Gwinnett says no to Hindu Temple

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^

[The Lion Roars]

Dalit Girl raped by pastors in kerala
http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/30/stories/2006063022270300.htm

Thiruvananthapuram: The Pettah police have arrested two persons, including a pastor, in connection with the rape of an 18-year-old Dalit girl.

Circle Inspector, Pettah, Salim Kumar, identified the accused as Stellus (48) and Lear (45). Stellus is a music teacher hailing from Pattoor and Lear works as a pastor for a religious mission.

According to the police, Stellus had sexually exploited the girl while she was his student. Lear has been accused by the police of raping the girl after she joined the religious mission. The police were looking for one Sivaji of Pettah and Reji of Barton Hill in connection with the case. An Excise department guard is also likely to figure as accused in the case along with nine others.

The accused were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate here on the charge of rape under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.

The case came to light after the girl was rescued by the police from a bus stand in Alappuzha. Earlier, her mother had given a complaint to the Museum police station that her daughter had been missing for several months. The police said the girl was raped by several people at various locations in the State. Efforts were on to arrest the rest of the accused in the case, according to police.

[Gengis Khan]

In Hinduism good karma does not guaranty a higher cast in the next life. Cast is/was a social hierarchy nothing to do with the spiritual belief. Good karma will ensure a better quality of life (not cast). In other words you are responsible for your actions. There are also those who believe that you incur the consequences of your actions in this life and not the next. Hinduism also allows you to repent and make amends for your wrong doings.

"If you live a life where you do bad or evil things then in the next life you might be reincarnated a poor beggar man with a disease. This leads to loss of compassion, as there is no reason to feel sorry for the poor diseased beggar man as he is just getting payback for his previous bad life. And one should show respect and praise for the rich and indolent as they are receiving their reward for a previous great life. One should never question the rich and not help the poor."

This is plain BS. Your karma will have its due consequences. And you wont get very far on that account by being insensitive, unsympathetic or unhelpful to the needy.

[PAR35]

It's bad enough when people like you have to lie, but to do it so badly is just sad.

Have you heard of this new thing that's called the internet? It makes life hard for propagandists like you.

Less than 2 minutes turns up:

"As India's poor get bolder, their Christian defenders face persecution--and the victims are mounting"
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/980511/asia.modernday_martyrs.a34.html

"In May 2005, the death sentence for the man convicted of murdering Australian missionary Graham Staines and his boys in 1999 was commuted from the death sentence to life imprisonment. Seeing this as leniency for those who kill Christians, a Hindu militant and at least two others entrapped and murdered two pastors on the outskirts of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

"Reports of village churches being destroyed and church leaders being threatened by local Hindus continue to be a daily reality in India. Other persecution faced by Christians is more subtle, as converts to Christianity are often cast out of their families and face poverty and ostracism."
http://www.persecution.net/country/india.htm

There are many more links to specific reports at that site.

Now go crawl back in your hole, and next time do a quick Google before you post your rot.

[FreedomCalls]

"Your karma will have its due consequences.

In the next life. Therefore someone you encounter in this life is paying for the bad karma incurred from a previous life. According to the Brahma Sutras "Each soul is responsible for its own fate" but the soul is reincarnated from one earthly life to the next. So someone suffering in this life is deserving of it.

The fact is this thought process has caused large parts of Hindu society to be indifferent to the suffering of the poor. Mother Teresa in Calcutta was Catholic, not Hindu. Indeed, Christianity changed Rome (and subsequently Western Europe) from a society that valued and taught contempt for the poor and thought of compassion as a weakness to be avoided. Christ's ministry changed all that.

From Wikipedia:

Appaya Dikshita, a Saivite theologian and proponent of Siva Advaita, states that Siva (God) only awards happiness and misery in accordance with the law of karma.[5] Thus persons themselves perform good or evil actions according to their own inclinations as acquired in past creations, and in accordance with those deeds, a new creation is made for the fulfilment of the law of karma. Shaivas believe that there are cycles of creations in which souls gravitate to specific bodies in accordance with karma, which as an unintelligent object depends on the will of Siva alone. Thus, many interpret the caste system in accordance with karma, as those with good deeds are born into a highly spiritual family (probably the brahmana caste).

The Vedas tell us that if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami further notes that karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determine our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas rebound immediately.

...[M]ost Hindus believe in universal salvation: that all souls will eventually obtain moksha, even if it is after millions of rebirths.

In Christianity, you don't have to wait for "millions of rebirths." You can be reborn now, and reap the reward of the heavenly after-life immediately following your death. You are responsible for your own actions. Nothing of a previous life matters. If you are poor, it is not because your reincarnated soul is receiving the effect of the accumulation of bad karma from a previous life. Which if it is leaves one with no reason to intercede in a life gone bad, as why would I want to thwart the payback for the bad karma the soul is receiving from a previous life? That would go against the system.

[Gengis Khan]

Your Wikipedia tripe says this right in the beginning:

"To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup."

"Thus, many interpret the caste system in accordance with karma, as those with good deeds are born into a highly spiritual family (probably the brahmana caste)."

Thats the personal opinion of the author (and we dont even know who he/she is). "Many interpret" (they do so wrongly). Many who? Do any religious scriptures say that? They dont. Cast in classical Hinduism wasn't accorded birth but by profession. So you cant be born into a cast. Not according to Hinduism.

Secondly:
Shaivites are a sect within Hinduism any there are many.

"...[M]ost Hindus believe in universal salvation: that all souls will eventually obtain moksha, even if it is after millions of rebirths."

Yes. It means there is no eternal damnation for any living being no matter how evil. They will still attain salvation no matter how long it takes.

You are going to have to do better than picking up some tripe from Wikipedia.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Have you heard of this new thing that's called the internet?

Yes, I have. Perhaps you could use it to substantiate your claim that Christians are regularly killed by Hindus. I'll wait.

Now go crawl back in your hole, and next time do a quick Google before you post your rot.

Gee, for a liar you seem awfully sensitive. Liars should develop thicker skins. Now, where's your evidence that Christians are regularly killed by Hindus, liar?

[Gengis Khan]

In the next life. Therefore someone you encounter in this life is paying for the bad karma incurred from a previous life. According to the Brahma Sutras "Each soul is responsible for its own fate" but the soul is reincarnated from one earthly life to the next. So someone suffering in this life is deserving of it.

As I said you are responsible for your actions. There is no getting away.You may reap your bad karma in this life .........or if not then in the next.  There is no escaping the consequences. Although you can always make amends to avoid the consequences.

The fact is this thought process has caused large parts of Hindu society to be indifferent to the suffering of the poor. Mother Teresa in Calcutta was Catholic, not Hindu. Indeed, Christianity changed Rome (and subsequently Western Europe) from a society that valued and taught contempt for the poor and thought of compassion as a weakness to be avoided. Christ's ministry changed all that.

Thats a stereotype and not fact. Large parts of India is no doubt poor but people are not indifferent. Have you ever been to India? What do you know about Hindu society being indifferent? Your local televangelists told you so? Mother Teresa is a great woman but she isn't the only example. There are many others among Hindus who have doe similar work.

And moreover poverty is an economic problem and it cannot be solved through compassion. Large parts of (Christian) Africa is poor. By your logic one can infer that the rich Christian West is indifferent and insensitive to their sufferings.  

[FreedomCalls]

"The servant class, the Shudra, serves the higher three classes. They are not allowed to read or hear the Vedas, but they are allowed to participate in Bhakti Marga, the path of devotion. It may seem degrading to keep them away from the religious texts that at the same time are keeping them from raising their station in this lifetime, but as a Hindu, they were placed in that class for a reason. Karma, which follows you throughout your many lifetimes, determines which class you will be in for any given lifetime. You may be demoted to an animal, reallocated within the class structure, or even elevated to a deity. Your actions in each lifetime affect your karma, and if a Shudra does his dharma it will have a positive effect on his/her karma, perhaps elevating him/her into a class in which he/she will be allowed to study the Vedas and progress along his/her spiritual path."

... After death. And only in the next life.

“Since it is accepted that one’s caste is determined by one’s past karma, there is no reason to be bitter about one’s lot or envy others”

~Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World.

And no reason to help the poor escape the consequences of their bad karma.

Source

[FreedomCalls]

"Hindu society has always been divided deeply on the basis of caste, region, gender, language, beliefs, occupation and ideology. And every average Hindu considers these inequalities justified and puts up with them. Hinduism recognizes social and economic inequalities as inevitable constituents of society because of the individual differences in the nature of their karma. If a person is born rich or into a higher caste it is because of his karma and if someone is suffering or born in a poor caste, he has to blame himself and his previous actions. Each individual who lives here is a continuation of his past and is fully responsible for his or her reality. Therefore how can any one blame others for ones own suffering? This is the logic that prevents effective collective action in Hindu society."

"The same logic goes when people choose leaders who are corrupt, inefficient or anti social. The same thing happened when foreign powers invaded the subcontinent. People put up with suffering because they believe that they are responsible for it in the first place and that they need to endure it as a part of their salvation and progress."

HinduWebsite.com

[Gengis Khan]

Again personal opinion of two different authors (both of whome actually seem to endorse the religous [not the social and discriminatory] form of castism). None of this is any religious text or scripture.

[PAR35]

You need to work on your English vocabulary if you want to get a job at one of the call centers. Your insults seem to be one dimensional.

Going back to late 2005, we can find stories on:

Police Beat Christians

Church Convention Stormed by Militants

Bishop's Home Attacked

Pastor Attacked in Gujarat

Attacks on Christians Increase in Rajasthan

Christian Dalits Attacked for Attending Festival

Prayer Meeting Attacked in Uttar Pradesh

Operation Mobilisation Team Beaten

Pastor Beaten and Accused of "Forcible Conversion"

Update: Church Threatened in India

Homes Destroyed by Fire in Indian Village

Christians Attacked Throughout India

Hindu Militants Attack Pastor While Police Turn a Blind Eye

Church Ransacked by Hindu Militants

Catholics Attacked on Way to Christmas Mass

Pastor Beaten While Distributing Literature

Serious Injuries as Christian Prayer Meeting Raided

Homes Burned and Christians Beaten in Orissa

Bishop and Three Priests Pelted with Stones

Pentecostal Church Targeted in Indore, India

Mission Property Destroyed

Pastor Missing in Hyderabad

Pastor Beaten After Accusations of Forcible Conversion

Violence Continues in Connection With Attack on School

Pastor Assaulted

Three Christian Workers Assaulted

Opposition to Hopegivers International Continues

Three Pastors Attacked in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

Pastor Survives Murder Attempt

Easter Season Brings Violence in India


Easter Service Forced to Stop

Hindu Militants Attack Church Accused of Forcible Conversions

Two Christian Women Gang Raped

Pastor Brutally Killed

Pastor Beaten While Police Watch

More Details on Pastor's Murder

Militants Attempt to Burn Pastor to Death in Church Assault

---

Or just start reading here:

http://www.google.com/search?num=30&hs=sG5&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=persecution+christians+india&btnG=Search

[ARridgerunner]

"No one can come to the Father except through me", there is no conflict in Hindu minds -...

It was Hindu minds that taught me what Jesus meant, not Christian minds.

It is ironic that while Christians raid India's spirituality (the harvest) through "converting the lost" those of us in the West that want to be found must look to India and Hindus for truth.

[DarkSavant]

He must be able to. How did Satan arise?

Rebellion. He wanted to be God. If God is fallible, he isn't omniscient or omnipotent, so by definition he is not God. He allowed Satan to rebel, in that He never destroys his own Goodness, and even Satan has a certain amount of Goodness in the fact that he exists, no matter how depraved he is.

If there was a "war" in heaven, then heaven isn't perfect especially if previously infallible angels on the right-hand of God later became the agents of all that is evil.

In Catholic theology, unlike man, the angels make their final decision on accepting and rejecting God on the moment they are created. Therefore Satan was the first to rebel against God at the moment of his creation.

Either that or St. Peter was on a coffee break and someone else let those guys in the gate originally.

Heh, I'm assuming this was a joke, just to clarify Saint Peter wasn't around then.

I think you're reading into the language in the wrong way. I'm unfortunately no theologian, so that's the best I can do to explain.

[CarrotAndStick]

Ah, the "peaceful Christians". Aside from all that tripe from BosNews.com or AsiaNews.it, here's the Christian version of violence. Of course, your sources wouldn't dare publish this. And need I start about the innumerable murders and rapes committed by Christian militants in the north-east of India? I hope not. :


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1654558/posts

Violence halts The Da Vinci Code Screening in H'bad (India)
Times of India ^

HYDERABAD: The screening of controversial Hollywood movie "The Da Vinci Code" was suspended at a theatre here after a group of Christians, protesting against the release of the film, ransacked the theatre.

The movie was to be released at Prasad Imax following a direction by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, quashing the state government's order to ban its screening.

However, dozens of activists under the banner of the Christian United Front raided the theatre and damaged the property extensively forcing the management to suspend the film's screening.

The protesters, who were carrying banners and placards describing the film as "Devil's Code", barged in to the theatre located near the Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city even as hundreds of people eager to watch the movie were standing in queues for the tickets of the first show of the movie.

Police said the mob shattered the glass panes and damaged furniture and ticket counters. The protesters also raised slogans against the court's order lifting the ban imposed by the state government on the film

Prasad Imax was the only theatre in the state, where the film was scheduled to be released on Friday.

The court, on petitions by the film's distributors, Wednesday quashed the June 1 government order banning the screening of the movie in the state. The movie was to be released in the state on June 2.

The government move came following protests by various Christian and Muslim groups that said the movie would hurt religious sentiments. The government, in its order, contended that the film might lead to law and order problems.

Following the court order, the distributors had announced plans to release the English and Hindi versions of the movie next week.

The movie, based on Dan Brown's bestseller with the same title, remains banned in several Indian states.



More:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1654558/posts

[CarrotAndStick]

The Hindu path to Salvation.

Arjuna:

Of those who love you as the Lord of Love,
Ever present in all, and those who seek you
As the nameless, formless Reality,
Which way is sure and swift, love or knowledge?

Krishna:

For those who set their hearts on me
And worship me with unfailing devotion and faith,
The way of love leads sure and swift to me.

Those who seek the transcendental Reality,
Unmanifested, without name or form,
Beyond the reach of feeling and of thought,
With their senses subdued and mind serene
And striving for the good of all beings,
They too will verily come unto me.

Yet hazardous
And slow is the path to the Unrevealed,
Difficult for physical man to tread.
But they for whom I am the goal supreme,
Who do all work renouncing self for me
And meditate on me with single-hearted devotion,
These will I swiftly rescue
From the fragment's cycle of birth and death
To fullness of eternal life in me.

Still your mind in me, still yourself in me,
And without doubt you shall be united with me,
Lord of Love, dwelling in your heart.
But if you cannot still your mind in me,
Learn to do so through the practice of meditation.
If you lack the will for such self-discipline,
Engage yourself in selfless service of all around you,
For selfless service can lead you at last to me.
If you are unable to do even this,
Surrender yourself to me in love,
Receiving success and failure with equal calmness
As granted by me.

Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice.
Better than knowledge is meditation.
But better still is surrender in love,
Because there follows immediate peace.

That one I love who is incapable of ill will,
And returns love for hatred.
Living beyond the reach of I and mine
And of pleasure and pain, full of mercy,
Contented, self-controlled, firm in faith,
With all their heart and all their mind given to me –
With such people I am in love.

Not agitating the world or by it agitated,
They stand above the sway of elation,
Competition, and fear, accepting life
Good and bad as it comes. They are pure,
Efficient, detached, ready to meet every demand
I make on them as a humble instrument of my work.

They are dear to me who run not after the pleasant
Or away from the painful, grieve not
Over the past, lust not today,
But let things come and go as they happen.

Who serve both friend and foe with equal love,
Not buoyed up by praise or cast down by blame,
Alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain,
Free from selfish attachments and self-will,
Ever full, in harmony everywhere,
Firm in faith – such as these are dear to me.

But dearest to me are those who seek me
In faith and love as life's eternal goal.
They go beyond death to immortality.
 

 

 

 

Krishna:

Those who are free from selfish attachments,
Who have mastered the senses and passions,
Act not, but are acted through by the Lord.
Listen to me now, O son of Kunti,
How one who has become an instrument
In the hands of the Lord attains the Absolute,
The supreme consummation of wisdom.

Unerring in discrimination,
Sovereign of the senses and passions,
Free from the clamor of likes and dislikes,
They lead a simple, self–reliant life
Based on meditation, using speech,
Body, and mind to serve the Lord of Love.

Free from self–will, aggressiveness, arrogance,
From the lust to possess people or things,
They are at peace with themselves and others
And enter into the unitive state.

United with the Lord, ever joyful,
Beyond the reach of self–will and sorrow,
They serve me in every living creature
And attain supreme devotion to me.
By loving me they share in my glory
And enter into my boundless being.

All their acts are performed in my service,
And through my grace they win eternal life.

Make every act an offering to me;
Regard me as your only protector.
Make every thought an offering to me;
Meditate on me always.

Drawing upon your deepest resources,
You shall overcome all difficulties
Through my grace. But if you will not heed me
In your self–will, nothing will avail you.

If you say, “I will not fight this battle,”
Your own nature will drive you into it.
If you will not fight the battle of life,
Your own karma will drive you into it.

The Lord dwells in the hearts of all creatures,
And he whirls them round on the wheel of time.
Run to him for refuge with all your strength
And peace profound will be yours through his grace.

I give you these precious words of wisdom;
Reflect on them and then choose what is best.
These are the last words I shall speak to you,
Dear one, for your spiritual fulfillment.

Be aware of me always, adore me,
Make every act an offering to me,
And you shall come to me;
This I promise, for you are dear to me.
Leave all other support, and look to me
For protection. I shall purify you
From the sins of the past. Do not grieve.

Do not share this wisdom with anyone
Who lacks in devotion or self–control,
Lacks the desire to learn, or who scoffs at me.

Those who teach this supreme mystery
Of the Gita to all those who love me
Will come to me without doubt. No one
Can render me more devoted service;
No one on earth can be more dear to me.

Those who meditate on these holy words
Worship me with wisdom and devotion.
Even those who listen to them with faith,
Free from doubts, will find a happier world.

Have you fully understood my message?
Are you free from your doubts and delusions?

Arjuna:

You have dispelled my doubts and delusions
And made me ready to fight this battle.
My faith is firm now, and I will do your will.

 

 

Krishna:

 

I am the same to all beings. My love
Is the same always. Nevertheless, those
Who meditate on me with devotion,
They dwell in me, and I shine forth in them.

Even the worst sinner becomes a saint
When he loves me with all his heart. This love
Will soon transform his personality
And fill his heart with peace profound.
O son of Kunti, this is my promise:
Those who love me, they shall never perish.

-Excerpts from the  Bhagawad Gita (The Song of the Lord).

[An_Indian]

the problem is i see the same type of behaviour among american democrats! just like the left-leaning congress party in India!

[An_Indian]

thank you for posting the version of hinduism i follow! that said, doesnt mean there arent narrow version of hinduism being followed by some fundamentalists in India. thats where you keep hearing those attacks on christains!

an average hindu is more concerned on getting food on his plate than showing aggression on christains! most christains in India are seen as pacifists! you dont usually see christains in India involved in contraversies and hence they carry a soft and respectable image.

But in recent years, due to huge increase in evagelism, the image of christains is changing a little and on a downward slope but by and large hindus are not opposed/against to christains!

[PAR35]

You are able to make your point with evidence and without name calling, a skill that you should share with another poster on this thread.

Have a pleasant day.

[CarrotAndStick]

A pleasant day to you too!