Chapter 2 (Cultures and Customs): Religion

I am very interested in religion in India, so this chapter was enjoyable for me to read. However, it was also mostly review, because last semester I took Religions of the World from Dr. Mathewson, where we learned about all the religions that were mentioned in this chapter. However, there were several new points that I found very interesting.
First of all, it is very interesting to me how the whole concept of religion is very different in India than it is in the West. I feel like here, religion is not altered. What you believe is, for the most part, what you believe. However, I found it interesting that this chapter talks about how religion in India is very relative to the circumstances of the day and can be adjusted accordingly. It moves with the times.
When talking about Hinduism, I feel like I knew more about the origins of the religion than the book expounded on. For instance, I learned in my other class that the term originates from the residents of the Indus Valley and the term “Hindu” came to represent the conglomeration of religions that were practiced there. Therefore, Hindu beliefs, deities, customs, etc. are very particular to the region and can vary widely from place to place. However, I did learn several things about Hinduism including that there is a purity distinction between the right and left directions, priests are not full time, and that some of the most extreme sects practice nudity!
Hinduism is not the only religion in India, as I knew, so Henderson devotes somewhat smaller sections on Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. I found it very interesting that about 70% of Indian Muslims live in poverty. This has caused me to wonder if there is a socio-economic advantage to being Hindu and if, therefore, religious minorities are more prone to poverty. This is something that my individual reading may help to answer. From the section of Sihkism, I learned about khalsa, which refers to how the Guru chose the “nucleus of believers” He asked for people to volunteer for sacrifice and tricked them into thinking it was real by showing them the blood…but it was actually the blood of a goat. This way, he knew who the most devoted people were! One more short tidbit was from the Islam section where I found a parallel to Judaism. They feel that meat should be halal, meaning the animal should be “killed with a knife thrust as Allah’s name is uttered.” This reminded me of the dietary laws of Judaism, which I found interesting.
Now I feel that I have a decent general grasp of religion in India which will be vital in interpreting other aspects of Indian society because the culture of any country is going to be largely formed around their belief system.