Thread on #HinduReform in the context of the #RamMandir
#MeToo women look back and wonder why they gave in and felt so vulnerable. Oftentimes it was due to the power imbalance.
This power imbalance also applies to Christian #missionaries in India.
Faced with no options to elevate himself from poverty, a poor Hindu is given a helping hand and promised a lot more, with the ulterior motive of converting to Christianity. Funded many times by wealthy Westerners, shrewd missionaries aren't different from #MeToo villians.
Indian state's failure to help the poor and the Hindu society's failure to eliminate discrimination are both real even today for many people. What's also real is the pitching of religion while offering much needed help to the vulnerable.
While naming and shaming these missionaries is important, what's also important is for Hindu leaders and organizations to make poverty alleviation and social reforms central to their mission. But I am afraid this isn't the case oftentimes.
How many Hindus were asked by temples to donate to the poor and to volunteer to spread the values of the Gita to reform society? I can't recall even one instance from my own life.
As long as temples and Hindu organizations remain focused only on the individual and her own benefit, the larger Hindu society's lack of cohesion will leave the vulnerable exposed to conversions. Hindu society will also lose generous followers to secular charities.
As we are talking of #RamMandir let's redefine a temple's role. Let's build into its mission poverty alleviation and spreading of the Gita's central tenets for social reform. Given the controversial history of this temple, creativity in defining its mission would go a long way.
As real as #Hinduphobia is, Hindu organizations aren't helping themselves by not tackling socio-economic issues front and centre.
#HinduReform #ConversionMafia #RamMandir
@HinduAmerican @CoHNAOfficial @Vichaar_Manthan @HinduStudentsC @Shaktitva - with more access to resources here in the West we should be at the forefront of this reform. 🙏🏼
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