[Advaita-l] Inter Religious Dialogue - Part 1

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

 In the other thread, there was a discussion on why a Jesuit Priest would
deeply study and discuss Hindu tradition and vice - versa.  Some of the
members felt that it is because it deepens their own understanding of
Christianity when they do that. And we will benefit from their insight.
Others felt that there is no need to learn our traditions from western
scholars who lack anushtanam. I live in the western world and have great
respect for objective study by the western scholars. However, core of the
knowledge is deinied to them because they do not have guru bhakti and I
always felt that they make grave mistakes, lack conviction and depth of
practical realization. Their intellectual honesty is often compromised due
to the fact that their sponsors are Christian Churches or Governments. True
to their masters, they see Vedas as a historical development of religious
concepts. I have not seen anyone daring to take a strong position in favour
of apauresyatva or even revelation while they dont have problem in taking
position of revelation in the case of  the Bible or the Quran. Often, I
have to spend a lot of time to unlearn what I learn from these secondary
sources. The following is not my opinion but the author gives his / her
opinion on the basis on ointer-religious dialogue, which in the author's
opinion is a guerilla war against the Veda Dharma.

*Implementing Redemptoris Missio
*The Second Vatican (War) Council had unveiled the church’s new war
doctrine; and taking a cue smartly from the white state, the church made
diplomacy a covert weapon of war. Nostra Aetate was the first official
diplomatic policy enunciated by the white church, compelled as it was by
the general revulsion triggered against the white church and white
Christian state by slavery and Nazism which were explicitly violent
chapters in Abrahamic history’s march towards Apocalypse.

It took the Vatican 25 years, until Redemptoris Missio, to delineate the
policy of inter-religious dialogue, not because it had not worked out the
content of this new diplomatic maneuver to the last detail but only because
the white church and the white state were preoccupied with plotting the
violent death of Christianity’s twentieth century anti-Christ, the Soviet
Union and the Soviet Bloc.

The Vatican desired to achieve two of its pet goals with this destruction -
end of anti-Christian communism and bringing about ecumenical unity under
the Catholic banner which could be achieved only with the death of the
Orthodox Church. The Slavic nations had to be forced to disintegrate and be
thrown into chaos not only because they were the bastion of communism but
also because they were home to the Orthodox Church. Inter-religious
dialogue could wait.

Flush with the victory of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, achieved
through non-diplomatic means, Pope John Paul II took the monumental
decision to put on the mask of the benign face of the Vatican and issued
Redemptoris Missio.

The war doctrine Ad Gentes had been proclaimed in 1964. The doctrine would
be elaborated upon and detailed only in 1990 but the war office had already
been set up in 1988, two years well in advance of Redemptoris Missio. Just
so idiot Hindus understand the nature of the enemy - the war office which
would be responsible for implementing inter-religious dialogue had already
taken position two years in advance of the unveiling of the policy by the
Vatican. This is how wars are planned, plotted and conducted - in secrecy
until the moment the war explodes in the face of the victim nation.