Hindus not regarded warmly by Americans: Pew poll

[V.Balasubramani]

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Hindus not regarded warmly by Americans: Pew poll

Hindu-Americans are not regarded as warmly as Jewish people, Catholics, Evangelical Christians and Buddhists, according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Centre, which noted that Hindus here were given an average rating of 50 on a scale of 100, and lower still when ranked by Evangelical Christians.

The Pew poll on ‘How Americans Feel About Religious Groups,’ released last week was based on a survey conducted between May 30 and June 30, 2014, among 3,217 adults who were part of Pew’s ‘New American Trends’ panel, said to be a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults.

Those rated below Hindus included Mormons (48), Atheists (41) and Muslims (40). Jewish people, Catholics and Evangelical Christians respectively received ratings of 63, 62, and 61.

The poll results provoked a backlash in some quarters, with leaders of the Hindu American Foundation expressing “concern that much of the American public holds negative views of Hindus,” especially, HAF said, since “Americans as a whole know little about Hinduism, and those who do hold mixed views.”

Suhag Shukla, HAF's Executive Director said, “Unfortunately, lack of knowledge allows the public to stereotype Hinduism, focusing on caste and cows, and ignoring the vast spiritual base of the religion. Such stereotypes, also reflected in the media and textbooks, lead to the bullying of Hindu school children, and can feed into anti-Hindu hate crimes."

Read more at: Hindus not regarded warmly by Americans: Pew poll - The Hindu

 

[vgane]

The terms Hindu was anathema to the previous UPA Government..So there was no promotion of anything that sounded Hindu

We need to spread the awareness of our religion..May be under the new BJP dispensation it is feasible

 

[renuka]

I dont get it...Hindus love to blame the west for the downfall of Indian culture and the surge of western influence..so it pretty clear that Hindus themselves do not regard westerners warmly so why feel bad if someone else from the west does not regard a Hindu warmly?

We reap what we sow right? Why do we want to be glorified as always when we tend to look down upon others?

Frankly speaking I am surprised to see even a rate of 50..that really good enough..I thought it would be 30!LOL

 

[krish44]

hindus both due to their colour and religion are finding it difficult to get absorbed in US mainstream. only if intermixing takes place thru marriage and religeous conversion possibly , their younger generation will get acceptance in their society. Americanised Hindus are unfit and unlikely to be accepted in india.India has changed too much in last 20 years.perhaps the older lot can try getting to some old age homes built only to cater to them in coimbotore and such places.I met one couple last week in chennai who had spent a lot of time in US
and wanted to settle in chennai .They were averse to go to old age homes . they have built 5 huge flats 1600sq ft each on their land in chennai.however Their children would not like to return to india. now they are stuck with the flats. and are trying to find buyers. how many would pay a crore and buy these flats in some remote area of chennai. . their money is stuck[ about 4 crores]
we are ending up with these mixed up types with some oldies wanting to return to india and youngsters looking for amertcanised or white americans for spouses.
we in india are perhaps lucky .we have not deserted our roots. our children in india marry indians , may, be different caste or religion
so the adjustment process is easier . and they do not become second class citizenswhere they stay

 

[prasad1]

I dont get it...Hindus love to blame the west for the downfall of Indian culture and the surge of western influence..so it pretty clear that Hindus themselves do not regard westerners warmly so why feel bad if someone else from the west does not regard a Hindu warmly?

We reap what we sow right? Why do we want to be glorified as always when we tend to look down upon others?

Frankly speaking I am surprised to see even a rate of 50..that really good enough..I thought it would be 30!LOL

You are right as usual.
The rating might be 50% due to the fact that some of these American have Indian-american as friends. All my American friends have great opinion about India, because they are in contact with a passionate PIO (sic!). Many of the PIO themselves are not that passionate about India.

 

[prasad1]

hindus both due to their colour and religion are finding it difficult to get absorbed in US mainstream.

I would strongly differ from you on this sentence. The Indian origin kids I know here in USA would surprise you. I guess you have only met failed people.

 

[tbs]

hindus both due to their colour and religion are finding it difficult to get absorbed in US mainstream. only if intermixing takes place thru marriage and religeous conversion possibly , their younger generation will get acceptance in their society. Americanised Hindus are unfit and unlikely to be accepted in india.India has changed too much in last 20 years.perhaps the older lot can try getting to some old age homes built only to cater to them in coimbotore and such places.I met one couple last week in chennai who had spent a lot of time in US
and wanted to settle in chennai .They were averse to go to old age homes . they have built 5 huge flats 1600sq ft each on their land in chennai.however Their children would not like to return to india. now they are stuck with the flats. and are trying to find buyers. how many would pay a crore and buy these flats in some remote area of chennai. . their money is stuck[ about 4 crores]
we are ending up with these mixed up types with some oldies wanting to return to india and youngsters looking for amertcanised or white americans for spouses.
we in india are perhaps lucky .we have not deserted our roots. our children in india marry indians , may, be different caste or religion
so the adjustment process is easier . and they do not become second class citizenswhere they stay

hi

the ABCD kids are already in US mainstream....better than older immigrants.....many american kids are visiting temples.marrying

indian origin kids.....

 

[Naina_Marbus]

The average American’s doctor may be Hindu, their kid's college professor may be Hindu. The owner of the hotel down the street may be Hindu. Mindy Kaling, Sanjay Gupta and the last six winners of the national spelling bee may be Hindus. But still, not many Americans actually know a Hindu personally.

Many Americans harbor misconceptions about Hinduism. This is partly because the story of Hinduism was written mainly by British colonists and Western scholars, and various errors have yet to be corrected in textbooks, despite the efforts of advocacy groups like the Hindu American Foundation and the Dharma Civilization Foundation. Among other things, aspects of Indian culture have been conflated…, so that the caste system and other antiquated customs have come to be seen, erroneously, as central features of Hindu(ism).

While only 22% of Americans know people who call themselves Hindus, almost everybody knows someone whose life and belief system has been impacted by the multifaceted knowledge base that came to be called Hinduism. ……(F)or about 200 years now we have been absorbing, assimilating and adapting insights articulated ages ago in the Himalayas. Some of our most influential thinkers, writers, musicians and scientists were, in varying degrees, shaped by those ideas before transmitting them to the rest of us. In addition, the practices propagated by Indian gurus have taken root in the culture, with millions meditating, chanting and stretching into yoga postures. The fast-growing category of Spiritual but not Religious (SBNR) would not have arisen if practices we think of as Hindu and Buddhist were not made accessible to spiritual seekers and secular self-improvers alike.

No ( Hindu ) guru ever asked others to abandon their own religions -- or lack of religion -- and no Hindu ever tried to persuade anyone to convert. The Hindu-based teachings that came to US from India were presented as universal principles, more akin to scientific laws than religious doctrine, which could be viewed in religious or secular terms according to the individual's orientation.

Philip Goldberg