Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Understanding Islam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: James Calladine who wrote (389)	11/5/2001 12:33:27 PM
From: HG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2926

James, the core of any religion is fanatic....I agree..... my point is, all these other cores rarely cause strategically planned mass murders in todays world.... Incidently, i have noticed that on individual level people are nice, they are respectful of each other's way of life....the 9 years spent in Dubai have been amongst my best... Group dynamics are a different matter altogether ! Why is that a person loses their identity so completely when in a group, and they get so utterly brainwashed ?

To: James Calladine who wrote (389)	11/5/2001 12:44:48 PM
From: Sultan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2926

<OT> Nothing to do with Islam.. Another facet of religion and personal belief system.. And posting here is strictly for information so people should not read anything into it other then the fact that people all over the world seem to be searching for something.. Converts' aim: destroy the caste system 'The message of Buddhism is that all human beings are equal,' says one of 8,000 converts: 'A historic moment' Sugita Katyal Reuters, The Associated Press Amit Bhargava, The Associated Press Defying police restrictions, a Buddhist monk shaves the mustache of Ram Raj, right, chairman of the All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, to convert him to Buddhism yesterday. Thousands of low-caste Hindus converted to Buddhism. NEW DELHI - Thousands of Hindu untouchables packed a huge park in the Indian capital yesterday to convert to Buddhism in a ceremony shunning centuries of caste discrimination. Police said the turnout of about 8,000 Hindu Dalits was much lower than the one million expected at what was billed as the largest mass conversion in the country's history, but that did not dampen the crowd's enthusiasm. The crush of Dalits -- some with their heads freshly tonsured and multi-coloured Buddhist flags in their hands -- chanted hymns in the ancient language of Pali before a brass Buddha statue flanked by monks in saffron-coloured robes and a photograph of B.R. Ambedkar, India's most renowned low-caste leader, who conducted a similar conversion half a century ago. "We will no longer pray to Hindu gods and goddesses," they chanted. "The message of Buddhism is that all human beings are equal," said Harish Khare, a 36-year-old government employee who travelled from the western state of Maharashtra to participate in the ceremony. Nearly one-fourth of India's more than one billion people are low-caste Hindus or "dalits." Also known as untouchables, they occupy the lowest rank in the 3,000-year-old caste system that is dominated by the once-priestly class of Brahmins. "This is a historic moment as we've been freed from the centuries-old Brahminical system," Ram Raj, head of the All India Confederation of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Organizations, said after he took his vows. "We are not against any particular community. We just want to destroy the caste system," said the tonsured Mr. Raj, who changed his name to Udit Raj after the ceremony led by a Buddhist priest in traditional maroon robes. Hindu scriptures separate people into Brahmin priests, warriors, farmers and labourers, while the rest are beyond definition -- literally outcasts or untouchables. Though caste discrimination is outlawed and there are reservations for Dalits in parliament and state legislatures, government jobs and educational institutions, the community still faces social discrimination in many parts of the country. They still run the risk of being beaten or killed if they use a well or worship at a temple reserved for upper castes. "I've converted for social equality and to escape Hinduism's caste system," said Ram Shankar, a social worker from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Dev Bodhi, the Buddhist priest who conducted the ceremony, said they planned to launch a full-fledged campaign to convert many more Dalits to Buddhism. "We plan to hold a similar conversion every month till April next year. On April 14, we will have a conversion that is about 10 times this size near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh," he said. About one million Hindus from across India had been expected to attend the mass conversion, organizers said. But police on Saturday asked them to scale down the event or move it from the sprawling Ram Lila grounds in the heart of the city as a precaution against religious clashes. An estimated 20,000 people converted yesterday, but organizers said police prevented many more from participating by blocking roads leading to the venue. Critics said the ceremony was a political rally organized with an eye on elections in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh due by next March. But D.R. Rahul, a lawyer from central Madhya Pradesh state who converted to Buddhism in 1967 after upper castes did not allow him to enter a Hindu temple, dismissed the suggestion. "It's not a political move. If it had been, why would people from all over the country have come for this ceremony?" he asked. India's minority Christians, often at odds with the majority Hindus over conversions, lent their support to the Dalits. "We want to express our solidarity with Dalits and work for their liberation," an All India Christian Council member said. Conversion is a sensitive issue in India where hardline Hindu groups accuse Christian missionaries of using inducements such as schools to lure poor people into their faith.