Study comparative religions in TT

THE EDITOR: I reviewed the article written by Mr George Alleyne dated 05/03/2003 via the internet entitled “Hindus today, tomorrow?” I am a regular reader of your internet posting. Please accord me the opportunity to thank and congratulate Mr Alleyne for a very intelligent and brilliant article.

A lot of people have forgotten the immortal motto of TT: “Here every creed and race find an equal place.” As a practcing Hindu, I must let you know that the majority of Hindus are very knowledgeable and conversant about the other major religions ie, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Juadaism. Sadly, the bulk of people from the other religions are ignorant and arrogant about Hinduism. Most have not studied the Shreemad Bhagwad Gita (The Song Divine) which is available from any Hindu organisation and reputable bookstores.

In addition to my Hindu religious text, this writer has done a comprehensive study of the Koran, the Bible and the Kabbala. By perusing these religious texts I was able to extract and digest the nectars as outlined in these scriptural writings. Today I stand in stature as an educated and inspired soul. I became a better Hindu without conversion. In the realisation that there is only one God, I am now able to converse diligently and respect all my Moslem, Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters from all over the world who work with me and they do the same to me.

Hinduism, because of its ever embracing nature, has produced great and unknown personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Dayanada Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and the great Martin Luther King (who met Gandhi and preached non-violence). In any given day, by reading the dailies and the community newspapers and magazines, one can glean that the fastest growing religion in North America is Buddhism combined with yoga and meditation. In the USA, Christian churches are failing miserably because of the many sexual abuse cases. Please let my fellow brothers and sisters in humanity remove the veil from their eyes and the cobwebs from their brains and educate themselves about each other because the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Adolf Hitler, like some of the hate mongers amongst us, preached hatred against humanity and as a result nine million Jews died.

Since the government is the biggestowner/employer, Mr Manning should make the study of comparative religions a necessity for all civil servants and students. Promotion should also be based on employees’ knowledge about every creed and race that exist in TT. Then and only then, we will have production and tolerance in our cosmopolitan society. The Beatles once sang a beautiful poem. “Imagine all the people living in Harmony.” Thank you very much and may God bless you and your family.

D  LAL
New York