It is very refreshing to read the interview of Arthur J.Pias with Peggy Levit ( India Abroad,Aug10).Her enquiry into the religious traditions of the immigrants, especially Hindus and Muslims, reveals changing nature of the faiths and how they cope up with the new environment in which they have to function. As she observes, they reinvent their faiths. Women take major part in all religious affairs which is not the case in the Indian sub-continent.
Ms.Levits reply to the last question about " Cafeteria Hindus/Muslims" like" Cafataria Catholics" who pick and choose religious doctrines ( abortion, divorce) is a pointer to the future of faith not merely in USA, but in the world itself. She says, " I think there is something unique about what some would call the American religious marketplace. Its myriad religious choices empowers people to grapple with and shape their own relation to their faith without simply accepting what is handed to them by their parents or religious leaders on a platter. I found lots of people who were reinventing their own version of Hinduism or Islam in America. And they are, in large measure, the future of these faith traditions in this country".
I believe that 'God needs no passport', but also man needs no certificate from the gate-keepers of God - acharyas, the priests and the maulavies of the world. God is Word - in the Gita, in the Bible and in the Koran. Everybody has a right to read, understand and interpret the Word in his own way.The gate-keepers of religion/faith have taken away this right of the people, and now, in this age and time, people have to snatch this right from these gate-keepers. Jesus Christ says, love your neighbour like yourself. Gita says, man/woman is the spark of the Divine. Koran upholds human equality and fraternity.Christianity is known for charity while Hinduism is known for non-violence and Islam,solidarity. Let the followers of these religions learn these quality from each other. The world would be better place to live.
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