This talk delves into the ideal approach that should be adopted towards comparative studies on faith & religion, particularly about pagans and non-pagans, or in other words, non-Abrahamic and Abrahamic faiths. He will share his own experiences starting in the 1980s about writing on comparative faith & religion and how the whole discourse on this had been held hostage by one side, that is the Abrahamic religions, for centuries and will also attempt to provide some approaches that might be helpful to overturn this lopsided situation.
Christianity and Islam, at the core, reduce humans to mere bhogis and even their concepts of Paradise and Jannat are about continuous bodily pleasures. This same viewpoint is reflected in Wendy Doniger’s and most western academicians’ thesis’ which stagnate on religion and the physical or bodily desires, going no further than the Mulaadhaar chakra base level while trying to interpret Indian Knowledge Systems.
George also discusses issues with the State takeover of Temples and more in this wide-ranging, informative and enlightening talk.
