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Recently
the United States Congress unanimously passed a resolution
specifically condemning oppression of Christians throughout the
world. But such a resolution condemning oppression of Hindus, which
is more common in the world than oppression of Christians, would be
rejected by the government of India as communal. Though
Hindus have created a secular country, they have done so in a way
that is not considerate, much less protective of their own religion,
contrary to how Western secular democracies have functioned.
In creating a country in which
all religions are tolerated Hindus, alone of all people, have felt
the additional need to make all religions the same on a spiritual
level. Hindus have chosen not merely to accept all religions but to
try to exalt them all. In
order to remain secular and tolerant Hindus have felt that they
should not criticize or try to counter inimical religious groups and
their activities to undermine Hinduism.
Naturally this has led to a
weakening of the ability of Hindus to defend their religion even in
their own country. That is why, in spite of so many ashrams built in
India and so many spiritual books on Hindu gurus or sadhanas being
published, there are few books in India in defense of Hinduism,
Hindu critiques of other religions, or Hindu rebuttals to
missionaries. The policy has been to ignore the aggression of the
missionaries and emphasize that the spirituality and tolerance of
Hinduism can endure all things.
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