First official Diwali?

[Maya3]

I'm confused, I thought Diwali had been celebrated at the white house several times already.

State Department Celebrates Diwali as Global Affair with Ambassadors and Community Leaders | Hindu American Foundation (HAF)

Maya

 

[Vinayaka]

I'm confused, I thought Diwali had been celebrated at the white house several times already.

State Department Celebrates Diwali as Global Affair with Ambassadors and Community Leaders | Hindu American Foundation (HAF)

Maya

Hi. Maya, I didn't see anywhere where it said this was a first. It said, 'the annual Divali festival'. Maybe I can't read though. Last year I learned that George Bush was the first president to celebrate it, thanks to Shivafan.

 

[Poeticus]

I'm confused, I thought Diwali had been celebrated at the white house several times already.

State Department Celebrates Diwali as Global Affair with Ambassadors and Community Leaders | Hindu American Foundation (HAF)

Maya

Hi. Maya, I didn't see anywhere where it said this was a first. It said, 'the annual Divali festival'. Maybe I can't read though. Last year I learned that George Bush was the first president to celebrate it, thanks to Shivafan.

Perhaps ...

"It was a privilege to work with the State Department alongside the Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple and Hindu American Seva Communities to make their first Diwali celebration such a success," said Jay Kansara, HAF's Associate Director of Government Relations.
source

First not in the sense that this was USA's first official Diwali celebration, but rather that it was the first of this:

"We thank the State Department for making this an international affair by inviting the Ambassadors of all nations who observe Diwali as a public holiday. As the first of many Diwali celebrations, we look forward to watching this grow to further highlight the Dharmic diaspora and their collective contributions."source

Either way, such a celebration is ridiculously discriminatory and an obvious conspiracy to engage in war mongering and the oppression of non-Hindus!

 

[Vinayaka]

But have you been to that temple yet, P? It would be sad to hear that I have, from 2500 miles away, and you haven't.

 

[StarryNightshade]

Either way, such a celebration is ridiculously discriminatory and an obvious conspiracy to engage in war mongering and the oppression of non-Hindus!

But of course! It's always a conspiracy with Obama!

 

[Maya3]

Poeticus, aha! Thank you!! I can be very dense sometimes.

"We thank the State Department for making this an international affair by inviting the Ambassadors of all nations who observe Diwali as a public holiday. As the first of many Diwali celebrations, we look forward to watching this grow to further highlight the Dharmic diaspora and their collective contributions."source

Yes it is definitely a sign that Obama is a muslim!! OMG he isn't american either and he will help ruin marriage!!!


Maya

 

[Kalidas]

But of course! It's always a conspiracy with Obama!

What do you expect from an atheist Muslim?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Say you whatever, American public voted for him for the most period they can. Nice boy, Obama.
Knows Gujarati, says 'came cho?' 'Saru che'.
However, I would not handover representation of Hindus to HAF.

 

[Vinayaka]

All the critics of HAF are just that ... critics. They aren't coming up with some other 'better' organisation of their own. If it wasn't for HAF, there would be nobody at all representing Hindus in Amerca. They keep doing an excellent job.

Typical of politics ... whine about everything, but then offer no palatable solutions.

Just look at all the stuff they do. http://hafsite.org/

 

[Maya3]

I like haf too. They get critiqued for being an organization since Hindus don't have an organizing headquarters.
Still we do need a group representing us. Hinduism is very misunderstood by a lot of people and it is important to have a group behind our backs.

Maya

 

[Vinayaka]

I like haf too. They get critiqued for being an organization since Hindus don't have an organizing headquarters.
Still we do need a group representing us. Hinduism is very misunderstood by a lot of people and it is important to have a group behind our backs.

Maya

Most of the critiquing is done by western scholars who have made a false and incredibly ridiculous assertion that HAF is somehow a front for radical Hindutva. It's like saying every mosque on America is actually sending money to ISIS. Fear-mongering politics of the right-wing.

 

[Kalidas]

Most of the critiquing is done by western scolars who have made a false and incredibly ridiculous assertion that HAF is somehow a front for radical Hindutva. It's like saying every mosque on America is actually sending money to ISIS. Fear-mongering politics of the right-wing.

Ever seen fox news? That's pretty much what they say.

But yes I like haf a lot. Is Hinduism A religion with some kind of organized epicentre? No but the west works differently than the east. Without some kind of special interest group to speak on your behalf your voice won't be heard, I don't like it but it is "how the game is played". Haf just allows us Hindus in the West to be respected, ain't nothing wrong with that

 

[Maya3]

Most of the critiquing is done by western scolars who have made a false and incredibly ridiculous assertion that HAF is somehow a front for radical Hindutva. It's like saying every mosque on America is actually sending money to ISIS. Fear-mongering politics of the right-wing.

They have!? Holy ****, excuse my language. But that is insane!

Is Hinduism A religion with some kind of organized epicentre? No but the west works differently than the east. Without some kind of special interest group to speak on your behalf your voice won't be heard, I don't like it but it is Hinduism"how the game is played". Haf just allows us Hindus in the West to be respected, ain't nothing wrong with that.

Kalidas, good point!

Maya

 

[Poeticus]

Most of the critiquing is done by western scolars who have made a false and incredibly ridiculous assertion that HAF is somehow a front for radical Hindutva. It's like saying every mosque on America is actually sending money to ISIS. Fear-mongering politics of the right-wing.

Most of the critique HAF and various Hindu-related groups receives usually comes from the left, not the right. Any critique from the right is usually in plain English; the left, however, hides behind academically accepted forms of racism (i.e., Doniger), irrational political correctness (i.e., ever heard of Friends of South Asia?), and subversive language that sounds sweet to the lay-reader but is rather charged for those that can actually understand it.

Every time I wrote one of those "*This message was brought to you by" posts, it was a satire of those very same leftist groups, often characterized by: irrational idealism, stringently politically correct but completely arbitrary in their implications, virulently anti-nationalistic, and anti-Hindu. If those extremely aware of the whole shebang were to read those posts with keeping in mind people like Arundhati Roy, Amartya Sen, Meera Nanda, Angana Chatterji, etc.---those posts would make a whole lot of sense, thousandfold.

 

[Vinayaka]

I stand corrected. Thank you.

 

[Kalidas]

Most of the critique HAF and various Hindu-related groups receives usually comes from the left, not the right. Any critique from the right is usually in plain English; the left, however, hides behind academically accepted forms of racism (i.e., Doniger), irrational political correctness (i.e., ever heard of Friends of South Asia?), and subversive language that sounds sweet to the lay-reader but is rather charged for those that can actually understand it.

Every time I wrote one of those "*This message was brought to you by" posts, it was a satire of those very same leftist groups, often characterized by: irrational idealism, stringently politically correct but completely arbitrary in their implications, virulently anti-nationalistic, and anti-Hindu. If those extremely aware of the whole shebang were to read those posts with keeping in mind people like Arundhati Roy, Amartya Sen, Meera Nanda, Angana Chatterji, etc.---those posts would make a whole lot of sense, thousandfold.

I happen to be one of those left wing liberals you dislike and even I disagree with much of what the elitist say. But I don't want to argue(and we can't lol). Let's just hope what comes next continues to be for the betterment of Hinduism.

 

[Poeticus]

I happen to be one of those left wing liberals you dislike and even I disagree with much of what the elitist say. But I don't want to argue(and we can't lol).

Keep in mind, however, that I am not a Republican/conversative. And neither am I a Democrat/liberal. Often, I'm just politically detached. Both annoy me to boredom and back.

Let's just hope what comes next continues to be for the betterment of Hinduism.

Here's the thing: it's not just "outside forces", but also those from the inside that aren't really helping. Yes, you read that correctly---both non-Hindu and Hindu groups don't really help, especially not the ones that we are familiar with. Hindutva groups, for example, are often Victorian in their outlook.

Believe it or not, they are mirrored by a post-Colonial perspective while keeping in line with many Victorian-centric views (e.g., they despise what colonialism entailed but didn't think too much about various Indian laws that were of British origin---like the anti-homosexual marriage law and its uproar last year; wear boyish, Western boy-scouts looking outfits in groups such as the RSS while lambasting about women and men in urban areas being too modern; groups such as the Shiv Sena that have a tendency to go into bars and harass and strike women that choose to drink, or hold hands with their boyfriends at parks, all in the name of tradition [and unbeknownst to many Shiv Sena members, Maharashtra, the land many of them come from, used to have a time when both men and women didn't wear that much clothing---and this wasn't that long ago]).

And outside forces come in a variety of flavors: there are right-wing Christian-centric establishments that go cuckoo when it comes to gathering souls for Jesus in, say, areas like South India (V-dada can tell you all about them) and the Northeast; and there are left-wing secular-centric establishments that have a habit of arbitrarily dictating what passes as progressive and what does not (case in point: regardless of the fact that a majority of Indians voluntarily voted for Modi, it still wasn't democratic since it entailed the defeat of their beloved, but highly corrupt, Gandhi dynasty; another example: Kashmir is all of India's fault, regardless of the reality that was the Kashmiri Hindu Exodus). These are the very same establishments that usually give leeway when it comes to Pakistani, Islamic extremist aggression (i.e., your average "Let's be nice so we don't come across as Islamophobic") but lambast India over the most irrelevant and unrealistic of things (e.g., see Aup-dada's India-Pak Sparring thread in the Dharmic DIR and the links to various articles therein).

 

[Kalidas]

Keep in mind, however, that I am not a Republican/conversative. And neither am I a Democrat/liberal. Often, I'm just politically detached. Both annoy me to boredom and back.



Here's the thing: it's not just "outside forces", but also those from the inside that aren't really helping. Yes, you read that correctly---both non-Hindu and Hindu groups don't really help, especially not the ones that we are familiar with. Hindutva groups, for example, are often Victorian in their outlook.

Believe it or not, they are mirrored by a post-Colonial perspective while keeping in line with many Victorian-centric views (e.g., they despise what colonialism entailed but didn't think too much about various Indian laws that were of British origin---like the anti-homosexual marriage law and its uproar last year; wear boyish, Western boy-scouts looking outfits in groups such as the RSS while lambasting about women and men in urban areas being too modern; groups such as the Shiv Sena that have a tendency to go into bars and harass and strike women that choose to drink, or hold hands with their boyfriends at parks, all in the name of tradition [and unbeknownst to many Shiv Sena members, Maharashtra, the land many of them come from, used to have a time when both men and women didn't wear that much clothing---and this wasn't that long ago]).

And outside forces come in a variety of flavors: there are right-wing Christian-centric establishments that go cuckoo when it comes to gathering souls for Jesus in, say, areas like South India (V-dada can tell you all about them) and the Northeast; and there are left-wing secular-centric establishments that have a habit of arbitrarily dictating what passes as progressive and what does not (case in point: regardless of the fact that a majority of Indians voluntarily voted for Modi, it still wasn't democratic since it entailed the defeat of their beloved, but highly corrupt, Gandhi dynasty; another example: Kashmir is all of India's fault, regardless of the reality that was the Kashmiri Hindu Exodus). These are the very same establishments that usually give leeway when it comes to Pakistani, Islamic extremist aggression (i.e., your average "Let's be nice so we don't come across as Islamophobic") but lambast India over the most irrelevant and unrealistic of things (e.g., see Aup-dada's India-Pak Sparring thread in the Dharmic DIR and the links to various articles therein).

G
This funny after doing some reading I came to the same answers as you lol. Both sides of the spectrum attack HAF and for different reasons

If it makes you feel better I'm not a democrat (I am I dependent) I feel with sides can be right and wrong at times. Recently the conservative have been wrong more often in MY OPINION(I could be wrong) . I'm probably voting third party this year I'm tired of both of them. So in what I read and you presented we are both kind of right. HAF watches black from birth ends of the spectrum and oddly from the extreme sides. It's extreme liberals that attack HAF AND and extreme conservatives. Let's just agree extremists are bad lol

 

[Poeticus]

G
This funny after doing some reading I came to the same answers as you lol. Both sides of the spectrum attack HAF and for different reasons

If it makes you feel better I'm not a democrat (I am I dependent) I feel with sides can be right and wrong at times. Recently the conservative have been wrong more often in MY OPINION(I could be wrong) . I'm probably voting third party this year I'm tired of both of them. So in what I read and you presented we are both kind of right. HAF watches black from birth ends of the spectrum and oddly from the extreme sides. It's extreme liberals that attack HAF AND and extreme conservatives. Let's just agree extremists are bad lol

Well, obviously extremists are bad---extremists of any kind, usually. However, these factions, especially those of the left, aren't your average extremists, and nor are they even extremist in nature (leftist extremists would be anarchists; and these aren't anarchists, Kalidas). They are mostly of the mainstream. A quick surfing of various India 2014 elections articles on, say, The Telegraph will easily relay this fact. Hindustan Times is another wonderful example. As I initially said, most of the anti-Hindu subversion is usually from the left, not the right. It used to be from the right, but not anymore---not en masse, not since Katherine Mayo.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

Sure thing, V-dada.

 

[Maya3]

Well, obviously extremists are bad---extremists of any kind, usually. However, these factions, especially those of the left, aren't your average extremists, and nor are they even extremist in nature (leftist extremists would be anarchists; and these aren't anarchists, Kalidas). They are mostly of the mainstream. A quick surfing of various India 2014 elections articles on, say, The Telegraph will easily relay this fact. Hindustan Times is another wonderful example. As I initially said, most of the anti-Hindu subversion is usually from the left, not the right. It used to be from the right, but not anymore---not en masse, not since Katherine Mayo.



Sure thing, V-dada.

Could you provide sources for these left wing extremists please.

Maya