Hi Gilbert
Am delighted to see you back on Goanet after what seems like ages. I am also
happy to hear that Dinesh has made a foray into the issue of the existence of
God. I hope his new book is better than his earlier one--- The End Of Racism
(1995, Free Press) that received some pretty poor reviews and much criticism. I
have the book in my possession.
However, I hope you will not mind, noting in your text, a few cordial
interspersed comments from me.
Cornel
Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dinesh enthralled the otherwise liberal crowd of college students who
naturally tended to be inclined to the 'ills of religion' and the atheistic
views of Christopher.
CORNEL: You seem to recognise what "liberal" means. So I am not sure why you
had asked me to define it recently including its core concepts. Put simply, as
you yourself do above, it is loosely referred to those not conservative and
reactionary like those supporting the catastrophic American mistake of the war
in Iraq. Earlier, you had also been dismissive and bemused by my position as a
liberal politically. This is from memory but of course, as always, verifiable
in the archives!
"Goans interested in this subject and specially those who sound intellectual
by regurgitating the atheistic theories of well known authors, should read
Dinesh's book."
CORNEL: I hope you will read the book too as I will when I get a copy.
However, pray what exactly do you mean by "those who sound intellectual by
regurgitating atheistic theories?" Is this very different from those who
regurgitate religious theories and rely on the Bible so much?
"The least of which reason is he is another acclaimed Goan."
CORNEL: To say that Dinesh is an acclaimed Goan is surely to stretch the
imagination especially over the substantial criticism of his earlier book as
referred to above. I therefore wonder what fellow Goanetters from America, like
George Pinto, might have to say?
"My only complaint about Dinesh, was he repeated his father account of the
Goan inquisition which is similar to those I read on Goanet - "the Inquisition
was introduced to convert Hindus to Christianity."
CORNEL: My more recent reading of the Inquisition in Goa was that it was an
instrument used with incredible brutality to force the converts to stay with
their conversion when their inclination was to revert to Hinduism.
Unfortunately, this made them half-baked Hindus and half-baked Catholics---an
unfortunate and sad legacy to this day.
Cornel
