Dear Christians, Hindu Deities are not Evil Spirits! – A Criticism of Christian Churches Which Promote Religious Intolerance

I have a lot to say about Christianity. First, I will let you watch a video that narrates many incidents from my life which are associated with Christianity. I will be making many videos in the future, but this is an introduction. In this video, I have spoken the truth that I have realized in my experience, which is now as clear as the sunlight to me.  Sharing my thoughts on Christianity is intended to promote religious tolerance, inter-religious understanding and peace. I speak about all religions and this post is in specific to Christianity. First, watch the video, then read the rest of this post:

https://youtu.be/npKleb7Gh1A
The rest of this post is an answer that I wrote in Quora. But also follow the links at the end of this page. The Quora question was, ‘Why do most Christians refuse to accept “Prasad” from Hindus?‘

Because many churches preach that idol worship in Hinduism is Satanic and that idols have evil spirits in them. I used to have a Protestant friend, a girl, whose boyfriend is a Catholic. She wouldn’t step inside a Roman Catholic church because it has the idol of Jesus on the cross.

It is true that Hebrew Bible asks not to worship idols. But it was specifically for people in ancient Israel who were polytheists and didn’t have a strong philosophy that preaches the oneness of God. But when it comes to Hinduism, it already says God is one without a second, and idols are devices for meditation and devotion. So the idol worship that is banned in Bible is not the same as the idol worship in Hinduism.

Hinduism offers various symbols to connect with divine. The symbols include the stimuli of all the five senses. A form of God is a powerful visual stimulus that can evoke the feeling of devotion by mere exposure. This is possible because of a psychological phenomena called classical conditioning. So, in other words, Hinduism is based on deep understanding of human psychology.
Such symbolism is also present in other religions anyway. The Cresent in Islam, the Cross in Christianity, the taste of wine and the bread of the Eucharist and the melodious songs of orchestra in Church are a part of such symbolism and send powerful sensory cues.

Before there can be a real religious tolerance between various religions, people first need to understand the essence of their own religions. A Hindu cannot provide counter arguments to Christians if he himself is ignorant about his own religion.
And Christians should understand that anything that is offered to God with love is not /cannot be anti-Christian or Satanic.

I am in the process of making videos, images and infographics that promote religious tolerance and educate people about the true essence of religions.

 

Christianity is all about love. When you reject a Prasad that is offered by someone with love, you are turning your face away from love; you are being anti-Christian.

By the way, this is not a post intended to attack Christians. And I am not in agreement with organizations like RSS who constantly abuse people of other religions in India. I am all for religious tolerance.

Also read:

Hinduism, Christianity and Islam – One Truth, Various Names

Goddess Gomathi Amman, Adi Thabasu and Religious Tolerance

If I Speak in the Tongues of Men or of Angels – A Commentary on I Corinthians 13 and Bible’s Connection with Advaita Vedanta

The Good News – A Poem Connecting Biblical and Vedantic Thoughts

God: Who/What is God?

Christian Trinity and Vedanta

Repentance and Metanoia – A Bible question…