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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: k.ramesh who wrote (115726)	9/26/2003 1:54:44 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

There are a hundred other problems, that need more than symbolism to fix The plight of India's "low caste" people is a genuine problem, no? Christianity holds as a central tenet the command of Christ to help the poor and downtrodden, the weak, the helpless, the friendless, the hungry, the sick, the naked, and yes, the low caste - "what you do for the least of these you do for me." Christianity holds as a central tenet that all men, all women, all mankind, are equal in the eyes of God. In a very real sense, true Christianity is what got rid of slavery in the West. The early abolitionists were all Christians (and some Jews). The slaves, who were forced to become Christians, cried out that they were also the children of God, and the whites heard them and agreed. There is really only one God for Hindus as well, no? Aren't Shiva, Vishnu and Brama and all the others simply different aspects of one Supreme Universal Being? Don't we all worship the same God? How dare any man use force to compel any other man to worship God in any way but the way that he believes? Respect for the rights of the individual means respect for ALL the rights of the individual. You can't pick and choose the rights you like. Rights don't work like that.

To: k.ramesh who wrote (115726)	9/26/2003 8:05:16 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Respond to of 281500

<If all of India became Muslim Hindu or Christian, none of the real problems would change a bit.> I agree. Which is why I am horribly dismayed, watching India's descent from Gandhian tolerance, to the BJP's violent religious intolerance. Tearing down mosques, passing laws so the untouchables can't convert to religions that treat them as equals, these don't solve India's main problems: poverty, disease, illiteracy. Your argument is paternalistic. You think the untouchables are too stupid or gullible to know what Gods to pray to, so the government (Big Brother, wielding a Big Stick) should Guide and Instruct, and if that doesn't work, Force and Command. Poor people are always the most receptive to new religions. They are the ones with the least stake in the status quo. Only once a religion gets well established, does it start attracting the wealthy and powerful, who (then, only then) see it as a way to legitimize and stabilize their rule. When the Christians spread out through the Roman Empire in the 1st Century, they preached to the slaves. The shantytowns of Latin America, not the comfortable middle-class walled communities, are where the Protestant missionaries get converts. Most of the converts to Islam in the U.S. are Blacks, and the imams target the prison population. The first 5% of any population that gets converted, is always the slaves, poor, repressed minorities, serfs, untouchables. Persecuting Christians and Muslims will only strengthen their resolve and fervor. Both of those religions have long traditions of glorifying their martyrs. They endlessly repeat their stories, of the Saints who died slow, painful deaths for their Faith. Throwing them to the lions never works. If you want to stop Hindus converting, passing a law making them get a government permit is Orwellian and counter-productive. What's needed, is to eliminate the caste system, so untouchables are the equal of Brahmins. Internal reform, to make Hinduism more attractive to the entire community, is what Gandhi advocated. The caste system is medieval, and has no place in the 21st Century.