Religion plays many roles in the Indian society. Religion can not only be the solution to poverty and hunger but is a major contributor and cause of poverty and hunger. Religion, depending on the followers, can harm India even more than it already has when it comes to poverty and hunger. In India there are many religions and they all come in contact and have conflict which can cause discrimination which can be one way that religion causes hunger. There are about 6 religions in all of the country of India and they all have different affects on the society and they all harm it but can also help to be the solution.
The caste system is one of the results in society in India from the religion there. The caste system contributes hugely to the poverty in India because of the way it is set up and the views they enlist. The caste system promotes discrimination against people and causes people to look down on others because they are on a lower level in the caste system. The caste system does not promote helping the less fortunate, in fact it promotes avoiding them completely. In a website, the author wrote "Poverty is deepest among members of scheduled castes and tribes in the country's rural areas" (IFAD) which shows that the caste system creates poverty in society. Along with this website, an article published online stated that for a Muslim religious leader the Muslim community is largely to blame for its poverty (Carvalho) which just furthers show that religion causes poverty because even religious leaders believe it.
Although religion causes poverty in society in India, it can also be the solution for poverty. Many religions promote helping the less fortunate but if people don't follow the religion correctly discrimination can be a result instead. If certain beliefs that religions have that discriminate against people were changed then religion can be just a solution instead of a problem as well. If one religion changes and becomes better for society as a whole, major changes will be seen in the poverty of the country. Change as a whole can not happen until small changes in religions that discriminate don't occur.
Work Cited
Carvalho, Nirmala. "INDIA Some Muslim Practices Cause Poverty, Muslim Religious Leader Says - Asia News." INDIA Some Muslim Practices Cause Poverty, Muslim Religious Leader Says - Asia News. AsiaNews.it, 18 June 2010. Web. 13 May 2012. <http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Some-Muslim-practices-cause-poverty,-Muslim-religious-leader-says-18719.html>.
IFAD. "Powered by IFAD." Home. IFAD. Web. 13 May 2012. <http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/india>.
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ReplyDeleteRadhika Kapadia
ReplyDeleteStacy, I agree with your post; it supports a majority of my own conclusions regarding religion and the plight of the Indian people. It does in fact serve as both the reason for the problem and the solution of the problem. Although, I don't believe that asking members of other religions to change their traditions would ease the problem. The word that can more appropriately be used is "adapt". By asking members of religions to adapt to modernity and embrace other religions slowly, a gradual process of change can begin, not necessarily in this generation, but can help ease the animosity for future generations.
I agree with the corruption in India's religious hierarchy. The caste system only separates people based on status, resulting in an elitist attitude from the higher castes, the brahmin, kshatriya, and vaishya's, towards the lower castes containing the shudra and untouchable's. The caste system puts importance and the individual's caste they are born into, rather than the merit they have to offer. However, it is unlikely religious tolerance will appear in India. The "certain beliefs" that create conflict among different religious groups are the foundation of their religion. To change that would be denying the beliefs held by past followers, whose devotion makes their religion what it is today.
ReplyDeleteMichael
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your problems in the caste system. The heavy discrimination that results from this issue shows us the problems that many people with accepting change. However, I tend to agree with Radhika on the subject of religious tolerance. People should realize that many parts of their beliefs focus on the fact that even though people have different beliefs, they are still human beings that should be given basic rights as a person. The only reason this does not happen is because of the power and control that some people get with things such as the caste system.
Stacy
ReplyDeleteI believe you all make a valid point on the religion tolerance. My choice of words was a little off and adapting is a better choice. In my previous post the point I was trying to make was to have people adapt rather than change beliefs. If people in India start to adapt little by little, religious tolerance in India will grow even though there are so many religions in the area. Even though there are many religions in India, I believe that religious tolerance is possible no matter what but the change has to start small and will take time. Although even adapting will be a problem for many religious people, this would be the best first step to having at least some sort of religious tolerance. We can all agree that religion is the problem and the solution even though my thoughts of changing people's religion was not the right wording because changing beliefs all together will cause even more problems.