Namaste,
I am in a club at school called Coffeehouse Theology. It is a weekly club where students have theological discussions. Usually the discussions relate to Christian theology, since most people in the club are Christian. I have no problem with that, as I enjoy learning about all of the world's religions. However, at the next meeting I will be teaching everyone about Hinduism. Only one person in the club knows a decent amount of information about Hinduism. I was appalled when I told somebody that I was Hindu and they didn't know what that is!
Here is the club's composition: 6 Christians, 1 atheist, and there is 1 Jewish boy that occasionally shows up. Of the 6 Christians, 1 is Catholic (he is the one who actually knows a bit about Hinduism), 2 are Anglicans and quite open-minded, and the other 3 are Protestant fundamentalist Christians who believe that the Bible is without error.
There is one boy who is especially fundamentalist and he has been trying to convert me. I have listened to him over and over again tell me how Jesus Christ died for our sins and how I need to accept Christ as my savior. I keep on telling him how I respect the core teachings of Christianity and I respect the core teachings of Christ, but I am Hindu and I do not believe that Christ is the only way to attain salvation. Every single day he wants to talk to me after school, so he can preach the gospel to me. He is the one who had never heard of Hinduism before, and recently he has been asking me to explain Hinduism to him in the hallways between classes. I told him how Hinduism is such a complex religion that it is impossible for me to explain it to him in 5 minutes, so instead I'll explain it at the theology club. It will be extremely difficult getting him to understand Hinduism. I told him how Hinduism is the oldest and most complex religion in the world, and he said "It can't be the oldest religion in the world! The Bible says God created the world and Adam and Eve were the first people!"
It's a good thing that my Catholic friend as well as the my Anglican friend and his sister will be there. They are open-minded Christians who will have my back in case any of the fundamentalists start attacking Hinduism. I will just be covering the basics of Hinduism. I think the most complicated point to get across will be the concept of God in Hinduism. So many people think it is a polytheistic religion when really it is not. However, I think I figured out a great way to explain the concept of God in Hinduism to Christians: compare it the the Trinity. Christians believe in the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They believe in each of those, yet they are all God, just in different forms. That is what Hinduism is like, just that instead of 3 forms, God has millions of forms. I explained that to my Catholic friend and he understood it really well. I will also be explaining how to attain salvation, or moksha, in Hinduism. I will explain the different yogas: bhakti, karma, jnana, and raja. I may also read a few verses from the Bhagavad Gita.
I am really looking forward to this. Some people will understand Hinduism pretty easily, yet I know that it will be difficult to get the fundamentalists especially that one boy to understand it. My goal is not to convert anybody to Hinduism, it is just to get them to understand my religion and at least to respect it. Again, that one boy keeps on trying to convert me and getting me to accept Christ. I have told him that there is nothing else to talk about until I explain Hinduism to him, then we can talk about the differences in our religions.
Please pray that everything goes well and feel free to offer any suggestions that you may have for explaining Hinduism to others.
Thank you.
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