{"id":4734,"date":"2007-10-22T06:44:49","date_gmt":"2007-10-22T06:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2007\/10\/theres-nothing-be-happy-about-bobby-jindal\/"},"modified":"2007-10-22T06:44:49","modified_gmt":"2007-10-22T06:44:49","slug":"theres-nothing-be-happy-about-bobby-jindal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2007\/10\/theres-nothing-be-happy-about-bobby-jindal\/","title":{"rendered":"There's nothing to be happy about Bobby Jindal!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I was thinking of saying this myself .. but when I read this at Eternalsoul\u2019s site I finally came to the point of writing about it! Every one in the Indian media is gloating over the victory of Bobby Jindal<\/a>. But who is this Bobby (Piyush) Jindal?<\/p>\n

He is the son of Indian immigrants and who converted while he was in his undergrad college \u2013 because he found in Bible what he couldn\u2019t find in Hinduism. He laments the fact that his parents could not forgive him, but he hardly ever understands why he could never get to see their point of view. In my view, he is as opportunistic as the politicians come. From a devout Hindu to a converted Catholic seems to be an excellent story for the right wing Christian Republicans as the ideal \u201cimmigrant story\u201d, but to me it has clear stamp of opportunism!<\/p>\n

Here is his story in his own words<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

As Jindal readily confessed in that article, \u201cit never occurred to me that I should consider any other religion; to be a Hindu was an aspect of my Indian identity.\u201d Thus, when a childhood friend, intent on converting the world, first introduced him to Christianity by warning him \u201cyou and your parents are going to hell,\u201d he recalls that he \u201cwas hardly convinced.\u201d Jindal was also \u201cangered by the arrogance of my Southern Baptist friend who claimed his faith was the one true path to God.\u201d That\u2019s because he realized that his friend sought to \u201cdeny the experience of billions of people who have never seen a copy of the Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless the event did succeed in motivating him to \u201cexamine Hinduism on its own merits and doctrines\u201d even as he was \u201csearching for an objectively true faith that would lead me to God.\u201d Simultaneously he began reading the Bible \u201cto disprove the Christian faith I was learning both to admire and despise.\u201d That was also a time when he \u201cwas touched by the love and simplicity of a Christian girl who dreamt of becoming a Supreme Court justice so she could stop her country from \u201ckilling unborn babies.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he delved deeper into the Bible, says Jindal, \u201cI saw myself in many of the parables and felt as if the Bible had been written especially for me. After reading every book I could find on the historical accuracy of the Bible and Christianity, I was convinced that the Bible had remained unaltered throughout the centuries and that circumstances surrounding Christ\u2019s death led to the conversions of thousands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jindal admits that up to that point his perspective remained intellectual and not spiritual.<\/p>\n

The next decisive event in Jindal\u2019s spiritual quest came in the form of a short, black and white film depicting the crucifixion of Christ. As he recalled, \u201cFor the first time I actually imagined what it meant for the Son of God to be humiliated and even killed for my sake. Although the movie did not convince me that anything was true, it did force me to wonder if Christians were right. I realized that if the Gospel stories were true, if Christ really was the Son of God, it was arrogant of me to reject Him and question the gift of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It required many hours of discussion with a pastor before he was \u201cready to take that leap of faith and accept Christ into my life.\u201d It would be another two years before he would be baptized into the Catholic faith. But in deference to his parent\u2019s wishes Jindal reveals that he chose to have the ceremony in Providence rather than in Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have nothing against Christians but in my personal view Christianity has downgraded Christ\u2019s spiritual self itself in many ways. I love Christ\u2019s spiritual self, but what is dished out in the name of Christianity is quite often shameful. It is used by missionaries to further the wars of colonial powers. It still is. Here is an interesting way of putting it by an African:<\/p>\n

When he (missionary) first came \u2013 he had the Bible and I had the land. Now, he has the land and I have the Bible!<\/em><\/p>\n

If one was to go to Africa, one can understand how the entire paraphernalia of the missions are used to rob the natives.<\/p>\n

So, before the Indians become so happy at Jindal\u2019s winning of the Governor\u2019s post \u2013 one ought to ask him\u2026 what were those things in Hinduism that made him incur the wrath of his parents and convert?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was thinking of saying this myself .. but when I read this at Eternalsoul’s site I finally came to the point of writing about it! Every one in the Indian media is gloating over the victory of Bobby Jindal<\/a>. But who is this Bobby (Piyush) Jindal?<\/p>\n

He is the son of Indian immigrants and who converted while he was in his undergrad college – because he found in Bible what he couldn’t find in Hinduism. He laments the fact that his parents could not forgive him, but he hardly ever understands why he could never get to see their point of view. In my view, he is as opportunistic as the politicians come. From a devout Hindu to a converted Catholic seems to be an excellent story for the right wing Christian Republicans as the ideal “immigrant story”, but to me it has clear stamp of opportunism!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1517,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,63,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-religion","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nThere's nothing to be happy about Bobby Jindal!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was thinking of saying this myself .. but when I read this at Eternalsoul's site I finally came to the point of writing about it! Every one in the Indian media is gloating over the victory of Bobby Jindal. But who is this Bobby (Piyush) Jindal? He is the son of Indian immigrants and who converted while he was in his undergrad college - because he found in Bible what he couldn't find in Hinduism. He laments the fact that his parents could not forgive him, but he hardly ever understands why he could never get to see their point of view. In my view, he is as opportunistic as the politicians come. 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