AUSTRALIA, September 4, 2017 (News Corp Australia): The picture it sought to paint was one of common ground. Unity. The bringing together of diverse backgrounds around a common Aussie backyard barbecue. It didn’t work. The Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) lamb campaign (video at ”source” above) was referred to the Advertising Standards Bureau within days of its release over its lack of sensitivity in portraying divinities and religious leaders.
The simple fact it portrays opposing divinities and prophets — such as Jesus, L. Ron Hubbard, Thor and Zeus — was bound to provoke controversy. Even Mohammed gets a mention. The Meat & Livestock Australia lamb campaign advert brings together a range of divinities and prophets at an Aussie outdoor barbecue. What could possibly go wrong? Despite declaring ”lets not get into religion at the table,” it doesn’t take its own advice. And stating ”it’s a nightmare catering for you lot with all your dietary requirements” was bound to bring on an inquisition.
But despite addressing the elephant in the room — the ad makes one significant oversight when the agnostic host declares a toast ”to lamb — the meat we can all eat”. Lord Ganesha doesn’t eat meat. ”This is a disrespect to Hindu religion, hurting our sentiments and a senseless campaign,” one Facebook user posted on the campaign’s page. ”Your team has got it totally wrong by implying Lord Ganesha is having lamb at dinner table with other Gods. For your information, Hindu Gods and meat do not go together.”
Yes, that’s lamb on Lord Ganesha’s plate. As a result, a Hindu group has formally asked the MLA to discontinue the ad and issue an apology for trivialising their deity. ”Lord Ganesha was highly revered in Hinduism and he was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used in selling lamb meat for mercantile greed.”
”Upset Hindus are urging Australia Advertising Standards Bureau to ban the new ”You Never Lamb Alone” video ad launched on September 4 by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), which seems to make fun of Lord Ganesha,” its statement reads. ”MLA should be mature enough to understand that ”love united us and brought us together and not lamb meat”.
NEPAL, September 4, 2017 (Mission Network News): [HPI note: MNN is a Christian Missionary Group, which explains the slant of this article. It doesn’t actually explain what the new laws are, but we suspect they may be similar to the long standing laws against proselytism in Greece–https://www.hinduismtoday.com/blogs-news/hindu-press-international/legal-restrictions-on-religious-freedom-in-greece/15928.html).]
Christianity in Nepal has two main bullies–Hindu radicals from within the country, and India. Thanks to growing pressures from these two sources, religious freedoms for minority groups are severely threatened. Earlier this month, a bill was passed that will likely restrict Christians and other groups from sharing their faith. It is currently being finalized into law.
The language of the bill closely resembles blasphemy and anti-conversion laws from neighboring countries. As we know, these laws are often abused to target specific groups–usually Christians. More specifically, Christian Solidarity Worldwide says the law will criminalize some instances of religious conversion. Joe Handley of Asian Access says this move goes against recent advances for religious freedoms in Nepal. ”There’s a deep concern that’s happened most recently following the earthquake because so many have come to Christ that they have put into effect this new law that restricts the liberties of Christians and other minorities to share their faith.”
INDIA, September 4, 2017 (palimpsest.co.in): Set in pre-militancy Kashmir, Dr. Karan Singh’s only novel till date takes the reader on an exhilarating journey to the snowclad peaks of the Himalayas, lakes and chinar forests. It’s a time much before militancy and security barricades disrupted the carnival mood in the Valley. Ashok, a corporate honcho, holidaying Srinagar, discovers his old flame Sheila as the newly-wed bride of his school friend Ramesh, in Kashmir for their honeymoon. The love triangle takes an abrupt turn with Ashok discovering a guru in Shiva’s mountains and following him along the Himalayan ridges. This is a story one can finish in a single sitting and feels like reading all over again.
Through an engaging story of friendship, love and misunderstandings between the three principal characters, Dr Karan Singh takes us on a spiritual journey. Guided by the wise presence of Maharaj, the hero Ashok discovers true wisdom and the path to Lord Shiva. One of the wisest lines in this book reads: ”Outer crises are always the reflection of inner conflicts.” When Ashok moves beyond these conflicts, he awakens his kundalini and finds Lord Shiva.
A foremost scholar of Sanskrit and the Indian spiritual traditions, Dr Karan Singh has written extensively on the Upanishads and the liberal strands within the Hindu philosophical thought. Alongside his impressive body of scholarly work, he has, mostly unknown to the world, pursued fiction writing. One result is The Mountain of Shiva.
