Thanks for helping me leave Hinduism

[PrahaladB]

I have always been agnostic about Hinduism, having witnessed caste discrimination, practice of untouchabilty, ill treatment of females in both India and abroad by a lot of Hindus including members of my family.

Having said that most Hindus I know do not practice the above which is great.

However I have noticed that nearly all Hindus have a 'Holier than thou' attitude when it comes to non-vegetarian food. A lot of the Hindus I know personally including my family think it's acceptible to smoke, be an alcoholic, commit adultery, beat their spouse, sleep around, etc as long as they are not eating no-veg. Infact in Africa and Fiji I have noticed that the vegetarian Hindus consider the natives as almost sub-human as they eat meat regularly. (Interestingly in Mauritius and Malaysia/Singapore the non-vegetarian Hindus are much more integrated with other non Indians/Hindus)

I was hoping that in this site there would be other Hindus without this type of hypocritical attitude, but I was wrong. In the vegetarian section there are entire threads mocking meat eaters. It seems that the Hindu religion itself discriminates against meat eaters as this link shows:

http://hindustudentscouncil.org/inde...d=318&catid=73
''In chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna categorizes foods into three groups; sattvika, rajasa, and tamasa. Foods that are satvika are those that promote health, longevity, intelligence, and happiness. Foods that are rajasa are those that are too bitter, sour, salty, pungent, dry, or hot. Such foods are said to cause suffering and illness. Finally, tamasa foods are described as improperly cooked, tasteless, putrid, stale, or impure -- unfit for offering in rituals or for meals.
Sri Krishna makes no mention of either eating meat or drinking alcohol. This probably suggests that he didn't even consider them suitable for human consumption. Alcohol, of course, is a poison -- in sufficient quantities, it can be fatal. Generally, drinking small amounts of poison would not be considered healthy.''


This certainly explains the caste discrimination/untouchablity practice as a lot of so called lower caste and dalit Hindu's I know eat meat regularly(including my wife's family who are still Hindus despite facing caste discrimination and the 'Holier than thou' attitude from vegetarian Hindus).

So thanks for helping me make up my mind to leave Hinduism. Oh and before anyone accuses me of being a Christian/Muslim, I am an atheist. I have no intention of joining some Arab religion started by a paedophile and other wierdos.

[satay]

Namaskar,
Thanks for letting us know.

In general hindus don't care if you 'leave' or 'join' hinduism so I do not expect you will get any reaction from members here other than to say good luck.

From an admin point of view, since it is not HDF's purpose to ensure that people join or leave hinduism I personally couldn't care less.

Take care,

[Purana]

Hi, it is unfortunate to read that you have a bad experience in your observance. I can't speak for the countries that you had named but for Singapore and Malaysia, the Hindus whether vegetarians or non vegetarians are well integrated with the other races and religions due to social cohesion, tolerance and bonding that had been practices for many years in the vibrant multicultural countries.

In Singapore all males at the age of 18, they have to serve the country via uniform groups such as police, army, navy, air force or civil defence for 2 years. There are Indians, malays, Chinese and Eurasians of all walks of religions and life coming together serving the country. In a closely knitted community, each practices tolerance whenever festivals, ceremonies occurs. During new years, you can see Indian families offering curries, food to their Chinese neighbors. Chinese families offering catered Halal food to their Muslim neighbors and so on.

To summarize, I have not encountered Hindus who are vegetarians or non vegetarians adopting an anti-social attitude.

I wish you all the best and soon in finding the spiritual path that you seek.

[wundermonk]

Seconding Satay - Good luck to you.

I would have preferred had you not taken parting pot shots at Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) though.

[Sahasranama]

I don't think you need to leave Hinduism for this, a large part of Hindus is non vegetarian. I am a vegetarian myself, but I do think that the forum policy here can be a hypocritical when it comes to discussion of meat eating in scriptures. I even got banned for a month for discussing animal sacrifice in the vedas. It's quite funny that threads about this subject get closed with moderator comments like "this has been discussed to death already," while topics about Jesus and Muhammed are allowed to be discussed on a daily basis.

[devotee]

Namaste PB,

I would not say like Satay and WM, "Good luck !", as you have given up the good luck which came your way by being born as a Hindu.

You are free to decide what to believe or not to believe. Hindus have cared little about people coming into the fold or going outside. There is no organisation like Church, Mosque which is trying to increase the population of Hindus. This is the reason the Hindus percentage is declining fast in India whereas the Muslims have gone up by the fastest pace in the world (due to conversion, forced conversion, not allowing anyone to go outside once joined by threat of death and finally due to being against birth control). It is sad that you decided to leave it due to Caste discrimination and on trivial issue like Meat eating. That doesn't show maturity on your part. People have handled it much more easily in their life. Moreover, in India, there is reverse Caste discrimination today except in some places where the feudal form of society still exists ... and that is because of the muscle/money power of people rather than Caste-discrimination as a Hindu. I think you could have handled Caste discrimination by changing your place of living if unfortunately you are in place where some rich people are behaving in wrong way because even if you change your religion and still stay at that place, the situation is not going to change. I have many friends who are from the lowest of caste in Hindu society but we mix even at family level without any discrimination as we are friend since our college days.

... but as you have already left Hindu Dharma which has been enriched by the contribution of many Sudra saints e.g. quite a few Rishis of the VedAs, Maharishi VyAs, Maharishi Valmiki and Sant Ravidas ... there is no point talking to you. So, I change my mind and wish you best of luck in your new faith (or no faith) by joining Satay and WM.

OM

[satay]

namaste Sahas,
Would you like some cheese with that?

I don't think you need to leave Hinduism for this, a large part of Hindus is non vegetarian. I am a vegetarian myself, but I do think that the forum policy here can be a hypocritical when it comes to discussion of meat eating in scriptures. I even got banned for a month for discussing animal sacrifice in the vedas. It's quite funny that threads about this subject get closed with moderator comments like "this has been discussed to death already," while topics about Jesus and Muhammed are allowed to be discussed on a daily basis.

[Seeker]

Prahlad,

Hinduism doesn't mean you belong to a clan , gang or group. there is no one to receive and acknowledge your resignation letter.

While being a Hindu , you are merely embarking on a path to discover your nature. Along the way you may shed meat eating , wife beating , philandring and what not. These things come automatically.

[Sahasranama]

namaste Sahas,
Would you like some cheese with that?

Sure, if it is vegetarian cheese.

[IcyCosmic]

Well I hope you find another path that allows you to discover yourself and gain knowledge of self my friend.

Good luck.