Hindus worship false Gods

[wundermonk]

Story here.

OK. So, we Indians are narrow minded because most of us are uneducated, malnourished and poor inhabitants of the IIIrd world. But such classy comments from a person aspiring to a gubernatorial position in the USA makes me want to reassess the definition of narrow mindedness and broad mindedness.

Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams ratcheted up criticism of Democratic incumbent Steve Beshear for participating in a Hindu religious ceremony, accusing the governor of worshipping �false gods.�

The state Senate President slammed Behsear on Tuesday for being involved in �polytheistic situations� during a groundbreaking last week, where he joined community leaders in a Hindu service to celebrate the opening of new Indian-owned company.

After the speech, Williams, R-Burkesville, said he wasn�t being critical of those who are Hindu and that he would allow a Hindu priest to give the invocation on the floor of the state Senate. But he said he �wouldn�t pray with them. � You wouldn�t see people there putting dots on their forehead and participating, incense and prayers to false gods. And that�s what he�s done.�

According to the newspaper, Williams also criticized the governor for the Department of Education advising an Eastern Kentucky high school against having organized prayer before football games.

[Adhvagat]

I'd pay a ticket to see this guy explaining (or trying to) why the Hindu divinities are false and the Christian divinities are real.

[Spiritualseeker]

Namaste,

Everything from Jesus dying for our sins, dying on the cross, ressurecting in 3 days, raising the dead, riding to town on a donkey, eating the body of christ, drinking the blood of christ, and so on all came from pre-existing myths concerning Osiris, Dionysis, Bacchus, Mithras, and a host of other 'false' deities. America is doomed with the Republican influence, yet I hear many around me sing praise to these thieves.

Om Namah Sivaya

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: I'm just incredibly grateful all the time that these guys don't have a majority of the people with them. There are enough moderates who still believe in religious and other freedoms that when a guy like Williams comes open and public about his real extremist views, he's basically writing his own ticket for the train to the place of former politicians.

There are places (Arab world, Malaysia, states in Africa) where the ultra conservative do hold a majority. I can't imagine being a minority in such a place. I would be packing my bags.

Aum Namasivaya

[Jainarayan]

Stupid is as stupid does with these people. They are not taken seriously and never even get to the debates. There's no reason to get into an uproar about them. They have no clout and are just spouting stupidity. Educated and/or honest hardworking Americans don't pay any attention to this drivel. Most Americans care about the economy, getting by day to day, and not losing their jobs and homes. What some yokel thinks about Hindu divinities is the furthest thing from most Americans' minds.

[UniversalLove]

I disagree strongly with him on the Hindu Gods being false, but I don't think his intolerance of them has anything to do with his religion in and of itself. I think it has more to do with how he interprets his religion and what he gets out of it. Someone can follow the Christian religion (or any other certain religion) and still be accepting of different religions and cultures.

There are several analogies people use. Suppose you are a teacher and you give your students a literary work of some sort (like a poem or book). All of them will have different interpretations of what it means in one way or another.

Let's take Christianity, for example, since we're talking about it. Yes, there are several places in the Bible talking about violence, "false gods/idols", salvation, hell, etc. But is Christianity necessarily all about those things? It depends on how you see it.

Personally, when I read the Bible, I like to read about Jesus portrayed in the Gospels. I especially like to read about how he healed people, taught about living a life practicing values like mercy, kindness, righteousness, etc., and how he spent time with people who were oppressed and considered "sinners" in his society.

(And, by the way, whether or not the story of Jesus was fabricated and stolen from myths and other religions does NOT matter to me at all.)

After I read about these things and meditate on them, I find opportunities in my life where I can put them into practice.

So, for me, the "Christian life" is all about loving everyone without exception.

If there are Christians who focus mainly on the "salvation" aspect, why can't there be Christians who focus on the teachings of sincere love, kindness, service, etc.?

It all depends on personal interpretation and what you decide to do as a result from learning from your religion. All of us can be instruments of kindness or of hatred and intolerance.

[Friend from the West]

Hari Om,

I am grateful that do not think this is majority view and this country of U.S.A., with all of its imperfections, still has real protections for religious freedom written into its governances.

Om Shanti.

FFTW

[sanjaya]

Story here.

OK. So, we Indians are narrow minded because most of us are uneducated, malnourished and poor inhabitants of the IIIrd world. But such classy comments from a person aspiring to a gubernatorial position in the USA makes me want to reassess the definition of narrow mindedness and broad mindedness.

Yeah, well, this just goes to show that protestations of secularism notwithstanding, America is indeed a Christian nation. Christianity is the de facto state religion, and currently Hinduism isn't given the same respect as Christianity. I have to love how this person equivocates by saying that he "wasn�t being critical of those who are Hindu." In church he hears all about how the heathen Hindus need to be converted. In public he poorly attempts to temper his beliefs by saying that it's acceptable for Hindus to respect Hinduism, as long as Christians don't. This reminds me of certan Islamic theocracies where other religions are allowed to exist; non-Muslims can convert to Islam, but the reverse may never happen (not that I'm out to convert anyone to Hinduism). Essentially he admits his belief that Christianity ought to be the only religion that exists, and that he is gracious enough to tolerate us.

This is largely the fault of Indians, particularly Indian Americans, for our gross apathy. Indians comprise about the same percentage of the American population as Jews. Somehow Judaism has ingrained itself into the culture to the point where it would be political suicide for any public official to criticize it, but the same is not true of Hinduism. Indian Americans are economically and intellectually as well-to-do as Jews. It's time we start amassing political power to the point where our religion cannot be criticized by anyone without dire consequences. The ADL would have slapped this guy with a lawsuit and made him politically unviable. It's terribly unfortunate that Hindu Americans don't have equivalent political clout, especially given that we have the money and education to obtain it.

[sm78]

This is largely the fault of Indians, particularly Indian Americans, for our gross apathy. Indians comprise about the same percentage of the American population as Jews. Somehow Judaism has ingrained itself into the culture to the point where it would be political suicide for any public official to criticize it, but the same is not true of Hinduism. Indian Americans are economically and intellectually as well-to-do as Jews. It's time we start amassing political power to the point where our religion cannot be criticized by anyone without dire consequences. The ADL would have slapped this guy with a lawsuit and made him politically unviable. It's terribly unfortunate that Hindu Americans don't have equivalent political clout, especially given that we have the money and education to obtain it.

Yes, this was a serious example of an undercurrent of intolerance that some people might have, and conceptually his views are no different from an Ayotollah of Iran as you have pointed. Indians in America indeed need to build up the due polictical clout in a society dominated by judeo-christian lobby. What is the aftermath of his remarks? Has anybody protested? Anyone thinking of lawsuits, defamation etc?

[wundermonk]

Hi sm78:

To be fair, he was lambasted by other Christian Ameicans (?) themselves.

The whole story just goes to show that bigotry is not an exclusive possession of one race/religion. Likewise, there are level headed fair-minded persons who condemn such bigotry in all races/religions.

Full story on that here.

Praying to false Gods

A Republican politician has got the goat of America�s Hindu community with his uncharitable references to their faith in the run-up to the just-concluded Kentucky gubernatorial race. The target of Republican challenger David Williams may have been incumbent Democrat Steve Beshear, but he made some disparaging comments about the Hindu faith that has angered members of the community.

State Senate president Williams, who failed in his bid to dislodge Beshear, lambasted the Governor for participating in a Hindu prayer ceremony days ahead of the election, remarking that the Governor was worshipping �false Gods�. The Governor was attending a bhoomi puja ceremony at a plant being set up by an Indian company in Elizabeth town, Kentucky with the promise of creating 250 jobs.

�I don�t participate in Hindu prayers. I don�t participate in Muslim prayers. I don't do that. To get down and get involved and participate in prayers to these polytheistic situations, where you have these Hindu gods that they are praying to, doesn�t appear to me to be in line with what a Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky ought to be doing,� Williams commented and sought to ridicule Governor Beshear for wearing �a Hindu dot on his forehead� and sitting cross-legged without shoes as the Hindu priests chanted prayers.

The Washington-based Hindu American Foundation fired off a statement, with its managing director Suhag Shukla saying: �If he�s essentially made a call to Hindus in Kentucky that his hope is that they find Jesus Christ, that is just absolutely unacceptable, and he owes Hindus not only in Kentucky but in the United States and around the world an apology.� Shukla conveyed to Williams that his comments were �deeply offensive to Hindus� and that they had received emails and phone calls of solidarity from many other Christians who disagree with the Senator�s comments.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) also slammed Williams for his �intolerant remarks directed toward Hindus�. �We are shocked in this day and age of pluralism and tolerance, that such a backward mentality exists in such a highly-elected official anywhere in America,� commented AAPI president Dr Sunita Kanumury. �There is no room for such intolerance and bigotry in our nation, especially by an elected official who is supposed to represent everyone of all races and religions. We call on David Williams to fully apologise for his comments and offer a full retraction on his website.�