What is BLASPHEMY and what is NOT???

[krsna]

Srila Vrndavan das Thakura says in CB Madhya 13.312 :-

 

" Blasphemy does not enhance one's religious principles; it only results in sin.

That is why fortunate souls do not engage in blasphemy."

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's PURPORT:

 

1 *The devotees of the Lord do not blaspheme anyone in this world.

 

2 * One who blasphemes others is known as "sinful" or "irreligious".

 

3 * To attribute on someone faults that are not present is called blasphemy.

 

4 * Being induced by irrelevant goals, those who are unable to tolerate the glorification of others, and with a desire to attack them unfairly, attribute faults on them, continually meet with inauspiciousness day after day.

 

5 * A person who out of envy attributes faults on an IRREPROACHABLE VAISNAVA must go to the hell known as Kumbhipaka and suffer severe miseries.

 

6 * Those sinful persons who cannot understand that sarva-mahaguna-gana vaisnava-sarire---"all good qualities are present in the body of a vaisnava", and who consider that non-Vaisnavas are equal to Vaisnavas can never achieve any benefit.

 

7 * To criticize the behaviour of nondevotees is called sad-upadesa, or good instruction.

8 * Other than devotional service to Visnu (Krsna), all activities of the living entities are condemnable.

 

9 * Sinful people often engage in abominable activities on the pretext of devotional service to Visnu (Krsna).

10 * Instructions to give up these activities should not be called ninda, or blasphemy. "]

[AncientMariner]

We see this in American civilization all the time as the great Vaisnava Jesus Christ is constantly being blasphemized and reduced to a mere myth, or just a common rebel by liberal college professors at our institutions of higher learning. It is partially the reason why our people have turned into such a bunch of hedonists on the fast track to the hell that you speak of but I think people are starting to get sick of it at least lets hope anyway.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

Is when people profess to follow Jesus Christ but actually are so poulluted themsleves. They want others to follow thier sinful ways, in this way they try to pollute the entire atmosphere, that's why Christianity is becoming a joke.

[theist]

re those that wrap themselves in religious garb as priests

and renounciants and pretend to be holy and spreading the devotional rape children behind closed doors.

[AncientMariner]

I found an interesting analysis of Christianity in a book called the Urantia Book. The book is reportedly a 1930's communication from angelic beings channeled through a sleeping person so its origons are mysterious and suspect but it has a wonderful analysis of Christianity in my opinion. However its understanding of Hinduism is rather infantile and incomplete in my opinion.

 

"Christianity is an extemporized religion, and therefore it must operate in low gear. High-gear spiritual performances must await the new revelation and the more general acceptance of the real religion of Jesus. But Christianity is a mighty religion, seeing that the commonplace disciples of a crucified carpenter set in motion those teachings which conquered the Roman world in three hundred years and then went on to triumph over the barbarians who overthrew Rome. This same Christianity conquered - absorbed and exalted - the whole stream of Hebrew theology and Greek philosophy. And then, when this Christian religion became comatose for more than a thousand years as a result of an overdose of mysteries and paganism, it resurrected itself and virtually reconquered the whole Western world. Christianity contains enough of Jesus' teachings to immortalize it.

 

If Christianity could only grasp more of Jesus' teachings, it could do so much more in helping modern mand to solve his new and increasingly complex problems.

 

Christianity suffers under a great handicap because it has become identified in the minds of all the world as a part of a social system, the industrial life, and the moral standards of Western civilization; and thus has Christianity unwittingly seemed to sponsor a society which staggers under the guilt of tolerating science without idealism, politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without restraint, knowledge without character, power without conscience, and industry without morality.

 

The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross is so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths a mortal man can ever hear - the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."

 

 

Here is another interesting excerpt:

 

"Christianity is seriously confronted with the doom in one of its own slogans:"A house divided against itself cannot stand." The non-Christian world will hardly capitulate to a sect-divided Christendom. The living Jesus is the only hope of a possible unification of Christianity. The true church - the Jesus brotherhood - is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity. Uniformity is the earmark of the physical world of mechanistic nature. Spiritual unity is the fruit of faith union with the living Jesus. The visible church should refuse longer to handicap the progress of the invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God. And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization. It may well utilize such social organizations, but it must not be supplanted by them.

 

But the Christianity of even the twentieth century must not be despised. It is the product of the combined moral genius of the God-knowing men of many races during many ages, and it has truly been one of the greatest powers for good on earth, and therfore no man should lightly regard it, notwithstanding its inherent and aquired defects. Christianity still contrives to move the minds of reflective men with mightly moral emotions.

 

But there is no excuse for the involvement of the church in commerce and politics; such unholy alliances are a flagrant betrayal of the Master. And the genuine lovers of truth will be slow to forget that this powerful institutionalized church has often dared to smother newborn faith and persecute truth bearers who chanced to appear in unorthodox raiment.

 

It is all too true that such a church would not have survived unless there had been men in the world who preferred such a style of worship. Many spiritualy indolent souls crave an ancient and authoritative religion of ritual and sacred traditions. Human evolution and spiritual progress are hardly sufficient to enable all men to dispense with religous authority. And the invisible brotherhood of the kingdom may well include these family groups of various social and tempermental classes if they are only willing to become truly spirit-led sons of God. But in this brotherhood of Jesus there is no place for sectarian rivalry, group bitterness, nor assertions of moral superiority and spiritual infallibility."

 

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

All you need to really do is follow Jesus Christ as He said to do. I don't know what kind of language that is or style of writing but I find it easier to read Bhaktisiddhanta more easy. [Maybe it's because He is pure devotee].

[AncientMariner]

I have never read much of his writings but if he was the one who taught Srila Prabhupada you can't go wrong with that because Srila Prabhupada turned out to be a real gem and even a person from a Christian background as myself can understand most of Srila Prabhupada's writings. The reason you can understand the pure devotee Bhaktisiddhanta so easily is probably because you are a pure devotee yourself because I have heard Indians and Hindus who consider the Hare Krishnas to be as bad as the Christian Baptists. /images/graemlins/smile.gif So apparently even some Indians have a tough time understanding vedic literature. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

That I find with Hindu devotees and white skinned devotees, that the latter think all Hindus are devotees, what I mean is that we have it inherent in us. I've sort of seen them kill the enthusiasum of thier counter-parts thinking they shouldn't get over-excited in affairs of Hare Krishna. The thing is, it's true in a sense. But we are all in bodily conception of life. Except for very few advanced individuals.