Title: GHANDI: ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE
1GHANDI ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE
2I hold it as the duty, of every cultured man and
woman, to read sympathetically the scriptures of
the world. If were to respect others religions
as we would have them respect our own, a friendly
study of the worlds religions is a sacred duty.
3MAHATMA GANDHITHE GREAT SOUL1869-1948
4(No Transcript)
5BRITISH EMPIRE
- Longest Empire Rule (at least 1727-1948) India,
Gandhis homeland - By 1921, the British Empire
- Held sway over about 458 million people,
one-quarter of the earths population - Covered about 14.2 million square miles, or a
quarter of the Earths total land mass
6BRITISH EMPIRE
- Encompassed territories on every continent,
including the British Isles, British North
America, British West Indies, British Guiana,
British West Africa, British East Africa, India,
Australia, and New Zealand
7THE SUN NEVER SET ON THE BRITISH EMPIREAT
ITS PEAK, BECAUSE IT SPANNED THE GLOBE, THE SUN
WAS ALWAYS SHINING ON AT LEAST ONE OF ITS
NUMEROUS COLONIES
8DARWINIAN SOCIAL THEORY
- This theory implied that humans, like every other
organism on earth, were the result of evolution. - Contemporaries used Darwins ideas to promote
Social Darwinism Certain peoples, poorer
quality than others, are thus more likely to be
used as slave labor because they're "less
evolved" and therefore inferior. - http//stephan.grandpre.net/darwin.html
9WHAT WAS APARTHEID?
10APARTHEID AND SOUTH AFRICA
Blacks Whites
Population 19 million 4.5 million
Land Allocation 13 87
Share of Natl Income lt20 75
Min. Taxable Income 360 Rands 750 Rands
Doctors/population 1/44,000 1/400
11EVIL, INJUSTICE, HATRED EXIST ONLY INSOFAR AS WE
SUPPORT THEM THEY HAVE NO EXISTENCE OF THEIR
OWN.
12(No Transcript)
13It has always been a mystery to me how men can
feel themselves honored by the humiliation of
their fellow beings.
14A NEW DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY
15The Hindu caste system is comparable to class
structures in other countries, except that this
Indian system has been rigidly enforced and has
lasted for two or three thousand years. The caste
system was enforced as law throughout the
subcontinent until the adoption of the Indian
constitution in 1949, which outlawed the caste
system. However, it remains a deeply ingrained
social structure, particularly in rural India.
16- Brahmins -- the priests, scholars, and
philosophers - Kshatriyas -- the warriors and rulers, those
concerned with the defense and administration of
the village or state - Vaishyas -- traders, merchants, and agricultural
producers - Shudras -- the laborers and servants for the
other castes - The Untouchables -- performed the most menial
jobs, such as dealing with dead bodies and
cleaning toilets. Higher-caste people believed
that if they touched one of the caste-less, they
would be contaminated and would need to go
through cleansing rituals.Gandhis caste
17The caste system dictated your occupation, choice
of spouse, and many other aspects of your life.
If you did something outside your caste, you
could be excommunicated from your caste. That
would cut you off from doing any work to support
yourself because you could only do the jobs
allowed by your caste. http//ask.yahoo.com/2002
0722.html
18I have ceased for over forty years to hate
anybody. But I can and do hate evil wherever it
exists.
19Karnataka
There is no God here. If God were here,
everyone would have access.
20REVOLUTION TRULY BEGINS AT HOME WITH HOME RULE
THAT IS, MORAL CHOICE BEGINS WITH SOMETHING AS
SIMPLE AS WHAT ONE EATS
21INDIAN HOME RULE
22ASCETICISM
23SERMON ON THE MOUNT
- Beatitudes (Blessed are the poor in spirit for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven) - Lords Prayer
- Famous admonitions
- You are the salt of the earth
- Turn the other cheek
- Do not lay up for yourselves treasures of the
earth - No one can serve two masters
- Judge not that you be judged
- Ask and it will be given to you
24GANDHI DID NOT BELIEVE IN CONVERSION. INSTEAD,
HE REASONED, WE SHOULD PRACTICE THE TRADITION
INTO WHICH WE ARE BORN MORE DEEPLY RATHER THAN
JUMP INTO ANOTHER.
25Truth is experimental, he believed, so Gandhi
continuously tried out new truths. He even
named his autobiography The Story of My
Experiments with Truth. Truth is the goal
toward which one works.
26ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE. AS SUCH, WE CAN LIVE
THEM OUT TRULY IN OUR LIVES.
27RAMGODALLAH
28IF WERE TO RESPECT OTHERS RELIGIONS AS WE WOULD
HAVE THEM RESPECT OUR OWN, A FRIENDLY STUDY OF
THE WORLDS RELIGIONS IS A SACRED DUTY.
29I OBJECT TO VIOLENCE BECAUSE WHEN IT APPEARS TO
DO GOOD, THE GOOD IS ONLY TEMPORARY.THE EVIL IT
DOES IS PERMANENT.
30NON-HARMINGWE HAVE NO GROUNDS FOR TAKING
ANOTHERS LIFE.
31Gandhi offered a higher challengeRefuse to
obey such degrading legislation and accept the
consequences without violent retaliation but also
without yielding an inch in the demand for fair
and equal treatment under the law.
32THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR
33EVIL, INJUSTICE, HATRED EXIST ONLY INSOFAR AS WE
SUPPORT THEM THEY HAVE NO EXISTENCE OF THEIR
OWN.
34GHANDI ANACTIVE FORM OF RESISTANCEHOLDING
FAST TO TRUTH
35EVEN IN HIS GREATEST CAMPAIGNS, THEN, GANDHI WAS
A GREAT COMPROMISER, BELIEVING THAT YOU DID NOT
WIN ANY CONFRONTATION IF YOU LEFT THE OTHER
PERSON FEELING LIKE A LOSER. THEN, YOURE LEFT
WITH AN OPPONENT EVEN IF YOUVE WON.
36Gandhi at Round Table Conference in London
37When all violence subsides in the human heart,
the state which remains is love. It is not
something we have to acquire it is always
present and needs only be uncovered.
38The Great Soul, 1869-1948