Let me reconsider the hypothesis I propose: what we call ’the caste system’ in India today is a hybrid beast. It is not a social structure but a linguistic entity (i.e., a set of sentences) which is an incoherent admixture to two unconnected descriptions (of the world): a generalization of the description of a structured set of interactions (let us leave aside the question of what kind of …

One confuses between a definition and a hypothesis. Definitions tell us how we use a word and which objects it refers to. In the case of the term ‘religion’, a definition should merely address this referential task: which things are we referring to, when we use this word. It cannot give us any understanding of the structure or properties of religion and does not have empirical consequences (much …

Balagangadhara’s recent article on Enlightenment (Gyanodaya); this is based on his enlightenment. If you got questions on this paper, participate on The Heathen in His Blindness Yahoo group . Check the embedded PDF file: PDF Document

Assume that you get a Ph.D student who wants to do medical research. He comes to you and tells you that he wants to find out an answer to the burning question about why people get sick. Would you be able to guide this student in answering his question or give one answer to it? Your answer would be: it depends. You would also further say to him, ‘choose a particular disease, choose a particular …

The discussion about re-accessing the vibrancy of the Indian culture and the question whether or not to legislate against conversion, are best treated separately. An answer to the latter does not necessarily count as an answer to the first. In fact, the tendency to counter the proselytising drive of Christianity and Islam by voting laws against conversion is itself an indication of India’s …

Most of us would not know the difference between the Syrian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox Churches; many will be hard put to differentiate between the Pope and the Patriarch. In these circumstances, it is foolish to write apologetica for ‘Eastern Christianity’ and criticise ‘Western Christianity’. Let those concerned with the nature of Christian theologies do that. But …

Depending on the context of the discussion (say a dispute about some aspect of the Indian culture), the disputants can treat wearing the bindi or a saree as facts. However, in another context of the discussion, these facts might become theoretical claims. For instance, is the Indian woman wearing a bindi or an Indian male wearing kumkum on his forehead being religious or not? Consider, for …

There is, on the one hand, the intellectual tradition of expressing opinions and points of view. Here, as it suits thoughtful minds, one tries to express ideas carefully and in a nuanced fashion. Recent peer-opinions are taken into account; generalizations are avoided; the attention is on the specific and the concrete; and, where possible, one’s ideas are either founded upon or embroidered by some …

There is a very interesting notion of “critique”: it begins with Kant and stretches through Marx in the German philosophical tradition. In fact, it is most developed in Marx when he says he develops a “critique” of the “science” of political economy, a “critique”, which, he says, is nonetheless a “science”. He does not develop a “scientific critique” of political economy: he develops a critique of …

You claim that Jesus of Nazareth is a mystic. From the conversations so far, I presume that this is both your gut-feeling and conviction. The one deriving from your own mystical experience and the other because you find that mysticism, qua experience, does not distinguish between people on the basis of their color, creed, culture and country. I am perfectly willing to bow to authentic experience, …

I would like to address a very basic issue that many of us have confronted. In its simplest form, the question is this: What should we, a small slice of the Indian intelligentsia, be doing? We can vent our anger and frustration at the way the Indian politicians are handling (or mishandling) the Kashmiri situation; we can express hurt and outrage that ‘Hindus’ are singled out for special treatment …

According to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, ‘Hinduism’ is devil’s worship. Instead of quoting from their scriptures, let me give the barest of the bare outlines of their fundamental story about ‘God’ and ‘religion’. Nobelieverfrom any of these religions (their religious authorities included) could ever disagree with this outline. There are two ‘Gods’: the true God and the false God (notice the …

There are two distinct problems: one involving religions (like Christianity, Judaism and Islam) and the other involving the believers. Regarding these three religions: (a) insofar as these religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are concerned, Hinduism is demonic. It is that because, according to all the three religions, ‘Hindus’ worship the devil (‘shaitan’) and his minions. That is to say, …

Here goes: that ‘Hindu’ religion is devil’s worship is central, crucial and vital to the religions that Judaism, Christianity and Islam are. ‘Why is that?’, you may ask. It is impossible to cover this question in the space of a post, and with the details the question demands. So, here is what can be done: (a) I will provide a very crude outline with respect to Christianity; (b) reread what I wrote …

(a) It appears to me that in these discussions, a very vital issue (if we want to talk about Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and their ‘problems’ with ‘Hinduism’, etc) is not being recognized. and that is this: religious ‘beliefs’ are not accorded their place, and are talked about as though they are merely a subset of the class of ‘beliefs’. (b) ‘Being a believer’ (I will confine myself to …

In so far as one sees this article as a beginning of a certain type of enquiry, it is excellent. However, it is not adequate as a formulation of either the problem that confronts the Indian intellectuals (and not merely them) or the solutions. The problems are far more complex and the task is far more daunting than they appear at first sight. What may not be forgotten, if one wants to be relevant …

What is the logic of my argument ? Am I proposing a ‘westology’? Let me briefly explicate my stances, beginning with the last question. If we are not to simply sell slogans and our claims should carry bite, we need to say what this ‘westology’ is or could be. My stance: such a ‘westology’ cannot even be properly conceptualized, let alone carried out. 1.1. What does it mean (however intuitively …

Two substantial questions have been raised in response to what I wrote : (a) why do we need to study and understand the Western culture in order to access our own traditions? (b) Is it my claim that Buddha and Shankara (for example) are irrelevant to us? One other sort of ‘objection’ too has surfaced, albeit disguised as a characterization of what I have said: (c) is not my position itself …

Original I am from Bangalore, India, but work as a professor in Belgium, Europe. My name is not Batra but am known as ‘Balu’. I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of either the BJP (the nationalist party in India) or organizations collectively known as the ‘Sangh Parivar’. Even though I am born a ‘Hindu’, some of my ‘liberal’ associates are convinced that I am a ‘crypto-Christian’. So much …

Jakob de Roover’s Untangling the knot Sufiya Pathan’s No Alternative Jakob’s Disturbing Story Jakob’s How Free are We? Jakob’s The Indian Jews Balagangadhara’s What can India offer?