Sandeep, Which statement of mine on Goanet are you responding to? The post you think you are responding to was not allowed to appear on Goanet. I guess the moderators decided that Goanetters did not deserve to read my side of the argument. I am hoping this response of mine will not be blocked like the previous one. So here goes.
You have a basic misunderstanding of what I wrote, and what is meant by equality of religions, as it is understood by modern secular pluralism. Equality as understood by modern society does not mean identity. Otherwise, equality of all human beings would be a sham because no two human beings are identical. What I wrote is not my interpretation of the law. It is my statement of the credo of modern secular pluralism. No religion is better or superior to any other religion. No religion is worse or inferior to any other religion. In other words, all religions are equally good. The interpretation that this is also the bedrock creed of the Indian constitution, as interpreted by the supreme court is what Justice Gupte stated in the following quote: QUOTE Art. 25 of the Constitutional creed is the bed-rock of secularism and is based on the belief that all religions are equally good and efficacious pathways to perfection of God-realization. UNQUOTE ......Justice Gulab Gupte Please read Justice Gupte's entire article at the following link: http://www.indiankanoon.org/cached/1736032/ Having read a little bit about what exactly is meant by equality in modern thought, I can fully understand the sense in which Justice Gupte expounds that tacit belief inherent in article 25. The statements I have made regarding equality are my understanding of the extended notion of equality as it applies to modern secular society. As I said earlier, equality does not mean identity or even similarity. That is why I have used general non-specific terms such as good, bad, supernatural, rational and beneficial as parameters for comparison between religions. To know why, all one has to do is use an analogous statement whose validity no sensible, non-prejudiced person would deny today. This statement is: All races and ethnic groups are equally good. Now, does this mean that if you measure the crime rate, the incidence of sociopathy, the percentage of individuals behind bars, the percentage of corrupt individuals, etc., all their values would be equal across all races and ethnic groups? The answer to this question is demonstrably no. Different groups might have different values for these parameters. But it does not invalidate the above statement of equality. The reason for this is goodness is an overall balanced norm and an ideal that is shared by all normal humans regardless of race or ethnicity. The same is true with religion or lack thereof. If you don't agree with this, and your particular form of Indian secularism holds that all religions are not equally good then please answer my questions below: 1. Which religion according to you is the best? 2. Which religion is better - Hinduism or Christianity? 3. Which sect of Christianity is better than the rest? It is no good saying that one is better in one respect and another in another respect. Please give me a straightforward categorical answer based on your understanding of the norm of each religion or sect. Cheers, Santosh --- On Sun, 8/22/10, Sandeep Heble <[email protected]> wrote: > > Santosh has misinterpreted the > provisions of law and has drawn wrong > conclusions. > > Nowhere in the Constitution of the land does it say that > "All > religions are equally good or equally bad". > > Religions have their own distinct features and > characteristics and can > therefore never be equal. From different standpoints, some > are bound > to be either superior or inferior to the other. > > Even using elementary logic, it is easy to show how from > different > standpoints, some religions are bound to be either better > or worse > than the other. > > For instance, from the standpoint of equality of human > beings, > Christianity is superior to Hinduism while it is inferior > to Buddhism. > > From the standpoint of "Freedom of expression", Hinduism > will be much > superior since Christianity and Islam have a history of > intolerance in > this regard. > > From the standpoint of rationalism, Buddhism is much > superior to many > other religions while Jainism will probably be the best > when it comes > to respecting "Animal Rights" and so on and so forth. > > So even an elementary comparative study on religions will > easily > demonstrate how two different religions can never be > equally good (or > equally bad). > > From the legal perspective, “Equality of Religion” does > not mean all > religions are equally good or equally bad. All it means is > the State > must adopt neutrality towards religions; that there must > not be a > State Religion, that it must not give preferential > treatment to any > one religion over the other; that all religions are equal > before the > eyes of the law and must be treated equally. > > Here is the precise observation from the relevant para from > the S. R. > Bommai v. Union of India Supreme Court Judgment: > > “Secularism is one of the basic features of the > Constitution. While > freedom of religion is guaranteed to all persons in India, > from the > point of view of the State, the religion, faith or belief > of a person > is immaterial. To the State, all are equal and are > entitled to be > treated equally. In matters of State, religion has no > place. No > political party can simultaneously be a religious party. > Politics and > religion cannot be mixed. Any State Government which > pursues unsecular > policies or unsecular course of action acts contrary to > the > constitutional mandate and renders itself amenable to > action under > Article 356.” > > Cheers > Sandeep > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > * > > ISSUES BEING DEBATED: In East Africa, despite colonialism, > the British afforded the Goan a sliver of a > socio-political > voice. Read *Into The Diaspora Wilderness* by Selma > Carvalho. > Soon to be available in Toronto. Pp 290. Via mail-order > from > [email protected] > http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Goa-launch of the well-received *Into The Diaspora Wilderness* by Selma Carvalho on Aug 29, 2010 (Sunday) at 11 am at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. Meet the author, buy a signed copy (only Rs 295 in Goa till stock lasts). http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
