Caste System vs. Catholicism

Interesting controversies.  Excerpts:

...“We are in the crosshairs of violent individuals because we help the destitute.” Hindu extremists consider the Church an enemy because of its commitment to human development and against the caste culture that marginalizes the “untouchables”. In a public speech in Bangalore, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and President of the Indian Conference of Bishops, complained that the Catholic Church is under attack because of its social work in favour of lower castes. According to Cardinal Gracias, “although the Catholic Church represents just 3% of the total population, it continues to make a significant contribution to nation-building: with our schools and our educational institutions, we are committed to bringing ethics into public life and the economy.”

Divine Takedown?

Oh.  Oh, wow.  Okay, so a Pakistani news source talking about weird sounding, apparently Hindu practices may not be the most reliable source.  The imagery of this bit is astounding.  Excerpts:

“...There was a temple called Kasai Kathi (slaughter house) in eastern Assam’s Sadia area where it was said human sacrifices were performed,” said Pradeep Sharma, a researcher on tantricism. “But we have no evidence to prove this as the temple is now razed to the ground after heavy flooding triggered by a killer earthquake that rocked the state in 1950...”

Does that resemble, in any way, this?

Hinduism, Yoga, and Christianity

an interesting debate:

Last month Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler reviewed The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America. While he gave the book a favorable review, he used the review as an opportunity to discuss how Christianity and Hinduism differ and why that’s important. Peter Smith at the Louisville Courier-Journal highlighted Mohler’s review and it created a bit of a firestorm. The Associated Press even ran a story, which I dinged for failing to quote any Hindus on the matter, much less Hindus who agree with Mohler that yoga is a Hindu practice. Paul Vitello at the New York Times mentioned the controversy in his length report headlined “Hindu Group Stirs a Debate Over Yoga’s Soul.”...

...a group of Indian-Americans has ignited a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga by mounting a campaign to acquaint Westerners with the faith that it says underlies every single yoga style followed in gyms, ashrams and spas: Hinduism.

The campaign, labeled “Take Back Yoga,” does not ask yoga devotees to become Hindu, or instructors to teach more about Hinduism. The small but increasingly influential group behind it, the Hindu American Foundation, suggests only that people become more aware of yoga’s debt to the faith’s ancient traditions.

That suggestion, modest though it may seem, has drawn a flurry of strong reactions from figures far apart on the religious spectrum. Dr. Deepak Chopra, the New Age writer, has dismissed the campaign as a jumble of faulty history and Hindu nationalism. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has said he agrees that yoga is Hindu — and cited that as evidence that the practice imperiled the souls of Christians who engage in it.

The question at the core of the debate — who owns yoga? — has become an enduring topic of chatter in yoga Web forums, Hindu American newspapers and journals catering to the many consumers of what is now a multibillion-dollar yoga industry.

You can read Mohler’s rather more nuanced argument here. The Indian-American group is called the Hindu American Foundation, which can be found here.

I love that the Times is covering this and not mocking the Hindus or others who discuss the debt yoga owes to Hinduism. I’m almost inure to the treatment that folks like Mohler receive at times like this but thought the short shrift to Hindus who advocate for yoga as a Hindu practice was a lost opportunity...