Uproar over Hindu god statue

News.com.au ^ | 9.27.03

[mhking]

MALAYSIAN shops selling imported statues of the Hindu god Ganesh talking on a mobile phone have been warned to remove them immediately, reports said Thursday.

"Those selling them will be warned, while those caught a second time will be slapped with a summons," home ministry spokesman Mohamad Shah Ismail was quoted as saying by the Sun.

The appearance in local shops of the elephant-headed Ganesh wearing shoes, a turban and using a handphone caused outrage among Hindus earlier this week.

"The altered statues are offensive and give a distorted depiction of Lord Ganesha," chairman of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam Penang state council P. Murugiah said.

"On behalf of the local Hindu community, we demand that the importers and distributors of the statues stop selling the degrading statues," he was quoted as saying.

Indians make up eight percent of Malaysia's 23 million population, which has a Malay Muslim majority.

[mhking]

Just damn.

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[Cicero]

No cell phone, I'm afraid. Can anyone find a picture?

[eno_]

Hindu religious-goods stores are nothing like ours. OK, well maybe the Brazilians with the glow-in-the-dark saint glued to the dashboard are more like this, but Hindu have a more familiar relationship with their gods. The cell phone might be a reach, but the shoes are all wrong: Ganesh rides on a rat (pretty neat trick if you are an elephant).

[mhking]

[Jimmy Valentine]

Well, but Ganesh only has the head of an elephant, his own having been cut off by his father (Vishnu?)by accident, and his life then saved by replacing it with the head of an elephant. Ganesh is very popular because he is the little god of luck. You must remember to propitiate him with a spoonful of milk.

Regards,

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

This is nothing to get upset about. Now, if one were to mock the REAL God, a problem might exist. It is He who said:

Psalms 115:4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man's hands.
Psalms 115:5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see;
Psalms 115:6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell;
Psalms 115:7 They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat.
Psalms 115:8 Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.

[TAIPAN22001]

Very well said. Thank you and Amen!