So, George Washington University in the US is to ban the Swastika symbol because it ' resembles a Nazi symbol ' and the student, who is Jewish and can therefore never be a lover of Nazis, maybe expelled. Shows the mind-numbing ignorance of Americans, even college professors. The Swastika does NOT resemble a Nazi symbol. It represents Narayana and has been used by the Hindus for thousands of years. It is not our fault that the Nazis decided to use it on their flag. India was under brutal British rule at the time and Hindus could do nothing about it. The Ku Klux Klan uses a burning cross as a symbol before killing blacks and in medieval times witches were regularly burnt at the cross but the university is not banning the cross, because it may hurt the sentiment of blacks. We do not know what color Jesus was but since Israel is in Asia it is possible that he was not white. Apparently King Solomon was one of his ancestors but Ethiopian Jews also trace their ancestry back to Solomon and Queen Sheba and they are not white. Michael Walzer, a political scientist in the US has written a book called ' The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions ', in which he has analysed the strength of religion in India, Israel and Algeria, using the US as a comparative control. His argument is flawed from the beginning. The US is an avowed Christian country as shown by President Obama having to emphasise his conversion to Christianity. The Evangelicals are aggressively converting Hindus in India and an American company manufactured shoes with pictures of our gods. Religion is blind faith because no one has seen God and if there is a God why does he allow so much misery in the world. If God created everything he also created the Ebola virus, the TB bacteria and cancer cells. And if there is only one God why have people been killing each other for millennia over whose God is greater? What kind of God is that? True. But most wars did not happen because of religion. Wars happened for ambition, to conquer territory and to loot. Once conquered the victors forced religion on the vanquished to keep them subjugated. Although Christians, Europeans have been fighting each other for thousands of years, Hitler wanted superiority of the Aryan races over others, Stalin was a communist as was Mao. " The old ways must be repudiated - totally," writes Mr Walzer. Fine but what will you put there instead? Secularism sounds fine but what does it mean? If it means equal respect for all religions then the ' old ways ' are here to stay. If it means atheism then people will choose other ways of creating a community. Maybe based on race, language or country as the recent killings in South Africa have shown. People do not trust politicians, business fellows or journalists. That is why they trust God. Secularism is just a word. Tell us what it means.
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