Replies

Well, I'll have to investigate and see if the link I posted is a hoax. I don't think it is, but if so, I'll state to the contrary here in the future if it is.

About the little boy, do you honestly believe in the year 2002, that there is no Muslim, Hindu, atheist, or Christian doctor who would not be happy to surgically remove the tail out of charity and benevolence (and if not for any of those reasons, they'll do it to get some free advertising?) No, this exploitation cannot be explained away because of Third World poverty. I suspect they believe that their son is the incarnation of a Hindu god.

Thanks for your reply :) Yes indeed I hope that the child gets the medical attention he deserves. And I'm sure he will. India has many doctors who travel the countryside rendering free medical service, and it produces more doctors in a year than any other country in Asia.

As for my statement about the people, no I am not blaming their actions on "3rd world poverty". Just the opposite. I believe that people living in less than favorable conditions -- anywhere in the world -- would look to their religion for an explanation for things they do not understand. And if they are sincere in their belief that the child is a "re-incarnation" of a Hindu God, then you can be sure they'd take especially good care of him.

As for the website in question... well Sanskrit, the language in which the Hindu texts are most often written, is a dead language and one famous for words with multiple meanings and implications - a single sentence can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Whatever the truth may be, consider the India of the present - if it's majority Hindu population were vile and fanatical as some paint them to be, India would have Hinduism as it's official religion and the kind of diversity it has would not be encouraged. All the Bangladeshis and the Tibetans and the Nepalese who come looking for a better life would be turned away. Well, maybe I don't explain things very well. All I know is that Hinduism has co-existed peacefully for countless centuries, from the age of the Greeks and Romans to the present day, and deserves the benefit of the doubt, if not some respect.