In Goanet Issue 489 one gentleman by name Gilbert Lawrence replied to me in response to one Eugenio Correia who wanted to know about “ simple scholar meaning “ This debate is going on nearly two weeks or so, with different writers;
My answer was: "Some would say that no scholar can be called simple in his or her own field. But I think every scholar with a passion is simple in the sense that they don't see how others can misinterpret and twist their passion.".. stephen dias GL responds to me; Hinduisms is not a cult or only a philosophy!? It is a religion! Its various subgroups are no different from the various denominations seen in the Christian, Muslims and Jewish faiths.? Hindus do not worship idols and are not pagans.? Hindu veneration of various incarnations of their deity as statues and paintings is similar to the Christian veneration of various saints and images of their deity.? What we have is selective application and interpretation of semantics? At one time the Christian religion was termed a cult by the Grecco-Roman "pagans" and others who did not understand the Christian religion. IMO, Catholics (including padres) would do themselves a 'por favor' by not presenting themselves as authorities on Hinduism.? I thank Hindus for taking some off-the-wall comments by Christians for what it is - "Off the wall." For similar reasons, IMHO former and / or married catholic priests (Goan or European) would do a "por favor" by not presenting themselves as authoritative on Catholicism.? Their religious and other views on the Catholic Church, however intellectual, are more similar to those of a person talking about their ex-spouse. Their views on or about their former associate, occupation, workplace, etc. may be correct, but are more likely to be biased, exaggerated (overtly or covertly) or downright wrong depending on the circumstances of their parting. This is? common sense. It can be a matter of dialog if these renegades became biased before or after their transition. Regards, GL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen replies; Is Hinduism a Religion? Religion is a western term in its origin and meaning. In fact we have orientalised / seen with western and Christian eyes at the phenomenon of Hinduism as well as the other eastern human sacred relations in India. Western notion of religion requires a God, sacred books, cult centered around priests, congregation. Now in our country Buddhism and Jainism are religions without God while many tribals do not have a sacred book. It is difficult to the sacred phenomena in India on par with religion that is narrow in its connotation. Sacred is larger than the notion of God. Edward Said in his Book orientalism shows how the West created the East as its other by imposing the western categories of understanding on the East and erasing its otherness. Dipesh Charkravorthy in his book, Provicializing Europe, has demonstrated how we have created many Europe of our imaginations and how we cultivate and European point of view and perceive our Indian society. Hinduism is noble and different and cannot be seen with the eye of the western men. Unfortunately we have cultivated and enslaved our self to the western perspective and everyone including the Hindus view at the sacred phenomenon with the eyes of the West. Well no understanding in free from pre-understanding . there is no pure observation. All observation is a selection and is guided by theory. Hence, there is always a fusion of our past experience and future expectations in all our understanding. Scholars are not breed apart. The hermeneutical turn reveals that there is always a fusion of horizon in any dialogue. If you see a police men and a business men in the market and you notice that the policemen receives a envelope from the businessmen. You might tend to think that the policemen received bribe. Without seeing we can see. The horizon can be seen as the past experience and future expectations of the individuals involved in dialogue. Gadamer, a German thinker has shown that the bias of the enlighten movement was a bias against bias. All authentic scholars are seekers of knowledge. They have the passion to walk the unthreaded path and do not fear to err. It said the confession of once ignorance is the beginning of wisdom. Hope this information is adequate and may be we should put a stop to this subject “There were no Hindus in Goa before Portuguese landed” Church thinker, and if continues it may create rifts among us decent Goans who have lived well together with Hindus , Catholics and Muslims during our olden days. Stephen Dias D.Paula Date:,25.7.2013
