Visit us http://www.doctorpaul.org
Esther Dhanraj, Vibhuti Jha, Sanjay Dixit: Hostility towards Hindus : Is there Hinduphobia in the Bible?
Welcome to Defender’s Voice. I am Dr.Paul. Thank you for joining us today. Visit our website www.doctorpaul.org to learn more about this ministry. Make a tax-deductible donation to support this ministry.
Today’s question: Esther Dhanraj, Vibhuti Jha, and Sanjay Dixit say that the Bible promotes hostility towards Hindus. The Bible supports slavery and racism. Is that true?
Excellent questions. To understand the context of these question, first watch the video in which Esther Dhanraj, vibhuti Jha, and Sanjay Dixit discuss Hinduphobia in America. I gave the link below. I am going to answer the charges of all three individuals in this video. One shot. Three birds.
First note the title of the video: western hostility towards Hindus. The premise of the video is fallacious. There is no hostility towards Hindus or Hinduism. Take a look at FBI statistics. hate crimes are highest against the Jews, then come Muslims, then come Buddhists, then come Sikhs. The crimes against Jews and Muslims came down and the crimes against Buddhists and Sikhs went up. Hindus are not even listed as a religious group in this list. (https://www.justice.gov/crs/highlights/2020-hate-crimes-statistics).
In America, Hindus are the most successful group of people in terms of income. Majority of H1B visas are secured by Hindus. Top companies in America like Microsoft, Twitter, Google, Pepsi have Hindu CEOs who hail from India. Millions of Hindu students are studying in American universities and settling in America. So, there is no such thing as hostility towards Hindus. So, these three individuals made up a straw man argument to elicit sympathy from others.
Hinduism gained a large following in America. For many decades, Hindu gurus talked a lot about transcendental meditation, yoga, vegetarianism, non-violence and made millions of disciples in the West through groups like ISKON. Celebrities like Beetles became disciples of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Sathya Sai Baba. Universities established study centers on Meditation and yoga. Hinduism played a significant role in the 1960s counter-revolution in the West. Hinduism’s teachings on self-consciousness and inner transformation were used as springboards for many liberal moments in the West like sexual revolution, gay rights, feminism, environmentalism etc. People said, ‘Christian God gives many commandments to constrain our behavior. Hinduism has no such commandments. That’s nice and cool’. ‘Spiritual but not religious’ is a group born out of this population who left Judeo-Christian religions and embraced the tenets of eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism.
Things have changed a little bit after the rise of Hindutva. What has been seen as a religion of peace now looking like radical Islam in its practices and programs. Individuals like Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati openly calling for the genocide of non-Hindus in India. He is calling for violence on people who eat meat. A religion that promotes vegetarianism has been attacking people who eat meat. The irony is non-violence towards animals is practiced through violence towards fellow human beings. Meat sellers are beaten up because they are violent towards animals!
When the Westen press reports attacks on minorities in India, that is interpreted as hostility towards Hindus and is blamed on Christians and the Bible. That is a highly distorted argument. In reality, the Western press, academia and polity are equally critical of Christian Right in America. Because Hindu Right joined hands with Russia in the war on Ukraine, we can expect more criticism of India from the secular Western press and that will be interpreted as Hinduphobia coming from the Bible.
Esther said American Christians are racist. American Christians are not perfect but they made great progress in race relations. Having followed the Biblical values, America created the most tolerant society in the world. Ahmadis are Muslims. But they enjoy more freedom in America than in Pakistan, a Muslim nation. Hindu dalits enjoy more freedom in America than in India, a majority Hindu nation. Shiite Muslims enjoy more freedom in America than in Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni Muslim nation. Palestinians enjoy more freedom in America than in Jordan. The United States is far ahead of India in upholding human rights. So, Esther’s suggestion that India is more tolerant of minorities than America is absurd.
In this video, Esther Dhanraj says that Christianity encourages racism. Mr.Vibhuti Jha says that caste is all about occupation. He said the British imposed the caste system on India. Nothing could be further from the truth. Blaming the British for every malady of India is ridiculous and irrational. Caste system was in India for thousands of years before the British ever set their foot in India.The caste system came directly from Hindu scriptures. Read Purusha Sukta, a hymn from the Rig Veda. It tells of the creation of the world. During the creation of the world, the divine person was dismembered into parts reflecting the four classes of people. From the mouth came the Brahmans, the superior priestly class. From the arms came Kshatriyas, the ruling warrior class. From the thighs came Vaishyas, the merchants and farmers. From the feet came Shudras, the menial laborers and servants. Beside these 4 classes, there is another group, the fifth group called ‘panchamas’. They exist outside the class system, they are called outcasts or Dalits. So, Brahmins came from the mouth of god while Shudras came from his feet and Dalits are too unclean to have any part in god. Division of people into different categories came directly from god.
Each of the four classes had different roles in society. This categorization in the Rig Veda is what led to the caste system. Not British colonialism. Vibhuti said caste is all about occupation. Yes, it is about occupation. But we have to ask. Would a Brahmin go and clean up bathrooms and take out the human waste? Would a low caste person be able to perform priestly duties in a temple? The answer is no. So, tying caste to occupation is not correct.
Moreover, caste is tied to other essential doctrines of Hinduism, karma and rebirth. Your caste in this life is what you are born with based on your karma from your previous life. Your caste in the next life will be based on the karma you accumulate in this life and pass on to your next life. So, the doctrine of caste is intimately connected to the doctrines of karma and rebirth. That is why some Hindu gurus support the caste system and they make calls to reinstate the caste system without offering any apology to anyone. They say we try in vain to apologize for the caste system due to our Westernization. I think they are right. For millennia, Hinduism was unapologetic about the caste system. Only after the exposure to the Western liberal ideals, did Hindus become apologetic about the caste system.
Esther Dhanraj criticized America and its racial system. She talked about Bob Jones university and its restrictions on interracial dating. Bob Jones University changed a lot. Today, if a white person dates a colored person, no one would kill them. But in India, if a high caste woman dates or marries a low caste man, their lives would be endangered immediately. Esther has been willfully misleading people on this matter. Christians are far more peaceful than Hindus when interracial or intercaste conflicts arise.
Esther Dhanraj talked about how some Christians say that the black skin is the mark of Cain or the mark of Ham. We have Christians who use the Bible to support their bigotry. That is true. I agree with her on that. But the God of the Bible does not support such views. The Bible does not say that black skin is a curse. The Bible does not say anything about the skin color of Cain or of Ham. If some Christians use Bible verses to support their bigotry, it has nothing to do with the Bible. Our modern views on equality actually came from the Bible and Christianity.
Esther said, Bible says, ‘don’t covet your neighbor’s slave, donkey or wife. So, they are the same’. The Bible is not equating a slave with a donkey. God did not create slavery. The Bible says that God created one couple, Adam and Eve. We are all children of Adam and Eve. The Bible says that God created human beings in his image. Every one shares this image of God in equal essence. White or black or brown or yellow: they all share this image of God. They did not come from different parts of God. God created one couple, Adam and Eve and we are all children of that first couple. All of our differences came due to genetic, geographic and sociological factors.
When humanity disobeyed God, the human race had fallen into sin and its manifestations. Human beings invented slavery, not God. Human beings invented prostitution, not God.