Kerala and Maharashtra government to take over temples

[Last Conformist]

Nice threadjack, Jon M

As for the article in the OP, the takeover looks like a Bad Thing to me. But then my knowledge of affairs Keralan and Maharashtran is essentially nil ...

[C0ckney]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Can you quit being white?

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Jon Miller

Refuse to put your caste down. Never respond to anyone asking your Caste. Change your name. (or lie about it)

Without putting it down, you can't have entry into college, you can't get a government job, you can't do many things. It has meaning only if the person has seats reserved for them. For people like me, it's meaningless. Whenever the government official sees "Brahmin", he puts it in the general category. It's only when it's some caste with reservations that they are put in a different pile and treated differently.

And again, I'm far too attached to my name to ever give it up. And the name indicates the caste, so......

Originally posted by Jon Miller

If every person, or even every Brahmin did this, there would be no problems with the Brahmin caste in India.

Do you know what the politicians would spin it into? A ploy to rob the other castes of their reservation benefits, to escape responsibility for being oppressors.

Originally posted by Jon Miller

But responding with your Caste, by bring proud of it (And you definitely sound proud of it on Apolyton) is goading those who feel disenfranchised.

JM

I'm not proud of the caste itself. But I'm proud that I at least try to follow the principles which it embodies. I'm proud that I take the failures of my country and religion personally, that I feel responsible for the state of the country and of the religion, and I feel responsible for changing it. This is something which the Brahminical ethos has given me, and I consider that a very big positive. Why give that up? What's the point of throwing the baby out with the bathwater?

Originally posted by Jon Miller

Your name isn't trivial for many.

JM

It is for all the people in my social circle, which is all that matters to me. I treat others equally - and I expect the same in return.

[Jon Miller]

The issue isn't your Brahmic social circle... the issue is the rest of India.

Are you going to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?

JM

[snoopy369]

aneeshm, you state that various Hindu writers never included anything about castes in their writing, and that it's a social (non-religious) element.

Okay, sure. Terrorism isn't in the Koran, either. It's purely social...

Perhaps you should realize that religious and social aren't that different, particularly when religion has a huge relevance to society.

On the OP, frankly if the temple got its money through its political/social power, the state has every right to control it (if it chooses to). True separation of church and state involves the state treating the church like any other institution - taxation and all. (The fact that the US doesn't tax churches is one element where we fail in this regard.) If the church still has undue power in society (which certainly is an argument that can be made, even if you disagree) then it's the state's JOB to remove that undue power, just as it is the state's job to control monopolies and other harmful institutions.

[Jon Miller]

I don't see the difference between churchs and charity organizations. Charity organizations get little to no tax as well.

JM

[chequita guevara]

Wahhhh! We were treated like gods, but now the untouchables think they should have rights too. Wahhh!

[Jon Miller]

All joking aside. I support religious liberty everywhere. However, I don't know the specific circumstances in India (there should be a better way to handle it though). And I do think that aneeshm has not given up his Brahmic class identity.

JM

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Jon Miller

And I do think that aneeshm has not given up his Brahmic class identity.

JM

Keep the best, throw away the rest.

[aneeshm]

To give you an example of how money taken from Hindu institutions is used:

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/madarsas-to-get-govt-funding-ap-cm/31131-3.html]Link

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said on Saturday that his government is considering funding of madarsas across the state.

The Chief Minister spoke about the funding at the National Seminar on Sachar Committee in Hyderabad. Reddy, however, did not make the nature and form of the funding clear.

"Lot more additional facilities need to be provided to madarsas for improving the conditions. We will see whether grant-in-aid or lumpsum grant could be provided," the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, sources have told CNN-IBN that the proposal for the funding could be a part of the state budget on Februrary 20.

The Sachar Committe had talked about the modernisation of madarsas in its report and it seems the Chief Minister is taking the recommendation a step further.

Regarding the Supreme Court judgment on the Ninth Schedule, Reddy parried a direct reply saying that he would consult legal experts.

The apex court judgment is expected to impact the Reddy government's decision to provide reservation to Muslims.

Asserting that his government was committed to providing reservations for Muslims in educational institutions and jobs, he said the quota policy was now before the Supreme Court.

"We will leave no stone unturned to see that the reservation policy is implemented," Reddy said.

Outlining the steps taken by his government for the welfare of Muslims, Reddy said the annual budget for providing scholarship to Muslim students had been increased to Rs 33 crore this year, compared to Rs 10 crore last year.

Now they're trying to provide quotas to Muslims. Muslim students receive grants from the state to the tune of many crores of rupees, just because of their religion, merit be damned! If I had a button which, if pressed, would kill people who try to divide the country for the sake of a few votes, who do immeasurable harm to India just for the paltry voting power of the sections they pretend to champion, I'd press it a hundred times.