Understanding Hinduism: Holi Essay -- Religion, Hinduism, Christianit

Religion is not as important in today's world as it was a couple hundred years ago. In the United States the major religion is Christianity and no one pays much attention to other religions like Hinduism. Weird thing is that Hinduism has been in the world way before Christianity, yet not a lot of people know about it. As seen before when teaching religion it â€Å"lacked sophistication compared with lessons about Christianity† (Glod). Some people are raised to think that Christians are â€Å"perfect† putting other religions down, but everyone is perfect in their own way. Just like every other thing Hinduism has its own stereotypes. These stereotypes are often mislead or completely different from their beliefs. Even though Hinduism is a different unique culture they still have similarities to Christianity. Every time someone hears Hindu's the first thing they think about are cows or some sort of other ridiculous thing, yet no one really knows what they actually believe. I asked a couple of Christians what they thought of when they first hear about Hindu's and many of them had little to no clue on what they actually believed and they mentioned many common stereotypes. One person mentioned the idea that Hindu people actually worship a cow. They insisted that it is true that in India there is a rule that favors the cow. As one says â€Å"I believe in India you could go to jail if you don't bow down to a cow as they walk by and cows walk where ever they want.† This stereotype leads to the idea that they are also vegetarians. â€Å"It makes sense to me that they are vegetarians considering the fact that they worship the cow. If you get in trouble for not bowing down to a cow imagine if they ate one.† Although it is a stereotype it has some truth to it.... ...ey do not teach it in depth. Especially since in the past few years Hinduism is spreading more thorough out the United States. Works Cited Arshod, Laiba. Personal Interview. 14 March 2014. Glod, Maria. â€Å"Wiping Stereotypes of India off the Books.† Washingtonpost.com. 17 April 2005. Web. 10 March 2014. Gonzalez Abraham. Personal interview. 15. March 2014 â€Å"Holi.† religionfacts.com. N.d. Web. 12 March 2014. â€Å"Holy Cow: Hinduism's Sacred Animal.† Pbs.org. 12 August. Web. 12 March 2014. â€Å"Nine beliefs on Hinduism.† Kauai's Hindu Monastery. Academy.com. N.D. Web. 12 March 2014. â€Å"The Cow in Hunduism.† religionfacts.com. Updated 10 December 2013. Web. 11 March 2014. Rajhans, Gyan. â€Å"Why Celebrate Holi? Enjoy the Festival of Colors† about.com. N.d. Web. 11 March 2014. Violatti, Cristian. â€Å"The Vedas.† ancient.eu.com. 18 Janurary 2013. Web. 13 March 2014.