Question(s)

[ravensong]

I come from a largely Christian family full of preachers and missionaries. One of my cousins is in India for missionary work trying to get Hindu's to believe that their gods are merely a figment of their imagination and that the only true god is Jesus. This rubs me wrong in several ways--most of them which you can probably imagine. (I don't think

Comments

[fichterleen]

i've just read a semester of india's history of art at college, where we went a lot into the hindu religion too.
the statues of the various hindu gods (we worked especially with vishnu and shiva) are used as a connection between the deity and the praying person, it's very personal and not usually done in big sessions like christian church masses. they're used in rituals like we use pictures of the god/dess too (except we don't usually pour yoghurt and dairy products all over them), they're not seen as the deity itself. the sacrifices are made to the statue because they can't be made involving the god itself, it helps to get the idea across. similar to buddha statues as well, which are used as representation and memory. a connection and a symbol. not an imbodiment.

[ravensong]

This is exactly what I thought. Thank you for clarifying this (and for the comment)~!

[pinkpolarity]

I got to the homophobic part of her prattle and had to stop to put out the flames on my face. I largely agree with the first part of her rant about that godawful, self-absorbed, white-privileged piece of crap book.

I don't know about how Hindus view their statues, so I won't presume to speak for them. You're right about how most Pagans work with statues, though, it's a representation, like a crucifix is a representation. There are cases of "embodied" statues, though, where rituals have been performed so that the statue or jar can serve as a "house" for the god/dess, but that's still not worshipping the statue itself. That's a ridiculously common misconception among Christians, especially Protestant Christians who also view Catholic sacremental items as idolatry. But hey, why let mere facts get in the way if you think you know everything? (Sorry, people like this get on my last nerve.)

[ravensong]

I have not read the book so I will not make comments on it until after I have :)

I have worked with a Hindu for the past 4 years and, though we rarely mention religion/spirituality, I know she does not see an image of Kali has the goddess Herself.

That's a ridiculously common misconception among Christians, especially Protestant Christians who also view Catholic sacremental items as idolatry

This is the misconception I was trying to dispel~

People like that get on my last nerve too.

I don't mean to offend you perse but your cousin is a douche.

[velvetvonblack]

All I have to say is if I met your cousin, I'd smash her in the face with a frying pan.

I'm sorry, but you don't ever seen Hindus or Pagans shoving their religion down other peoples throats and telling them, Everything you know is a lie. Believe this instead. Jewish people don't go to China and try to convert.

I'm probably biased but I have such a deep rooted anger/resentment towards the Catholic religion. Hearing this just makes me so angry.

Re: I don't mean to offend you perse but your cousin is a douche.

[ravensong]

I'm not offended at all~ My family is not Catholic though, they are Chrisitan--Assemblies of God to be exact. (My boyfriend's family is Catholic though~)

Re: I don't mean to offend you perse but your cousin is a douche.

[sabishii_kirito]

I feel the same. My mom is "Catholic" (you know, goes to church but almost never practices any of the crap she shoves down people's throats--it's a family tradition!), and it pisses me off to no end when she talks about other religions like they're crazy/wrong/going to hell.

Re: I don't mean to offend you perse but your cousin is a douche.

[velvetvonblack]

i was born and "raised" catholic. the religion really just turns my stomach. by the time i was about 8 i stumbled apon my first wiccan book [by scott cunningham] and decided i needed a change. my mother, much like yours, stole my book [and more books/tarot cards until i was about 16 and she realized i just kept stealing them back.]

they just make me so angry. you know they've gone to africa, to take away condoms? RIGHT when the world starts making some progress towards the fight against aids, they take away the condoms and 'promote abstinence'... are they fucked!!!! what are they thinking!!!!!!

[wanderoff]

Angry Christians always confuse me. Is that what Jesus would do, really

[ravensong]

Also..I wonder what her view is on married couples who do not have children. I mean, given that marriage is supposedly only something Christians can aspire to and only if they start popping out kids right away.

Since she, in a way, mentioned procreating and marriage I pointed out that some straight couples do not want children. Her reply: "Whether or not a married couple choses to have children is irrelevant to this discussion." Direct quote, copied and pasted.

I've been studying art for a while now and her lax views on how one should/could go about being an 'artist' are really no different then things about that book that made her ranty about religionThat's interesting! She's never studied art before (she was a business major in college) but still, quite interesting to know that

[wanderoff]

:)

I didn't know that! So, really, there is no blanket statement that can be made regarding religions that do make use of statues. I guess there are variations in how everyone handles their own religion.

That's interesting! She's never studied art before (she was a business major in college) but still, quite interesting to know that!

It's bad but it is a pet peeve of mine, but only because being a professional (commercial) artist is my career choice. I don't go around calling myself an accountant just because I do my own taxes every year, so in turn I don't like it when people who have the ability to purchase art supplies feel they can call themselves 'artists'. It's actually something that one has to study their entire lives - color theory, typography, design, etc - and devote all of themselves to. Being an artist is different then being creative. There are skills one has to learn. Aaaaaaand hopefully I'm not offending anyone in here with this stance.

[ravensong]

You're not offending me~ I consider myself an artist because I "attempt" to paint pictures using words instead of a color pallet. If you have a contradictory view of whether a writer is an artist or not, that's fine. Though I will toss in that I have been writing since I learned how to spell and that I would like to make a living out of writing (I'm currently trying to, though not full time~).

And no, there really isn't a blanket statement that can be made~

[rachel_w_wings]

Wow. I also come from a very christian family and I agree, it is hard. There is a lot of "don't ask questions, it's from the bible!!", arrogance, and ignorance. The whole forcing your religion on someone else was what tipped me off at eleven to realize that christianity was not right for me. Any religion that doesn't acknowledge that one belief does not work for all people feels wrong to me. And the whole "idols" thing is something that they all seem to use for, well, anything they don't agree with.

[ravensong]

I could never force my religion on someone else. I don't agree with that at all. Each person has their own path in life and, to me, there is no "one size fits all" of religions. That's why there are different religions. Atleast, one reason~ :)

My boyfriend was raised Catholic and started asking questions around the same time you did, around that age. He got the same "don't ask questions, it's from the bible" response--he's no longer Catholic. Hasn't been for years.

To me, if something was fact and could be completely proven then people wouldn't have a problem with others asking questions because they'd reach the truth whether they accepted it outright or whether they researched, experimented, or just quetioned. Again, that's just me though~

[rachel_w_wings]

I really don't think it could be put any better :)