God Bless America, India, China, et al.

(Oops!  Wrong map...)

According to Rajiv Malhotra, author of Being Different:  An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism, America should be rethinking its Western (i.e., white European Christian) "roots."

Malhotra disputes the notion that "America is a Western nation with the Bible as its foundation."  He calls this "a racist assumption which ignores that for most of its 10,000 year history America was unknown to Europeans and was inhabited by the Native Americans, originally from Asia."

For those who might play the "past is past - but hey, look at us now" card, Malhotra furthermore points out that "by 2050, whites (i.e., people of European or "Western" descent) will be less than half of the population of America."   America will then be more "a microcosm of the world's diverse peoples" than it will be "a Eurocentric nation."

In terms of what this might mean for the ongoing urges to teach Bible studies in the public schools, Malhotra has a solution.  With the goal being to educate rather than proselytize, he suggests that numerous world classics (including Buddha's, Gandhi's and Patanjali's) should be taught.  He explains that "the library of major works from India alone is far greater than the Greek and Roman classics combined" - and also refers to "the classics of other civilizations such as China."

And let's not forget why America was allegedly "discovered" in the first place.  In other words, which country was Columbus actually looking for when he mistakenly sailed to North America?  (Hint:  Why were Native Americans formerly called Indians?)

Resources 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rajiv-malhotra/response-to-wsj-op-ed-calling-for-bible-education-in-public-schools_b_2792552.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Copyright March 28, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved