CHINA TO BECOME WORLD'S LARGEST CHRISTIAN NATION BY MID-CENTURY

[Bhairava]

Just because Hinduism is "native" to India doesn't mean a native should be following it. Those who follow a faith follow it because they believe it to be the truth. I am proud of my culture and ethnicity, it does not mean i should be proud of the religions that spawns as a culture progresses. I am not addressing you specifically but the saffron parties in general. They have no right to demand those of different faiths to "return" to hinduism just because it is what our "ancestors" followed. I don't understand this argument.

Anyway, my own ancestors as far as my family tree goes, (we have a written record from 18- something) have all been Christians. Even if they weren't, i couldn't care any less.

Dude just go easy on the adrenaline.

I never said that once you become Christians you forget your native culture. Actually it is far from that.

And I have seen Syrian Christians celebrating Onam with the same fervour any Hindu Malayalee would celebrate. Ask how ? I studied in a college on TN-Kerala border with a huge number of Malayalee students.

The problem starts with the new converts who are much more fanatical than the traditional followers and for them devotion to Christianity is synonymous with denouncing Hinduism as satan worship as is happening in various parts of India specifically the Tribal tracts of Central India, coastal belt of Karnataka and NE.

And let it be clear that Hinduism in its current form is indeed a native of India and a progenitor of Sanatan Dharma.

 

[Rig Vedic]

PS: The second half of the story of Archbishop Arulappa: 2 – Archbishop Arulappa sends his document forger to jail – Ganesh Iyer & K.P. Sunil

 

[Mech]

Dude just go easy on the adrenaline.

I never said that once you become Christians you forget your native culture. Actually it is far from that.

And I have seen Syrian Christians celebrating Onam with the same fervour any Hindu Malayalee would celebrate. Ask how ? I studied in a college on TN-Kerala border with a huge number of Malayalee students.

The problem starts with the new converts who are much more fanatical than the traditional followers and for them devotion to Christianity is synonymous with denouncing Hinduism as satan worship as is happening in various parts of India specifically the Tribal tracts of Central India, coastal belt of Karnataka and NE.

And let it be clear that Hinduism in its current form is indeed a native of India and a progenitor of Sanatan Dharma.

I celebrate Onam with as much gusto as any other malayalee. Fact remains i celebrate it not because i attach religious significance to it. But because it is a traditional festival. As for the new Pentecostals cropping up all over, i do not agree with them and they are much too aggressive; but if the tribal feel Christianity offers a better alternative and somehow help them become better human beings, i say go right ahead. That being said, i know nothing of the pentecostal missions in the northern states, neither do i qualify as an authority on north indian geo politics.

 

[Mech]

sigh...another thread derailed. I guess its partly my fault. Sorry to 'teh' mods.

 

[Rig Vedic]

And assuming the scenario (assuming) where st.thomas never landed in malabar, i still wouldn't give a second thought about following hinduism which is "native" to india. Simply because i do not believe it to be true. Just because my people came up with it, doesn't mean it has to be true.

So far so good.

I can also wax eloquently about the numerous evil practices that were prevalent in Hinduism until the British landed and got rid of it.

This is where political polemics are likely to come in. You should also read some views from the other side, for example the excellent work of Rajiv Malhotra. Furthermore, all of that should be irrelevant to you as far as justifying your faith is concerned.

 

[Mech]

As for the guy peddling the 'arulappa' story. isn't arulappa a catholic? If yes, there is no way the native Indian churches would part with the documents and the inscriptions they hold dear to them for any outsider. It is reserved for the heads of these churches not any other. This is why the British had to ransack native churches.

 

[Jackdaws]

Religion is a personal matter. I am agnostic myself - I don't have to blow a conch or wear vermilion on my forehead to prove my Indianness

 

[Mech]

So far so good, nothing objectionable.


This is where political polemics are likely to come in. You should also read some views from the other side, for example the excellent work of Rajiv Malhotra. Furthermore, all of that should be irrelevant to you as far as justifying your faith is concerned.

Okay new indian history - Sati did not exist, the widows just liked to play with fire...Child marriages never happened, they were just prematurely active........etc

Hinduism, to me is severely flawed.

 

[Bhairava]

I celebrate Onam with as much gusto as any other malayalee. Fact remains i celebrate it not because i attach religious significance to it. But because it is a traditional festival. As for the new Pentecostals cropping up all over, i do not agree with them and they are much too aggressive;

Did I not say the same thing ?

but if the tribal feel Christianity offers a better alternative and somehow help them become better human beings, i say go right ahead. That being said, i know nothing of the pentecostal missions in the northern states, neither do i qualify as an authority on north indian geo politics.

Why go North when you have better example down South ? And the problem here is in many cases the Tribals are not allowed to 'decide' in the same way an educated guy from a city decides for him.

 

[Rig Vedic]

As for the guy peddling the 'arulappa' story. isn't arulappa a catholic? If yes, there is no way the native Indian churches would part with the documents and the inscriptions they hold dear to them for any outsider. It is reserved for the heads of these churches not any other. This is why the British had to ransack native churches.

Archbishop Arulappa seems to have been a Catholic. Because of the lack of evidence for the Thomas story, he decided to forge some "ancient manuscripts". But he was caught.

 

[Bhairava]

Okay new indian history - Sati did not exist, the widows just liked to play with fire...Child marriages never happened, they were just prematurely active........etc

Hinduism, to me is severely flawed.

The origin of Sati is linked to the Islamic invasions. It did not come just like a bolt from the blue. Nor was Sati ever in South India which did not experience the brunt of Islamic invasions.

Child marriages was there in almost all religions in India. Infact it was a cultural thing and not a religious thing. I hope you know the difference.

I agree Hinduism was severely flawed. But again it is the ability to accept the flaws,correct them and never be rigid which is the inherent strength in Hinduism.

 

[Jackdaws]

Okay new indian history - Sati did not exist, the widows just liked to play with fire...Child marriages never happened, they were just prematurely active........etc

Hinduism, to me is severely flawed.

Of course it is. Only newer faiths like Buddhism and Sikhism were able to iron out flaws which were present in older faiths - otherwise all religions are flawed

 

[Rig Vedic]

Okay new indian history - Sati did not exist, the widows just liked to play with fire...Child marriages never happened, they were just prematurely active........etc

Do you want me to talk about the tortures in the Goa inquisition? Here is a historical account

The inquisition was set as a tribunal, headed by a judge, sent to Goa from Portugal and was assisted by two judicial henchmen. The judge was answerable to no one except to Lisbon and handed down punishments as he saw fit. The Inquisition Laws filled 230 pages and the palace where the Inquisition was conducted was known as the Big House and the Inquisition proceedings were always conducted behind closed shutters and closed doors.

According to the historian, "the screams of agony of the victims (men, women, and children) could be heard in the streets, in the stillness of the night, as they were brutally interrogated, flogged, and slowly dismembered in front of their relatives.""Eyelids were sliced off and extremities were amputated carefully, a person could remain conscious even though the only thing that remained was his torso and head.[20]

Goa Inquisition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hinduism, to me is severely flawed.

Well, Osama Bin Laden will say that you are going to burn in hell. One cannot argue with blind belief.

 

[Jackdaws]

The origin of Sati is linked to the Islamic invasions. It did not come just like a bolt from the blue. Nor was Sati ever in South India which did not experience the brunt of Islamic invasions.

Child marriages was there in almost all religions in India. Infact it was a cultural thing and not a religious thing. I hope you know the difference.

I agree Hinduism was severely flawed. But again it is the ability to accept the flaws,correct them and never be rigid which is the inherent strength in Hinduism.

Forget Islamic invasions, Sati predates Islam - Pandu's 2nd wife in Mahabharat - nakul and sahadev's mother commits suicide

 

[Rig Vedic]

Of course it is. Only newer faiths like Buddhism and Sikhism were able to iron out flaws which were present in older faiths - otherwise all religions are flawed

It is more complex than that. The Advaita philosophy of Adi Shankara, the philosophy of Buddhism, the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita are all a part of Sanantan Dharma. And Sikhism is in fact a part of that tradition.