WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/21217

Dear Mr. Abul Kasem and Mr. Avijit Roy,

To equate all the monotheisms-Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Communism
with Hinduism is the basic mistake most start with. Hinduism is
polytheism-not because it has thousand god to worship but because it
says all lead to the One. Today you may say what is so special about
that-anyone can say all leads to the supreme One. Yes, it is special!
Because it is the Vedic rishis who said it first and they practised
it for thousands of years. "Ekam sada vipra vahuda vadanti"-He who
lives in all beings; the sages call it by different names. I have no
problem calling Indra and Varuna, among others, tribal gods; but it
is in this blessed land of Bharat came the message of tolerance.
Tolerance and acceptance as a way of life may have come to other
places as well but it came in Bharat well before western democracy
became successful-in fact western democracy has its root in Hinduism.
It is known that Pythagorus came to Bharat to learn Mathematics from
Brahmins. A complete school of prominent Greek philosophers of his
time studied Upanishads and used to be believe in transmigration of
souls(reincarnation).
Hinduism doesn't stand upon one Prophet and one book-it depends upon
principles from lives of many prophets and many philosophies. The
vedic rishis were free-thinkers-only they were introspective and
looked upon the souls. After free-thinking for generations they had
their findings as Sruti(Vedas).
Your question:
Does the Hinduism has two branches: a mainstream and a orthodox?
When there is tolerance and acceptance there can be million branches.
That is why Swami Vivekananda(he preached Vedanta philosophy)
proclaimed he would look forward to that day when every person will
have his own religion. I am Hindu because I can say, even if I don't
agree with Vedas I can believe in whatever truth I find and that is
perfectly in the spirit of Vedas and for proclaiming that I don't
become an apostate.
Another
Who will expect much
better morality to such fanatic warmonger leader who passed his idle
childhood to get a full view of some bathing virgin girls, went to
the extent of hiding their clothes on the tree tops just to get a
panoramic view, and made an aphrodisiac relationship with gop and
gopis. etc.If I find some time I will write a series exposing the
myths of Holy Gods in near future.

If you want to discuss about the life of Sri Krishna and Sri Ram-
first agree upon one thing before accidentally exposing yourself. Do
you believe in the historicity of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna or believe
it to be myth?
To say all religion to be true is the same to say all religion to be
false. One needs to analyse and find out which one serves the
spiritual/philosophical needs and which one can sustain criticism;
otherwise no discussion is necessary at all;it all become views from
apologists.
Hindus practise tolerance-otherwise the Sankaracharya(just to compare
he is Pope John Paul-II of Hindus) is arrested(before he is proved
guilty and taken into remand) and being treated like a criminal and
the religious people of India didn't react in a violent way-they
would give a good lesson to Sonia and Jayalalita in the next
election. That is all about civilization and democracy in Hindu way.
Let me summarize what I believe in-
To look upon Hindu way of life and tolerance don't just cite Ayodhya
Ram Janmabhoomi Temple movement and Babri Masjid demolition;because
Hinduism didn't take its birth just 50 years ago and Hindus didn't
act; they reacted and I perfectly agree with the demolition. It was
just fine. The following riots in Bombay were started by Muslims not
Hindus. What about the Ramna Kalibari that was demolished on 27th of
March, 1971? That was not built upon any masjid. Why not raise the
voice?
The riot in Godhra is perfectly fine too. Godhra is not a pogrom it
is a retaliation. I only imagine if one Hindu set ablaze a coach of a
train going to Biswa Eztema and what happens subsequently to the
Hindus in Bangladesh for a good reason like this.
I want to make one thing very clear. There has to be a sign on every
mosque that was built upon a temple/built after a temple demolished
there. Either you have the history right or the present right; you
can't ignore both.
I believe casteism evolved as a necessity in time. There needed to be
a warrior class(Kshatriya);everybody don't fight in a democratic
society - there is an army for it. There needed to be a Brahmin class
too. When the religionist don't preach about it with swords they
should have some way to protect it. The shudras were trade guilds.
Children following the professions of parents. The professions,
culture, heritage along with it would dissolve if casteism were not
there. There were excesses and there were reforms too. Have you heard
of Narayan Guruswami of Kerala or say homegrown Mahaprabhu Sri
Chaitanya or Sri Ramakrishna? They were reformers. To summarise-only
Hinduism with its philosophy and way of life can save this planet.
P.S.
The posting by Mr. Abul Kasem caught my eye and I couldn't stop
myself. I don't have a desire to win an online debate. I only
expressed my view. And I am not a hypocrite just because I defend
Hinduism for good reasons. Hinduism is an ocean. There is even place
for somebody who want to debase it; after all it is a valid
democratic way and an institution has to sustain such blows.