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| nepali_angel |
Posted
on 10-Apr-04 11:25 AM
Folks, read this article in today's washington post.
Wrath over a Hindu God
Folklore has it that elephants never forget, and Paul Courtright has reason to believe it. A professor of religion at Emory University, he immersed himself in the story of Ganesha, the beloved Hindu god with the head of an elephant. Detecting provocative Oedipal overtones in Ganesha's story -- and phallic symbolism in his trunk -- he wrote a book setting out his theories in 1985.
Nineteen years later, thanks to an Internet campaign, the world has rediscovered Courtright's book. After a scathing posting on a popular Indian Web site, he has received threats from Hindu militants who want him dead.
"Gopal from Singapore said, 'The professor bastard should be hanged,' " said Courtright, incredulous. "A guy from Germany said, 'Wish this person was next to me, I would have shot him in the head.' A man called Karodkar said, 'Kill the bastard. Whoever wrote this should not be spared.' Someone wanted to throw me into the Indian Ocean."
For more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A334-2004Apr9.html
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| isolated freak |
Posted
on 10-Apr-04 11:30 AM
I don't know what should be done but he should at least apologize. Hell with these western academics who see only sexual symbols in our gods and rituals. If ganesh's trunk symbolizes phallus, then the Cross probably symbolizes the same thing.
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| dyamn |
Posted
on 10-Apr-04 11:40 AM
good point IF ... these western fanatics don't have patience, vision or empathy to see from our eyes... these punks say don't judge but jump right into conclusion and misinterpret our religion.......
i would say, let some hindu guy write a book about something like ' mary wasn't virgin' or ' jesus was unreal' and let's see how many letters/emails that guy gets from the fanatic christains. who knows president B will probably send a troop or something.
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| nepali_angel |
Posted
on 10-Apr-04 01:02 PM
The "scholars" shouldn't have been threatened in any shape or form, because incontrovertibly they're only chunking out "scholarly" materials, as they would probably make the declaration. However, Hindus should be calling the tunes as regards our religion instead of playing second fiddle to outsiders, who essentially are not born into the religion. As mentioned in the article, no world religions aside from those originating in the subcontinent take outsiders' perspective seriously, whether it be Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Certainly, there have been books published, whose authors were not of the religion the books were about. However, to be given any credence, it has to be accepted by those born in the religion. A European( Christian by default) might author a tome on Muslims, but it will be restricted mostly to their society, i.e. an "etic" perspective. However, were he to write about the religion itself, he will not have the insider's advantage of being born into it , and as such will be taken with a green of salt. BY THE MUSLIMS THEMSELVES!
Alas, so is not the case for Hinduism. It is like we are bending over backwards, thereby letting foreigners call all the shots instead of jumping down their throats-- however by keeping it civil instead of making death threats, and beating him in his own "game"--when they make inane claims, like associating Ganesha's trunk with a phallus, which really are for the birds. I don't care if it's David Frawley or Max Muller. We should not give credence to foreign scholarship on matters that they know nothing about. Exactly, if a Hindu makes outrageous remarks like the supposed indologists made about Islam, for example, he would probably be burned at the stakes, with the remain carcass thrown to the sharks.
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