I noticed that many (people on third rock from the sun in general - excluding a minority of folks) find it painful if others try to share their beliefs with us. Case in point? A recent experience of one of my relatives (a Hindu, in India) who is an excellent, warm-hearted, loving, caring, and highly-principled person (but, is a human just like you and me).
During Christmas'07, one of his Hindu colleagues wished him a merry Christmas in his office. He was terribly upset about this, and he blatantly told that colleague never to wish him on Christmas again. He is concerned that more and more Hindus are forgetting about our cultural heritage, and are following the west indiscriminately. I see his angle, but I would have reacted differently. To me, the basics are:
(1) That poor guy is wishing us well, even out of his idiocy in the worst case. I just would reciprocate in kind.
(2) At least some teachings of Hinduism say: (a) do things in the name of God (b) God is one, you can call Him (Her/It) by any name of your choice. So, what was this well-wisher's crime? He called the God with a wrong name?! Didn't he just do me a favor by reminding me of God, Who I am supposed to be thinking of anyway? I fail to see a reason for not being elated on this wish.
Imagine Hindus hugging each other on Ramadan and Muslims doing likewise for Diwali? Wouldn't it be nice? Just because there are radicals on the other side, we shouldn't strive to be one on our's. We must remember that there are both good things and bad things in any religion (Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam are no exceptions) or practice; we just have to be picky.
When we go to a grocery store, we just don't buy only oranges, do we? We buy oranges and apples and whatever else we like. And if we find some nasty fruits on display, we tell the store manager about them! Why shouldn't it be the same with religion? If we come across something we like in any religion, why not use it? We don't have to wait till we go to Varanasi and verify if the manuscript of Mandukya Upanishad agrees with it or not!
Embracing (good parts of) other cultures is a reflection of our strength, not of our weakness by any measure. If we are on Indo-Pak border and we are not fortunate enough to have the luxury of equanimity, it is slightly a different story. For the rest of us who are far removed from the mayhem, there is no need to build grudges. I know, it is not practical and all that. Also, I can hear a faint sound of a few axes grinding!
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