"In India, however, the situation was different. Here, the dominant faith of the Indian people never had a power centre that dictated unreasonable dogmas and needed to be propped up by the state."
She evidently has never ever heard of the caste system, untouchability, "unclean" occupations linked to birth etc., let alone Sati, child marriage, polygamy, dowry etc. etc. Sukla On 5 May 2014 14:47, Deva Sarran Samaroo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > ------------------------------ > > > > > *Indian Secularism is not SecularIT IS A WESTERN MALIFIED DOMINATE* > *By Maria Wirth* > > For years I did not know what opportunities to practice equanimity I had > missed, till I finally got a TV set some 3 years ago. In the beginning, I > certainly did not remain calm under all circumstances. What intense > emotions in just an hour of listening to panelists on the news channels! > However, slowly I learned to sit back. I could admire the quick-wittedness > and the amazing ability to talk or rather shout while listening. > These *anchors and panelists are no doubt intelligent, nevertheless their > choice of topics is often pathetic, and they get some points consistently > wrong.* > One such point is* 'secular' or 'secularism'. *Since secularism is > mentioned daily in Indian media and since it is a *western malified > 'invention',* I would like to put it into perspective: > Contrary to the general perception in India, *secular is not the opposite > of communal. Communal as such is not objectionable either. * > *It simply means 'pertaining to a community'. In Germany, elections to > local bodies are called "communal elections" (Kommunalwahlen). * > > *Secular means worldly and is opposite to 'religious'.* Now 'religious' > in this context refers to Christianity, i.e. to a well-organized, dogmatic > religion that claims that it is the sole keeper of the 'truth', which God > himself has revealed to his Church. > And what is this revealed truth? In short: the human being is born in sin, > which dates back originally to Adam and Eve. But fortunately, some 2000 > years ago, God had mercy on humanity and sent his only son Jesus Christ to > earth to redeem us by dying for our sins on the cross, then rising from the > dead and going back to his father up in heaven. However to be able to get > the benefit of Jesus' sacrifice, one must be baptized and become a member > of the Church, otherwise one will be singled out for eternal hell on > Judgment Day. > Understandably, such claims did not appeal to those who used their brains, > but for many centuries they had to keep quiet or risk their lives. The > reason was that for long the Church was intertwined with the state, and > harsh laws made sure that people did not question the 'revealed truth'. > Heresy was punished with torture and death. Even in faraway Goa, after > Francis Xavier called the Inquisition to this colony, unspeakable brutality > was committed against Indians. In many Muslim countries till today, leaving > Islam is punishable by death. > Significantly, those centuries, when Church and State were intertwined, > when the clergy prospered and the faithful sheep suffered are called the > dark ages. And the time when the Church was forced to loosen its grip, is > called the age of enlightenment, which started only some 350 years ago. > Scientific discoveries, which could no longer be brushed under the carpet, > played a crucial role for showing the Church her place. Now, more Europeans > dared to oppose the stranglehold of religion. Many went to prison for doing > so. > Slowly, the idea that reason, and not blind belief in a 'revealed truth', > should guide society, took root and this lead to the demand for separation > between state and Church. Such separation is called secularism. It is a > recent phenomenon in the west. > Today, most western democracies are 'secular', i.e. the Church cannot push > her agenda through state power, though most western democracies still grant > Christianity preferential treatment. For example in Germany, the > Constitution guarantees that the Christian doctrine is taught in government > schools. Further, the Churches have retained special labour laws that make > it obligatory for Church employees (alone in Germany over one million) to > conform to Christian norms. Nevertheless, the present situation is a huge > improvement over the dark ages when one had to pretend to believe > unbelievable dogmas. > In India, however, the situation was different. Here, the dominant faith > of the Indian people never had a power centre that dictated unreasonable > dogmas and needed to be propped up by the state. Their faith was based on > insights of the Rishis and on reason, intuition and direct experience. It > expressed itself freely in a multitude of ways. Their faith was about trust > and reverence for the One Source of all life. It was about doing the right > thing at the right time according to one's conscience. It was about The > Golden Rule: not to do to others what one does not want to be done to > oneself. It was about having noble thoughts. It was about how to live life > in an ideal way. > However, this open atmosphere changed when Islam and Christianity entered > India. Indians, who good naturedly considered the whole world as family, > were despised, ridiculed and under Muslim rule killed in big numbers only > because they were 'Hindus' (which is basically a geographical term). > Indians did not realise that dogmatic religions were very different from > their own, ancient Dharma. For the first time they were confronted with > merciless killing in the name of God. Voltaire, who fought the stranglehold > of the Church in Europe, had accurately observed, "Those who can make you > believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities". > Guru Nanak left a testimony how bad the situation was, when he cried out > in despair: > > > -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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