There is a very interesting article by Lisa Miller in The Newsweek about religion in USA.
America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.
Commentary: "We Are All Hindus Now" By: Lisa Miller (Nation-wide)
By that she means that many Christians (religious right excluded, of course) accept that there may be more than one path to the truth, that one could worship many different Gods and still achieve Salvation. That is the classical Hindu belief. Indeed, most Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism etc.) share this belief. Most of the Eastern religions can really be considered offshoots of Hinduism.
According to Ms. Miller, we are not Hindus, but American (and also I assume Canadian) society is beginning to show some Hindu traits. I tend to agree.
America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.
Commentary: "We Are All Hindus Now" By: Lisa Miller (Nation-wide)
By that she means that many Christians (religious right excluded, of course) accept that there may be more than one path to the truth, that one could worship many different Gods and still achieve Salvation. That is the classical Hindu belief. Indeed, most Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism etc.) share this belief. Most of the Eastern religions can really be considered offshoots of Hinduism.
According to Ms. Miller, we are not Hindus, but American (and also I assume Canadian) society is beginning to show some Hindu traits. I tend to agree.
