Francis C. Assisi and Elizabeth Pothen of Indolink.com decide to delve into Bobby Jindal’s life-story to see what makes him tick when it comes to his oft maligned religious beliefs:
The question that intrigues most Indian Americans is this: How and why did Bobby Jindal abandon the faith of his forebears to embrace Christ and the Catholic faith.
As it turns out, the story of Piyush Bobby Jindal’s transformation from a devout young Hindu to a zealous Catholic offers an intriguing glimpse into the struggle, often traumatic, of a young Indian American caught between his heritage and his parents on the one hand and his intellectual and emotional turmoil in America.
The first part reveals the background and the struggle towards his conversion, while the second part examines his involvement with two young women whom he has acknowledged as being key to his spiritual re-birth.
Beginning with his Junior year (1991) at Brown, and for seven years thereafter – including his two years on Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, and while Secretary, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals – Jindal revealed details of his conversion and its aftermath, in a series of first person accounts.
Much of those writings reveal an agonizing spiritual quest.
Ooooh, juicy! This sounds like an even more interesting read than the journey of the Buddha.
“…when a childhood friend, intent on converting the world, first introduced him to Christianity by warning him “you and your parents are going to hell,†he recalls that he “was hardly convinced.†Jindal was also “angered by the arrogance of my Southern Baptist friend who claimed his faith was the one true path to God.†That’s because he realized that his friend sought to “deny the experience of billions of people who have never seen a copy of the Bible.â€Â
Nevertheless the event did succeed in motivating him to “examine Hinduism on its own merits and doctrines†even as he was “searching for an objectively true faith that would lead me to God.†Simultaneously he began reading the Bible “to disprove the Christian faith I was learning both to admire and despise.†That was also a time when he “was touched by the love and simplicity of a Christian girl who dreamt of becoming a Supreme Court justice so she could stop her country from “killing unborn babies.â€Â
As he delved deeper into the Bible, says Jindal, “I saw myself in many of the parables and felt as if the Bible had been written especially for me. After reading every book I could find on the historical accuracy of the Bible and Christianity, I was convinced that the Bible had remained unaltered throughout the centuries and that circumstances surrounding Christ’s death led to the conversions of thousands.â€Â
Sigh. The “crazy” things we do over a girl 🙂
And of course, as you’d expect, Bobby’s parents aren’t feelin’ this whole conversion thingy.
Jindal recalls, “My parents were infuriated by my conversion and have yet to fully forgive me.†He even steeled himself for the worst by becoming financially independent. But that hardly prepared him for the emotional battles that ensued.
As Jindal explains, “My parents went through different phases of anger and disappointment. They blamed themselves for being bad parents, blamed me for being a bad son and blamed evangelists for spreading dissension. There were heated discussions, many of them invoking family loyalty and national identity.â€Â
He elaborates: “My parents have never truly accepted my conversion and still see my faith as a negative that overshadows my accomplishments. They were hurt and felt I was rejecting them by accepting Christianity. According to Jindal, his parents resorted to “ethnic loyalty†to counter his new faith
In his 1993 article, Jindal says wistfully, “I long for the day when my parents understand, respect and possibly accept my faith. For now I am satisfied that they accept me.â€Â
The article concludes by interviewing writer Ramesh Rao who asks,
One-third of the money Jindal has raised, we are told, was contributed by Indian-Americans. Should they not be wondering what made Jindal convert to Catholicism? None seemed to have bothered to ask. He tells the usual story of how Jesus came into his life: more or less the standard spiel that every Campus Christian Crusader spouts. What was missing in his Hindu faith and background that made him convert? We don’t get any insight from the simple mention of how a high school friend gave him a Bible, and how he read it, and how it changed his life.â€Â
Ramesh Rao goes on to explain: “I have very, very high regard for Bobby Jindal for his accomplishments, and for his ability to articulate ideas. I am very, very concerned, however, about his far right views. When Indian-American supporters assert that Jindal is “One of us”, I really donÂŽt know what is meant by that except that he is a son of Indian immigrants. 
It is almost as if his Indian supporters and Indian-American newspapers want to ignore what he truly is: an ultra-conservative Christian politician.
Apparently this is the first of multiple articles on Jindal’s religious transformation. I’ll be sure to give readers the heads up when the follow-up(s) come out.
His conversion isn’t any of our business. I’m troubled by some of the phrasing in this article, or the assumption, implicitly made at a couple of points here, that Christians somehow aren’t good Indian-Americans.
It’s what he says in public about church and state that’s the problem.
Yep, I especially found Ramesh Rao’s comments kind of obnoxious. What right does he feel he has to gain an “insight” into Jindal’s conversion before accepting him. Sounds kind of tabloid-ish. Religion should only matter in so far as it influences policies.
thank you, amardeep. you said it better than i could.
I grew up in India, and most of my schooling was in the South — tons of Christians all around. No one ever questioned their Indian-ness or their allegiances.
Learnt from Anna recently (in an earlier discussion) that Indian-American Christians occasionally are questioned about their heritage and allegiance.
To me, that’s absolute nonsense — there’ve been Christians in India for almost 2000 yrs, while they’ve been in this country for just over 400.
So, Bobby’s religious faith is not really an issue — as long as it’s personal.
However, his social conservatism (which I find deeply disturbing) seems to stem from his faith. And then you read statements like this
“That’s why he exhorts: “Let us all become missionaries and live so that the world will know us by our love.†“
Oh, yeah. This zealous evangelism, which seems to suffuse so much of the Bushies, frightens the bejesus out of me (no pun intended).
And while there may have been no “strategic motivation” behind Jindal’s conversion, it’s undeniable that his political career would haven’t progressed beyond his parents’ living room, if he was a Hindu (or even more so, an atheistic Jain)
There’s a subtle insinuation in this article that to be ‘Christian’ is somehow to be less of an Indian. I think this equating of being Hindu to being Indian is extremely silly considering the fact that almost all Christians in India are converts from lower castes. Same goes for most of the Muslims in India as well.
FWIW, I dug up a few articles about the History of Christianity in India.
2 common misconceptions –
pockets of Christianity in India predate Christianity in Europe by a very wide margin. A lot of the ill will towards folks like Jindal comes from the idea that Christianity is a “white” religion and to subscribe to it is to suffer from some sort of colonial envy of the soul…
many of the Christian converts in India were actually of high caste – particularly in the most ancient Christian communities…
Y’all are mixing the issues. That there have been Christians in India for centuries probably isn’t relevant to why Jindal converted in the U.S. Religion is deeply personal, as Amardeep says, but the prurient interest is ‘why here, why now?’
I found nothing implicitly or explicitly biased against Indian Christians in this this article. The only place I see that is in the quote given at the end by Ramesh Rao; he may be a little biased, but I think it was a valid point for this article to cover. This article, from what I can infer, was written by Indian Christians; and the fact is, India is a Hindu-majority nation. It is very feasible and reasonable for some Hindus to view Jindal’s conversion with skepticism. I am not saying that Jindal’s conversion was not authentic, but the fact that his family and other Hindus would question it would be an obvious reaction that should be covered in an article about the religious background and conversion of an Indian American politician who receives a third of his contribution from Indians and whose religious conviction affects his politics. As an Indian-American Christian raised in America (not Catholic, but in the Catholic school system) there is something to be said about the pressure to try to fit in. The struggle between familial traditions and his newfound religion (in this case Catholicism, given to him I am assuming by Americans in America) is intriguing to me. I think that struggle plays itself out in the family and detractors’ attempt to assign ethnic betrayal to his conversion, and this is a very typical reaction that I would assume happens on a wider scale across Indian American families who see their children ‘succumbing to the evils of America’. I don’t agree with that view, but IMO its definitely a prevalent view that should be covered in such an article and I think this article does an objective job of covering that. Secondly, although stemming perhaps from a bias, Rao raises a valid question of how susceptible Indian Americans are to latching on to ‘one of us’ succeeding in American culture, politics. etc. This is something we should be aware of. Although I am proud as anyone else to see Indians succeeding, sometimes the content or quality of their character/views/product gets brushed aside, in favor of the high from seeing the brown skin on the screen.
The last sentence of the article surmises (or raises the question) that Bobby Jindal may have become Catholic to further his ambitions. Is anyone else reading the last sentence that way? Am I wrong?
For some reason the whole tenor of the debate around Bobby Jindal’s christianity reminds me why I avoided the desi community for so many years. Why the hel* should I be put in a box by the Indian-American or general American culture? I am free to read, think, write what I want. I am the sum of everything around me: my Indian parents, my American schooling, my best friends who are Italian and British-American, the books I read, the paintings I see, everything.
Bobby Jindal grew up in Louisiana. Why shouldn’t the culture around him play as much a role in who he is, as his parents?
I can admire his accomplishments, be happy that an Indian-American is achieving so much even if I disagree with specifics. I mean, suppose Hillary Clinton becomes president in 2008, but I vote for the Republican candidate instead? There is still a part of me that will be proud of her accomplishment, because we are both women! The first woman President! The first African-American female Secretary of State! I am glad to be living in a time when these things are possible (or already achieved).
ok, I made a mistake. The last sentence of the article is a quote about Jindal, not written by the journalists.
Still, why all this fascination with the boy who rejected his good Indian upbringing? It’s almost like he married a non-desi or something…
Ok, cheap shot. His politics are very conservative, so non-conservatives of course will not like this. I don’t agree with his stands on abortion or gay marriage. Agree with a lot of other stuff, though.
I think the point is that he’s a very American style bible thumper who also wants to market himself as representative of the desi community. While Christianity has a long history in India, the strand of Christianity that seems to inspire most of his politics does not, which raises the question of how he is representative of NRIs other than his skin color.
Honestly, I think a large part of this is driven by a sense amongst certain Hindu Americans that Christianity and Islam are foreign to India, and that you can only be authentically Indian if you’re a Hindu or an authorized offshoot.
Still, it’s a consistent position, even if you strip the xenophobia.
an indian-american friend of mine grew up in mississippi, where he says his family has been friends with bobby jindal’s family for decades. the talk in that circle has been, and remains, that bobby jindal converted from hinduism for future potential political gain…
Vijay Prasad had a really good article from 2003 that details specifics on Jindal’s views, which I haven’t seen laid out in many places other than that he’s a rightwinger. I like this excerpt in particular:
“Bobby Jindal seems to be a decent man. Whatever his personal achievements, he is going to conform to the discipline of the GOP and he is going to be used as a false symbol of the GOP’s “inclusiveness.” Let us not promote someone who stands with those who want to make mayhem in our world, just because they share an ethnicity with us. That is the crudest, most vulgar form of politics.”
As Prashant, Anna, my friend Bina, and about a zillion other people have amply demonstrated, being Christian has nothing to do with being “good.”
Jindal is a sellout, pure and simple. It says something that his own parents don’t fathom him any more.
Well, as Malcolm Gladwell would point out, parents have less influence than they think. Jindal’s political peers did this. Mercenaries flock together. And most of his ilk (some of whom I know quite personally) are the worst sort of mercenaries, selling out all sorts of purportedly-“heartfelt” beliefs to further their political careers.
There just aren’t a lot of Desi Republicans, folks, and so they go where the career path looks shinier.
Republicans vs. Democrats? Fine by me. My friend R. is a staunch Republican; we have healthy respect for each other, yet remain friends. But that’s because we acknowledge that the other person’s political stance is rooted in an form of idealism: we want what’s best for America.
I do not think this applies to BJ (heh, gotta love those initials) at all.
Another[link=http://www.littleindia.com/december2004/JindalGoestoWashington.htm]Little India[/link]article, where Bobby Jindal gives us a slightly different take on his parents’ reaction to his conversion.
Being a Desi, Catholic, conservative it is quite enlightening to see the inclusiveness of the supposedly “liberal progressives” among us.
I was born Catholic, my father was born Catholic, my grandfather was born Catholic, and my great grandfather converted from Hinduism. Part of the reason our family immigrated to America was to leave behind the prevalent religious discrimination experienced by Christians in the sub-continent.
Here we have an example of an erudite and accomplished individual from our own community who instead of being lauded for his achievements is being vilified because his religious piety is in conflict with the “community’s” conscience.
Bobby Jindal has not hidden who he is from anyone. None of his supporters are unaware of his religious views. Nobody was fooled into giving money too or voting for…GASP…a Christian. The fact that this is even an issue for some, belies the egalitarian persona that “liberal progressives” project about themselves.
Tell me this, what could Bobby Jindal do or say to convince others that his conversion was genuine? What would it take?
My intent in asking this question is to make the point that there is no way (IMHO) Jindal can put to rest whether his religous choice was devoid of political ambition. Is this fair to Jindal?
Some would say that because he is a politician, this courtesy should not be extended to him. I beg to differ – although a Republican, he is human after all 😉
PS: any idea on how to quote a selection from a previous comment, so that is has that standard formatting look?
Here we have an example of an erudite and accomplished individual from our own community who instead of being lauded for his achievements is being vilified because his religious piety is in conflict with the “community’s” conscience.
Among “liberal progressives” I know (btw, I’ve never heard anyone describe themselves that way), Jindal’s been more frequently vilified for having terrible politics.
I found an interesting parallel in a discussion by a Jewish Feminist on the Apostle Paul:
“At first these two views may look mutually exclusive, but in fact they are mirror images of one another. They both assume Paul left his Judaism behind once he “found Christ” and consequently turned toward communities of gentiles, where he became a leader and made large numbers of converts. From the Christian perspective, Paul’s experience is true and he is sincere; he simply found something better and wanted to share it with the rest of the world. Christians view Paul’s work positively, since it resulted in the salvation of the Gentiles. From the Jewish perspective, Paul is a manipulative fake, or at least seriously misguided.”
Sounds like a little like the debate about Bobby, no?
Bobby Jindal’s spiritual struggle/conversion took place in the US, where non-white, non-Christian immigrants and their children are faced with societal pressure to assimilate. It’s fair to ask whether his spiritual struggle is all about an internally-motivated search for truth or whether it might have been affected by these external pressures. And if external pressures to assimilate were an appreciable factor, then in what other ways might he have assimilated?
And how would any possible drive to fit into American society have affected his politics?
Jindal is a sellout, pure and simple. It says something that his own parents don’t fathom him any more.
I don’t like this line of reasoning because for many of us ABCDs, (queers, independent-minded women, people who pursue non-traditional careers, etc.), our “own parents don’t fathom” at least a part of us.
SJM,
Much heat, not very much light. I’m not clear which gossip pages you grabbed that floated the rumor that his parents don’t “fathom” him, but so far as I can tell, that’s not the case.
And he’s a sellout because he chose to get favorable treatment by the GOP? Let’s put aside the amnesia for a moment: the Democrats are the party of affirmative action and the Republicans the party of meritocracy. Affirmative action breeds “tokens”, not meritocracy. If Jindal is looking for a leg up owing to his race, he chose the wrong party.
-Bob MinorityRetort http://www.MinorityRetort.com “Cause Not All Indians Think Alike”
Bobby Jindal is a sellout plain and simple!! My mom was Indian and my dad is white and I am a Catholic. BJ is a wanna be Catholic. And who is going around saying that they dont care what happens in a politicians private life and only care about their policies? Might I remind you of Clinton. What rock have you been living under?
If you cant see that BJ became a Christian to win a political campaign then you are bigger problems then what BJ does. Anyone who treats God in that way, is not helping this country. People are getting to wrapped up in, “Oh he converted to Christianity so he’s a sell out”. NO! Thats not why he’s a sell out. He’s a sell out because he is denouncing his faith just to win an election. Speaks much about his character I might add. That’s what people should be focusing on and thats what is really going on.
You wanna claim that BJ conversion had no impact on how he conducts his policies then you should just stop talkin’ now, ’cause you dont know what your talkin’ about. Plain and simple BJ is a sell out!
–Patrick
Well, I think its not so much that he is Christian, but that he converted in the US. I don’t see any problem with Indian Christians or Muslims. Converting itself means that one is sufficiently religious to evaluate his own given religion, decide it is wrong, and choose another one. Basically this makes him look too religious. For example had he ‘converted’ to atheism I wouldn’t see a problem. Religion and policy should not be mixed. In addition, by converting in America it seems more like a rejection of his Indian past, just like his use of the name Bobby. One huge positive for Indian-Americans vs other ethnic groups is our rejection of anglicizing our names for acceptance. Jindal undermines this, and in effect his overall stance postulates that America is not a free land but a place for Enlglish speaking ultra-conservate Christians.
By the way I am generally very liberal and have friends of all persuasions, ethinicities etc. I have no problem with any particular religion, but I do believe that religion has no place in politics or law. Jindal has a right to convert, but no right to use it as a political tool. Generally I also feel that very religious people are dangerous to society. As long as they keep their fundamentalist views out out of government it is not a problem however.
Bobby’s a guy who seems determined to fit in. Just take a look at his extremely partisan voting record in Congress (http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=MLA55695). So much for independant thought and political courage.
What I do not and cannot understand about many of the Indian/Hindu people is that they believe/think that “religion runs in the blood”. That is, if one’s parents believed in some particular “god,” then that person is, for some reason, obliged to follow blindly what his/her parents believe. That is, can’t a person have a choice whether or not to believe in one religion or another? Let the man search on his own and decide on his own, without outside interference as to what he can and cannot follow…
Folks I live in the UK and it’s very obvious that this man (Bobby Jindal) has planned out things in advance – and to succeed in his quest he needs to become a Christian. It’s as simple as this. He would be unlikely to become governor if he remained a Hindu. Perhaps he hopes to go further than governor and he needed to become a Christian to have the chance. Your other guy Obama (sorry I can’t recall his full name) also decided to become a Christian instead of remaining a Muslim. What a surprise! These guys really love Jesus! There was a Syrian origin guy who converted from Islam to become Catholic as that was the only way he would be allowed to become governor and president of Argentina. And plenty of Arab origin guys have converted from Islam to Catholic in Argentian, Brazil etc. as that is the only way they could hope to rise in ploitics wherever they were living. So yes it’s fine if an Indian wants to become Christian but when it’s done to satisfy the lust for power and fame then others have a right to question whether the person deserves support from the community that person originates from.
To convert from Hinduism to either Islam or Christianity is fine in principle. What people do need to realise is that this is not only a rejection of Hinduism but the belief that it is something wrong and Islam/Christianity are the true faith. Example: how many mixed marriages (between Hindu and religous non-hindu) do you know where the childred are brought up as Hindu (I don’t know any). And this is the fact that bothers me, that other religions tend to trump Hinduism. As a Hindu I am happy to accept all other religons equal to my own. But if my child were to convert, I would be unhappy, as this would not only be a rejection of Hinduism but a belief that it is not a true religion. This is why I am wary of converts, because Islam or Christianity tend to reject other religions. If the converts accepted my faith as equal to their own, their conversion would not bother me.
I am a Christian from India. I have been in this country for several years and have been astounded at the hatred that Christianity is viewed with in this country and equally amazed at how Christianity is veiwed in India. Although fringe fundementalists tried to get a foothold in India, it still remains a great country with great people and I’m proud to be an Indian. I’m also proud that Bobby won the elections. Alex
Sounds like a little like the debate about Bobby, no?
In response to Saurav, no it doesn’t. Paul became Christian in a age when to be a Christian meant near certain death and/or persecution (Paul was beheaded). Jindal became a Christian, a right-wing Christian (doesn’t believe in abortion even when the mother’s life is at stake, nor in the case of incest or rape!) conveniently when conservatism was in ascendancy (80’s during Reagan years), supports NRA all the way, supports drilling oil in Alaska and off-shore, supported Bush in the Iraq war (and possibly in the oncoming war with Iran).
To adopt the religion (be it any, Christianity or otherwise) of the dominant majority is not a risky proposition. What he faced simply cannot be compared to what early Christians faced, prospect of total annihilation and with no future reprieve in sight (persecutions went on for next 400 years until Constantine). Jindal may or may not had a genuine change of heart but he is no Saint Paul.
Regards
What I do not and cannot understand about many of the Indian/Hindu people is that they believe/think that “religion runs in the blood”. That is, if one’s parents believed in some particular “god,” then that person is, for some reason, obliged to follow blindly what his/her parents believe. That is, can’t a person have a choice whether or not to believe in one religion or another? Let the man search on his own and decide on his own, without outside interference as to what he can and cannot follow…
Really? is it just a “hindu” thing or is it more wide spread in other religions also? I don’t know… wonder how a very orthodox christian parents would deal with a kid who decided to join Hare Krishna. My guess is not much better than an average Hindu parents. The reason why you don’t see much publicity or discussions about that might be the fact that conversions away from christianity towards hinduism is significantly miniscule compared to conversions towards christianity.
Al, I don’t think so. I know of Christians who were converted from upper castes and they pride themselves over it, sometimes even tout it to make their companion converts from lower castes look less endowed.
Hello everyone,
I have a question about what Saurav said in Comment# 19. “At first these two views may look mutually exclusive, but in fact they are mirror images of one another. They both assume Paul left his Judaism behind once he “found Christ” and consequently turned toward communities of gentiles, where he became a leader and made large numbers of converts. From the Christian perspective, Paul’s experience is true and he is sincere; he simply found something better and wanted to share it with the rest of the world. Christians view Paul’s work positively, since it resulted in the salvation of the Gentiles. From the Jewish perspective, Paul is a manipulative fake, or at least seriously misguided.”
I am a liberal non-religious Hindu who thinks the saffron brigade are a major pain in the backside. Yet I feel a primeval sense of betrayal about Bobby’s conversion that taken me quite by surprise. A part of me is hurt and angered that Bobby found Hinduism unsatisfactory…to the extent that he chose to convert to another faith. So my question is this: isn’t it just a little hypocritical to claim to be truly secular (like I do) and at the same time feel profoundly proud of my religious identity and heritage (some parts of it)? Its something that I have been trying to intellectually resolve for a long time. The secular part of me thinks its perfectly understandable for a Hindu to find truth and solace in another faith. Yet another part of me is inclined to act a little like the Jews from Saurav’s quote. I am willing to conclude that my ambivalence is a result of my traditional upbringing where everything Hindu was extolled and held to be the epitome of perfection. Yet as an adult I have consciously rejected that particular world-view, or, haven’t I? Its at times like these that I find that the saffron brigade’s assertion’s about pseudo-secularism hit a little too close to home. Maybe, despite my avowed liberalism, a secret part of me still thinks that my religion and belief system is inherently better than all the rest? Does anyone else feel this contradiction?
It’s sad how some people seem to be beating down on Bobby for his choice of faith. The religion he converted from ( hinduism) is no great shits either.
I am a convert to Christianity, mine was a pretty straight forward case, if you are a dalit or untouchable in india, it’s a no brainer, you should up and convert – Today. I’m not going to go into details of hinduism and it’s treatment of my people, most hindus know it first hand, and those that profess ignorance or deny it are hypocrite and lairs – You adhere to a system of belief that claims that I and my people are sub human and are to be treated like animals and shunned, I don’t think we have anything in common. For me, not converting to Christianity would have been the dumb thing to do. For me Christianity was about finding Christ and salvation, salvation as in self respect and dignity. It was also all about escape and a new start in life.
And according to me and my views are colored by my experiences(I’m sure you have your own views) anyone who gives up hinduism for any religion of his/her choosing is an honest person. Bobby is an honest man, if he converted for the love of Christ I congratulate him on finding Christ’s love. If he converted to get a leg up in his political career, I applaud him for distancing himself from Hinduism – my unrelenting tormentors.
Most indians – hindus live in a bubble and cannot tolerate any critizism of their beliefs or religion, unsurprisingly, most are down right racists and bigots in their every day life too. Hinduism is no love all – washed in milk enlightening path to god , it’s a sick, ugly self serving system of belief set up to live off the labor and degradation of 250 million of india’ population. You should visit the village my parents grew up in. Children die from preventable diseases and folks are afraid to use the govt faculties… electricity is yet to come to there, heck! even drinking water is a challenge, the motorable road stops at the beginning of our village. The surrounding villages are pretty well off. Our village suffers and will always because it’s a village of untouchables. According to the others surrounding our village, we are a good for nothing, cheap labor for dirty jobs untouchables. It’d be a miracle for any snort nosed kid to make it out of there to any where. It’s the arm pit of hell and sometimes I have nightmares of being back there. And this is what year? 2008? Hard to believe.
So there you have it.. You go Bobby or BJ or what not.. you made a great choice!!
I may seem to have gone off the deep end, in reality I actually may have, but it’s a very sensitive topic for me. I left india when I was 26, old enough for a life time of horrific memories. Collage was hell on earth.
Also, my choice of religion seems to have alinated a lot of people, somehow I’m less Indian and don’t fit into the National Motherland dream and aspirations for a hindu india, my critisism of anything indian be it the laws designed to prevent religious conversions or lack of infrastructure and wide spread corruption is immediatly deemed anti -indian. Ironically I got the impression that everyone I talked to seemed to view his caste – language – region and a bunch of other things that unquely define him / her, the most indian. Everyone else was deserving of nothing but contempt, though everyone is united in their hatered for the untouchables/dalit and some more for converting to Christianity.
I don’t care now, this is america and I have friends from every where except india. This is what makes America such a great country.
The reaction of some people to Bobby and his choice of faith only reinforces my belief that I’m right in avoiding india – indian – indians like the plague. Life has been a lot better with out the everyday rejection and mental agony since I stopped trying to be indian. And it’s been a down right dream from when I started avioding all things indian.
I’m am amazed by the ignorance on this site. Any practical politican converting for the sake of courting votes would become a PROTESTANT NOT CATHOLIC. Remember that Kennedy’s greatest “weakness” was his Catholic identity. Also, when Kerry ran for president his “Catholism”/”Allegiance to the Pope” was a issue (especially on FOX).
So give the guy some credit. He’s not a sell-out. He’s just himself. Heck, if he REALLY wanted to fit in, he could’ve just become “nondenominational”
Ajit @ #35 :
Your misconceptions about Hinduism stem from your poor experiences with caste-based discriminatory circumstances–discrimination based on the caste system is not a Hindu ideal in any way whatsoever (Christian/Muslim communities also have similar “caste” problems).
The Varna system was simply a system of organization (a seperation of labor), and one could switch as they grew in spiritual/educational level if they so wished. Many great saints in Hinduism were originally born in the (so-called) “lower” classes.
You also make blatent generalizations that not true in any regard. You fail to note that minoritites of all religions wield considerable clout in India, from Christian leaders in the Congress party, to the atheist ones in DMK. You also misunderstand Hinduism and again conflate it with human discrimination.
In effect, you rail against percieved Hindu/Indian bigotry, yet do not take the lessons of it to heart; you harbor the very bigoted notions that you say you are against.
35 · Ajit said
hey from your comments …inspite of all the ‘proactive measures you have taken to distance yourself from hindus…. you seem so angry and miserable… as sylvia plath says … wherever you go .. ( this is said in hinduism too by the way!_… ultimately you have to live with yourself… and that my dear is tough…. i dont see ‘love’ and peace descending on you in tis life at least… god bless.. and grant you peace
hey from your comments …inspite of all the ‘proactive measures you have taken to distance yourself from hindus…. you seem so angry and miserable… as sylvia plath says … wherever you go .. ( this is said in hinduism too by the way!_… ultimately you have to live with yourself… and that my dear is tough…. i dont see ‘love’ and peace descending on you in tis life at least… god bless.. and grant you peace
Ameeta, Uhhhh-not quite sure what to say there, other than that (a) I like Bobby Jindal too, and (b) please come celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with my family this late summer, regardless of your background–I don’t think we’re “hypocrites.”
All the best Bobby Jindal!!
yeah well come on people. bobby jindal converted because he was forced to. they do that to any minority who is either a) ambitious b) has potential to those who can use them for their political gain c) for indians who are stupid enough to believe that assisting this man will improve their image in american society aka social climbers with a wrong agenda
but hey don’t go against the grain like i did. i mean i was offered us senatorship but hey they wanted me to marry a catholic hispanic. well who cares although it is probably the biggest mistake i did, i regret not taking the senatorship.
also dear bobby doesn’t even represent our values etc. that is so true.
bobby did what he had to but we should learn something from this. the punjabi community has been here for quite a long time my friend. they have been here since the early 1900s maybe even earlier because they came here as farmers. they were brave to come here and make a name for themselves. why do you think bobby has gone so far. the one smart thing he did is stay as governor of louisiana instead of jumping with mccain and becoming part of some multicultural circus. honestly i don’t think he will become president ever. because he knows that the indians of the next generation are playing a smarter game than he did. he shouldn’t become president. actually it is not in the best interest of indians that he does. yes religion has everything to do with it.
this country is fundamentally christian if you don’t think so tell me who you are working for. who is your boss? is he a wasp? more than likely. come on people quit trying to fool yourselves. i mean admit some truth. that is at least a platform for solving problems.
you know that we work hard and who do we work hard. are you working for a black man, an indian man, i mean tell me the truth who is your higher up that you have to suck up to everyday. who do you think gave bobby jindal his opportunity. oh yeah i forgot it was some high up indian guy who was so gracious to share the spotlight with his fellow indian.
come on indians can’t even help indians half the time. we are so shackled with the multicultural politics that already existed before we got here. we are sandwiched between the black and whites. hell we are often mistaken for hispanic. i mean for god sakes you have to figure out who you are first in the spectrum of things. then you consolidate and then you figure out the game plan.
Caste is a word derived from Portuguese that meant chaste used to describe their rigid social structure that included communities of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Even in history books written by white men, they write that the Portuguese got the social structure wrong in India. Jati or community is what a person is born into (~irish community, russian community etc…). Hinduism speaks of Varna or occupation classification that is based upon individual talents. Untouchability is NOT a varna in Hinduism, not in its Sruti or divine scriptures which are the Vedas. Other writings associated with Hinduism are Smriti or writings by men trying to explain or comment on the Vedas, perhaps like the writings of St. Augustine for Christians. Don’t blame the religion for what human beings do in its name. White racists have used Biblical scriptures to try to prove the racial inferiority of the black man and justify their class and racial discrimination. American history from even before the US was born is filled with racism, bigotry, class and ethnic discrimination. Native American history is a serious of terrible injustices. African American history is filled with shocking violence and gross dehumanization. Class discrimination is a global problem, as is inherited class status. That you cannot attribute to any particular religion, but to the nature of human beings to discriminate and to try to maintain their class status. Inherited class status is still a problem in Europe – the royal families of Europe are still royal, at least those that survived history. Historically they and the aristocracy treated lower class Europeans and everyone else like crap, which is why European history is filled with revolutions where several royal families were dethroned.
We don’t create a better world by demonizing an entire people for the universal faults you find in being human. Then you are no better than those who discriminated against you. Perhaps you feel better but you are no better. Let go of your hate and anger. See the humanity in others even when you don’t see it in some of them towards you (there will always be someone like that for everyone). There are a lot of good things in India, Indians, Hinduism that you shut yourself from. Those good things belong to you as much as anyone.