IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP: AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

Vice President Delivers Lecture at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in London  Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India

The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari delivered a Lecture on “Identity and Citizenship: An Indian Perspective” at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in London, United Kingdom today. Shri Ansari is on a State visit to UK from 31st October to 1st November, 2013.  Event at the Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre, Said Business School, Park End Street, Oxford, Friday, 1 November 2013, at 5.00 p.m. oxcis.ac.uk  See also from Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies:  The Qurʿan and the Syriac Bible   The Compatibility of Islam and Democracy   The Community Versus the Individual  Contemporary Muslim Societies: Old and New Realities  1980s–2000s: Globalization and Islamic Resurgence Following is the text of the Vice President’s lecture : “It is a privilege to be invited to address this august audience. Conscious of the gap between the immensity of the honour and the inadequacies of the speaker, I am humbled by the realisation that six decades earlier Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a very distinguished predecessor of mine as Vice President of India, was for long the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at this University. A few years back, when I was in the vicinity of Oxford in a group dabbling in the unfathomable mysteries of the Iraq quagmire, Dr. Nizami provided a welcome distraction by inviting me to see the site, and the plans, for the new building of the Centre. He also mentioned the debate on the proposed architectural design, and of the view in some quarters that it would change the inherited landscape of a hallowed community. The change, as I understood it, implied an assertion of identity. It is now conceded, I am told, that the new structure did no aesthetic or spiritual damage to the skyline of Oxford. Perhaps, the injection of diversity has enriched it. Speculating on the ‘ifs’ of history, Edward Gibbon had visualised a course of events that might have resulted in the teaching of the interpretations of the Qur’an at Oxford. He could not foresee a happier, intellectually more rewarding, happening that the concluding decades of the twentieth century would bring forth. Among its manifestations is the establishment of this Centre. This is a tribute to Oxford’s capacity to accommodate the unusual. ***** Continue reading the speech Endnotes : [i] Castells, Manuel. The Power of Identity (2nd edition, Wiley-Blackwell 2010) p.6 [ii] Sen, Amartya. Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (London 2006) p.169 [iii] Soroush, Abdolkarim. Reason, Freedom and Democracy in Islam (Oxford 2000) p.156 [iv] Waldron, Jeremy: ‘Cultural Identity and Civic Responsibility’ in Will Kymlica nd Wayne Norman. Citizenship in Diverse Societies (Oxford 2000) p. 157   [v] Guha, Ramachandra. India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy (London 2007) pp ix-xx [vi] Tara Chand. The Influence of Islam on Indian Culture (Allahabad 1922) p. i [vii] Verghese, B.G. Race, Reconciliation and Security: Managing India’s Diversities (New Delhi 2008) p.216 [viii] Kautilya. The Arthashastra – ed. L.N. Rangarajan (Penguin 1992) p. 140 [ix] Jayal, Nirja Gopal. Citizenship And Its Discontents: an Indian history (New Delhi 2013) pp. 16 and 273-75. Also, B. Shiva Rao (ed) The Framing of India’s Constitution – A Study (2nd revised ed. 2012) p.150 [x] Barker, Ernest. Principles of Social and Political Theory (Oxford 1951) p vi [xi] Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume X, p. 979 - November 25, 1949 [xii] Kothari, Rajni. Rethinking Democracy (New Delhi 2005) p. 98 [xiii] Patnaik, Prabhat. ‘Independent India at Sixty-Five’ in ‘Social Scientist’ (New Delhi) Vol.41, No. 1-2, Jan-Feb 2013 pp 5-15. [xiv] Gutmann, Amy. Identity in Democracy (Princeton 2003) pp. 3-7, 37 [xv] Kothari, Rajni. ‘Rise of the Dalits and Renewed Debate on Caste’ in Partha Chatterjee. State and Politics in India (Oxford 1999) p. 444 [xvi] Apoorvanand. ‘Democratisation of communalism.’ DNA (Mumbai) September 23, 2013 [xvii] Menon, V.P. The Story of the Integration of Indian States (New Delhi 1956) p. 469 [xviii] Rasheeduddin Khan. Bewildered India – Identity, Pluralism, Discord (New Delhi 1995) p.295 [xix] Report of the Expert Group on Diversity Index (Submitted to Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India 2008) pp. vii-viii. [xx] Kymlica, Will. Multiculturalism: Success, Failure and the Future (Minority Policy Institute, Europe, February 2012) pp 1-2 [xxi] Mahajan, Gurpreet. The Multicultural Path: Issues of Diversity and Discrimination in Democracy (New Delhi 2002) pp. 15, 17, 217-218. [xxii] Guha, Ramachandra. ‘Politicians and Pluralism: The inclusive ideals of the Republic must not be lost sight of’.’ The Telegraph (Kolkata) September 7, 2013 ***** Sanjay Kumar (in London, UK)/VPI/01.11.2013,  (Release ID :100373)

Science vs. Scripture and the Difference Between Curiosity and Wonder via Brain Pickings

Science vs. Scripture and the Difference Between Curiosity and Wonder

From Aristotle to St. Paul, or how rational thought and religion battled over knowledge. Continue reading

 

on the same shelf:

• Do Scientists Pray? Einstein Answers a Little Girl’s Question about Science vs. Religion

• Carl Sagan on Science and Spirituality

• Galileo vs. God: The Father of Modern Science on Religion, Truth, and Human Nature

   

U.S. Capitol Lights Up For First Divali Festival

HAPPY DIWALI AND SAAL MUBARAK TO BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA FROM ALL OF US, COURTSEY JAINA

Over two dozen influential lawmakers along with eminent Indian-Americans gathered at the Capitol Hill to lit the traditional "diyas".

continue reading:  US lawmakers celebrate Diwali

The Significance of Diwali, Auroville Universal Township:

'The Diwali or Deepavali festival marks the victory of good over evil. The Sanskrit word “Deepavali” means “an array of lights” and signifies the victory of brightness over darkness. As the knowledge of Sanskrit diminished, the name was popularly modified to Diwali, especially in northern India...' continue reading

See: Vidoes: National Geographic, PBS 

On the same shelf, see books on the Subject:

• MESSAGE OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL  FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE  TO THE HINDUS  ON THE FEAST OF DIWALI  (27 OCTOBER 2000) -- Extract: 

  It is Pope John Paul II who, during his last journey to India, reminded us once again that the “Catholic Church wants to enter ever more deeply into dialogue with the religions of the world. She sees dialogue as an act of love which has its roots in God himself. ‘God is love’, proclaims the New Testament, ‘and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him…Let us love, then, because he has loved us first…no one who fails to love the brother whom he sees can love God whom he has not seen’ (First Letter of St. John, 4:16, 19-20)” [Meeting at Vigyan Bhavan with Representatives of Other Religions and Christian Confessions, 7th November 1999]. -- A correction of the media (Pope John Paul II's forehead marked with a tilak by Hindu Priestess) reports' "The Mark of Shiva - For Sean O'Lachtnáin's Home Page"

• DIWALI! (Amma, Tell Me About)  Bhakti Mathur
• Lighting a Lamp: A Diwali Story (Festival Time)  Jonny Zucke
• Diwali: A Cultural Adventure   Sana Sood
• Diwali (Rookie Read-About Holidays)  Trudi Strain Trueit
• Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Diwali: With Sweets, Lights, and Fireworks  Deborah Heiligman
• Story of Divaali  Verma Jatinder
• Diwali (Acorn: Holidays and Festivals)  Nancy Dickmann
• Diwali (Celebrations in My World)  Kate Torpie
• Divali Rose  Vashanti Rahaman
• Divali (Why Is This Festival Special)  Jillian Powell
• Festival of Light ; Deepavali Legends from Around India Radhika Sekar
• Dipavali  Siddhinathananda
• Dipavali: Lekhanannal  Kuttippula Krsnapilla

More from Library of Cogress: Divali. /	Divali --Juvenile literature. / Holidays. Fasts and feasts --Hinduism.   / Hinduism --Customs and practices. /  /

Not all Buddhists are Atheists!!!

Q. According to Buddhism, Lord Buddha is not a god and Buddhism in its thought and practices teaches nothing about which many theists considered a god. Then would one classify all Buddhists as atheists? One may say because there are different types of Buddhism, and hence there are different ways to experience the philosophy; wherein some may have belief in the Unseen; etc..

A message board has an interesting point for reflection:

Um...

Buddhism is not atheistic by any standard...

This shows a misunderstanding of different types of Buddhism and attempts to take the fact that Theravada Buddhism (my particular type) does not center itself on a belief in a Deity and make that into "All Buddhists are Atheist", which is untrue. Theravada Buddhism doesn't deny a Deity any more than it promotes one, nor does it state that one should not believe in a Deity. Theravada Buddhism centers itself on this lifetime and the spiritual growth of your current incarnation. Not all Buddhists even believe in reincarnation, not all Buddhists are atheists, there are many different beliefs held by those that are Buddhist. Most believe that all living things are part of the Deity, that which gives us life and unites us is the part of us which is the smallest part of the Deity.

Mahayana Buddhists believe in a Central Deity, so do Shin Buddhists (a Japanese form of Buddhism that believes in Amida Buddha, the Great Compassion, as a central Deity), Tibetan Buddhists believe in much that I have still to understand, but they are more mystical than the type of Buddhism that I study. Source

Books on the subject:

• Is The Buddhist An Atheist?  Theosophical Publishing Society 
• Buddhists and Christians: Through Comparative Theology to Solidarity (Faith Meets Faith Series) James L. Fredericks
• Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian  Paul F. Knitter
• Universal Prayer - Seeking Enlightenment through Prayer in the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim Traditions Bert Nemcik 
• The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography  Alice Getty
• Short Description of Gods, Goddesses and Ritual Objects of Buddhism and Hinduism in Nepal  Jnan Bahadur Sakya
• Religion without God  Ronald Dworkin

• The Life Changing Lessons Of Buddha - Buddhism Secrets To Spiritual Enlightenment And Happiness (Buddhism For Beginners, Buddhism Without Beliefs, Buddhism For Busy People)  Steven Nash

• History of Zen from A to Z - Including the Meaning of Life, Creation of Heaven, Hell, Humans and Earth...  Richard Del Connor
• Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening  
  
  

Some other answers may be here:

• If There's No God in Buddhism, Are Buddhists Atheists? BY: Lama Surya Das -- Beliefnet  columnist explains why not. 
• Is the Dalai Lama an Atheist? - Buddhism - About.com
• Buddhism: The last honest religion? Entertaining Q&A with Dalai Lama
• by YourBrainOnReligion
• Buddhism Isn't More Enlightened Than Other Faiths - Patheos  
• Opinion | Are Buddhists atheists? - "NO'ing" Buddha
• Do Buddhists Believe in God? - Urban Dharma
• Dharma Wheel • View topic - Is Buddhism elitist?
• Gods of Buddhism? Learn Why There is No Such Thing
• Dalai Lama reaches out to British atheists - USATODAY.com
• The Buddhist Blog: Buddhism and Atheism
• Asian Buddhists are not atheists - Discover Magazine Blogs
• The new Buddhist atheism | Mark Vernon | Comment is free ...
• BBC - Religion - Atheism: Atheist Buddhism - Atheist Buddhism
• Opinion | Are Buddhists atheists? - The Buddhist Channel
• Rationally Speaking: The problem with atheism, a Buddhist ...
• Buddhism as an "Atheistic Religion": a Western Fantasy
• What Buddhists Believe - Is Buddhism Atheistic?
• Is Buddhism Atheistic?...A brief discussion at religionfacts.com, concludes:

In view of the above factors, scholars and Buddhists alike tend to describe Buddhism as atheistic in the sense that it denies an eternal creator God {7}, while recognizing its theistic and devotional elements. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains,

While the contemplative elite may deny the real existence of gods and demons together with the rest of phenomenal existence, the majority of Buddhists from the earliest times in India, and in other countries where Buddhism has spread, have never neglected indigenous religious beliefs. {8}

Reading now: Fifty Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True

50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True Guy P. Harrison

Review:

"Prometheus, the premiere publisher of skeptical literature, here issues a book that deserves to be shelved alongside the works of such giants of the field as [James] Randi, [Michael] Shermer, [Paul] Kurtz, and [Joe]Nickell. With a combination of lively prose and keen analytical reasoning, the author examines some of contemporary culture's most commonly held beliefs… A valuable, not to mention very entertainingly written, addition to the literature of skepticism." - Booklist starred review

On the same shelf:

• Maybe Reading Fiction Makes You a Better Person
• How Reading Fiction Can Improve Your Social Skills
• Michael Shermer » james randi
• King of the Paranormal - CSI  
• Book Review: Science Friction

Faith and Fashion - A select list

• WHY IS THE KHALEEJI HIJAB SO CONTROVERSIAL? Vice.com
•  When are costumes inappropriate? tanenbaum.org
• NUN'S WORK HAD A BIG IMPACT ON THE world of fashion... Sister Aloyse Hessburg helped start the fashion program at Mount Mary University... Cardinal rule her students had to follow, stylelist.com   
• T shirt Design for Interfaith Org. by Amira8 on deviantART
• 'I Heart Turbans': Sikh Student's Apparel Designs Spark Interfaith Dialogue at Parliament of the World's Religions: by Arezou Rezvani, from the Times of India
• Celebration of Believing Women - Interfaith Fashion Show
• Faith and Fashion – A new language for women’s interfaith dialogue, By Jennifer Mayo-Deman, Religious Literacy Leadership in Higher Education
• Fashioned to Reign: Empowering Women to Fulfill Their Divine Destiny   Kris Vallotton
• Religion, Dress and the Body (Dress, Body, Culture) Gabriella Lazaridis
• Moral Problems In Fashion Design: An Address Of Pope Pius XII - Di Gran Cuore Pope Pius XII
• Fashion and Age: Dress, the Body and Later Life Julia Twigg
• Mehndi: Body Painting (Book Only) Zaynab Mirza 
• Masks, Transformation, and Paradox A. David Napier
• Islamic Fashion and Anti-Fashion: New Perspectives from Europe and North America Annelies Moors
• Abaya (Burka/Burqa) - Islamic Clothing : Understanding Abaya, Islamic Clothing, Modest Clothing and Muslim Clothing HilalPlaza.com
• Hijab Fashion for Modern Women Lutfiah Ibrahim Saleh
• Islamic Fahion (Pepin Fashion, Textiles & Patterns) Pepin van Roojen 
• The Veil Unveiled FAEGHEH SHIRAZI

Extract from a Review: "In Assyrian, Greco-Roman, and Byzantine empires veiling was a mark of prestige and status. The author, Faegheh Shirazi, who is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, specializes in textiles and material cultures studies. She shows, through a series of a half dozen chapters, the immense versatility of meaning that the veil can have, depending on the context of its use. In Iranian cinema, for example, its use means adhering to the strictures of Islam, which forbids the erotic, whereas in Indian cinema it's meant to be titillating and erotic. In a chapter entitled "Veiled Images in American Erotica," cartoons from the pages of "Playboy," "Penthouse," and "Hustler" are examined. A chapter on advertising shows how the veil is used to sell automobiles, perfume, cigarettes, computers, and sanitary napkins, among dozens of other products. There are chapters covering military, political, and literary aspects as well as film. In Muslim cultures the veil is used to prevent "fitna," defined as the chaos caused by women's sexuality. If this is true, then the case might be made that a good part of the world is in total chaos. Regardless of your viewpoint, the book is thought provoking for anyone interested in human beings and culture. " If You're Curious About Why Women Wear Veils, By Ken T Barnett on August 23, 2001 @ Amazon.com

• The Faces of Faith: Amarillo Magazine survey reveals religious ...

• Fearless … and topless: Femen activists to bring 'sextremism' to the ... The Guardian-

• Parsons The New School for Design Sweeps Amazon Fashion ...

• Modern Fashion Meets Ancient Religion in Jewish Museum

• Fashion And Religion - the Fashion Spot

• Fashion's New Religion - New York Times

• 21 Controversial Blendings of Fashion with Religion 

• When Fashion Meets Religion: Three Examples