I am glad to have come back to this thread and read through all the comments. I learnt that Sepia Mutiny could be quite tolerant of OT posts.

I am glad you came back, too. To me, this thread wasn’t that off-topic. Plus, as has been noted, the conversation was civil and edifying, so of course we were “tolerant” as you put it.

This, I suppose is the basic predicament. Hindus want so desperately to fit into the Abrahamic model. Sad.

If someone with background in Abrahamic religion want to know Hinduism, I think it is worthy effort to draw parallels with their model to explain it to them. On the other hand, if the person is already decided on what is Hindusim, I don’t see a point in fitting it to any model. Everyone can happily get on with life in their relative bubbles. As a native saying goes, you can’t wake up a person who isn’t sleeping .

Divya, it seems we have mis-communication problem because of misunderstood intentions. I don’t think it adds anything to the discussion at this stage if I go on about why I brought up Panchayatana puja or Adi Shankara.

I am glad to have come back to this thread and read through all the comments. I learnt that Sepia Mutiny could be quite tolerant of OT posts.

so you’re a trust-fundie, Manju? Perhaps a good reason to join your harem, but a fiscal physical conservative like you may not be able to handle my progressive taxes on your assets.

There is not much point berating Divya, her attitude is a fairly accurate representation of a majority of non-hindus of non-Indian origin, and ironically, of most scholars of hinduism in the west as well. I couldn’t care less when it comes to religion, but the fact is, something along this lines is true, though not to the same extent, of India studies (both in India and west) as well—and no matter how progressive you are, the two are correlated.

Yes. Qualifications are warranted here of course—if you are a historian, with some exceptions, yes; if you are a linguist, by and large no. But in many cases, India studies look more like an exercise in nonscientific entomology than a study about people, thanks to the complete contempt of what the subjects of the study think and no attempt at nuance in understanding some issues.

http://zeitgeistmovie.com/

Excellent!

And if you are going to vote at all after seeing this, well, what can be said?

F motrin. might as well go right for the codeine.

As a fan of socialized medicine (HILLARYCARE!, will it soon be OBAMEDICATION?), I dispense this advice to you free of charge.

Manju, are you joking? (re: a “defense” of Huckabee? Really!?)

Well, knowing Rall, I figured that’s impossible. But that’s the only way the cartoon makes sense. Partisans of all stripes often think themselves victims, oblivious to the fact that there are huge swaths of the MSM that think like them. Thus Rall thinks non-christin beliefs are routinely mocked while chistians are protected, which is true in some camps, but the complete opposite happens in others.

iABD thought so too.

A: Because he wanted to see the juice come out.