i read Dawkins, and my first resposne was oh a christian athiest
religion & God are two very different things. one is mass, based on collective consciousness ! the second is personal
i think that a lot of people have not managed to throw away the shackles of the colonial past – a lot of what they know about this country & her traditions are shaped by western concepts. the most dangerous of these is ‘nationalism’ and the way it is defined.

people like Adi Shankara & jyaneshwar – both revered philosophers have been made symbols of ritualism rather than free thought – that is what they stood for – freedom of thought !

unfortunately, the orthodoxy is back

Hi gargi,I know about Chavarka’s school of thought on atheism. It is necessary to study your past carefully before bashing it. Hence, most of those who speak blasphmous are riding on the literature of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. They are not wrong in their perspective but there is difference between west and east. It is about POV in the religious matter. We have past of existence of Charvaka and Buddha speaking against Vedic traditions. Also we have reformers like Kum?rila Bha??a and Kabir. Ontology is an lively and logical debate here and you cann’t wipe the history because you are igonored of it.When I speak of blasphemous persons, I don’t have problem with their points. I have more concern of ignorance of our generation which does not know about our heritage which have long tradition of rational and logical ‘shastrarth’ and reform from centuries. India has contributed more in religious and ontological debate than any other country in the world.

You are correct in your stand point against caste discrimination. For prevailing social justice, caste system should be banned like aparthied and people should be given choice to shred their religion and caste on his spritual orientation.

hi ravptor
there is a philosophical stream of Hinduism and there is the riutalistic stream that most follow. caste is not a factor in the former – but few practise it. It’s a huge part of the latter and most practise it

Government can’t do a damn about the caste system – if at anyone can it is religious leaders – they need to play a part in ensuring that it is a sin to practise discrimination

personally, i follow the advait school of philosophy – and really appreciate the freedom i have in my relationship with God

hi himanshu
did you know that athiesm is a respected philosophical school in hinduism – therefore not blasphemous !
but caste – needs to be addressed not just by the state, but by religious leaders and institutions.