Religion Should I have to celebrate Diwali?

[Johnny Bananas]

Cool want a medal? Or a chest to pin it on?

Yes, perhaps you could find one for me? It's not like you're doing anything better with your time, seeing as you're replying to comments that are two months old.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

I keep trying to get "festivus" celebrated at my work....

no luck so far

Do you erect the aluminium pole before the Airing of Grievances and finish with the Feats of Strength or do you stick the pole in between?

 

[Trouto]

Do you erect the aluminium pole before the Airing of Grievances and finish with the Feats of Strength or do you stick the pole in between?

i have tried to get people to donate to the 'Human Fund' no luck though

 

[demondavey]

So my workplace is celebrating Diwali today. However, we don't celebrate any other religious holidays - no Ramadan, Hanukkah, Easter celebrations, etc

We don't even have a Christmas celebration (which for a large number of people like me is a secular celebration anyway) - we have an End of Year celebration.

If people want to celebrate Diwali go ahead, more luck to you. Have a great time.

But I'm not Hindu, I'm not a huge fan of religion full stop (there are some really disturbing elements of Hindu if you follow what goes on in India)and I think Diwali is an environmental headache for the people of India

Three Indian cities among world’s 10 most polluted after Diwali festival

New Delhi, as usual, takes top spot while Mumbai comes sixth with an AQI of 157, followed by Kolkata with an AQI of 154.

www.aljazeera.com

I dunno, I'm probably being an a-hole here but it does give me the irits that I'm expected to participate in a religious celebration. For the record, I'm not attending the celebration but I reckon I shouldn't have been asked to in the first place. Bugger, cos I love Indian food so joke is on me.

You’re not attending or didn’t attend.

So you don’t have to celebrate it.

What was your point?

 

[Rusty Brookes]

You’re not attending or didn’t attend.

So you don’t have to celebrate it.

What was your point?

My point I was expected to celebrate it - I didn't see you at the morning tea type comments came my way.

It seems now management have decided every morning tea has to be a theme - next one is Chinese Lunar Year which I'm fine with given it's not religious. My point is no one should be pressured to celebrate any religion at their workplace and it seemed a little bit double standard, in that we no longer have a Christmas celebration - we have an End of Year celebration (which I'm totally OK with BTW).

If I was from an Indian background and my family had suffered due to the rise of Hindu Nationalism, I reckon I'd be pretty p*ssed off about being asked to celebrate a Hindu holiday.

Vulnerabilities of Religious Minorities in India: Unmasking the Impact of Rising Hindu Nationalism - Australian Institute of International Affairs

India is famous for its cultural diversity and known as the largest democracy to the world. The ascendancy of Hindu nationalism under the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) threatens this diversity and the religious minorities within its territorial boundaries.

www.internationalaffairs.org.au

 

[ferball]

Rusty - Hinduism and Hindutva are not the same thing tho as much as adherents of Hindutva would like you to believe otherwise.

There are elements of Hinduism that saw things like pacifism, vegetarianism (cos killing is not something they want to do) and atheism develop (yes some Hindu sects are athiest and don't believe in any gods including Hindu ones.) Its not all indian fascism/nazism.

Diwali is celebrated by non Hindus - Jains, Sikhs and some schools of Indian Buddhism as well - so its not an exclusive thing and different variants of Hinduism celebrate different dieties during Diwali. There are even Muslim celebrations of Diwali in some parts of India and Pakistan.

One thing that might stop religious conflict is if everyone from different religions celebrated as many other religious holidays and festivals as they could. it might make the world a more peaceful and happier place.