Post by Eλευθερί on Jul 29, 2018 2:17:50 GMT
You are far too charitable in your assessment.
People are, fundamentally, animals. Highly social mammalian animals. We are a very territorial species with a strong sense of hierarchy and dominance in relationships. Most of us are naturally inclined to follow whomever stands out, through personal charisma and/or raw physical strength, as a leader.
Those who can establish a position of authority will tend to try to preserve it. Religion is one of the most effective tools toward that end, in that it defines a body of rules (or laws, if you will) governing the behavior of the community that cannot be challenged.
So organized religion is at its essence a tool for social control and for the maintenance of the positions of power of those at the top of the social hierarchy, regardless of what the adherents of the religion may claim, or actually believe, is the purpose of the religion. (NB: If it isn't already clear, I am speaking here about organized systems of religion as opposed to the personal superstitions of individuals.) The tendency of religion toward "traditions that are not so good" is a feature, not a bug; and the notion that religion is meant to seek truth just makes it all the more enticing, and thus more effective as a tool for social control. Of course, there are forms of organized religion that aspire to equality of all. But they are the exceptions that have deviated from the usual order.
Even though I was born in a Vaishnavite family I find it extremely hypocritical that HK people are so derogatory towards people of other faiths. Almost all other Hindus not only give respects to other sects of Hinduism but also hold religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam in a very high regard. Giving respect to other faiths is the primary Hindu value which people like M.K.Gandhi, Vivekananda and other great people had reiterated time and again.
But isn't the caste system a fundamental part of virtually all, if not all, traditional forms of Hinduism?
What respect do the "upper" castes show to the Dalits? As I recall, during one of my first trips to India, a little more than 15 years ago now, an upper-caste man beat a lower-caste man to death because the lower-caste man had taken too long to get out of the way of the upper-caste man's car. Just a few weeks ago, a Dalit was allegedly killed by a Kshatriya for daring to own and ride a horse, which is forbidden.
Dr Ambedkar was unsparing in his analysis of M.K. Gandhi on this point. Gandhi preached equality to the Western audience while hewing to Hindu orthodoxy to a local audience.
I only found out about this from reading and hearing Arundhati Roy talking about it.
for example: