Monday, November 5, 2007

“Caste” away

by Juley Harvey from The Estes Park Trail-Gazette

What would you do if you were consigned to a life as a dead-animal skinner or a Temple prostitute, and lived near the dump, as dictated by the town? Not much, if you’re a Dalit in India. The country’s 300-million outcast sector serves as slaves, and the 3,500-year-old caste system presents a “ticking time bomb,” says Neil Woodley, an elder at Rocky Mountain Church ... “Can the world stand 300 million more radical Muslims? You don’t have to be an Evangelical Christian to see the logic of getting involved (here),” Woodley said. “Aggressive ideological petro-dollars are used to buy AK47s, funneled to promote their radical plan. “The game plan of Saudi Arabia is to take the children and train them to hate. We’re trying to prevent that by having (Indian) educational centers and teaching them to love ... “The Dalits choices are basically to stay in Hinduism (but they’re not really in it, anyway, because they’re outcasts), or turn to Buddhism, Islam (radical, so far) or Christianity.

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