Purva paksha is one of the crucial, time-honoured practices of India. It requires that all sides in a discussion/ debate know the other's logic, philosophy, arguments etc so well that the other side becomes compelled to say "you have understood and stated our position as well as we could have done it ourselves". Christianity, and its alter-ego, secularism are a strong force in the world today. A purva-paksha of christianity is essential for every modern, educated hindu. This becomes even more important considering that india has the highest percentage of youth (14-30) population in the world for the next 30 years. Intellectuals like Rajiv Malhotra & Dr Balagangadhara Rao have been leaders in creating a new discourse on the purva paksha of christianity. Their writings need to be included in this list. Sanjay Garg --- tavaradhan <tavaradhan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > --srI rAjEsh eLAyavaLLi wrote > > 1. Why should we even "care to know" to know the > "worst in another > > religion?" > > 2. Why should we engage in defending the "worst things > in our > Sanatana > > Dharma?" If they are truly worse (within context that > is), should > we not > > try and address them rather than defend them blindly? > ----- > > I do not think anyone is advocating the defense of "worst > things in > our sanAtana dharma". > > --- > > 3. I truly believe that the purpose of our religion is > to share > our > > knowledge when asked and not "proselytize" contrasting > another > religion with > > others. > ----- > > The purpose of the book is not to proselytize. It is to > provide > information that can be used in arguments when our > sanAtana dharma > is denigrated by others. > > ------ > > By putting such a text in the files area of this group, > are we > leaning > > towards "offense is the best form of defense" theory? > Is our > philosophy so > > weak that we cannot defend its theories? > ------ > > No. By putting such a text in the files area, we are > leaning > towards "Knowledge of the opponents argument/background > is better in > debates" theory. > > > I personally do not think so and I > > am sure most here in this forum will agree. If not, I > would > welcome > > alternative thinking as to why we should embrace this > document, > post in the > > files area, and use it to defend us. > > The reason why I said I will put it in the files section > is so that > we do not receive 100 messages in our digest asking "how > can I get > the book". > > Beyond that, I think it is a valuable resource for those > who have > been debating with missionaries. PErsonally, I have had > several > conversations with missionaries who attempt to denigrate > our > religion without tru basis in front of large audiences - > espeically > in universities, and I believe that having a rational > response is > something that is necessary for anyone who is interested > in > providing our viewpoint in the debate. > > > adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan, > varadhan > > > > > > adiyEn, > > nArAyana vEda dAsan > > Rajesh Elayavalli > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "tavaradhan" <tavaradhan@xxxx> > > To: <ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 12:15 PM > > Subject: [ramanuja] book request re: christian > pUrvapaksha and > arguments > > against it > > > > > > > > > > > > > dear devotees, > > > > > > As is evident, there is a good demand for the book > written by > srI. > > > Rama Ramanuja AchArya. Thanks to him for having > written this, as > > > this is a very valuable work for us to go through. > > > > > > I will get a copy from srI rAmA rAmAnuja AchArya and > post in in > the > > > files section of the ramanuja list. > > > > > > adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan, > > > varadhan > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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