"Jagat satya!"

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 2 Aug 2002, Jagannath Chatterjee wrote:

> Today there is consternation among the
> Churches (Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical et al)
> regarding the rush of Christians to Hinduism. They are
> also worried about Islam after 9/11.

I've heard this kind of thing before Indians, not just from followers of
Vivekananda and it's got me worried because this is totally at odds with
reality.  Of course (some of) the Christians are worried about other
religions but that's because they see them as rivals.  Here in America,
the actual numbers show no mass movement away from Christianity.  The
liberal churches are losing members but to more fundamentalist churches or
to atheism not to other religions.  Even with the recent sex, scandals
that rocked the Catholic church, the Pope still managed to attract an
audience of some 200,000 for the recent World Youth Day.  New Age ideas
(which often have as much to do with actual Hindu ideas as a rickshaw does
with the space shuttle) are gaining some currency but only on a
superficial level.

Meanwhile growing numbers of so-called "educated" Hindus are totally
illiterate about the details of their faith.  I am apalled by their
complacency and self-satisfaction and willingness to live in a fantasy
world instead of dealing with the very real issues that modern life poses.
We need less people who "believe" or have "pride" in Hinduism and more who
actually practice it if our faith is going to survive and grow in the 21st
century.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/