Culture and Material conditions

[Mahatma Gandhi]

Comrades!:)

Is culture the product of material conditions, or is it the other way around? For instance, most of the social work in India is done by Christian and Islamic missionaries. Hindu culture and charity are like oil and water, and, in fact, most of the time Hindus exploit the poor and sometimes even the sick people aren't spared.

How is it possible to explain this in terms of material conditions when both Christians and Hindus are pretty much products of the same environment? Their behavior and attitude and ideas are completely different. Born and bred in the same environment and faced with the same circumstances, Hindus exploit the poor day in and day out, whereas the Christians/Muslims try to rescue them by putting their lives at risk.

Doesn't the communist line (that man is a product of his social conditions) fail here? It seems like culture, whether or not a product of the environment, seems to have some sort of independence existence. Else, it would be impossible to account for these differences in behavior.

Mahatma

[Dean]

Comrades!:)

Is culture the product of material conditions, or is it the other way around? For instance, most of the social work in India is done by Christian and Islamic missionaries. Hindu culture and charity are like oil and water, and, in fact, most of the time Hindus exploit the poor and sometimes even the sick people aren't spared.
Oops your race baiting crap is wrong again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alms#Hinduism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alms#Hinduism)

You could have done a Google search for "Hindu charity" (http://www.google.com/search?q=hindu+charity) but I guess that would have made too much sense.

[Hit The North]

The OP should really be ashamed of this thread. What a joke!

[Mahatma Gandhi]

Oops your race baiting crap is wrong again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alms#Hinduism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alms#Hinduism)

You could have done a Google search for "Hindu charity" (http://www.google.com/search?q=hindu+charity) but I guess that would have made too much sense.

Why are you obsessed with race? I am talking about culture and how it is related to the environment. Let's keep to that and avoid making personal attacks.

[Dean]

Why are you obsessed with race? I am talking about culture and how it is related to the environment. Let's keep to that and avoid making personal attacks.

Why don't you respond to the fact that you baselessly asserted that Hinduism is anti-charity, as opposed to the other religions mentioned?

[Mahatma Gandhi]

Why don't you respond to the fact that you baselessly asserted that Hinduism is anti-charity, as opposed to the other religions mentioned?

That wasn't a baseless allegation; it is rooted in reality. Christian missionaries and Islamic organizations have done so much for the poor and the sick in India. Mother Teresa ring a bell?

Hindus, on the other hand, have done no such thing; they simply point to their scriptures and claim they too have concepts like charity. But ground realities are different, though, and Hindu culture is based upon the exploitation of the poor. Compassion, human rights, and such concepts are alien to Hindu culture; people are treated like animals most of the time.

But all this is beside the point. The real question is ... well, refer to the OP and you will know.:rolleyes: I am sick and tired of having to repeat myself.

Mahatma

[Dean]

That wasn't a baseless allegation; it is rooted in reality. Christian missionaries and Islamic organizations have done so much for the poor and the sick in India. Mother Teresa ring a bell?

Hindus, on the other hand, have done no such thing; they simply point to their scriptures and claim they too have concepts like charity. But ground realities are different, though, and Hindu culture is based upon the exploitation of the poor. Compassion, human rights, and such concepts are alien to Hindu culture; people are treated like animals most of the time.

But all this is beside the point. The real question is ... well, refer to the OP and you will know.:rolleyes: I am sick and tired of having to repeat myself.

Mahatma

Follow the links I provided, which fundamentally repudiate your "point."

[Mahatma Gandhi]

Follow the links I provided, which fundamentally repudiate your "point."

Yeah, wiki and google ... better than ground realities.:rolleyes:

[Dean]

Yeah, wiki and google ... better than ground realities.:rolleyes:

Oh, we're supposed to just believe you then. I should have known.

[RGacky3]

its the other way around.

But take a hint, we are sick of your bigotry, race bating and general all around amoral douchiness.