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Hinduism By Raghav. Rohit, Divya & Aadith

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By Raghav. Rohit, Divya & Aadith HinduismChapter 1: Principle of equalityChapter 2: Attitudes to RaceChapter 3: Attitudes to GenderChapter 4: Attitudes to other religionChapter 5: Forgiveness & ReconciliationChapter 6: BibliographyChapter 7: Self-Evaluation

ContentsOm is written on top in HindiEquality as stated in the Oxford Dictionary is, [mass noun]the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities: an organization aiming to promote racial equality. Prejudice is pre-judging. Prejudice is a feeling or attitude about a person or group of people before having a personal experience of them. An e.g would be, All young people wearing hoodies are thugs. Discrimination is acting on your prejudice. It is acting differently towards someone because of, for example, his or her race, colour, gender or disability. E.g Not allowing young people wearing hoodies to enter a shopping centre. Different types of prejudice and discrimination Racism Sexism Discrimination against different religions Discrimination against disability Ageism Homophobia Xenophobia Sizeism The causes of prejudice, are; fear because people are afraid of things they do not know, Grouping because children will alter their ideas to fin in with their friends, Media due to the fact that children and adults will learn ideas from TV/Internet/Radio, Also due to ignorance because they are Believing rumours, one of the bigger from factors for developing prejudice is Yourself, this is because to past experiences. Finally, Family, because they teach you and their way of bringing you up is different. The causes of discrimination are prejudice, due to the fact, that prejudice is treating someone over-fairly/unfairly without having any past experiences with him or her. Discrimination is acting on your prejudice, so in WW2, Hitler did not like Jewish (That is his prejudice) but then he killed 6 million Jews ( this is discrimination because he acted on his prejudice). There are many different approaches that could be taken to display the effects of prejudice and discrimination, however, one way to think of this is to consider how the life chances of people who suffer prejudice and discrimination are impacted. Unfortunately, studies show that particular people or groups who suffer prejudice and discrimination have less life chances than those who don't. Even though the gravity of the situation has definitely changed in the past few years for the better, it is still the case that a white middle class marries male has more life chances than a Hispanic or Afro-Caribbean single mother coming from the working class. Prejudice and discrimination is shown to be show pervasive that the way we act and treat such groups is almost involuntary, and we end up showing prejudice and discrimination without being aware of it. Stereotyping, is one of the biggest discriminations, this study show that, if Asian women take a math test after being told that Asians are good at math they do better than they do after being told that women are bad at math (both are stereotypes). This shows how strongly stereotypes and other forms of prejudice can affect our lives. Furthermore, The psychological effects can be devastating and last for generations. E.g; when black slaves were freed, no one would hire black males and they werent allowed in schools in the south. That set them up for poverty, ignorance, and poor quality of life because of the depression that comes with poverty. People will now feel confident or worthy and if this continued it would be very dangerous because it can affect their children too. On the otherhand, it can make a person develop a deep hatred for the people which were acting prejudice towards that person. For example a black person being shown excessive disrespect by whites may develop a personal hatred towards whites.

A Muslim woman filed a federal suit against theWalt Disney Companyon Monday on the grounds of religious discrimination and harassment.Imane Boudlal, a naturalized US citizen born in Morocco, says that while working at Disney's California theme park she endured harassment from supervisors and colleagues and faced discrimination for wearing a hijab before leaving the company in 2010.Boudlal asked her supervisors for permission to wear her hijab when she worked at the Storyteller's Cafe. Her request was denied and she was told that wearing the hijab would "negatively affect patrons' experiences at the Storytellers Cafe."The 28-year-old also claims coworkers and supervisors accosted her with anti-Muslim and anti-Arab slurs, calling her "terrorist", "camel" and "Kunta Kinte," in reference to the slave from Alex Haley's famous book Roots. Boudlal said colleagues also told her Arabs are terrorists, that she spoke a terrorist language and was trained to make bombs."Disneyland calls itself the happiest place on earth, but I faced harassment as soon as I started working there," Boudlal said in a statement."It only got worse when I decided to wear a hijab. My journey towards wearing it couldn't have been more American; it began at my naturalization ceremony I realized that I had the freedom to be who I want and freely practice myreligion. Neither Disney nor anyone else can take that from me."When Boudlal told a manager about the harassment, she said they acknowledged it was a problem but took no action and said it would take time for a change. She filed her first written complaint three months after she started working at the cafe and continued to alert different supervisors to the harassment. Eventually, one told her to stop complaining."Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has a history of accommodating religious requests from cast members of all faiths," the company said in a statement. "We presented Ms Boudlal with multiple options to accommodate her religious beliefs, as well as offered her several roles that would have allowed her to wear her own hijab. Unfortunately, she rejected all of our efforts and has since refused to come to work."Boudlal decided to wear her hijab in public a year after she started working at the theme park, but initially avoided wearing it to work because she thought she would be fired. When her request to wear it was denied, she offered to wear a hijab in colors matching her uniform or with a Disney logo. The company responded by telling her she could work in the back of the cafe where she wouldn't be seen by customers or wear a hat on top of her headscarf.Disney alsodesigned specialty uniformsfor Boudlal, an effort that worked with a different employeein 2010, who was told she couldn't wear her hijab while working as a vacation planner at a Disney resort.Boudlal refused these options and said she was taken off the schedule and discharged. Disney says she was given the options for accommodations and chose not to return to work.In a complaintBoudlal filed with the ACLU of Southern California in the Central District of California, she asked Disney for punitive damages, a permanent injunction not to prohibit employees wearing hijabs and for company anti-harassment training to include Muslim issues.Hijabs.

Basically, Imane Boudlal is sueing Disney because she was discriminated by staff because of ther Hijab. The staff called her racist slurs such as Terrorist and Camel. The people and organisations involved were Imane Boudlal and Disney. This article was dated on the 14 August 2012. The current situation is that Disney is getting sued, for punitive damage and a permanent injunction to prohibit employees wearing Hijabs. I think the affect on the Imane would be devastating as she was repeatedly racially abused and was not permitted to wear one of her religions key garments.

Chapter 1: Principle of Equality impacted. Unfortunately, studies show that particular people or groups who suffer prejudice and discrimination have less life chances than those who don't. Even though the gravity of the situation has definitely changed in the past few years for the better, it is still the case that a white middle class marries male has more life chances than a Hispanic or Afro-Caribbean single mother coming from the working class. Prejudice and discrimination is shown to be show pervasive that the way we act and treat such groups is almost involuntary, and we end up showing prejudice and discrimination without being aware of it. Stereotyping, is one of the biggest discriminations, this study show that, if Asian women take a math test after being told that Asians are good at math they do better than they do after being told that women are bad at math (both are stereotypes). This shows how strongly stereotypes and other forms of prejudice can affect our lives. Furthermore, The psychological effects can be devastating and last for generations. E.g; when black slaves were freed, no one would hire black males and they werent allowed in schools in the south. That set them up for poverty, ignorance, and poor quality of life because of the depression that comes with poverty. People will now feel confident or worthy and if this continued it would be very dangerous because it can affect their children too. On the otherhand, it can make a person develop a deep hatred for the people which were acting prejudice towards that person. For example a black person being shown excessive disrespect by whites may develop a personal hatred towards whites.A Muslim woman filed a federal suit against theWalt Disney Companyon Monday on the grounds of religious discrimination and harassment. Imane Boudlal, a naturalized US citizen born in Morocco, says that while working at Disney's California theme park she endured harassment from supervisors and colleagues and faced discrimination for wearing a hijab. Boudlal asked her supervisors for permission to wear her hijab when she worked at the Storyteller's Cafe. Her request was denied and she was told that wearing the hijab would "negatively affect patrons' experiences at the Storytellers Cafe."The 28-year-old also claims coworkers and supervisors accosted her with anti-Muslim and anti-Arab slurs, calling her "terrorist", "camel" and "Kunta Kinte," in reference to the slave from Alex Haley's famous book Roots. Boudlal said colleagues also told her Arabs are terrorists, that she spoke a terrorist language and was trained to make bombs."Disneyland calls itself the happiest place on earth, but I faced harassment as soon as I started working there," Boudlal said in a statement."It only got worse when I decided to wear a hijab. My journey towards wearing it couldn't have been more American; it began at my naturalization ceremony I realized that I had the freedom to be who I want and freely practice myreligion. Neither Disney nor anyone else can take that from me."When Boudlal told a manager about the harassment, she said they acknowledged it was a problem but took no action and said it would take time for a change. She filed her first written complaint three months after she started working at the cafe and continued to alert different supervisors to the harassment. Eventually, one told her to stop complaining."Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has a history of accommodating religious requests from cast members of all faiths," the company said in a statement. "We presented Ms Boudlal with multiple options to accommodate her religious beliefs, as well as offered her several roles that would have allowed her to wear her own hijab. Unfortunately, she rejected all of our efforts and has since refused to come to work."Boudlal decided to wear her hijab in public a year after she started working at the theme park, but initially avoided wearing it to work because she thought she would be fired. When her request to wear it was denied, she offered to wear a hijab in colors matching her uniform or with a Disney logo. The company responded by telling her she could work in the back of the cafe where she wouldn't be seen by customers or wear a hat on top of her headscarf.Disney alsodesigned specialty uniformsfor Boudlal, an effort that worked with a different employeein 2010, who was told she couldn't wear her hijab while working as a vacation planner at a Disney resort.Boudlal refused these options and said she was taken off the schedule and discharged. Disney says she was given the options for accommodations and chose not to return to work.In a complaintBoudlal filed with the ACLU of Southern California in the Central District of California, she asked Disney for punitive damages, a permanent injunction not to prohibit employees wearing hijabs and for company anti-harassment training to include Muslim issues. Basically, Imane Boudlal is sueing Disney because she was discriminated by staff because of their Hijab. The staff called her racist slurs such as Terrorist and Camel. The people and organisations involved were Imane Boudlal and Disney. This article was dated on the 14 August 2012. The current situation is that Disney is getting sued, for punitive damage and a permanent injunction to prohibit employees wearing Hijabs. I think the affect on the Imane would be devastating as she was repeatedly racially abused and was not permitted to wear one of her religions key garments.

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What is Racism? Racism is the act of prejudice or discrimination against a person or a group judged by the colour of their skin or their background. Most people have motives for being racists, and also may conclude to jealousy however is regarded as very disrespectful.

Examples of Racism......The shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States. Martin was an unarmed 17-year-old African American., who was shot just for being black....."A young Latino man had been stopped by the police many times while he was driving his car, when he had done nothing to break the law. They stopped him for apparently no reason and asked to check his license and registration and looked inside his car- the police men where white...Some people are racist because they find that someone else is just better than them at something like football, and due to being somewhat different from them means they can take out their own fault against someone else- it could all come down to human nature as we are generally competitive and just sheer jealousy or that they're afraid of things they don't understand, and are afraid to confront the way they feel. Subconsciously, they know they're wrong but they simply can't face that. So it makes them angryAnother reason for jealousy is maybe it committed under peer pressure- if a friend is acting racist to someone in favour of your friend you may decide to join in, although you have nothing against that person.Discrimination and prejudice in the workplace are illegal and punishable by law. Those who have been discriminated against should take action by filing a complaint or reporting the discrimination to authorities. Although foreigners tend to be taken less seriously due to the majority of race being white so they are seen as neglectable. My religion which is Hinduism teaches us that everyone is equal and we prioritize that notation very seriously as it is one of our main rules and teaching, this is also evident as in the mandhir (temple) anyone who wishes to come is welcome no matter the race or religion of the person. Also every-one receives the same amount of food and prashad to show we are equally loved by God. "So hum"- I am him/that which is the universal soul, it applies to all creatures This teaching shows us that no one is judged by how rich or poor you are, no matter if your man or woman also that of your race, this Hindu scripture say man's self isnt his body, that we are all made up of the same thing and that god exist in us all meaning we should be cherished equally and loved by one another no matter what background or morals we inherit. "tat tvam asi" - thou are that. This means if we all look at things generally overall, we would see that everything is actually made up of something divine, in my words a supreme reality, In Hinduism we call this divine being Brahman- our representation of Hinduism itself, and if all of us are made up of this divine being we should give equal respect that we have for one another for in term we are all the same- we are in term Brahman.8) Although most Hindus do not tend to get involved with racism with different ethnicity we are somewhat racist within ourselves as we have developed a caste system long ago used to determine people of different caste and what job that person should have- the Brahmans, or priests were at the top and the untouchables we at the bottom. The attitudes between the two castes were horrendous as the untouchables were seen as dirty and not at the same living standards as anyone else at a higher caste for example the untouchable were to clean the toilets as it was determined the moment they became an untouchable- the system was horrible for some, as sheer remarks were seen as racist because no one were treated equally. However now in modern times, this system has abolished almost, meaning the racism that was brought along with it. Now it is seen as we were not actually following the correct teachings where we were equal and the same. Now modern views are different and Hinduism is brought into a new way of teachings and righteous decisions in order for people to be treated just.9) People from my chosen religion would be less aware of racism than most people as I mentioned before we tend not to be involved in large racist problems, however we are likely to take these accounts seriously as it is not found righteous that though we are all Brahman we disrespect oneself and therefore disrespecting God which is regarded as highly anti-Hinduism. Every-one is seen the same in the eyes of Lord Brahman therefore it would seem utter disloyal to be racist because youd be just as bad as the words your using to describe someone in racist comments. Organisations in Hinduism are there to help those who inherit a darker skin (usually from the south) to show that those with a lighter skin are equal. The reason light skin is considered wonderful is because of the history of conquering tribes. In India, the Aryans came down to the dark skin or African looking people in India and set up a caste system, this was wrapped up pretty tightly by the British. The British ruled the world for so long and it served their capitalistic ends to set up caste systems all over the world based on skin colour. GLA is an organisation which helps darker skinned people to have a more open minded view on the world as they are not to be considered as less important. Hindus now days believe that is not right to judge someone by the colour of their skin or it contradicts the thought that we are equal.

Chapter 2: Attitudes to Race

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Chapter 3: Attitudes to Gender

Chapter 3Sexism is when you discriminate somebody by their gender. Two examples of sexism are: scapegoating women as witches and the fact children belongs with the mother in court.The UK laws on sexism say that no person has the right to discriminate the other gender and both genders have the same rights. In Hinduism it says that women should be the one doing all the prayers and cooking Prasad. All women in Hinduism have the right to have an education however it will not go further than primary school. Forced marriage affects both the males and the females however it often depends if the woman is good enough for the man. Women were also not able to carry a cart in the olden days, mostly because of the load, because it demeaned her. The role of women in Hinduism is often disputed, and positions range from equal status with men to restrictive. Hinduism is based on numerous texts, some of which date back to 2000 BCE or earlier. They are varied in authority, authenticity, content and theme, with the most authoritative being the Vedas. The position of women in Hinduism is widely dependent on the specific text and the context. Positive references are made to the ideal woman in texts such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, while some texts such as the Manu Smriti advocate a restriction of women's rights. In modern times the Hindu wife has traditionally been regarded as someone who must at all costs remain chaste or pure. They are also deemed as the mother of the family and have no other job but to prepare the food for her family and also to support her husband after his hard day at work, depending on his caste. Issues women have with traditional values and their lives in the modern world are numerous. One is arranged marriage. Many women like to pick their life partner instead of being put with a complete stranger. Also most women have jobs so they cannot look after their children properly. So they reverse the roles so the man looks after the woman while preparing food. Also many women dont want to have children even though it says that children are a gift. The following is an extract from the guardian (Wednesday 14 December 2011): 15-year-old girl is midway through her GCSEs when she is taken out of school. Little do her classmates know, she has been packed off abroad to marry a man she has never met, a man to whom she has been "promised" since birth. They never see her again. This sounds like the stuff of a bygone era, of faraway places, even fiction. But, in 2011, here in Britain, the forcing of women or girls into marriage is a sad reality for thousands of people. I have met some of the victims. They speak about wedlock being used as a weapon and the horrors to which this can lead, such as rape, abuse and unwanted pregnancy. While the prevalence of such practices has come to light in recent years, many myths about forced marriage remain. For example, it is assumed that it is confined to certain religions; but there are Sikh, Muslim, Hindu and Christian victims. Some think forced marriage is a rare practice; but the government estimates up to 8,000 cases a year in the UK. Some assume forced marriage affects only adults; but figures show that more than half are under 16 and some are as young as eight. Some think the victims are solely women; but 14% of complainants are actually men. Some believe it's limited to certain countries; but Brits are being sent to Afghanistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey.For me, there is one overriding myth about forced marriage: that it is illegal. In fact, to coerce, threaten or blackmail someone into matrimony is not in itself a criminal offence. This week, the home secretary, Theresa May, launched a consultation into making forced marriage a crime in its own right. I am delighted after all, it is something I have been campaigning for and speaking out about over many years. At the moment, legislation surrounding forced marriage is civil, not criminal. The Forced Marriage Act 2007 finally allowed courts to issue forced marriage protection orders when a victim, friend or local authority raises the alarm. A breach of such an order can result in up to two years imprisonment. So why do I think it's so important to make forced marriage a criminal offence? The reason is simple: to send out an unequivocal message to communities across the country to teachers, schoolchildren, parents, police, neighbors, people of all cultures which this is against the law. That Britain's authorities will not tolerate such behavior and that forcing someone to do anything against their will, by violence or by coercion, is inhumane and unacceptable. But the law does not back up society's abhorrence of such mistreatment. As a lawyer in the 1990s I remember having to improvise when it came to cases that involved forced marriage. I had clients in immigration hearings, women who had been forced to marry men abroad, and had to give evidence in order to sponsor their new spouse's entry into the UK. With their family sitting there in the public gallery, I knew women were unable to speak their mind. I often had to subtly tell the judge that I believed my client was acting under some level of duress.However, we can't rely on every lawyer spotting the signs. We have to rely on the law being robust.There are some who disagree with me. They say we should not interfere with other cultural practices or what is supposedly condoned by certain religions. But forced marriage is against the teachings of any religion or any civilized society.To me, turning a blind eye to such practices is an inverse form of racism, motivated by not wanting to offend other cultures or appear racist. Others say that criminalising forced marriage will stop victims coming forward. But just look at the progress we have made in prosecuting domestic violence. For me, it's not enough to say, as some do, that the law currently protects people from forced marriage because it criminalises its components like kidnapping, assault and false imprisonment. It's not enough to say we have a Forced Marriage Unit that provides invaluable protection for victims. We have to go further. Victims are told it is through duty that they should marry that it will bring shame upon their family if they do not acquiesce. It is our duty to show that this is wrong and it is our society's shame if we do not criminalise its perpetrators.Hinduism stops sexism by separating women from the men to avoid conflicts or accidents. Hindus are not sexist is an organisation to stop sexism occurring in India. It is very successful in keeping

Chapter 4: Attitudes to Other Religions

What is religious intolerance?The basic meaning of religious intolerance is intolerance against anothers religious beliefs or practices of lack thereof. A statement of a religion stating that its beliefs and practices are correct and other beliefs are therefore not is intolerance by itself in an ideological sense. Looking at the other side of the argument, religious tolerance would mean that each person is free to choose his own belief and no other person would have the right to comment on the faith. For example, if people from the Hindu faith were to tell people from the Christian faith to go to hell, it would religious intolerance. What is religious pluralism?Religious pluralism is the total opposite to religious intolerance as it is an attitude looking at the diversity of religions co-existing in society. This can indicate many things; One religion is not the only source of truth and the acknowledgement that there is some truth and values in other religions. The acceptance that two or more religions with different claims of truth can have equally valid arguments. Total opposite of religious intolerance, therefore its tolerance. Acceptance that claims of other religions may turn out to be scientifically correct. A level of unity and co-operation between two or more religions.What are missionaries?A missionary is a person from a religious faith sent into an area to preach to others about their religion. In a more general term, it means to go into service such as education, health care or even economic development. Focusing on Hinduism, missionaries were usually preachers. A famous preacher called Shantidas Adhikari from Sylhet converted a King of a state in India to Hinduism.What is Heresy?Heresy is a belief that strongly disagrees with already established beliefs and customs. Heresy is usually itself when violations of religious are discussed. Hinduism ignores its heretics.What is conversion?Conversion basically means the switch from one faith to another. People convert from one religion to another for different reasons; free choice due to a change in beliefs, convenience, marriage pressure, on the deathbed and even forced conversion. Sometimes people convert for bad reasons such as parents converting into a catholic to get their children into good schools. It could also be converting to be more accepted socially. The name for people who leave a certain faith and join another are called Apostates.What is Blasphemy?Blasphemy is not just intolerance but is insulting a religious deity or disrespect towards religious or holy people. Blasphemy could be another word for religious discrimination. It could mean profanity or cursing as well. Blasphemy is widely known as hate speech and is usually centred to a certain religion. Many people are blasphemous towards Islam therefore Muslims, because of prejudice which is a result of Al Qaeda.Prejudice towards HinduismAnti-Hindu sentiments have been expressed by many Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh which led to persecutions of many Hindus in those areas. There are many stereotypes associated with Hinduism and one of the main ones is the caste system. It is a social stratification system in South Asia which is extremely discriminatory and is only blamed on Hindus and Hinduism. Most people in India look at it as a social issue rather than religious. Another prejudice towards Hinduism is their devotion to domesticated animals; they are mocked because of this by many people from the west. Also the tradition of cremation is used for mockery. Also during the British rule of India, Christian evangelical missionaries were sent out with anti-Hindu means. There were sent to convert Hindus to Christianity. Hate crime has decreased in North America and it has also started a Hindu American Foundation which fights against hate crime and other things like that.UK Law on Prejudice against HinduismSome parts in the UK are very relaxed on hate crime and discrimination as the police in that is part of it themselves. Looking at Newham, people over there are extremely racist to Muslims, Hindus and other Asian religions but the police dont seem to do anything about it. UK law states that crime should be punished appropriately. If the police in Newham dont punish assaults and attacks then they obviously do not understand the rules of crime. If it were a Muslim or a Hindu committing the crime then there would be a lot of punishment. Some parts of the UK are strict on things like this such as Central London.Hinduisms View on Other ReligionsAccording to the Bhagvad Gita, our holy scripture, there is nothing about other religions therefore Hindus have no right to make claims against other religions as they are not specified in the Gita. Like all other strong religionists, strong Hindus are very passionate about their religion and take it extremely seriously. The passion they show doesnt necessarily mean to say that they are saying that other religions are not true. They are indirectly, but not directly because by believing in only one faith, Hindus are automatically saying that other religions main beliefs are wrong.Hindus also believe that all religions are different pathways to the top of the same mountain. They believe that the higher on climbs, the closer they are to the same truth. Historically, Hindus have never forced people to convert but it also believes that growing spirits can be reborn as Hindus. Hinduism is known for accepting Gods of other religions.Hinduisms attitude towards ApostatesSome Hindus believe that Hinduism is a form of identity that can only be with you from birth whilst others believe that anyone who follows Hindu traditions, beliefs, customs and rituals is a Hindu. Some believe in both. Modern Hindus are opposed to the idea of conversion from any religion to any other even if it isnt or is their own. They are not objective to any being who does want to convert though, all they do is encourage not to. Hindus believe that the goals of spiritual life can be attained from any religion as long it is practiced with sincerity and will. There is no specific ritual for becoming a Hindu and it accepts converts.Attitudes of Hindus towards Other ReligionsHindus are accepted by other religions and accept other religions. They believe, as stated before, that all religions are equal and they are all different pathways to the real truth, metaphorically, the top of the mountain. The way they speak to all religions is usually the same but has a few exceptions. People from a Christian background are usually white people and people from Hindu backgrounds are usually brown. Whenever there is a conversation between a white person and a brown person, it is a little different from the conversation if it was both from the same race. People tend to feel more comfortable and open with people from the same race. The brown person, no matter what, will always want to be like the white person, even if he is brought up the same way. When Hindus talk to Muslims in India, there is usually no difference, but when you bring in Indian politics, things begin to change. Muslim and Hindu become India and Pakistan. Controversy and enmity takes place. Overall, Hindus have no trouble talking to people from other faiths.Hindu American FoundationThe HAF provides a Hindu American voice and educates the general public about discriminatory issues concerning Hindus such as misportrayal of Hinduism, hate speech, hate crimes and human rights. By promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance, pluralism, HAF stands firm against hate, discrimination and terror. The HAF organizes fundraisers to help fight against discrimination. It also organizes big talks and debates within the US and also India.

Chapter 5: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Forgiveness is the act of letting go of the need for revenge and releasing negative thoughts of bitterness and resentment. For example a parent forgiving his child for a mistake he has made. If they observe your reconciliation with friends or family who you have dishonoured, perhaps they will not resent always on the way you have disappointed them. My chosen religion believes that there is a form of forgiveness in everyone. For example, every God is associated with an animal. This animal is the one that makes the mistakes and does the bad things. He represents us as God will forgive us for any mistake we do. God is forgiving in our religion. The Bhagvad Gita says that there is a form of forgiveness in all people. It teaches humankind to live life and to learn to forgive and forget about negative events or thoughts. Karma is what it is all about. Karma is your duty and within that duty is forgiveness. Hindu people as a whole are not forgiving. They usually think that once are person has made a mistake, they are bad people. This is slightly biased but is what I have noticed. This doesnt apply to everyone though as many of the population of Hindus are forgiving and do not live in resent. For example, Hindus in India do not forgive Pakistan for their actions in India and how it all lead for it to break up from Hindustan. One example of a person who has displayed forgiveness is Gandhi. He forgave the British for invading their country and abusing them after they realized what has been done. His nonviolence philosophies had overcome the British. He knew the Britishs weakness and took advantage of it. This affected all of India, Hinduism and the world as they all had a benchmark and an idol to look up to.