tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post1745858047516721409..comments2024-03-21T00:42:18.535-07:00Comments on Koenraad Elst: Learning from the Rajiv Malhotra affairKoenraad Elsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02503713923882807510noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-56036379917916265412016-11-27T21:35:35.673-08:002016-11-27T21:35:35.673-08:00 मन की बात : “100 फीसदी कैशलेस संभव नहीं, लेकिन ल... मन की बात : “100 फीसदी कैशलेस संभव नहीं, लेकिन लेस-कैश तो संभव है” पीएम मोदी<br /><br /> Readmoretodaynews18.com https://goo.gl/E95vWV <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17069367330304512983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-60848216339249054592015-08-12T00:40:08.451-07:002015-08-12T00:40:08.451-07:00An immensely nuanced discussion which even a lay p...<br />An immensely nuanced discussion which even a lay person like me could follow- a rare gem indeed! <br /><br />@Imli Bagh and @Jadu Mandir- Both of you are missing the point. Here, Dr Elst is offering us a peek inside the minds of christian missionaries- and as the Sun Tzu quote goes- "Know Your Enemy"! We got to know what they think and what they believe in- knowing what they believe in is different than believing what they believe in!<br /><br /><br />Abhishek Thakurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08373538480569988799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-54396276589770597762015-07-27T03:34:20.998-07:002015-07-27T03:34:20.998-07:00A great summary of not only Rajivji's good poi...A great summary of not only Rajivji's good points, but also some of his pain points!<br />My respect for you goes up a few notches, for the excellent way in which you have presented your thoughts on this sensitive topic. <br /><br /><br />"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."<br /> -- George Bernard ShawZorro the foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04498062794271281628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-8664705162618259192015-07-26T10:41:22.101-07:002015-07-26T10:41:22.101-07:00Hindus do see Christian missionaries and instituti...Hindus do see Christian missionaries and institutions as instruments of Western domination in India. This is the conventional Hindu nationalist perspective which historians KM Panikkar and Sita Ram Goel endorsed. It is a historically correct standpoint. Christian missionaries did play a pivotal role in the expansion of Western colonization ever since the days of European “discoveries” of the Americas and sea-route to India. But Koenraad Elst comes from a different background. He is an ex-Catholic and an enthusiastic observer of the Pagan revival in Europe. He looks at Christianity and its sister creed Islam from a rationalist and humanist perspective. This can be seen in his books especially in the 'Psychology of Prophetism - A Secular Look at the Bible' (Voice Of India, 1993). Dr Elst, instead of, indulging in the religious dichotomy of good and bad argues through the logic of right and wrong as far as the dogmatic claims of prophetic monotheism are concerned. Therefore, in his conclusion, the truth claims of Christianity and Islam are simply wrong. He also does not take any holier-than-you positions like our Indian left-wing intellectuals. His approach is to focus on the "incompetence" rather than on the "malice" of his rival's arguments. <br /><br />As a dissenter himself, Dr Elst would not support any kind of banning or pulping of books which are counter-productive anyway. If we look at history, prohibition was a regular Abrahamic strategy used against non-conformist ideas. Also, suppressing is somewhat a futile effort in the age of the Internet. That’s why individuals like Dinanath Batra will not go far in their nationalistic activism. Free speech and free thought are the forte of the Hindu/Pagan civilizations as well as the modern West. The Renaissance and the Enlightenment separate the modern West from its Dark Age Christian past. The Abrahamic faiths cannot stand the critical scrutiny of their central and close-ended claims. That is one reason why they have been so violent and cruel towards the non-believers. Hinduism, on the other hand, is decentralized and open in its character. That's why we see the growing popularity of the Hindu-Buddhist ideas and practices in the post-Christian pluralistic West. Ex-Christian Europeans who want to revive their Pagan religion look at Hinduism with hope. As Indian Hindus we must be able to distinguish between the Abrahamic Westerners and Polytheistic/Atheistic Westerners. <br /> <br />As far as the issue of plagiarism is considered, it not considered right in any culture, be it the West or India. As the Third World people, we do have issues regarding the Intellectual Property Rights laws, but a thief is a thief, be it a white man or an Indian. Anyway, Rajiv Malhotra has put forward a convincing response to the allegations charged against him. This fight for minds will get dirty. Thankfully this time Hindus have an intellectually competent person like Mr Malhotra at the centre-stage, unlike the 1990s when the intellectually bankrupt leadership of the Sangh Parivar not only lost the chance to sustain an already won Ramjanmabhumi debate against the anti-Hindu forces but also brutally marginalized the erudite Hindu scholars like Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel.Bhavya Ketanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01433210953500061813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-62706831010886030712015-07-24T05:04:12.581-07:002015-07-24T05:04:12.581-07:00Dr. Elst:
Longtime fan here. Thanks for injecting...Dr. Elst:<br /><br />Longtime fan here. Thanks for injecting logic and rationality in these debates. It's a refreshing change from the unscientific arguments and polemics one hears from the Hindutva partisans. As for the conspiracy theorists, I guess it's just their insecurity speaking. Just ignore them and continue with your excellent scholarship.<br /><br />(I enjoy your posts on the AIT and Vedic culture origins in particular. Having read the theories of Western IE scholars like Mallory and Anthony, I thought they had the last word on the topic, but your writings have cast enough doubt in my mind about the prevailing theories. I still believe the balance of evidence just about supports an Aryan intrusion (or invasion or migration, whatever we choose to call it) into India, but I am not as convinced about it as I used to be, and eagerly await further findings.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-16673195026872967442015-07-24T04:54:52.732-07:002015-07-24T04:54:52.732-07:00@Imli Bagh, @Jadu Mandir,
It seems you are missin...@Imli Bagh, @Jadu Mandir,<br /><br />It seems you are missing the point w.r.t Christian missionaries. If they believe that practicing Christianity is a good thing and practicing Hinduism is a bad thing, they are doing a favor to those they have chosen to serve and minister to. According to them, if a Hindu becomes a Christian, that person will be better off and the world will be a better place. Their motives are positive. It's their assumptions that are flawed and need to be criticized. Which are not unlike the assumptions and motives of Thomas Macaulay, who felt the British would be doing Indians a favor by giving them English educations and weaning them away from Sanskrit. He felt English was a language of enlightenment that would open up the modern world with its scientific advances to Indians, while Sanskrit would keep them bound to a primitive past.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-59033858183782642302015-07-24T04:18:00.230-07:002015-07-24T04:18:00.230-07:00I have had the pleasure of meeing you and hearing ...I have had the pleasure of meeing you and hearing your views on this large topic and I am impressed by your humility and depth of analysis on the subject. However, to really believe and accept that the Christians are attempting conversion in the belief that they are liberating them is frankly shallow and uninspiring. They know what they are doing - getting thier numbers up merely to have greater control over populace the world over in a disgusting belief that their way is THE right way!<br />Insofar any error by Rajiv Malhotra is concerned re. plagiarism, I beg to differ. I fail to understand why RM has to play by the rules of these Christian/Western/Liberal ruffians. If there was an error in RM's works at all, it was that he attributed any references to Fox/Nicholson et al. He has corrected this by throwing out all references to these culturally shallow decrepits and given the ownership back to the ancient Seers/Rishis of India.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01002029183577725334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138082354348831474.post-50020645679576209522015-07-23T12:17:38.853-07:002015-07-23T12:17:38.853-07:00"I truthfully say: "Because they love yo..."I truthfully say: "Because they love you." Christians honestly think they do Hindus a favour by "liberating" them from their false religion. "<br /><br />Cancer also invades healthy cells. Would you say Cancer loves the healthy cells? It needs to be eradicated in order to live.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08838895414288810532noreply@blogger.com