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.

[Vitani]

People like this are all over. I very much doubt this person has any iota of a clue of what Hinduism teaches.

Have any of you ever heard of Bertrand Russell? He was a critic of Christianity and wrote a book called, "Why I am not a Christian." He once was quoted as saying, "The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are so sure of themselves, and the wise always so full of doubts." And sadly, this is so true for people like that, who hold on to an ideology and shun all others, thinking they know it all.

[Kali Bhakta]

^Unfortunately I often think that people like Russell and certainly Richard Dawkins who claim to be "critical thinkers" fall into fanaticism in a similar way but via pseudo-skepticism rather than religious zealotry.

Blessings of the Divine Mother,
William.

[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

[Spiritualseeker]

Namaste,

(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.)

Namaste,

I do not mind that it was taken, but the Gnostics are more true to this origin. That is why Greek and Persian pagan mystics were allowed to be initiated into Gnosticism and Gnostics were allowed to be initiated in Persian and Greek mystery traditions. The reason why I mention it is because many Christians believe that their religion is unique and the only true religion. They love to talk about their monotheism and claim superiority over other paths. The reality is the most ancient of 'jews' worshiped multiple gods including a wife of their supreme god. The god that they worshiped came from Canaanite tribal deity. Eventually later people in this area decided to worship this tribal deity at the exclusion of others to show the superiority of their tribal deity. This is where the wrathful ignoramus deity of Judaism was born. The Gnostics themselves saw this deity as a lesser deity and even considered him evil. Later we know Christianity was birthed from other pagan mystery traditions. Its original intent was good. It was to initiate people into Brahman if you ask me. Though they called it other names, the aim was the same. But it got lost when unorthodox took root and thus a literal view of Christ and the bible was taken. Again the old ignorant deity was taken as an object of worship and then oppression rose. It is great to see Christians that are loving and this should be commended, but we can acknowledge that when Christians boast about their way, they usually have no idea about the roots of their religion.

To me I feel it is important to learn the histories of religions. Then you can see that things are not so dull. Take Satan for an example. He originally was a tester that their deity created in order to test his creation. Satan was not bad until later episodes of the bible where he is said to be cast out of heaven. Then this devil formed horns as there were pagan deities such as Pan (who was a nature deity with horns) in order to politically control people by taking away worship of 'false' deities. We see that this Satan evolved over time. Still to this day people are fearful of Satan, yet if they knew history they would see that Satan is empty and does not truly exist. What fear can come across our mind from a non-existent creature?

Grateful I am for this Dharma, I wish I could only be true to my words to express my gratitude.
Om Namah Sivaya