Skip to main content

Hinduism and Caste

By
Caste-based discrimination and a birth-based hierarchy are not an intrinsic part of Hinduism and represent a failure to uphold Hinduism's essential, spiritual teaching of divinity inherent in all beings.In a recent report the Hindu American Foundation (HAF)asserted that the caste-based system in Hindu society is NOT part of essential Hindu belief,even though some ancient texts appear to support caste and birth-based hierarchies. They further note that NONE require labeling some persons as "untouchable." Many of the Hindu scriptures state that divinity is part of ALL people. Caste does not fit with the belief that we should respect the divinity in all persons. SEE:

http://www.hafsite.org/media/pr/not-cast-caste-big-picture-and-executive-summary?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MEMBER+ALERT+-+HAF+clarifies+purpose+of+...&utm_source=YMLP&utm_term=Hinduism%3A+Not+Caste+in

Comments

James said…
I'm no expert on Hinduism, but what I do know sugggests that it's fairly amorphic. To an extent this is true of all the great religions. Take Christianity: Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism represent only the tip of the iceberg when you start talking of the various forms which embody it. But I believe Hinduism may be even more diverse. HAF's position thus strikes me as a bit disingenuous. The caste system may not be central to HAF's take on Hinduism, but I frankly doubt all Hindu's would agree. Still, I've got to reassert my original caveat: I daren't be dogmatic. I think I know the general outlines of Hinduism, but I can't pretend to any degree of expertise.
March 28, 2011 at 10:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tao of Pooh

By
Wayne, I like what you said about uncertainty. The way I see it, the less we know about a proposition, the more staunchly we tend to defend it. It happens in science too much. But it happens in religion, even more. In the end, we can know with some certainty what we feel at the moment. And with a great deal of reasoning we can be pretty sure of the proposition "I think I think; therefore I think I am." Further afield, we actually know very little. So I tend to think that the truth of a religious proposition lies not in some essence of fact, but in how we would feel about living in a group, a society, a world that embraces the same proposition. For example "all people are equal before the law." When religious ideas and practices help us to be more kind, reflective, and open to other people, I think they can help us feel better about our place in society. And they can help us be part of a happier society. It is my opinion, however, that a great deal of theolog...
Post a Comment
Read more