We are all Hindus now: Newsweek column
From Newsweek:
America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that’s the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.
…here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll. So agnostic are we about the ultimate fates of our bodies that we’re burning them—like Hindus—after death. More than a third of Americans now choose cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North America, up from 6 percent in 1975. “I do think the more spiritual role of religion tends to deemphasize some of the more starkly literal interpretations of the Resurrection,” agrees Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion at Harvard.
Comments
11 Responses to “We are all Hindus now: Newsweek column”
bull shit and joke of the century lol
they make mockery of hindu idol & stone gods, ha ha
they see hindus as stinking & unclean people, and still living in stone age…
just seeing a documentary on BBC, they are mocking up about devadasis still existent in Raichur
get real guys..
I am a Hindu and I agree with Rissie that this is BS from Newsweek. I also don’t understand the point of pasting such an article over here. Having said that, you also cannot define hindus in those few derogatory terms used by Rissie. It just shows how western media is only focused on the ignorant, superstitious and illiterate India in remote corners and not the progressive India in the cities.
This article however takes certain practices/beliefs in US way out of context without understanding the reasoning behind it. I have been in US since 2003 and to me Americans believing in reincarnation is only a matter of a new school of thought and ideas because what happens after death is still a big mystery and ideas/beliefs change from time to time.
We hindus do get the credit of explaining the ideas and philosophies of re-incarnation way before the rest of the world but an average hindu today has no clue about what hinduism stands for or means, let alone reincarnation.
The other point about cremation has a simple explanation. It is very cheap compared to paying for a piece of real-estate to bury someone and hence preferable. Better yet, they have come up with a practical approach to cremate which is very efficient and does not pollute the environment. If you are not aware, a dead body is shoved in a owen at 2000 degrees with the casket. It burns in few mins. and you can carry the ashes home. So technically that cannot be compared to how Hindus cremate.
What this article proves is that being practical and open to new ideas has been a way of the west. India and its majority hindus living in the cities probably are more closer today to western thinking, but there are still so many practices and rituals we follow without questioning.
Try telling the Hindus in India about cremating a dead body in an efficient way without burning wood which causes a lot of pollution and you can rock the entire country.
I am also sure people over here will say I am biased without thinking about my point which is exactly what differentiates majority of Indians(and Asians for that matter) from Western culture. We Indians and Hindus like to carry our baggage everywhere instead of accepting and exploring new ideas and moving ahead. We like to live in past and blame the present which will only destroy our future.
अमेरिका से इस तरह के आंकड़े आना की वहां के २४ प्रतिशत अमरीकन हिन्दुओं के पुनर्जन्म के सिधान्त और मृत्यु बाद हिन्दुओं की रीती रिवाज के अनुसार दाह संस्कार की परंपरा पर विश्वास करने लगे हैं चकित करता है. दरअसल हिन्दुओं के रीती रिवाज पर अमरीकन लोगों का विश्वास बढ़ने लगा है .पश्चिमी देश के लोगों का हिन्दुओं के न सिर्फ रीती रिवाज पर विश्वास बढ़ने लगा है बल्कि हिन्दुओं के आध्यात्म पर भी उनका विश्वास बढा है .इसलिए वो अब भजन कीर्तन भी करते देखे जा सकते हैं . पश्चिमी देश के लोगों को यह अब अहसास होने लगा है की सिर्फ भौतिकता के सहारे जीवन व्यतीत नहीं किया जा सकता बल्कि जीवन में मन की शांति के लिए आध्यात्म का रास्ता अपनाना भी जरुरी है .इसलिए अमेरिका में कई दुसरे समुदाय के लोग आध्यत्म का रास्ता भी अपनाने लगे हैं . यह भौतिक विज्ञानं शारीरिक सुख तो दे सकता है लेकिन मन की शांति नहीं .सच तो यह है की आज का भौतिक विज्ञानं हमें आलसी और शारीरिक श्रम से दूर कर रह है .नए नए आविष्कार सुविधा तो दे रहे हैं लेकिन साथ ही साथ बीमारियाँ भी इस बात का अहसास पश्चिमी देश के लोग करने लगे हैं .
हमारे देश में एक फैशन बन गया है अपने रीति रिवाजो को गाली देने की बिना यह जाने की आखिर इन परम्पराओं के पीछे का सत्य क्या है .ऐसे लोग अपने आप को आधुनिक कहलाने के लिए शायद यह जरुरी समझते हैं .
HOW DOES THIS ARTICLE FIT IN HERE IN THE SITE NAMED ‘FRIENDS OF BJP’???????
IS BJP NOW IN SEARCH OF EXTENDING ITS CORE- IDEOLOGY OF HINDUTVA AND HINDU PRACTICES IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY ‘AMERICA’?????????
IS THIS A POLITICAL PARTY OF INDIA OR A UNIVERSAL RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION????
IF IT IS THE LATTER, IT MUST RE-INCARNATE AND RENAME ITSELF AS ‘URO’ AND WITHDRAW FROM ELECTORAL POLITICS.
WHY EXIST THERE TO CONFUSE THE VOTERS? JUST GET LOST.
FRIENDS OF BJP HAVE LOST CONFIDENCE ON THE PARTY LEADERSHIP AND IDEOLOGY AFTER SOME RECENT EVENTS. WE ARE ALL CONFUSED AND DO HAVE NO TIME TO GET MORE CONFUSED RUNNING WITH THIS HEADLESS CHICKEN.
BJP SHOULD NOW FOLLOW HINDUISM AND CONSIGN ITSELF TO FLAMES SINCE IT HAS BREATHED ITS LAST BY COMITTING SUICIDE AT SHIMLA SCARED BY CHINTAN.
Initially. I had sympathy for Jaswant. But after watching him go overboard and vocal about the wrongs in BJP, it don’t sympathise with him any more. Media is all out in aiming to either disintegate BJP or pseudo secularise it. I Hope BJP emerges strong and confident in the coming days. Good luck!
americans are generally good and religious people (not their government) but why should we be so interested in their religious beliefs that it should make way in this page. we are proud of our philosophy to be respected in other parts of the world but there are different places to discuss these things. we are not here for preaching religion but for political ideas and ideals. so its really strange why this article was included.
“americans are generally good and religious people (not their government): -Could you care to explain dev? If by government you mean the current government then all I can say is that i wonder and marvel at ur understanding of the American public opinion.
And if you had the BUsh government in mind, it was the most religion driven and most conservative US government ever.
The US is just like us with a huge number of people who spend their time with religious nut jobs and giving up all sanity for a load of crap!
I feel Sanatan Dharma to be mother of all dharma. Let Americans adopt what is good for them in their enviornment.
Innitially Indens were said to eat more of vegetables. Today they realise more of vegetables & fruits can prevent many disease like cancer. Further can improve body immunity.
Three meals a day and one day fasting can prevent from many chronic disease.
Burning the body after death. You have to have trees. so plant them. plants are resposible for cool ness and rain . when you are in Banglore city due to number of plantaion how plesent do you feel. out of the city it is too hot.
They should realise act what is good for them and world.
When America rests India Awakes so Bharat should be taken into confidence & heard for world peace.
गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों गिरगिटों —— जयचंदों की जमात में मुझे भी शामिल करना चाहते थे …? . अंग्रेज के चाटुकारों .पश्चिमी संस्कृति के दलालों , असुरों ,रावण के वंसजों , विभिष्नो .अंग्रेजी संस्कृति की कीचड़ से पैदा हुए देश के कपूतों .
KIT KAT
SKG
RAJAT JAIN
PREET
krishnan
potential friend
manoharan
dhawan
anand
abcd
shoemaker
harish
sagar
suhel
तुम सब लोगों की असलियत मैं बहुत पहले ही जान चुका था .लेकिन मैंने सोच की चलो जब तक ये लोग लिख रहे हैं लिखने दो मेरा क्या ? तुम सब की पोल इलेक्शन के पहले ही खुल चुकी थी और किसने खोली थी तुम्हारी पोल …..? वह इतनी आसानी से मैं नहीं बताने वाला …….किश्तों में मैं बताऊंगा . आगे जो कुछ भी होगा वह मेरी जिमेद्दारी नहीं होगी .
This article is aimed to indirectly threaten Americans that they are being converted to Hinduism which is not true. Let us say if this is true, what caste you will be inducted into, if u are a Hindu. This is reverse treatment, the Christian lobby wants the American people to stick to that religion. Thats why they are being threatened in this way. The fact is that there is a large population of Atheists in America than Hindus. The Christian lobby should be genuinely threatened by them, so with a pretext of Hindu conversion, they are emphasizing the Christian belief among the Americans that they are being pushed to minority. Why only Hindus because there is no organized Hindu religion in the world. By blaming it there would be no one to respond. Hinduism the word itself is given to Hindus by some one else’s religion. They don’t have a religion itself. It is just a way of life.
Lisa Miller needs to rethink
http://www.gurumurthy.net/articledisplay.pl?2009-08-23