If you have any advice I would love to start it. I am by no means an expert on Hinduism. As I said, my next-door neighbor could be practising a totally different way than me and still be Hindu. So i can’t do a “Ask the”, especially since I am not technically Hindu (I term myself atheist Hindu).
What I’d like to see is a thread where all the Hindus on the boards came together and spoke about their individual views and thoughts and beleifs, and people threw out questions to all of us. Sort of like a panel rather than one person. But I have no idea how to make this happen.
I like that Judaism is one of the Big Three even though there are about 70 times more Hindus in the world. One of those quirks of the West running the show, I guess.
I would love to see that too. Have always been fascinated by Hinduism–I was given some Amar Chitra Katha comics as a little kid, and read them to pieces, but I still have 'em. Someday I’ll buy a whole bunch more.
On the other hand, nearly all the Hindus are actually IN “Hindustan,” (with a few scattered groups in South Africa, the Windward Islands, Polynesia, and a few U.S. and British cities). In contrast, two of the Big Three dominate a bit more than half of the other countries in the world and the Jews exert a strong influence in most First World countries.
So, your observation is correct, but it is not an example of provincialism, as such.
Plus I have noticed - how do I put this politely - a significant portion of Indians I know do not get online and join message boards like this. I have tried on many occasions do join some Indian message boards, but this is the kind of crap I see -
wuz up peeps
wanna cyber
hey no abcds
Screw that. I want intelligent, reasoned discussion with other Indians but a fair portion of Indians don’t think about their religion as much as we might here on the Dope. Honestly, a fair portion of people fit this category, too, I just notice it more with Indians.
I hope you do. We’ve had “Ask the” threads before where lots of the answers depended on the individual answering, such as Ask the Black Guy, where every person who answered could really only speak from his/her personal perspective. You could mention that Hinduism is practiced in lots of different ways in your OP, then share about what you personally did/do.
I want intelligent, reasoned discussion with other Indians but a fair portion of Indians don’t think about their religion as much as we might here on the Dope. Honestly, a fair portion of people fit this category, too, I just notice it more with Indians.