"Sin"

Last week a couple of people commented on the meaning of yoga in The Bhagavad Gita versus how we use the term in America.  This is just one of the many words from the book that the meaning differs in the book from how we use them.  While reading the text I find myself questioning the meaning of words that I use daily.  The word that confuses me the most, however, is sin.  Krishna says that even the most sinful of sinners can still attain spiritual wisdom and achieve Moksha.  From the perspective of someone who is most familiar with Christianity, this seemed all wrong.  Christianity classifies all people as sinners from birth, but from what I've read so far, Hinduism doesn't seem to do that.  So what could the English term "sin" mean in terms of Hinduism?

Women in Hinduism

In class, we briefly discussed verse 38 in Chapter 1 of The Bhagavad Gita.  We concluded that the comments in that verse may be interpreted as derogatory, but may not be if given the correct context.  Women in India ran their own land, while men moved into the house of their wives and mother-in-laws.  As a proud feminist (I know that word carries all sorts of negative connotations, but I promise I don't hate men or burn my bras) I was really intrigued by this.  It goes against everything I have heard about women in India: that they face discrimination throughout their lives, and are preferably not born at all.  So I decided to do some research online about the treatment of women in Hinduism and found a lot of contrasting views.  Some sources state that men and women are of equal status, with the role of mother being enormously respected, and powerful female deities that are honored; others claim that Hinduism supports the genocide of women in India.

I do not see how a nation can go from letting women handle their own lands during a time when it was extremely uncommon, to victimizing them during a time when we are closer to gender equality than ever before.  I don't see how a religion so open to others could support such oppression.  What am I missing? Hindus have just announced their support of appointing women to the Shura council in Saudi Arabia. Hinduism is the main religion in India. Why is this happening?

About Me

Hey!

My name is Payton Vincelette and I'm a freshman here at MCLA.  I am an English/Communications major, with a journalism concentration, and am thinking of minoring in Women's Studies.  This class interested me because I am always curious to learn about the religions of people around the world and how it impacts their lives and culture.  I've never blogged before, so this could be interesting!