Pastor slammed for mocking Hinduism
LOCAL Hindu organisations have condemned the actions of a former Durban pastor, now living in the UK, after he took to Facebook mocking the consecration ceremony of the installation of the Ram Lalla murthie at the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra in Ayodhya, India.
The consecration took place on Monday after a 500-year struggle by the Hindu community to reclaim the temple as the birth place of Lord Ram.
Last week, a Facebook group, called Understanding Hinduism, posted a picture of a puppy with its paws in a praying position. The puppy had a dot depicting a trishula, or trident, on its forehead and was wearing an orange robe.
The group posted the picture with the following message.
“On January 22, 2024, our generation was extremely blessed with this amazing transcendental opportunity. The country and the world are eagerly looking forward to the event, this very sacred and auspicious consecration ceremony when Lord Shri Ram will be seated in his magnificent temple after 500 years. It will not only mark the establishment of Ram Rajya in Ayodhya but also the fulfilment of the work that began in 2014 to establish it throughout the country and the state. Jai Sri Ram.”
Pastor Dia Moodley, who is a member of the group, went onto his Facebook page and posted a screenshot of the post calling it “sadly ludicrous”.
According to his Facebook profile, Moodley is from Bristol and a senior pastor at Spirit of Life Reformed Baptist Church.
In the post, Moodley said: “Join me in praying for our Hindu friends and family, they might know the truth, which is in Christ alone.
“I screenshot this from a group I belong to called Understanding Hinduism. Somehow Hindus in the group find logic in this picture. But it’s certainly not logic, in fact, it’s absolutely ludicrous,” he said.
Moodley added: “But such is the case when your religion and faith has no definition and all ways, including a puppy praying, is acceptable as the way to God and heaven.
“As one devotee of Ram consciousness said: ‘Ram is Shiva, Shiva is Ram. Ram is you. Ram is me. Ram is everybody. Ram is nature. Ram is determined. Ram is mind.’
‘Ram is all aspects; same is Shiva. All aspects. Everything that you can touch, feel, and not touch and feel are all Shiva or Ram. Well these are nothing but Ram-blings of confusion that rises out of the darkness of understanding that Christian doctrine of total depravity teaches us.”
He said the Lord, was “gracious to save us from this darkness and bring confused wretched sinners to the light of understanding in Him, that they can indeed be free from this bondage of sin,
free in Christ alone”.
The South African Hindu Maha Sabha (SAHMS) has reported the matter to the Equality Court, the South African Human Rights Commission and the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL) Rights Commission.
Ashwin Trikamjee, the president of the SAHMS, said as Hindus across the world celebrated the consecration of the Ram Mandir, Moodley had on Facebook denigrated and mocked Hindu rituals and sacred practices.
Trikamjee said Hindus respected and saw the divine in all forms of life – human, animal and plant – and this permeated all scriptures.
“According to Vedic scholar Dr David
Frawley, no religion lays as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. It believes in ecological responsibility that the earth is our mother. It considers all animals (as) having souls and champions their protection. It has a strong tradition of non-violence or ahimsa. It believes that God is present in all nature, all creatures and in every human being regardless of their faith.
“The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa. Religious discrimination and hatred based on religion is prohibited. The Pran Pratishta ceremony has gripped the entire world. When an individual who is not a Hindu chooses to denigrate Hindu beliefs with reckless and disgraceful utterances, one can only surmise that he requires assistance from his Lord.
“As Hindus we have reached a point of zero tolerance.”
Ram Maharaj, the president of the South African Hindu Dharma Sabha, said Moodley’s intent was to hurt and impair the dignity of Hindus.
“We cannot allow anyone to trample upon Hindu sensitivities. We will not tolerate intolerance from Hindu haters, who willy-nilly distort and mislead people about Hinduism.”
He said the crass reference to Hindu rituals with the intent of causing hurt and humiliation was harmful, deeply demeaning and degrading as well as invasive, and impaired the dignity of members of the Hindu community.
Maharaj said unity in diversity and inclusivity were apex policies of our progressive democratic government.
“To advance peaceful co-existence without conflict, a strong message needs to be conveyed to prevent people from stooping to inflammatory and incendiary comments, undermining inter-religious and cultural understanding and goodwill, as well as inter-racial harmony.”
Moodley did not respond to requests for comment.