Hello, Dr M C Gupta   . This is a review from "WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group"  !  I received "ABOUT HINDUISM: editor's choice " via the random 'read & review' button. I have the following comments to offer.
 Reader Experience
The author writes about Hinduism and Hindutva. He describes what it is, what are the essentials of it, who can be regarded as a Hindu, what the cardinal features are, what is special about it, lists the distinctive contributions that Hinduism gave to the world, discusses the numbers of Hindus, and then asks a series of personal questions to conclude.
Commentary
I think any reviewer needs to be honest about their assumptions approaching a piece like this where religious convictions are involved. Before I even read this, based on our previous disagreements and my experience as a religious education teacher teaching Hinduism I know that I am going to disagree with significant junks of what you have written because my Christian faith causes me to believe that Hinduism is a false religion. Also, the Christian and indeed Muslim experience of Hindutva has been an especially bad one with a massive intensification of persecution over the last decade. So that you start this account with the definition of Hinduism as a religion of spiritual freedom seems to jar against the reality of the church's experience of it in India itself. That said I tried to read what you wrote impartially. I have organized this as a sequential response to what you wrote in the order that you wrote it.
Your definition of Hinduism is quite controversial as even within Hinduism many Hindus would not define it in terms of freedom but rather devotion, submission, and ritual for example. The association with Modis BJP nationalism is also something that a great many Hindus would reject and how is that an ideology of freedom- Christians, and Muslims in India definitely disagree.
Q2
Hinduism is not the oldest religion as the Judaeo Christian faith goes back to creation itself. Also since Eternal Reoccurrence seems to be a feature of Hinduism in most accounts I have read why would you stress its age anyway, surely it would be ageless in the Hindu view?
Is the basis of Hinduism the search for cosmic truth? The sources you quote are filled with myths and the connection with historical reality, unlike with the Abrahamic faiths, is missing entirely. These are stories rationalizing the questions posed by mysteries but are they truths by any universally accepted understanding of the word? Indeed is truth even important to a Hindu since it is so hard to define and so elusive to grasp and has no dogmas or doctrines that give a firm indication of what it meant by it.
Teachers in Hinduism seem to be on the same path as their disciples and are no more authoritative as a result but does this mean that we can ignore them then? Truth is exclusive in the sense that something is either true or false. The light is either on or off not both at the same time. There are more complex truths but basic binary statements can also be made about reality. Jesus is either the only way to God or He is not. The Hindu makes an exclusive claim when they rule out this Christian conviction.
The Hindu sources you cite are quite large and hold many conflicting positions.
The path of meditation and yoga lends itself to a very personal take on truth and knowledge when no external authorities are recognized by which those reflections could be edited or criticized.
Q3
Cow worship as a basis for defining who a Hindu is - really!? But why not elephants?
There are multiple gods in the Hindu view but they all have different truths. The acceptance of that chaos seems neither liberating nor honest but rather just results in moral relativism and confusion.
The legal definition seems to be too vague and broad and accepts a very wide range of possible answers. Except for the idea that residence in India makes a person a Hindu, but then what about Hindus abroad? The last definition says in effect it is not just a way of life, not just religious practices, not just the culture and ethos of Indians and it is not hostile to other faiths. If so then why is it hostile in practice, why is it even distinct from them. By this definition are even Christian Hindus, it seems open enough to allow for that.
Q4
So reincarnation is pretty crucial here. Obviously, a belief in the resurrection of the sort adopted by the Abrahamic religions would be excluded by this conviction.
The Pantheistic view of God would also exclude Christian convictions of a beginning and end to creation and the transcendence of God over Nature.
Non-violence is argued here but is not the experience of many Muslims and Christians in India.
The concept of Karma differs from the accountability of Judgment.
God is personal in the Christian faith, not a conscious energy force.
Q5
Hinduism is not the world's oldest faith. True religion goes back to creation and was not distinguished by temples and permanent altars or indeed writing in its earliest years. To make the claim about this is just to assert it as a matter of faith.
Hinduism is free and flexible versus Hinduism is guided by the Vedas. If the Vedas are of any use they would have to set some kind of boundaries and conceptual frameworks.
Hinduism is closed to the exclusive claims of the Christian faith: that Jesus is the only way to know God, that the sacrifice that Jesus made is all we need to be reconciled to God, that Jesus is the only time that God incarnated Himself in a human form in human history.
Tolerance is not the main feature of the Hindutva movement.
Q6
One God but a plurality of gods is not the same as the One in Three understanding of the Trinity. There is no agreement within Hinduism itself that God is not plural in his very substance or singular. The Trimurti includes a god who behaves like pure evil on several occasions i.e. Shiva. But God is not evil.
Resurrection, not reincarnation. We have evidence for that in the testimony of the church to Christ's resurrection. How could you differentiate your recollection of past lives from the whispering of demons?
Astrology is superstitious bunkum.
Q7
Probably higher than that now. Wikipedia says 1.35 billion for example. In India, the % is now lower than 10 years ago and is 79.8%.
Q8
This was really the expression of the positions already stated e.g. Karma.
The separation of one's religious convictions from any kind of work vocation interested me. Honesty, Righteousness, a Commitment to Excellence as if accountable to a Higher Power, and Stewardship are all relevant concepts that come from Christianity and work in the workplace for instance.
I have known some very capable Hindu workers who were skilled professionals but now that you mention it there was a very strict separation between their skills and the junk in their heads.
Without accountability to a higher authority, how would a sinless life be defined or affirmed, if I am only accountable to my own conscience I will probably rationalize all my actions and just give myself 5 stars for everything?
As it is using the authorities that I have as a Christian and trying to be objective in the examination of your claims I could not give this piece more than half a star out of two for its content.
Mechanical issues
From a literary perspective, this was well ordered and communicated and you clearly presented your message. You lost about 1 star for mechanical errors - see below.
Grammar checkers may have improved since you wrote this and there are a lot of false commas, missing commas, unnecessary spaces, and for example errors like the below here:
.. - choose period or ...
It is not not Hindu fundamentalism - It is not Hindu fundamentalism
Based up on my readings - Based upon my readings
man- made - man-made
not just in a prayer only - not just in prayer only
7.A very important - 7. A very important
Hinduism that it has not closed itself - Hinduism is that it has not closed itself
open- minded - open-minded
You vary in the capitalization of god/God - need to be consistent.
is coupled with the knowledge of operation of the Law of Karma - is coupled with the knowledge of the operation of the Law of Karma
duties that have karmas attached to it - them (because duties are plural)
Thanks for sharing.
 
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