Scholars who understand and respect the constitution of India, such as the prime minister of India reject the claim that the concept that "all religions are equal" is wrong in a secular country. He believes correctly that the secular Indian constitution recognizes that all religions are equal. Here is his quote from a speech he gave at the South Asian Inter Faith Harmony Conclave:
Please see: http://pmindia.nic.in/speech/content.asp?id=524 QUOTE When we say our Constitution is secular, we mean that it espouses the separation of religion from politics and governance. Equally, it means that the Constitution accords equal status to all religious faiths. The idea of equality is important................................ ...All religions are equal, just as all human beings are equal. When we view each other as equals, we try to live in harmony. UNQUOTE ......Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India Great thinkers such as Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi have also espoused the equality of all religions. Cheers, Santosh P.S. BTW, the statements on scientific theories and therapeutic drugs below do not make any sense at all, in terms of relevance or analogy. --- On Tue, 8/17/10, Ivo <[email protected]> wrote: > > **By definition, a secular State respects the religious > rights of all the citizens. It does not define which > religion is better than the other. It is left to us to study > it in comparative study of religions. Agnostics cannot > appreciate nor decide this point. Not all routes are equally > good, not all scientific theories are equally good, not all > therapeutic drugs are equally good. All religions cannot be > equally good. We would not choose any religion, without > deciding which is good in itself and for us. Even if we are > born in one religion, we can investigate it. Why is it that > so many intellectuals have chosen Catholic religion? > Regards. > Fr.Ivo >
