taken from http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/091.htm It deals specifically with hinduism of course but the general principles can be applied to a variety of discussion points that often make their way on to this board Some of the more simplistic answers to this question include: Anyone born in India is automatically a Hindu (the ethnicity fallacy); if your parents are Hindu, then you are Hindu (the familial argument); if you are born into a certain caste, then you are Hindu (the genetic inheritance model); if you believe in reincarnation, then you are Hindu (forgetting that many non-Hindu religions share at least some of the beliefs of Hinduism); if you practice any religion originating from India, then you are a Hindu (the national origin fallacy). The real answer to this question has already been conclusively answered by the ancient sages of Hinduism, and is actually much simpler to ascertain than we would guess. The two primary factors that distinguish the individual uniqueness of the great world religious traditions are (a) the scriptural authority upon which the tradition is based, and (b) the fundamental religious tenet(s) that it espouses. If we ask the question what is a Jew?, for example, the answer is: someone who accepts the Torah as their scriptural guide and believes in the monotheistic concept of God espoused in these scriptures. What is a Christian?: a person who accepts the Gospels as their scriptural guide and believes that Jesus is the incarnate God who died for their sins. What is a Muslim?: someone who accepts the Qur’an as their scriptural guide, and believes that there is no God but Allah, and that Mohammed is his prophet. In general, what determines whether a person is a follower of any particular religion is whether or not they accept, and attempt to live by, the scriptural authority of that religion. This is no less true of Hinduism than it is of any other religion on earth. Thus, the question of what is a Hindu is similarly very easily answered. By definition, a Hindu is an individual who accepts as authoritative the religious guidance of the Vedic scriptures, and who strives to live in accordance with Dharma, God’s divine laws as revealed in the Vedic scriptures. Thoughts?
Perfect definition. I completely agree. This whole issue of "What makes a Christian?", "What makes a Jew?", and "What makes a Muslim?" would have been a lot easier to handle if someone had said this before. Well done, LG. Also, I could be wrong, but how come you never said before that you were a Hindu? Jeez... I've used Hinduism as a counter-example to anti-theist arguments on so many occasions here that a little bit of help would have been nice. You know, straight from the source and all?
It becomes clumsy to debate from the standpoint of one's theistic foundations with persons who are not familiar with the frame work - I guess it is more easy for people to respond to philosophical issues from the point of general religious principles BTW there are 6 philosophies in India - 4 of them are atheistic - maybe I will start a thread on ancient atheists soon (thinking of a good title for it - "old wine in new bottles" maybe) Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
