so... I've watched Reza Aslan's Believer and there's something not mentioned in comments I read about the show - it's been heavily critized for depicting religious fringe movements, making it all into a sort of freak show.
The criticism is not wrong, the first episode starts off with a literally outcaste hindu sect, the aghori, who do all sorts of disgusting and taboo breaking and frankly, wildly unhygienic things in the wildly unhygienic environment of today's india.
However, Aslan focusses on aspects of community and broader spiritual experience, which he finds in these fringe groups, besides the overall craziness.
But one thing struck me, particularly about the first episode: Aslan states to have found "the hinduism he was looking for" in a school run by an aghori, who rejects the notion of caste and spiritual pollution and social order that pervades hinduism.
so... I was thinking: basically, Aslan could only find "the hinduism he was looking for" in a small modern-minded subset of an outcaste sect which is not recognized by mainstream hiduism. Is it fair to say, that the hinduism Aslan was looking for is not hinduism at all, but modernity with some remainders of spirituality?
and to go from there: is it fair to judge a religion only by its "good" aspects, and not by the society it creates?
In case of hinduism, the society is intensely stratified, racist and sexist.
sure, it provides community, but so does my bowling-team. spirituality- certainly, but I can roll a joint and feel one with the universe, too.
...
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I can read facial expressions. I did the test.
19 Apr 2017, 4:29 pm
