The India Forum has published an article by Jakob De Roover (a post-doc fellow at Ghent University) concerning the future of “pagans” from India (or NRIs Non-Resident Indians) within the context of American pluralism. De Roover points out that the American idea of pluralism (the affirmation and acceptance of diversity) is strongly rooted in Protestant Christianity and will not accept non-monotheistic “pagans” easily.

“…the American model of pluralism is unable to accommodate these pagan traditions. This is the case, because its structure has emerged from a co-existence of Protestant denominations. Maximally, the resulting model could encompass other variants of the religions of the book: Catholicism, Judaism and Islam. Incorporating the pagan traditions of India, however, will require a fundamental rethinking of American pluralism.”

De Roover uses the California Hindu textbook controversy as an example of the problems facing the religious accommodation of Hindus in America, and shows how the American version of pluralism tries to make non-monotheistic religions reshape into a more recognizable Protestant form.

“The structure of American pluralism and the nature of the Hindu traditions give rise to two options. These options present themselves as routes that can be traveled by the NRI community in the coming years. On the one hand, the pagan traditions of India could renounce their true nature and transform themselves into variants of biblical religion. Then they will soon fit in as well in the American model of pluralism as the Jews and Muslims. On the other hand, these pagan traditions can remain true to their nature and explicitly represent themselves as completely different from the religions of the book. Then they will turn into a major challenge to American pluralism: the very structure of this model will require rethinking in order to accommodate the Hindu traditions.”

According to the article, the route taken by prominent American Hindu groups is one of transformation in order to make themselves less “pagan” seeming.

“A limited number of foundations have been appointed (or have appointed themselves) as the representatives of the Hindu traditions in the U.S.: the Hindu American Foundation and the Vedic Foundation are most prominent. These foundations play according to the rules of the notions of church and religion that are intrinsic to American pluralism. They challenge the unfair portrayal of the Hindu traditions in the American educational system. But they do so in a manner which advances the transformation of these traditions into inferior variants of Christianity. They intend to present the true doctrines of Hinduism and do so by making it look respectable to American Protestants. That is, the many devatas are transformed into different ways of worshiping the one true God. Hinduism becomes a proper monotheistic faith. A variety of pagan Indian traditions are excluded because they are embarrassing to the sanitized biblical model of American pluralism.”

This discussion is hugely important, not only for Hindus living in America, but for the variety of modern Pagan faiths and traditions. In fact this very discussion has been ongoing in our community in debates over Pagan participation in Unitarian-Universalism and other congregational models. Do we retain our essential “pagan-ness” or do we, over time, slowly mold into an more acceptable form so that we can reap the benefits of the more mainstream monotheistic faiths? If congregational models become the “mainstream” of modern Paganism, are they even “pagan” any longer?

Tags: Hinduism, India, Paganism, Pluralism, Unitarian-Universalism