IS HINDUISM A RELIGION?
Author - Anil Chawla
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IS HINDUISM A RELIGION?
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One often hears the question whether Hinduism or Buddhism is a religion or not but one never hears the question, "Is Christianity a religion?". Such a question about Christianity would not just be scoffed at but also considered plainly stupid. It is presumed that Christianity is a religion. One can even say that the definition of religion is primarily designed to accommodate Christianity. Having created a Procrustean bed, there is an attempt to fit every other belief-system or life-system into the mould created by the Christian model. This can only be painful for everyone except Christians and it should come as no surprise that the Christian academicians and theologists have normally not even been aware of this.
Before we move ahead with this question, we must ask something more fundamental. Why is this question raised? Why should Hinduism or Buddhism be a religion? Is there an advantage in an "ism" being a religion? Will it really matter, if Hinduism is classified as a 'philosophy' or 'way of life' or 'culture' but not as a religion? To seek the answers to these questions, one has to look at the socio-political-legal scenario. Constitutions of India and USA (and of many other countries in the world) give privileges and rights to "religions". The debate about the classification as a religion or otherwise is rooted in the legal-political realities and is not academic or etymological but is part of a political struggle where the bias has been pre-loaded in favour of Christianity.
Having understood that the question is political rather than academic or etymological or even philosophical, we must look at the historical realities of the Christian world. Most Christian churches do not accept that there can be more than one path to salvation. The term 'pagan' has often been used as a derogatory term for people who were not Christians. Denial of all rights (including basic human rights like right to property or life) to pagans was a normal feature of the rule of the Churches in medieval Europe. To this date Vatican refuses to even acknowledge that there exists any other religion in the same sense that Catholicism is a religion. The imperialist march of the White man in Asia, Africa and America was aided for centuries by the Church by denial of the status of 'religion' to any other belief/life-system. The essentials of the arguments advanced were as follows:
The last millennium will be remembered for the bloodshed caused by this argument. It is important to note that the argument is not dead and is a very valid argument even today for the Vatican as well as for some other orthodox Christians.
In the light of the above arguments, it should come as no surprise that in Africa, "when the Kikuyu Karing'a Association, in 1929, declared its intention of returning to the purity of tribal custom, it decided also to have nothing to do with religion for seven years. In the same spirit, the Buganda Government officially describes pagans as abataline ddiini men without religion". (Welbourn F.B., Towards A Definition Of Religion, http://www.ucalgary.ca/~nurelweb/papers/fred/fred1.html) In both cases the word religion is applied to imported systems of ritual, creed and myth, or in other words to Christianity. Across the whole of Africa, the Church has always treated all forms of tribal cultures as pagan and hence, without religion. For a long time (and possibly even today) the Vatican and other Christian churches considered Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Confucianism as not being religions.
Unfortunately this mindset of the Christian clergy and the historical background of the debate (about Hinduism being a religion) is not appreciated by most people in India. The debate in India on this issue has been dominated by people who have been conditioned by the Western and Anglo-Saxon pedagogical processes. As a result there seems to be almost a consensus today to declare that Hinduism is not a religion. Supreme Court of India has ruled to this effect. Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the self-declared defenders of Hinduism, are also of the same opinion that Hinduism is not a religion but a "way of life" and nothing more. Vishwa Hindu Parishad and all organizations of the RSS clan want to use the word "Dharma" instead of religion without realizing that the word "Dharma" as distinct from religion has no legal sanctity and grants no constitutional privileges. It is ironic that RSS, VHP, Supreme Court of India and most intellectuals of India are willy-nilly walking into the trap of the Christian churches.
Political-legal considerations apart, let us look at some definitions of "religion", the essential characteristics of religiousness as per some thinkers and look at Hinduism in the light of these definitions etc.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com ) defines religion as follows:
Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -- more at RELY
Date: 13th century
The above three definitions (excluding the third) are based on the presumption that life can be divided into two compartments - religious and non-religious. In the western world religion occupied a limited space in the life of a person. So, it was possible to separate religion from the rest of life. In such an arrangement, religion consisted of all that is concerned with God or something sacred or supernatural. In its broadest form, religion has been considered as a system of beliefs that is held with ardor and faith.
Based on the above definition, the Christian theologists would accept something as religion if and only if it involved service and worship of God in some form or the other. This means that atheistic life/belief systems like Jainism and Buddhism cannot be religion. Moreover, the definition has at the outset limited the concern of religion to "supernatural" or other-worldly. This is indeed surprising since it goes against the basic grain of even Christianity. The commandment "Love Thy Neighbour" is not concerned with supernatural and is indeed about something that will normally be classified as secular.
The limitations of the above dictionary definition (if interpreted narrowly) of "religion" can be summed up as follows:
If the above limitations were seriously accepted, there can be hardly any religion in the world. For example Protestant Christian theologists rejected the duality of the two commandments "Love God" and "Love Thy Neighbour" and considered a life devoted in fulfilling one's worldly duties on the same level as a life spent in the service of God. Under the Protestant world-view, the work of the carpenter is of the same religiosity as that of the Bishop.
It can be concluded that the dictionary definition of "religion" is inadequate, incomplete and is based on philosophical foundations that apply possibly to some Christian sects and not to the various life/belief systems that are usually addressed as "religion". Fortunately, there are many thinkers who do not accept the dictionary definition as final.
"Were one asked to characterize the life of religion in the broadest and most general terms possible, one might say that it consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto." William James (1842-1910), The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902).
"Religion is the habitual expression of an interpretation of life which deals with ultimate concerns and values. Institutional religion formalizes these into a system which can be taught to each generation.
Religion deals with three primary issues, or ultimate concerns:
Religion as experienced consists of:
Religion as expressed consists of:
(portions of this are derived from "Introduction to the Study of Religion" by T. William Hall)" James T. Cloud, Defining "Religion", http://www.multifaith.net/public/library/religion/definition.htm
"Nevertheless, it [religion] is quite simple at bottom. There is nothing really secret or complex about it, no matter what its professors may allege to the contrary. Whether it happens to show itself in the artless mumbo-jumbo of a Winnebago Indian or in the elaborately refined and metaphysical rites of a Christian archbishop, its single function is to give man access to the powers which seem to control his destiny, and its single purpose is to induce those powers to be friendly to him. That function and that purpose are common to all religions, ancient or modern, savage or civilized, and they are the only common characters that all of them show. Nothing else is essential." H.L. Mencken, Treatise on the Gods, (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930, revised 1946):
"Religion is a set of rules and understandings that provide a community of people with a means to grasp and deal with the issues and problems in their lives. It is comprised of traditions which help tie the sacred, or ultimate, which is typically unknowable, to the mundane. The components of these traditions are bound together to create the architecture of a particular religion, and these components can be categorized into three areas; human relationships with sacred realities, the process of transformation, and cultural traditions and their systems of symbols." Rob Parker, Discussion 1, HIS305, Eastern Religious Traditions - Fall 1999, 9/5/1999 http://www.oswego.edu/~rparker1/his305/hw/discussion1.html
Each of the above expands the apparently narrow dictionary view. The religion that emerges from all the above definitions and views is neither limited by the World-God duality nor is just a bundle of beliefs, rituals and customs. Religion now encompasses life (and possibly death too) in its entirety. Briefly, one can list the following characteristics of a religion:
The followers of the religion believe that they are following
a religion.
A shared world-view or at least some shared basis for
a world-view.
Shared concept of sacred.
Ways and means for men and women to align their lives with
the world-view and the sacred.
The above criterion are not culture-specific and aim to define "religion" without presupposing any philosophical postulates.
Hinduism certainly satisfies all the four criterion mentioned above. Hindus believe that they are followers of a common religion. The shared basis for a world-view and the shared concept of sacred in Hinduism is well reflected in the Hindu mythology and philosophy. Hindu Dharm is the way of aligning one's life with the world as per the shared world-view and the sacred. The arguments against Hinduism being a religion are essentially founded on the multiplicity of deities, systems of worship and even codes of conduct. Yet, it will be noticed that every major religion of the world has a plurality in some respect or the other. For example, Christianity has a number of sects that have different churches and sometimes even follow different versions of the Holy Book. From almost the beginning of Islam, there were many sects that had different moral codes. The plurality of Christian and Islam was never mutually accepted and was always a point of dispute within the followers of the religion. Hinduism accepted plurality and evolved a philosophical system that recognized the differences in opinion and perspectives with some underlying essential conditions.*
One can conclude without an iota of doubt that Hinduism is a religion in the same sense that Christianity is a religion, though the two religions are different. Use of terms like "way of life" instead of religion is an attempt to deny the legal and constitutional rights of Hindus and must be resisted. The question "Is Hinduism a religion?" needs to be answered with a counter-question "Is Christianity a religion?". And rest assured that it is not stupid to raise such a counter-question.
ANIL CHAWLA
3 January 2001
*To find the author's view about the definition and philosophical basis of Hindu Dharm, please download HINDU DHARM - GLOBAL RELIGION OF THE MODERN WORLD (MS WORD format)
Please write to me your comments about the above article.
samarthbharatparty@gmail.com
ANIL CHAWLA is an engineer by qualification but a philosopher by vocation and a management consultant by profession.
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