Petiton to Stop Reza Aslan’s Hateful Show Against Hinduism
The readers are requested to sign this petition by Hindu Mahasabha of America to stop Reza Aslan’s Hateful Show against Hinduism.
Dear CNN,
We the undersigned demand that you not broadcast the show “Believer with Reza Aslan” that is to air on Sunday, 10 PM EST, which is running a segment on Hinduism. As per the preview available on your website, this segment indulges in out-of-context exotica on Hinduism by this so called scholar of religions. The show characterizes Hinduism as cannibalistic, which is a bizarre way of looking at the third largest religious community in the world.
Hinduism is different from what is commonly understood as religion in the West. It needs a deeper understanding. One cannot use the religion framework that is in vogue in the academia to understand Hinduism. The Hindu spirituality encapsulates a unique knowledge system that transcends the material and the non-material. Hinduism gives complete freedom to its practitioners to pursue spiritual knowledge in a way that suits them. There is no religious authority that enforces any kind of law, any commandment, any fatwa. Hindus are governed by the law of the land as determined by a democratic polity. There is no system of shepherds, popes or mullah to tend the flock. This openness in Hinduism manifests in a plethora of practices – some of them could be seen as exotic – as per the discourse in the western parlance. Thus, necessitating a nuanced approach to understanding Hinduism in its totality first. Only then the specifics – as cited in the show – could be understood in its proper context.
