What is paganism? Is Hindu Religion not a pagan religion? In what way, it is inferior to biblical religions?

Question

Mos of those who have responded now have said that Hindu religion is one of the pagan religion. But, I have google searched for the definition of paganism. None of them has included Hindu religion, as a pagan religion.For example, (i)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism (ii)http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm. The exception is this site, which draws a parellel between Indian paganism and Celti one.http://www.geocities.com/indianpaganism/articles.html. There are certain misconceptions about Hindu religion, i.e. that it is polytheistic, it promotes idol worship etc. This site seeks to dispel these misconceptions.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9410/hindu1.html. Now,what we want to know is,going by the clarification given in this article, i.e. it is monotheistic etc, does Hinduism qualify to be outside the group of pagan religions?

Answer 1

I would like to reply to the first person who answered. You said that Hinduism is born from "research and speculation". I agree. This is what makes Hinduism so special. It's more scientific than something you read in a 2000 year old book. Hinduism is pure science and science always trumps over anything.

Answer 2

No Hinduism is Hinduism and Paganism is Paganism if both were similar they would have been named the same though some of the beliefs matches

Answer 3

Paganism And Hinduism

Answer 4

Actually, the word 'pagan' was founded by the church to attack hinduism..hunduism was the dominant religion in most parts of the ancient world like Egypt, Rome, Arabia, Thailand, besides India..the world's largest Hindu temple is not in India..but in Cambodia..western media(esp.wikipedia) claims it was built in the 11th century A.D by a less know king by the name of suryavarma..but it was actually built in 4000 B.C(atleast) by Vikramadithya..The popular lie that India never invaded any country is made up by the west to make India seem week.

Answer 5

Yes. People with tunnel vision coin these terms to assert their superiority over others. There was a time before the 11th century when even science was considered heresy. Hinduism, with its pluralistic lineage has always accepted so called heretics and apostates.An intolerant religion cannot teach its followers to be tolerant-remember that.

Answer 6

Hindus are Pagan, they worship many Gods, beleive in the sacredness of all life, and that everything has a soul. That's pretty much the textbook definition of a Pagan. I as a pagan honestly don't see paganism as inferior to Judeo-Christian or Islamic beleifs, I think, in theory,they are all following the correct path. In reality, anyone who mistreats others because they think their beleifs are superior is an as'shole and I sometimes wish there was a hell for people like that.

Answer 7

The dictionary definition says that any non-Abrahamic religion would be pagan - which is a pretty broad category. When capitalized, Paganism refers to a number of religions that are mostly derived from/inspired by pre-Christian European religions.

As such, per the dictionary, the Hindu religions are pagan, though they typically do not self-identify as such.

Answer 8

Hindi worships false gods. It is a pagan religion to it's core.

Answer 9

Paganism is any faith or religion that doesn't follow the teachings of the Abrahamic God, i.e. Christianity, Muslim, Hebrew, Satanist. So yes Hindu religion is a pagan faith. And I don't find any of the Pagan religions inferior to the Abrahamic faiths. They are all worthy paths.

Answer 10

Paganism by definition is any religion that does not believe in the Abrahamic god. So, if going by this definition, yes Hinduism is Pagan. As for being inferior, Paganism isn't inferior to any biblical religion. It's far more open minded and enlightened than any biblical religion I've ever encountered.