I am a proud Hindu and I am not ashamed

[Stephen Cohen]

@Akheilos

Reading through this thread ; I get that your TWO main points of contention
against Hinduism is

1 Idol worship and

2 Polytheism

Both are necessary and interlinked aspects of Hinduism

Hinduism gives complete freedom to its followers in the sense that they can
worship any deity ; any God ; in their own way with their own customs ; traditions and practices

Now when there are so many dieties ; how do you identify and distinguish them

Hence the need for Idols

 

[Dubious]

i am not here to refute you dear... so i won't . I think you know the answers to all questions you have put forward..

For you people it may be a game...But I dont waste my time with things I already know or dont want to know!

just one thing i will say about America bombing iraq, if there is something called ummah and if it has stood togather, then America would hv bowed down...

We will make sure you can have a word with Saddam in the hereafter as to why he was prosecuting his own people and wasting money building palaces!

world was dependent on middle east oil and gas, not other way around. though shale gas has started to change the scenario..

World didnt choose house of Saud for Saudi UK did...ask them why when you find out tell me coz even I am curious to know which bonehead chose such racist people!

 

[utraash]

Ok to hell with those notifications..Lets start with you:

Well it is OUR believe it is...But then as I said many times on this thread: THAT IS OUR BELIEVE....no one needs to be forced to be a part with it...Hence the verse of the Quran: to you be your believes and to us be ours!

So I have mine about Islam no problem then ......

Whats wrong with worshiping many gods and goddess ?

Well, 1stly if there is more of it ...its not unique.
2ndly, if they have human attributes they are not special/ unique
Humans are one of creatures of god which meant us to hold humane traits by acting righteously like speaking truth, be kind to others n etc n so these above sacred attributes makes our god unique which all of us could not inculcate despite being on earth for a such a long time.....
You might have diff version of god which might have different values for you to follow....

3dly, why would you want to bow to semi something when you can do to 1 who is supreme and ABOVE ALL?

How do you know you are supreme than me or vice versa ? I mean how n plz don't create reference from your own religion.....

4thly, in Hinduism and OTHER religions like Roman and Greek...the gods fought...how is that not scary? GOD (a supreme one who knows it all) fighting with another of that kind....and then having Greek and Roman gods come to earth for sexual desires?

Which god fought with ? Kindly elaborate this one .... Sexual desire ? Do you even understand the purpose of incarnation?

5thly, why do you need soo many?
I need few thousands more what's wrong in it ?

6th, is the supreme one not self sufficient enough to control all that he needs more "to help him"?

What is definition of supreme one?

You have Hindu and then you have non Hindu - those who dont believe in the many gods, who dont follow the vedas and Upanishids
Well no...But when I dont bow to your gods (which is different to accepting them as your gods and if you want to bow them your choice) nor do I follow your books ...Then how can I be a Hindu?

Show me a proof where a Hindu term is mentioned in any our religious book ?

So either the philosophy is wrong or it is just an apologist view?

Not wrong but who are linking "Hindu" to certain religious belief has dogma n insecurity...

 

[itachiii]

where he is not supposed to be "created" by the human HE "created"?

Nor do we go against HIS will of trying to be the creator!
Have you given THAT a thought?

did lord personnely quote u tat making an idol of him to worship is haram ?? now dnt come back quoting that a book wch has its origin in middle-east says tat.. that would automatically raise question abt hw credible is the book in frst phase ?

what gave in?

tat was jst a wsh ... looks lke i got it wrong..

 

[Dubious]

@Akheilos

Reading through this thread ; I get that your TWO main points of contention
against Hinduism is

1 Idol worship and

2 Polytheism

Both are necessary and interlinked aspects of Hinduism

Thank you for your answer! Many here are saying the opposite! Words like Hindu Muslim can also be found on this thraed

Hinduism gives complete freedom to its followers in the sense that they can
worship any deity ; any God ; in their own way with their own customs ; traditions and practices

Hence why a Muslim can never be a Hindu same for Christians and Jews!

Now when there are so many dieties ; how do you identify and distinguish them

Hence the need for Idols

1st question why are there soo many deities?

This I cant get! You distinguish them using idols which you create? So tomorrow if a burglar worships his gun, is that Hinduism? - Random example no offense!

Thanks for proving my point that Hinduism is one of the oldest religion...so lets get back to where it all started.
Abraham and Brahma!!
Hinduism is about 5000 yrs old and Islam is about 1500 yrs old so do you want me to believe in Abraham or Brahma?? Use your common sense!!

What just coz something is old it is automatically correct?

Hitler is older than you and me...was he automatically correct? Answer that first!

About believe... I am no one to subject you to believe ANYTHING..You are free to choose I am not here to ask about YOUR believes but I am here to QUESTION the belief!

 

[ranjeet]

No it didnt and I put in my argument to which she did reply :coffee


Well how was my question not tolerant? Is questioning Hinduism considered intolerance?
People learn a thing or two if they are not intimidated not to ask as you are trying to do with your sarcastic remarks!

Well there was nothing to argue about what she said in the first place. You raised the question and then proves what she said yourself. You couldn't tolerate the very idea that Hinduism is one of the oldest religion, so you raise a question, debate about it for a while in the thread and when proven that your question was wrong you shifted the goal post by saying some believe Hinduism is "THE OLDEST" religion. Anyway I am tired of religion for atleast 2-3 days, can't stand it for too long.

no one is intimidating anyone, not in here on this thread, nor out there on the street.

 

[Dubious]

did lord personnely quote u tat making an idol of him to worship is haram ?? now dnt come back quoting that a book wch has its origin in middle-east says tat.. that would automatically raise question abt hw credible is the book in frst phase ?

1stly, you want me to answer something without providing any justifications of where I got the answers

2ndly, just coz it came from Middle east you ASSUME it is lower than you to read?

3rdly, Did god personally tell you to make an idol of himself? IF YES....How sure are you that wasnt satan?
IF NO...where does that leave you?

...

brother please fix this post...I am not sure which is my part and which is yours

Too many people quoting me

 

[Stephen Cohen]

@Akheilos

What people are saying here is wrt to cultural assimilation that has
happened in India over the centuries

In India we have developed a composite culture in ALL states

The main thing that decides culture in a state is not religion
but LANGUAGE

Therefore you will see Kerala Hindus and Muslims having much more in common with
each other than their co religionists from UP .; Bengal ; Andhra ; Maharashtra etc

We CELEBRATE diversity ; not hate it

 

[Dubious]

Whats pure or impure let the Almighty judge it.

Sure then you shouldnt be present in threads opened for discussions!

By people discussing it is not judging! I have no power to judge and even if I did judge what harm or good does it do to me or you?

No one is forcing Muslims to bow to Hindu god or goddess. Hindu is a broad term, it denotes religion, cultural heritage of the Hindustan. So it's not that wrong if people can look at it without prejudice.

as for that part I have been repeating it over the whole thread like a broken tape recorder!

Well it's the spiritual hurdles which are tough to over come than the physical ones.

Where does this fit in?

i got to know much abt me from reading u r posts.. who said respecting indian heritage equals to bowing before hindu idols.. i want indian muslims/christians/self hating hindus not to water down/disparge the heritage of their ancestors and the achievements there ancestors made in the fields of science/architecture/art e.t.c .. and next tym don't put words in my mouth...

I had asked earlier in the thread and all I got was 5 Indians parroting in different words the same thing:

If you dont accept our heritage we dont accept you and then they compared the acceptance with Muslims going to temples and bowing to Indian gods in belief! You add 2 and 2...

 

[Levina]

1st question why are there soo many deities?

This I cant get! You distinguish them using idols which you create? So tomorrow if a burglar worships his gun, is that Hinduism? - Random example no offense!
!

Lol
You gotta believe this, we do have a "shastra pooja" on vijay dashmi (thats during Dussehra).
Whatever is worthy of respect (from cows to guns) we workship it all and ergo so many deities.
But there're mainly just 4 sects Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Vaishnavism and Shaivism are generally regarded as monotheistic sects: each believes in one supreme God, who is identified as Vishnu in Vaishnavism and Shiva in Shaivism.

 

[Dubious]

What if I say that your idea is false? What proof do you have to refute my statements? Let's not discuss merits of theology. Trust me, you are on far shakier grounds than I am.

1stly, what idea?
2ndly, if it were false you would have jumped in to prove it!
I dont need to refute your statements....I will only need to answer if questioned..
3rdly, the bold part is USUALLY added by the loosing team to intimidate the opponent to step back ...psychology 101

 

[Stephen Cohen]

1st question why are there soo many deities?

This I cant get! You distinguish them using idols which you create? So tomorrow if a burglar worships his gun, is that Hinduism? - Random example no offense!

There are SO MANY dieties is because We need them

The basic tenet of Hinduism is " To each HIS OWN "
There is complete INTERNAL freedom of religion in Hinduism

What is wrong in that

 

[ranjeet]

Sure then you shouldnt be present in threads opened for discussions!

By people discussing it is not judging! I have no power to judge and even if I did judge what harm or good does it do to me or you?


as for that part I have been repeating it over the whole thread like a broken tape recorder!
Where does this fit in?


I had asked earlier in the thread and all I got was 5 Indians parroting in different words the same thing:

If you dont accept our heritage we dont accept you and then they compared the acceptance with Muslims going to temples and bowing to Indian gods in belief! You add 2 and 2...

Considering you got your hands full at the moment let's end the discussion here.

 

[Stephen Cohen]

Considering you got your hands full at the moment let's end the discussion here.

No please continue ; let HIM /HER see the different avatars of Hindus
The more the merrier

 

[ashok mourya]

I think Akheilos is going back to Hinduism leaving behind the 600 page religion.
By its nature, Sanatana Dharma is...
Experience based rather than belief based.
Without any ideological divisions.
Beyond any historical date of founding.
The process of growth, which comes from the seed.
Inherent in, and inclusive of all.
Applicable to all people of all places and times.
In the world, while above the world.
God-centered rather than prophet-centered.
Devoid of sectarianism or denominationalism.
Both immanent and transcendent.
The whole and the parts.
Loving of all and excluding of none.

The universal flow of Dharma,
regardless of what name you call it,
whether Dharma or some other name,
has eternally existed.
It has been before any of
the great teachers were born.
It is not better than, or alternative to,
but is inclusive of all.
Dharma is that out of which
our earth and humanity itself emerged.
Dharma not only is,
but always was, and always will be.
To live in alignment with,
and to know the true nature
of that Sanatana Dharma
is one of the ways of describing
the higher goal of life.