Hindu belief about sex before marriage
Most Hindus think couples should not have sex before marriage. Karma is one of the four purushartas, or aims of life, for Hindus. Sex is considered a good thing which is to be enjoyed as one of the duties of married life, particularly in the desire to produce sons. However, self-control is an important aspect of Hindu teaching, so sexual intercourse has to take place between married couples only. Sex before marriage is very much discouraged in Hinduism. Traditionally young people are meant to be students before they marry, and are supposed to go through a time of learning about the sacred scriptures and their religious duties; this is known as the brahmacharya stage of life. During this time, they should concentrate entirely on their studies and remain celibate. Hindu parents do not usually allow their children any contact with the opposite sex except for close relatives. This continues until the children are of an age to be married. In India many Hindu girls are married while they are teenagers to make sure that they do not have any sexual contact before marriage. Adultery is unacceptable. Homosexuality is not mentioned at all in Hindu literature, and it is treated in Hindu society as though it does not happen. Men and women are believed to have a religious duty to marry and have children, and although some people do remain single, they are very much in the minority. Same sex relationships are regarded as unacceptable. In practice people simply ignore homosexuality. Other Hindus do not think that sex before marriage is unacceptable. I believe that sex before marriage is unacceptable, because of the above reasons.
Hindu attitude toward fertility treatment
Fertility is an important part of Hinduism. Married couples are keen to produce at least one son, because the son has important religious duties to carry out, especially when his parents die and he has the responsibility of carrying out the proper rituals in lighting the funeral pyre. If a couple have been married for some time, and they have not managed to conceive, this can be seen as grounds for a divorce,, and a women with no children is often pitied and sometimes looked down upon. It is part of the dharma, which is a rightful path, for man to be the father of sons. If a Hindu couple want children but are having difficulty conceiving, then fertility is often been used as a way of helping them to achieve this important religious duty. Most Hindus are often uneasy about methods of fertility treatment that involve the donation of sperm or eggs from another person outside the marriage, because it is important in Hinduism to carry on a line of inheritance through the father. Many Hindus are also concerned about the caste which is a social class and would not be happy about having a child who might have the genes of a different group from those of the rest of the family. Some, too, might prefer not to use fertility treatment methods which involve the production of spare embryos which are then destroyed; but most Hindus consider bringing a child into the world is important enough to outweigh the disadvantages. Hindus who have difficulty conceiving are likely to welcome the possibility of having a child without the science technology. They would be particularly keen to try methods such as IVF using the eggs and the sperm from both partners. In many parts of India, fertility treatment is not a possibility. It is something which is available for the rich, and for people who live in the cities with access to the hospitals. Poorer people and those who live in the villages who are desperate to have children sometimes adopt a child from elsewhere in the family, especially from relations who have many children and cannot afford to look after all of them. This is often seen as a good way of resolving the solution.
Explain how a Hindu might respond to someone who was thinking about euthanasia
Most Hindus believe that all of life is sacred; they believe that everything should be done to make ill people more comfortable, but this should not involve the taking of a life. One of the most important principals in Hinduism is ahimsa or harmlessness. It is always considered wrong to take life, even someone else is ill or in pain. If someone is suffering, this is believed to be the results of karma. The person is suffering because they have performed wrong actions in the past, either in this life or in a previous life, and it is necessary for the suffering to follow its natural course rather than be brought to a quicker end, otherwise the rest of the bad karma was still have to work out itself out in the person’s next life. People who are caring terminal ill patients should do all they can to help them and make them more comfortable, but they should not end the patient’s life. In Hinduism, it is not unusual for someone who is very old or very ill to decide for themselves that the right time has come for death, and to stop eating or drinking, so that they bring about their own death. Renouncing the world is not as important as it appears. Understanding the nature of God and the wisdom and giving up the world is just one step further than deciding to become a sannyasim, or holy man, who gives up all his family and possessions and goes and lives alone. This way of bringing death more quickly is not seen as wrong, but is often admired as a sign of great holiness. It is not the same as euthanasia, because it does not involve anyone apart from the person who wishes to die; no one else is asked to help with the death, or to make any decisions about it.
People should make up their own minds about issues of life and death
Do you agree?
Most Hindus believe that, a Hindu who is very old or very ill may decide for them that the right time has come for death by choosing to stop eating or drinking. This act of renouncing the world shows that the Hindu realises that the world is not as important as it appears. This method of choosing death is often admired as a sign of great holiness. The suicide of people who take their own lives because they are depressed or feel hopeless is not acceptable to Hindus, unless they took their lives as self-sacrifice or because they cannot live without someone who has just died. This is approved by most Hindus Suttee, sometimes spelt as Sati. This is an example kind of suicide. It was believed that death would earn people great karma and so bring about good fortune in the next life. Some Hindus are arguing against this prophecy. I agree that people should make up their own minds about the issues of life and death because of the above.
We were put in the world for a reason
I agree that we were put in the world for a reason because I believe that we here to work for the God and to have a good karma so that I can have a good soul to be rebirth. Most Hindus believe that they work out of the karma from previous lives because they were put here by some other agencies. And that the humanity as a whole rather than individuals, is because of the will of God. They believe that the reward for the good karma in your whole life would be the rebirth and reincarnation. But some Hindus think that they were here because of pure chance. Some Christians believe also that they were here by chance as the result of natural selection, and that there is no reason, and no-one who put them here. I would say these things to people who disagree with me in this contradiction.
Scientific ideas about how the universe began prove that Hinduism is wrong.
I do not agree that scientific ideas about how the universe began prove that Hinduism is wrong; because I believe that the idea could be incorrect and would give invalid theories. Most Hindus believe that they can be proven wrong because the theories do not clash with the religious belief of Hindus. They do not have an absolute set of beliefs. And that they are no rules on what to believe. Some Hindus believe that they must believe their order of the Hindu scripture, and to not accept the theory that scientist have ideas with. Many modern Christians believe that the scientist are right, and that the universe began with the Big Bang. They also believe that people evolved gradually rather than being created. I would say these things to people who disagree with me in this contradiction
Why main environmental issues in Hindu issues affect people in developed countries?
Most Hindus believe that people in richer and developed countries are more responsible for the causes of environmental problems than people in poorer countries such as India. It is the richer countries, that produce the oil, that is sometimes spilt into the sea, and the chemical waste which is difficult to dispose of safely. The richer countries are the ones which consumes most of the world’s resources. However, it is often people in poorer areas who suffer the consequences of this bad treatment of the environment. If there is climate change, droughts, and floods can destroy everything they own. If the seas are polluted or over-fished, the poor people who depend on fishing for their survival are the worst to suffer. An example of this scenario is the worst industrial accident, in 1984 an America-owned chemical factory in Bhopal leaked a deadly poisonous gas, and thousands of people were killed. This event led to the chemical industry producing much stricter rules about safety and the protection of the environment.
Men and women role in Hinduism
Men have traditionally led Hindu society and women have had much less power or influence. Today, Hindu woman have more freedom, especially if they live in the west, but in Indian villages the roles of men and woman are still quite sharply divided. According to Hindu doctrine, everyone has his or her own dharma to follow, and the dharma for a married man is different from the dharma of a married woman. A woman usually expects to be supported financially by her father until she gets married, and then by her husband. Because of this financial burden, the birth of girls is often less welcome than the birth of boys. Often, a girl will be given less education than a boy, because the boy will have to look after his wife and perhaps also his parents in their old age, and so he needs to be able to earn a living. In India, Hindu woman do not often have careers of their own, but work in the house, looking after their mother in law when they are first married, and then their own children later on. The wife is responsible for puja in the home, and for making sure that the house is clean and comfortable for her husband and his guests. Hindus value motherhood very highly: when girls are brought up, they are trained for this role in particular, and many Hindu women believe that to have many sons is the best thing that could happen to them. Hindu men have important duties to fulfil within the family. As sons, they are responsible for carrying out the religious duties at their parent’s funeral. As husbands, they have a duty to be faithful to their wives and to work hard, in order to earn enough money to support other family members. Hindu men sometimes perform household tasks, but usually they are seen as women’s duties.
I agree that there is no need for a couple to get married if they truly love each other, because it is the couple choice if they want to get married or not, and I have seen a couple who had true love and have not been married for 6 years. Most traditional Hindus teach that marriage is an important duty for men and women; choosing to stay single is not encouraged. A marriage does not just join together a man and a woman, but two extended families. Because of this, arranged marriages have been common in Hinduism with parents introducing people to each other. However, most modern Hindus believe that they only get married if they see their true love. Most Christians believe that that a marriage is choice by the couple and that they can have it any time of the life, it provides a relationship through which husband and wife support each other; this relationship is built on love and faithfulness. If someone disagreed with me I would say all the things above.
I do not agree that “we know from looking around us that people are not equal,” because I believe that everyone is the same, and that I should treat respect to everybody. Most Hindus believe that all people are equal because they share a common link. The entire world is part of one unified whole. The plants, other animal species, and humans are all part of the ever- changing stream of life, so that in some ways, harming another living thing is the same as harming as yourself, and they believe that it is wrong to be prejudiced against someone else just because of their ethnic origin. In the other hand some Hindus believe that inequality is the result of the workings of karma, and therefore something which is to be expected. Most Christians teaches that everyone is equal in the eyes of God and so all forms of prejudice and discrimination are unacceptable and against God’s will. If someone disagreed with me I would say all the things above. Therefore I believe that we know from looking around us that people are equal.
Hinduism attitudes towards other religions.
Hinduism contains many different beliefs. Some Hindus follow Krishna as their God, while the others follow Ganesha or a different deity, and some Hindus do not believe in God at all, but they are all still counted as Hindus. Most Hindus therefore have no problem in accepting that members of other religions want to worship in their own way and have their own beliefs. This is because there is no one right away to believe or worship in the way that he or she chooses. Hinduism is not a religion that tries to persuade other people to join it, and sometimes Hindus resent the efforts of Christians and Muslims to try and convert other people to share their beliefs. Hindus are tolerant of other beliefs, and they find it difficult to accept that members of other religion are less tolerant. The Ramakrishna Mission began as attempt to show that Hindus do not need to convert to other religions, but can continue as Hindus whatever they chose to believe. Ramakrishna lived in the 19th century, at a time when many Christian missionaries were being sent to India. He taught that all religions were paths to God, and so there was no need to abandon the religion that had always been a part of Indian culture. Ramakrishna and his followers worked hard to show people in the west that Hinduism has a lot to offer; they were so successful that many began to question whether it was right to send Christian missionaries to India at all.
In Hinduism people are born into different groups called varnas. Each Varna has duties called dharma. The Purusha Sukta explains how the different varnas were formed from different parts of the body of Purusha, the first ‘cosmic man' If you have a good karma then you would reborn in to the upper stage of the varnas. If you have a bad karma because of negligence then you would be reborn in the lower stage of the varnas.
His mouth became the Priests; his arms were made into the Warrior, his thighs the People, and from his feet the Servants were born.
Rig Veda 10.90
There are 4 types of varnas. These are the following:
Brahmins - This is the priestly group. They have the duties of keeping up traditions of Hindu worship, and of performing ritual sacrifices when necessary. They are responsible for studying the Hindu scripture and for making sure they are passed on to future generations. They have jobs in the professions, teaching and guiding other Hindus.
Kshatriyas- This is the warrior and leadership group. Their main duty is to protect and defend the rest of the society. They are responsible for government and decision making.
Vaishyas- This is the group which provides the main sources of income for society. They run farms and businesses trading with other nations, and producing wealth for the benefit of the whole community.
Shudras- This is the servant group. They work to support members of the other varnas, and do manual jobs. They can be craftsmen, dressmakers, cooks, or chauffeurs etc.
Some people are believed to be so unclean that they are outside of the Varna system. These people call themselves Dalits (oppressed). For jobs they have to deal with dead bodies and clear away rubbish. They are often treated badly and are not allowed to mix with everyone else. However, it is illegal in India to treat anyone in this way. Hindus believe that all people are part of one unified whole. All life forms are part of the ‘stream’ of life, so harming another living thing is the same as harming yourself. Because of this, many Hindus believe that it is wrong to be prejudiced against someone just because of their ethnic origin or differences. In reality, however, there are individual Hindus who are prejudiced because they consider non-Hindus as inferior to Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas
Most traditional Hindus believe that abortion is not acceptable, and neither is any other form of birth control. That all life is sacred, so having an abortion creates bad karma. Marrying and having children is a religious duty for an adult from the eternal law of dharma. The sacred texts consider abortion a crime because it is against the principle of ahimsa (non-violence), as it does not respect the life of the foetus, and prevents the rebirth of the atman (soul) in the foetus. But many modern Hindus also believe that it is better for a child not to be born rather than to be born into a life of poverty or with serious physical and mental abnormalities. Now that doctors can determine the sex of the foetus before birth there is a problem. Some couples choose to abort the pregnancy if they know the unborn child is a girl because of the pressure to have sons rather than daughters. This goes against Hindu teaching and some Indian states have banned clinics from running tests that predict the sex of the child. His being is the source of all being, the seed of all things that in this life have their life... “He is God, hidden in all beings, their inmost soul who is in all. He watches the works of creation, lives in all things, watches all things.” This is said by the holy book of Svetasvatara Upanishad.
Hindu beliefs about the use of animals in medical research
Unlike many other religious believers, most Hindus do not believe that people are much more important than other kinds of animals. Hindu beliefs include the respect for all the living things and recognition of how all the different elements of nature work together to form a whole. Some animals are frequently used in Hindu images of the deities, as an aid to worship. For example, the bull is associated with the goddess Durga, the monkey with Hanuman and the elephant with Ganesha. The cow is especially important in Hinduism because it is a sacred animal. Animals are treated with great care and respect, and many Hindus will not eat meat or meat products because of their respect for animals. The Hindu principle of Ahimsa involves doing no harm to other living creatures. Hurting or destroying animal life leads to bad karma, and the person who has done the damage can expect that, in the future, something similar will happen to them. For all of these reasons, most Hindus are opposed to any kind of cruelty to animals unnecessarily in experiments is completely against Hindu teaching. However, some Hindus do accept that there are times when experiments on animals are essential for human health, and therefore some might agree that when necessary animals could be used for medical research. In India, medical research involving animals does take place, but not on the same scale as in the West. Many people are without even the most basic healthcare, and the question of testing medicine and other procedures on animals does not arise except in the largest cities. People cannot afford to buy any medicines of any kind, whether they have been tested on animals or not.
