Are Hindus Pagan? Poll

[Madhuri]

Many people in the world consider Hindus to be pagan. As most are aware, 'pagan' has multiple meanings. Wikipedia states:

"Paganism is a broad group of indigenous and historical polytheistic religious traditions—primarily those of cultures known to the classical world. In a wider sense, Paganism has also been understood to include any non-Abrahamic, folk, ethnic religion. Modern ethnologists often avoid referring to non-classical and non-European, traditional and historical faiths as Pagan in favour of less ambiguous labels such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism, and animism."

But do you, as a Hindu, consider yourself to be 'pagan'?

Please leave a comment to explain your thoughts on this.

 

[Poeticus]

But do you, as a Hindu, consider yourself to be 'pagan'?

Please leave a comment to explain your thoughts on this.

Yes. As a polytheist Hindu,
I'm quite paganesque to
even my own brothers and
sisters in Hindu Dharma.​

 

[zenzero]

Friend Madhuri,

Guess you are restricting your poll to Hindus where you need to only ask those who do not practise other paths and no-paths for the study to be of any meaning.

Love & rgds

 

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

I do not really "object" to the term pagan per say, but there is no doubt that "religion" itself has it's roots in what we think of as Hinduism today, as well as philosophy, and that Mother India is called Mother by most in the world, where again you could say all "religion" came from though we see much diversity. So I perfer to call "Hinduism" an Original Religion rather than a Pagan Religion.

I consider those, huwever, who call themselves Pagans, such as devotees of Athena, Thor and so on, as my friends.

So while I don't get "upset" or for that matter even bothered by being called a Pagan, I am going to vote no.

Om Namah Sivaya

 

[Vinayaka]

I have no objection, and actually care very little what someone calls me. I care more about ethical practices, for example. Since I don't really know what a pagan is, I voted third choice.

 

[Sb1995]

I have no objection, and actually care very little what someone calls me. I care more about ethical practices, for example. Since I don't really know what a pagan is, I voted third choice.

Same, Jai Shri Ram.

 

[Poeticus]

Madhuri,

If I may ask, why was the
poll not made visible? That
way, we could see if the
voters were members of the
HinduDIR - presuming the
vote was meant for Hindus,
since it was posted here in
the HinduDIR.​

 

[Aupmanyav]

I consider those, however, who call themselves Pagans, such as devotees of Athena, Thor and so on, as my friends.

So while I don't get "upset" or for that matter even bothered by being called a Pagan, I am going to vote no.

I have no objection, and actually care very little what someone calls me. I care more about ethical practices, for example. Since I don't really know what a pagan is, I voted third choice.

Same, Jai Shri Ram.

If you don't bother/don't care, then why no? Is not that interesting?

 

[Aupmanyav]

I am proud of the fact that I belong to a 'pagan' religion which has not been defiled by a human claiming a special status from God.

 

[Madhuri]

Madhuri,

If I may ask, why was the
poll not made visible? That
way, we could see if the
voters were members of the
HinduDIR - presuming the
vote was meant for Hindus,
since it was posted here in
the HinduDIR.​

Good point, I didn't consider that at the time. We will have to go on trust and the comments posted.

 

[Madhuri]

I personally have never identified as pagan because 'pagan' is a term used by Christians and (later Muslims) to mean 'heathen'. It is a word filled with negative connotation.
Like most historians, I also associate the term with the classical world, which comprises of those ethnic religions in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

While Hinduism shares many similarities with 'pagan' religions, I also see it as sharing many similarities with Monotheistic religions. I'm just as likely to say that Hinduism is/isn't pagan as I am to say it is/isn't monotheistic.

 

[Jainarayan]

I personally have never identified as pagan because 'pagan' is a term used by Christians and (later Muslims) to mean 'heathen'. It is a word filled with negative connotation.

In Latin (its source) it originally referred to someone from the countryside but then acquired a more pejorative connotation of "hayseed" or "hick". The Roman military used it only to refer to civilians. It was later used and spread by Christians to refer to the Romans and Greeks who worshiped the old gods. Today it has the same connotation of worshiping "false gods". I kind of take umbrage with it and do not consider myself a pagan, but I've been called worse things.

 

[Quintessence]

It's really hard for me to resist commenting on this topic as a contemporary Pagan, so I'll try to do so in the form of a question. XD

Although it is true that the more antiquated (and in my opinion, useless) definitions of the word "pagan" (not proper case; this is an important distinction) are pejorative or designate outsiders, what about the more modernized definitions? In particular, the ones that contemporary Pagans (aka, Neopagans) tend to use, that fully deserve proper case like any other major world religion? How might Hinduism fit under that designation? To me, there is a huge difference between "pagan" and "Pagan," which is why I ask.

(I have my own thoughts on that issue, but I'll probably have to keep them to myself here; and no, I didn't vote in the poll).

 

[Jainarayan]

...
Although it is true that the more antiquated (and in my opinion, useless) definitions of the word "pagan" (not proper case; this is an important distinction) are pejorative or designate outsiders, what about the more modernized definitions? In particular, the ones that contemporary Pagans (aka, Neopagans) tend to use, that fully deserve proper case like any other major world religion? How might Hinduism fit under that designation? To me, there is a huge difference between "pagan" and "Pagan," which is why I ask.

...

Reclaiming the term. :yes: Like 'queer' being reclaimed by lgbt, or Native Americans reclaiming the word 'Indian'.

 

[zenzero]

Friends,

Paganism is not a traditional religion per se because it does not have any official doctrine, but it does have some common characteristics joining the great variety of traditions. One of the common beliefs is the divine presence in nature and the reverence of the natural order in life. Spiritual growth is related to the cycles of the Earth and great emphasis is placed on ecological concerns

Is there any comparison to dwell over??

Love & rgds

 

[Sumit]

I don't consider myself as pagan.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I think it's a pretty pointless word, but I doubt if it's going away. As Jainarayan said, the early Christians (and quite a few later ones!) simply used it to mean "not one of us", distancing themselves from their Hellenic neighbours. Modern "neopagans" use it to distance themselves from their Christian neighbours, meaning "not one of them". Academics prefer the term "primal religion" for something like Hellenism or Hinduism, that grew naturally, rather than being invented like Islam or Wicca.

 

[Aupmanyav]

So muslims are pagan :sarcastic: :areyoucra:

Muslims worship Abraham's God. They have a different word for Pagans - Kāfir. Yes, I am proud to be a Kāfir, not worshiping Abraham's God, not an ahl-e-kitab. We have different books.

 

[LuisDantas]

Don't you think that those distinctions between "pagans" and "true believers", "Kafirs" and "ahl-e-kitab" or even "nationals" and "foreigners" are ultimately a bit too arbitrary to have much of a real meaning?

 

[LuisDantas]

Also, is it just me or have we reached an impasse, because it is not inherently clear whether "pagan" means "disbeliever" or else "follower of a belief that is considered a part of Paganism"?

For that matter, according to Wikipedia at least it is inherently difficult to define Paganism, so...