Hinduism vs. Christianity

This topic submitted by Melania Kostryk ,Andy Straus (marvelmel@aol.com) at 10:18 pm on 2/28/01. Additions were last made on Tuesday, February 11, 2003. Section: Myers.

Introduction:
Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is that ideas depicted in the images of eastern religions illustrate a higher understanding of evolution. We plan to focus on several ideas of Hinduism and Christianity to prove our hypothesis.

We agreed to do this project because we are both willing to pursue what we believe to be other perspectives or wise insight in eastern and western religion. We also thought it would be interesting to get a perspective of eastern culture as a result to their religious practices. We plan to prove that themes in Hinduism compared to those of Christianity are more closely linked to the psychology of evolution by asking; what is the reason for religion in society? And how have it and its iconography affected us?

2) Relevance of your research question
The relevance of our study is that we constantly encounter such images as they attempt to support our faith. Because many individuals rely on icons to perpetuate, justify and support some means of social order we felt they potentially support for our argument. And if we understand that evolution is supported by more scientific evidence and fact, it would be more useful for us to practice a religion that is more closely linked to evolution. By putting the two together in comparison, we should elude to certain links that would support our hypothesis. Because of religious benefits to society, we can’t cancel religion entirely, but a greater understanding of the connection between nature and faith would benefit western society.

Literature Review:

1) The Moral Animal, Robert Wright; Random House Inc. New York, 1994
This is an inquiry into evolutionary psychology and everyday life that explains Darwinian perspectives on evolution. It wrestles with the idea of religion as a result of natural selection but a life style which opposes natural selection at the same time.

2) Hinduism; A Cultural Perspective; David R. Kinsley; Prentice-Hall, 1982.
One of the many points discussed in this book is the relationship of Vishnu and his wife Shiva, two prominent icons in Hinduism.

3) Hinduism; A very short introduction; Kim Knott, Oxford University Press, 1998.
In this book we were introduced to a Hindu God named Devi, that supports people who don’t choose to marry. She is also associated with simple pleasures in life that natural selection supports such as drinking wine and copulation. These actions are supported by our innate quest to satisfy quick desires. We also found several stories of Hindu gods trusting monkeys to help them. We thought that it was interesting how the relationship with animals (especially primates) is far more prevalent in the Hindu religion than that of Christianity.

4) The Art of Happiness His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler; Riverhead Books, New York 1998.
The Dalai Lama discusses how to attain happiness in this book as a means of contentment. He argues that in our society the belief is by attaining items that we want only makes us want more. By attaining items that we need, we become content. And by fulfilling Tibetan Buddhist doctrines, one will become content.
In the Moral Animal, Wright discusses this idea as a result of natural selection. He agrees that this inherant trait may not lead to overall happiness but does fulfill our natural impulse. The idea of natural selection gives much evidence to oppose or justify religious beliefs. Therefore, it will be a strong point of inquiry in our research. The idea of religion relieves the realities of death by giving us a continuation to our existence, i.e. A place for our soul to go. An explanation for this is the desire to prolong our existence.

5) In an article by Mary Daly give us a feminist perspective of the Christian religion by analyzing the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. We think that this will be an interesting source in proving how propagandized religion is. In the Moral Animal, Wright suggests that certain religions weren’t much interest to the public until they had a promoter such as Jesus or Buddha. Finding the underlying principles of certain religions can help us understand religious impact on society such as gender roles and stereotypes.

6) Ten Theories of Human Nature, Leslie Stevenson and David L. Haberman; Oxford University Press, 1998.
“Nothing ever remains the same” is a quote that we liked from the Hindu section of this book. We will keep use this book as a major reference on information on Hinduism and Christianity’s theory of human nature.

7) Gods of Love and Ecstasy, The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus, Alain Danielou; East-West Publications, 1982.
The chapter Aspects and Legends of God gives a great comparison of Christian influenced Greek gods and Hindu gods. In the chapter Animal and Vegetable forms of the Gods and Goddesses we learn of animals and their association with certain gods.

8.) The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India, Fuller C.J.; Princeton University Press, 1992.
This text will help us interpret the qualities gods and goddesses portray in Hindu lives.

Materials and Methods:
The design for our experiment is as follows: By taking ideas from the Moral Animal and other books linked to evolution we plan to look for supporting or non supporting themes. We also plan to create a survey to gather information on whether certain icons are more or less true to evolution or ways in which people see human life. Because the subject matter has a long history of biases and translations, we can only rely on the perspectives of our peers and interpretations of icons.
It is important for us to collect material that specifically helps us understand themes in evolution, Hinduism, and Christianity. But more importantly, it is important for us to understand the effects of these themes, and how their respected congregations understand them.
Through our poster presentation we hope to gather information by use of a survey and to determine if the subjects being studied are more able to depict symbolic features that support evolution. The class will look at an image from Hinduism and an image from Christianity side by side and answer questions, which will hopefully support our theory.

Sources:
Man: Fallen and Free edited by E.W.; Kemp Hodder and Stoughton 1969.
The Nature and Destiny of Man Niebuhr, Reinhold; Chares Scribner’s Sons, New York 1941.
Gods, Guardians, and Lovers. Vishakha N. Desai and Darielle Mason; The Asia Society Galleries, New York 1993
The Icon Kurt Weitzmann, Gaiane Alibegasvili, and Aneli Volskaja; Alfred A. Knopf Inc. New York 1982

Plan of Attack
Week 8 Submit Proposal
Week 9 Decide exactly what we want to include in survey
Week 10 Distribute test survey to total of 20 people and hear their questions and clear up any confusion
Week 11 survey NS students and give poster presentation
Week 12 Survey a total of 100 people
Week 13-14 Study results
Week 15-17 Write final project paper

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