists like Christopher Hitchens.

    Hence giving up the religious name "Hindu"and accepting "Sanathana Dharma" (Eternal Way of Life) seems to me as the right thing to do. Religions are created by individual human beings and are poisonous. So called "Hinduism" is not created by any single individual and hence could not be clubbed as a religion.

    On the contrary "Sanathana Dharma" has origins from Vedic times and is eternal.

    Religions have both origins and end. But Sanathana Dharma is eternal.
    'Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides' Rigveda 1-89-i.

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    Re: Religion is Poison

    Vannakkam: Whether we like it or not, practically the entire world classifies Hinduism as a religion, and refers to Sanatana Dharma as Hinduism. Whether or not this reality is correct or not is kind of irrelevant now. We have to live with it, just as you have to live with the change of a city's name. You may have been really used to Madras or Bombay, but that's too bad.

    The subconscious mind of western scholars regarding religion is almost 98% Abrahamic, and in particular Christianity. 50 years ago, before any Asian immigration here, if you asked 'What religion are you?" it really meant, "what Christian denomination are you?" So your answers were Lutheran Baptist, Catholic, Anglican, etc etc. Anything else, including Islam and Judaism, for the most part was 'outside' that norm.

    There were pockets in the west where some 'foreigners' had enclaves like the Jewish in Montreal or New York, or Buddhists, Taoists, and Confucianism on the west coast in Vancouver and San Francisco.

    So this is the subconscious training they have. They really do know nothing beyond one encyclopedia entry that was in their grade school. Then the psychological phenomena called horizontal transfer takes over. It means taking something from one area of the mind or a skill and applying it somewhere else. Certain kinds of math are equally applicable inn Physics and Chemistry.

    So they take that 'definition' of religion and apply it elsewhere. But for religion as different as ours, this doesn't work. It would be like trying to apply math concepts (from the previous analogy) to learning a new language.

    Simple things like a religious building not having pews in it, worshipping on days besides Sunday, or not having a speaker (minister) talk to you are just 'Oh my gosh, what's going on here?"

    So you can't really blame then for coming where they come from. But you can take every opportunity that comes up to educate them. But even that only works if their subconscious isn't so hardened that they have no holes of openness.

    Aum Namasivaya
    Last edited by Eastern Mind; 08 January 2014 at 03:10 PM.

  7. #7

    Re: Religion is Poison

    Dear RVR, All

    Quote Originally Posted by RVR View Post
    Atheism is part of "Sanathana Dharma" whereas religions treat "Atheists" as enemies.
    If I might add another point here; I know fanatical Atheists who's views I find to be very dogmatic, I would say religiously so.

    It's a curious thing to live in the West and be a lone (concious) follower of Santana Dharma; I believe alcohol to be poison, and at least 70% of the people that I know here, I would consider to be alcoholics.

    That is their a way of escaping reality avoiding irritating natural thought, it is of course an obvious pastime for worshippers of the vine here in France, many take cocaine to perform better also; but that is another matter.

    When I have expressed concern to a Doctor, about my surroundings; I was Passed over to a psychiatrist and offered, poisons drugs ...


    It would seem that much is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to beliefs and poison ...

    Binge drinking.




    Kind regards.
    Last edited by Mana; 08 January 2014 at 09:56 AM.

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    Re: Religion is Poison

    Good points by Ramakrishna. It seems like OP is ashamed of being a member of the Hindu religion and wants to sugar coat it by calling it a lifestyle.

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    Re: Religion is Poison

    Religion has a central authority or a primary belief in one ideology. Hinduism has no central authority or primary belief. Religion is a concept to mind control people and influence laws of countries. While Hinduism could have influenced laws of society at some point of time, it is still not an ideology which seeks to dominate people and put a end to free thought. The only common cause for various Hindus is to unite against barbarian jihadis and evil missionaries. If it weren't for political cause I won't be interested in calling myself a Hindu. Not identifying with concept of religion doesn't means one has not got love and respect for sanatan Dharm.
    When the light has risen, there is no day, no night, neither existence nor non-existence; Siva alone is there. That is the eternal, the adorable light of Savitri, - and the ancient wisdom proceeded thence (Svetasvatara Upanishad IV-18). :)

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    Re: Religion is Poison

    The common argument against Hinduism being a religion goes like this: "There are black sheep, therefore sheep are black. This particular animal is not black, therefore it is not a sheep."

    Quote Originally Posted by isavasya View Post
    Religion has a central authority or a primary belief in one ideology. Hinduism has no central authority or primary belief. Religion is a concept to mind control people and influence laws of countries.
    This is a limited definition of religion. Religion has a broader meaning as any dictionary can show.

    Full Definition of RELIGION (Merriam Webster dictionary.)

    1
    a : the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year of religion>
    b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
    2
    : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
    3
    archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
    4
    : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

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