CRIMES AGAINST INDIA - Book review by David Frawley
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
Monday, April 20, 2009
Crimes Against India book Review by David Frawley
Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient
Vedic Tradition
By Stephen Knapp
Review by David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)
www.vedanet.com
Hinduism remains the most attacked and under siege of all
the major world religions. This is in spite of the fact
that Hinduism is the most tolerant, pluralistic and
synthetic of the world's major religions. Hindu gurus have
more than any other religious teachers in the world tried
to find an underlying unity of religion to create peace in
humanity. Yet though Hindu gurus have called for respect
for all religions, leaders of other religions have not
responded in kind by offering any respect for Hinduism.
Instead they have continued to promote their missionary
agendas and plan the conversion of India to their beliefs.
Why is Hinduism still so much a target of missionaries and
the media? It is really very simple. Hinduism is the
largest of the non-conversion, non-proselytizing religions
and so offers the greatest possibilities for conversion. It
is the vulnerability of Hinduism that makes it a target,
not the fact that Hindus are trying to convert or conquer
the world for some hostile belief.
After Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is the world's
largest religion and the largest of the non-Biblical
traditions. India, where most Hindus reside, has the most
open laws allowing in foreign religious groups. While
missionaries are virtually banned in China and in Islamic
countries, in India they are often tolerated, respected and
given a wide scope of activity. Since Christianity is in
decline, particularly in Europe, it has a need to find new
converts for which India is one of main potential
locations, particularly as a comparatively high percentage
of Hindu converts are willing to become priests and nuns.
Pope John Paul II in a trip to India some ten years ago
spoke directly of looking for a "rich harvest of souls in
the third millennium in Asia", specifically India.
Yet most Hindus and groups sympathetic to them are not
aware of this "siege on Hinduism" that continues
unrelenting as part of the multi-national missionary
business. In this context, the book of Stephen Knapp,
Crimes Against India: and the Need to Protect its Ancient
Vedic Tradition, is very timely, well written and well
documented. The siege on Hinduism has been going on since
the first Islamic armies and Christian missionaries entered
India as he clearly delineates and has continued in various
forms, violent, subversive or even charitably based.
While people know the history of the genocide of the Jews
by the Nazis, the greater and longer genocide of Hindus by
Islamic invaders is hardly noticed. Even the genocide in
the Bangladesh War of 1971, in which most of the several
million killed were Hindus, is not acknowledged as a
religious genocide. While people know the history of the
Inquisition and the burning of witches in Europe and the
genocide of Native Americans by Christian invaders, they
don't realize that India has a similar history in parts of
the country like Goa. Knapp fills in these gaps and makes
these connections.
More importantly, people don't realize that questionable
conversion tactics are still being used in India today,
where in the South, the rate offered for conversion is
around twenty thousand rupies, going up and down with the
economy! They also don't realize that it is now American
Evangelicals of the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson line --
the religious right that brought George Bush to power --
that is spearheading conversion activity and church
building in South India, pouring billions into the country.
Yet Knapp's book is not just written to make us aware of
this assault on Hinduism and its many dangers. He also
provides a way forward, showing how Hindu Dharma can be
revived, better taught, better communicated and more widely
shared with the global audience, which is becoming
progressively more receptive to Hindu teachings of Yoga,
Vedanta and respect for nature. He documents the Hindu
renaissance and the modern Hindu movement, which though
small is growing rapidly as a Hindu response to this
denigration of its venerable traditions. He shows that
Hindus are not responding in terms of becoming another
intolerant, exclusivist missionary cult. They are
organizing themselves in terms of teaching, service and
spiritual practices.
The book is well worth reading and will show any open
minded person the Hindu side of a millennial debate on
religion that has so far largely excluded the Hindu point
of view. That Knapp is a western born Hindu adds to his
credibility and conviction. He is not simply defending a
tradition handed down by his family or his culture, but one
that he has embraced from deep spiritual conviction and
profound inner experience.
One hopes that readers in India will listen to his voice
and that those outside of the country will recognize the
Hindu plight along with the other forms of oppression going
on in the world. Religious minorities at a global level are
still under the assault of religious majorities, which have
long been armed with petrodollars, high technology and
control of the media. Yet as the book demonstrates, the
tide is beginning to turn.
End of forwarded message from Stephen Knapp
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
hari....@indero.com
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson line -- the religious right that brought
George Bush to power -- that is spearheading conversion activity and
church building in South India, pouring billions into the country."
It is the same religious right which jay stevens,aka dr. jai etc.
promoted in the last election. Posts were shown that the vice president
choice he supported so strongly was a direct supporter of such
activities.
Posts he continues to make are those same that the religious right and
the right in general support. He posts articles from online news groups
openly in support of the religious right.
Andre
I always wanted to visit India. Of course my wife wants to see the Taj
Mahal. Me, I want to meet the guy who is fixing my computer.
Andre
Onoit
Mahal. Me, I want to meet the guy who is fixing my computer.
I can't understand what he is saying over the telephone, and it's too
much trouble to learn Hindi.
hari....@indero.com
How do you know he knows hindi? It is just as likely he uses another of
the major languages of india or one of the 200 or so in total.
harmony
"Onoit" <On...@sno.tso> wrote in message
news:LL-dnSNHfN6FfWzU...@posted.internetamerica...
learn sanskrit. it is good for you, for your computer - and the gods.
win-win and more win.