...the proud, the former cultural criminals (I hope.)


Yeah!!!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/campaigners-celebrate-as-india-decriminalises-homosexuality/ar-BBMWihS?ocid=spartandhp


I can hope the crimes against homosexuality will go down as a result in one of the biggest countries in the world. Day to celebrate.

That is excellent news.

Yes. A response! Thanks. I was so excited. I work with Indians and I don't want to even broach the subject.

I read that today. So cool!

I asked my Indian employee what he thought about this.

"I don't know," he said. "I never met a gay person in India."

"I'll bet you did, but just didn't know it." I replied.

"Hmm, maybe you're right..." he said.

:)

I've argued with Indian coworkers about the prevalence of homosexuality in India. Many deny there are enough homosexuals to justify gay marriage. They don't "hate" per say, at least the people I've worked with but they deny there is much.


There was one exceptional man. He was kinda a jerk in my opinion but he claimed to be atheist and thought that India was a terrible place for homosexuals. But he did extoll the things in Indian culture he wanted to preserve. I don't remember many but he thought that parental involvement with children was more emphasized in India.


Ironically, he was estranged from his family, was Braham cast but from a very poor family, and didn't have any Indian friends here.

Even Siddhartha Gautama was only a Kshatriya. Yet every Indian I’ve ever known who told me their caste, was Brahmin.

What a crock. Whole system.

CateS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Even Siddhartha Gautama was only a Kshatriya. Yet
> every Indian I’ve ever known who told me their
> caste, was Brahmin.
>
> What a crock. Whole system.

I agree with the caste system being a crock (and I disagree with it even MORE than I once disagreed with segregation and its associated ills in the USA), but in Southern California, where I live, my experience is that Brahmins (as defined by the caste system) are the only ones I have known who identify themselves as Brahmins. (This might have something to do with the relative financial means, vis-à-vis caste, of Indians who visit, or immigrate to, the United States.)

Right now, and emphatically in process active within the United States, there is a right-vs.-left rift between those who defend the ancestral caste system and those who want to get rid of it.

This, essentially "political" (though it is expressed almost 100% through religion and religious practices) struggle is wreaking havoc in many prestigious American universities and in mainstream American book publishing (and it is personally affecting my personal ability to get some books I REALLY want to read because they are being pulped before they can be sold!).

It is, in many ways, very similar to the American Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s (minus people being murdered; to my knowledge, no one involved has yet lost their life, though if there were a couple of degrees more intensity applied, I wouldn't rule it out).

In the subcontinent-"flavored" part of American life, and in the subcontinent itself, there is--right now--an extremely serious effort which, if successful, would result in the caste system being, at least gradually, downgraded to the level of a white American who self-identifies as part Native American because, somewhere back in their historical ancestry, there were one or more Native Americans.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2018 05:57PM by Tevai.

Gay hindus ?

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gay hindus ?


There ARE gay Hindus, and some of them are Hindu religious authorities (both contemporary and historical).

This is a serious and important part of the "political"--though it is expressed in religious terms--struggle I wrote about in my post above.

In this particular case, the "right" (when it comes to this particular struggle) has taken the unmovable position that facts and truth are of no importance and should be ignored and hidden from view, while prioritizing the presentation and the maintenance of an intentionally false "outer appearance" of Hinduism (particularly among non-Hindus, and especially in Western cultures) as not only important, but MORE important than any other consideration which exists.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2018 06:15PM by Tevai.

I have worked with several people from India. Many of their customs are definitely archaic and harmful.

I had a female co-worker that had to "come out" to her family that she was marrying a man from a different state in India <gasp>. I asked her what would happen if she married a woman. She said they would kill her.

I am very happy to hear about this ruling.

A day to celebrate.

It's a major step towards making the world a vaguely civilized place. It's also encouraging because it shows that things CAN change for the good of human beings, rather than against them as it so often is.

Yay!

Tom in Paris

Human rights! We want more, we want more!

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