Charles Haynes [31/07/07 10:22 +0530]:
That matches my casual observations... but if one assumes that
Hinduism is a syncretism of the various indigenous religious beliefs
then what does it mean to talk about Hinduism as a thing? Is it useful
It probably makes the same kind of logic the europeans used to form the EU
to use it as a shibboleth for defining some hypothetical pre-historic
Indian homeland? It turns into yet another tail-chasing definition.
Well, I dont define it that way. Some right wingers do (and I am probably
right wing in completely different areas - like where I keep going head to
head with the EFF about some things - but not in this, at any rate)
FWIW much more interesting to me is whether shrine Shinto is animism.
I think there's a much stronger case there.
It fits the classical definition of animism, yes - kami for just about
everything you can see, ancestor worship etc.
